As mentioned in the section Texts Excluded in the present volume, four 'propaganda' texts provide information about the reigns of the Neo-Babylonian kings whose inscriptions are edited in this volume. For the convenience of the user of this volume, it has been thought useful to present a translation of the Royal Chronicle. The translation has been adapted from Glassner, Chronicles.
1. Royal Chronicle
(Glassner, Chronicles pp. 312–317 no. 53; Schaudig, Inschriften Nabonids pp. 590–595 P4)
Col. i completely broken away
Lacuna
ii 1´–6´) [... an ē]ntu-priestess [... heaven] and earth [...] that he had requested of me [... "...] among the women of my land?" "Yes."
ii 7´–9´) "[(Is she) a ..., who] will be born through a god?" ["Yes/No." "(Is she) a ..., who] will be born through a god?" "No." "[...] older [...]?" "Yes."
ii 10´–12´) [He] wrote down [...] and [...] the god Sîn, [..., an]swered him.
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iii 1´–5´a) [...] his face turned pale. [...] the tablets of the Series Enūma Anu Enlil, the scribes brought a basket (of them) from Babylon into his presence for inspection, (but) he did not heed (what the tablets said and) he did not understand anything it (Enūma Anu Enlil) said.
iii 5´b–12´a) A foundation document [o]f Nebuchadnezzar (I), king of Babylon, son of Ninurta-nādin-šumi, on which an image of an ēntu-priestess, its cultic rites, its ways, [and] its [kid]udû-rites were recorded, [was brought (from Ur) t]o Babylon with the tablets (of Enūma Anu Enlil), without knowledge [of what the god Sîn, the lord of king(s)], had wanted to place in his hand(s). [...] ... He inspected the tablets (carefully) and became af[raid].
iii 12´b–16´a) He was attentive to [the] great [command of the god Sîn] and [...]. He dedicated [En-nigald]i-Nanna, (his) daughter, [his] o[wn] offspring, [to] the god Sîn, the lord of kings, whose co[mmand] cannot be altered, [as] an ēntu-priestess.
iii 16´b–23´a) In the month of Ulūlu (VI), [... of th]at (same) [year], (with regard to) Ebabbar, the temple of the god Šamaš that is inside Si[ppar (and) whose original] foundation [the kin]gs who came before him had sought out (but) could not find, the places [...] of his royal majesty as the primordial residence of his happiness, he revealed the foundation(s) of Narām-Sîn, the (grand)son of Sargon, to him (Nabonidus), the servant who reveres him, the one who is assiduous towards his place (of worship).
iii 23´b–28´) In that (same) year, in a favorable month, on an auspicious day, he firmly established the foundations of Ebabbar, the temple of the god Šamaš, (precisely) on the foundation(s) of Narām-Sîn, the (grand)son of Sargon, not (even) a fingerbreadth outside or inside (of them). He discovered an inscription and returned (it) to its place without altering (it), and (then) he deposited (it) with his (own) inscription.
iii 29´–iv 5) He discovered a statue of Sargon, the (grand)father of Narām-Sîn, inside those foundation(s). Half of its head was (broken) away and it had become (so) old (that) its features were unrecognizable. Out of respect for the gods (and) esteem for kingship, he employed craftsmen who know (how to do) the work and he had the head of the statue restored and had its features made perfect (again). He did not alter the place of that statue. He made it reside inside Ebabbar (and) firmly established taklīmu-offering(s) for it.
iv 6–13) For the god Šamaš, the great lord, his lord, he built that Ebabbar during joyous celebrations. He had 6,000 (beams of) strong cedar stretched out for its roof. He made that temple shine like daylight and raised its superstructure like a high mountain. At each gate, he securely fastened tall doors of cedar, threshold(s) of copper, bolts, and nukuššû-fittings, and (thereby) completed its construction.
iv 14–18) [...] the god Šamaš, the gr[eat] lord, [...], in the temple and ... [...]. On the [Nth day] of the month [...], after the offer[ing(s)], ... [...] taklīmu-offering (for) the cultic rite(s) of h[is] divinity [...] he made (him) reside in the residence of [his happiness].
iv 19–26) A mounted messenger from the land Ḫatti [...] (and) he reported [(his) r]eport [to me], saying: "[...] ... [..." The] great [gods ... hear[t's con]tent [... di]stant [...], a path through [...] mountain(s), [... a p]ath of death, he don[ned] (his) weapon(s) [... the p]eople of the land Ḫatti.
iv 27–41) In the month Ayyāru (II) of the third year (553), [... Bab]ylon, he took command of his troops. [He] mustered [...] and, on the thirteenth day, they arrived at [...]. He cut off the [... (and)] heads the people living in the city Ammanānu and [...] in heaps. He hung [(their) king on a p]ole and divided the city [...] of the mountain(s). [...], which is inside the mountains, fruit orchards, [all of them, ...] their shade [... he had ...] to their full extent [burned with] fir[e. ...] ..., whose slope(s) are far away, [...] he turned into [ruins] until far-off days. [...] ... (mountain) passes [...] day(s), he lef[t ...] ... [...]
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v 1–4) (No translation possible)
v 5–12) He listened to [the ... of] his [...] and his [...] struck him. [...], he spoke with him. He laid a hand on [...] and [... his cultic r]ites [... w]ith him [...].
v 13–24) [...] battle array [...] ... [h]is troops [...] he bore weapon(s) and to [..., ... lea]gues distant, difficult roads, [...], difficult [terr]ain [where access was bloc]ked (and) approach was not possible, [...] at the mention of his name [...] grass of the steppe [...] the king of Dadanu took refuge [in the] distant [...]s. He wiped clean [...] a[nd ... mi]nd ... [...] ... [...]
Lacuna
Col. vi completely broken away
Frauke Weiershäuser & Jamie Novotny, 'Propaganda Texts', RIBo, Babylon 7: The Inscriptions of the Neo-Babylonian Dynasty, The RIBo Project, a sub-project of MOCCI, 2022 [/ribo/babylon7/RINBE2Introduction/DatingandChronology/PropagandaTexts/]