[Sargon (II), great king, strong king, king of the world, king of Assyria, governor of Babylon, king of the land of Sumer and Akkad, king of the four quarters (of the world), favorite] of the great gods, [...] —

[The gods Aššur, Nabû, (and) Marduk, (the gods, my helpers), granted me a reign without equal and exa]lted [my good reputation] to the h[eights].

[I continually acted as provider for (the cities) Sippar, Nippur, Babylon), (and Borsippa). I made restitution for] the wrongful damage [suffered by the people of privileged status as many as there were (of them); I] resto[red the exemption (from obligations) of (the city) Baltil (Aššur) and the city Ḫarrān, which had fallen into oblivion in the distant past, and their privileged status that had lapsed].

[...] ... [...] ... [like] the light of the moon [... i]n (the city) Nineveh and the city Kalḫu [...] I created [th]eir holy [...] and [...] I built and made shine [like the sun ... that from the beginning of my reign unt]il (my) fourteenth year to/for the gods who dwell [...]

[In accordance with my heart’s desire, I built a city at the foot of Mount Muṣri, a mountain upstream from the city Nineveh, and] I named it [Dūr]-Šarrukīn. [I had the gods Ea, Sîn, Šamaš, Nabû, Adad, Ninurta, and their great spouses created inside Ehursaggalkurkurra (“House, the Great Mountain of the Lands”) and] I installed (them) [insi]de it on (their) eternal dais(es). I built inside it [palatial halls using (lit.: “of”) elephant ivory, ebony, boxwood, musukkannu-wood, cedar, cypress, daprānu-juniper, juniper, and terebinth to be my royal residence] and [... I had enemy people whom I had captured dwell inside it (as safely) as in meadowland and] I considered it a[s (one of) the cu]lt centers of Assyria.

[With the support of the great gods, I advanced and ruled the people from the Upper Sea to the Lower Sea as if (they were) one (people).] I made [uncompliant lands (and)] insubmissive [mou]ntain regions bow down at my feet. [...] they set out [... I establ]ished and I made their blood flow down the gorges of the outflows of the mountains [...] I settled [i]n the land Ḫatti (Syria). [...] of a rugged mountain he sought refuge. (20) [...] ... and he grasped hold of my feet. [... I] deported them (and) settled (them) in the land Ḫatti. [...] ... and I imposed fear upon the people of the land Mannea. [...] and I settled (them) in the land Hamath. [...] I brought their substantial [tribute] to Assyria. (25) [...] I established and imposed on them the yoke of my lordship. [...] I conquered. [...] I destroyed, demolished, (and) burned down with fire. [...] they withheld their annual (tribute) payment(s). [...] ... I conquered and inflic[ted] a defeat on them. (30) [...] I took to Assyria. [...] upon Adâ of the land Šurda, I imposed the yoke of the god [Aššur. ... Ianzû, king of the land Na’iri, ... Hub]uškia, his royal city [...] ... [...]

Lacuna

[In the face of my advance (lit.: “before me”), Marduk-apla-iddina (II) (Merodach-Baladan) gathered together the inhabitants of his cities (lit.: “his inhabited cities”) and the gods dwelling in them and brought (them) into the city Dūr-Yakīn. He then strengthened its enclosure wall]s [(and), moving back a distance of ten nindanu from the front of its main wall, he made a moat two hundred cubits wide. He made (it) one and a half nindanu deep and reached gro]und [water. He cut a channel from the Euphrates River, (thereby) making (its water) flow (in)to its meadowland. He flooded its fields, where battles (are fought), and made cros]sing [difficult. Together with his allies (and) his battle troops, he pitched his royal tent in a bend of the river (lit.: “between rivers”) like a crane and assembled] his [(military) camp].

[At the command of the gods Aššur, Nabû, (and) Marduk I had a causeway constructed (lit.: “trodden down”) across his canals and I caught him, together with his fighting men, like a flying eagle i]n a net. [I spread out like malt (spread for drying) the corpses of his vanguard and of the Aḫlamû, the people of the steppe who go at his side and I fi]lled [the surroundings of his city (with them). The city Dūr-Yakīn — his treasure house — (and) the cities Iqbi-Bēl, Kapru, Bit-Zabidāya, Šāt-iddina, Zarāti, Raqqatu, Ekuššu, Ḫursa]ggalla, [Dūr-Bēl-āliya, Dūr-Enlil, Bīt-Qiblāte, Nēmed-Sîn, Limītu, (and) Mād-akālša, (a total of) fifteen fortified cities, together with the settlements in] th[eir e]nvirons, I turned into (ruin) [mo]unds. [I carried off as booty at the same time (both) the people — young (and) old — who lived in the district and the gods who helped them; I did not all]ow a (single) person to escape.

[...] whose lordship [...] I added to my land [...] ... [...].

[... (and)] the god Marduk [will (then) listen to] his prayers. [...] may they not have p[ity] on him!