Sennacherib 138
| Obverse | ||
| Column i | ||
| o io i | Lacuna | |
| o i 1'1' | (i 1') I def[eated] all together [..., Ubu]lu, Damunu, [Gambulu, Ḫin]daru, Ruʾuʾa, [Puqudu, Ḫam]rānu, Ḫagarānu, [Nabatu], (and) Liʾtaʾu, insubmissive [Arameans]. I carried off into As[syria] a sub[stantial] booty (consisting of) 208,000 people, young (and) old, male [and female], horses, mules, donkey[s, camels], oxen, (and) sheep and goats. | |
| o i 2'2' | ||
| o i 3'3' | ||
| o i 4'4' | ||
| o i 5'5' | ||
| o i 6'6' | ||
| o i 7'7' | ANŠE.KUR.RA.MEŠ ANŠE.KUNGA.MEŠ ⸢ANŠE⸣.[MEŠ ANŠE.GAM.MAL.MEŠ] | |
| o i 8'8' | ||
| o i 9'9' | ||
| o i 10'10' | (i 10') In the course of [my] camp[aign], I rece[ived] a substantial payment from Nabû-bēl-šumāti, the official in charge of the city Ḫa[raratu (Ḫarutu)]: gold, silver, [large] musukkannu-trees, donkeys, camels, oxen, and [sheep and goats]. | |
| o i 11'11' | ||
| o i 12'12' | ||
| o i 13'13' | ||
| o i 14'14' | ||
| o i 15'15' | (i 15') I put to the sword the population of the city Ḫirimmu, a dange[rous] enemy, and [I did] not [spare] a single one. I hung their corpses on poles [and] pl[aced] (them) around the city. I reor[ganized] that district (and) imposed for eternity one ox, ten sheep, ten homers of wine, (and) twenty homers of dat[es] as his first-fruits offerings to the gods of Assyria, my lords. | |
| o i 16'16' | ||
| o i 17'17' | ||
| o i 18'18' | ||
| o i 19'19' | ||
| o i 20'20' | 1-en GU₄.NÍTA 10 UDU.MEŠ 10 ANŠE GEŠTIN 20 ANŠE ZÚ.⸢LUM⸣.[MA]3 | |
| o i 21'21' | ||
| o i 22'22' | ||
| o i 23'23' | (i 23') On my second campaign, (the god) Aššur, my lord, encou[raged me and I marched] to the land of the Kassites and the land of the Ya[subi]gallia[ns], who since time immemorial had not submitted to [the kings, my] ancestors. In the hi[gh] mountains, [difficult terrain, I rode] on horseba[ck and had my personal chariot carried on (men’s) necks. ...] | |
| o i 24'24' | ||
| o i 25'25' | ||
| o i 26'26' | ||
| o i 27'27' | ||
| o i 28'28' | ||
| o i 29'29' | x x (x) [...]5 | |
| Lacuna | ||
| Reverse | ||
| Column i | ||
| r i' 1r i 1 | (r i' 1) I [added (archers and shield bearers)] to [my royal contingent. I divided up the rest of the substantial enemy booty ...] among [my entire camp and my governors], | |
| r i' 22 | ||
| r i' 33 | ||
| Lacuna | ||
| r i' 1'1' | (r i' 1') who[se] plan [had been designed by the stars (lit. “writing”) of the firmament and whose arrangement] was made manifest [since time immemorial]; a sophist[icated] place (and) [site of secret lore in which] every [kind of skilled craftsmanship], all of [the rituals, (and) the secret(s) of] the lalgar (cosmic subterranean water) [are apprehended]; | |
| r i' 2'2' | ||
| r i' 3'3' | ||
| r i' 4'4' | ||
| r i' 5'5' | ||
| r i' 6'6' | ||
| r i' 7'7' | ||
| Lacuna | ||
| Column ii | ||
| r ii' 1r ii 1 | (r ii' 1) I measured (the terrace’s) dimensions. In order to prevent its foundation from being weakened over the passage of time [by] cresting flood(s), I surrounded its base with large limestone slabs (and thereby) reinforced its base. | |
| r ii' 22 | ||
| r ii' 33 | as-kup-pat NA₄.⸢pi⸣-i-li rab-ba-a-te ki-su-u-šú ú-šá-as-ḫi-ra | |
| r ii' 44 | ||
| r ii' 55 | (r ii' 5) I inscribed objects bearing my name 160 courses of brick within the terrace and I deposited (them) deep down in its foundation for ever after. | |
| r ii' 66 | qé-reb-šú al-ṭu-ur-⸢ma šap-la⸣-nu ina UŠ₈-šú e-zib aḫ-ra-taš | |
| r ii' 77 | (r ii' 7) Afterwards, I decided to increase the heigh[t of] the terrace, and (then) I built up [20 co]urses of brick to the former (terrace) and (thus) I raised (it) to a (total) height of [1]80 courses of brick. I made [the a]rea larger than before, added (it) to the former dimensions of the palace, and (thus) enlarged its structure. | |
| r ii' 88 | ||
| r ii' 99 | [1 ME] ⸢80?⸣ ti-ib-ki ú-⸢šaq⸣-qí e-la-niš9 | |
| r ii' 1010 | ||
| r ii' 1111 | ||
| r ii' 1212 | ||
| r ii' 1313 | (r ii' 13) I had a palace of breccia, alabaster, elephant ivory, ebony, boxwood, musukkannu-wood, cedar, cypress, juniper, and elammaku-wood, (a palace that I named) E[gal]zagdinutukua (the “Palace Without a Rival”), construc[ted] thereon as my royal residence. | |
| r ii' 1414 | ||
| r ii' 1515 | ||
| r ii' 1616 | ||
| r ii' 1717 | GIŠ.KIRI₆.MAḪ-ḫu tam-šil KUR.ḫa-ma-nim šá ⸢gi-mir⸣ ŠIM.ḪI.A11 | (r ii' 17) I planted alongside it (the palace) a botanical garden, a replica of Mount Amanus, which has all kinds of aromatic plants (and) fruit trees, trees that are the mainstay of the mountains and Chaldea, collected inside it. |
| r ii' 1818 | ||
| r ii' 1919 | ||
| r ii' 2020 | (r ii' 20) To plant gardens, I subdivided the meadowland upstream of the city into plots of four pānu each for the citizens of Nineveh and I handed (them) over to them. | |
| r ii' 2121 | ||
| r ii' 2222 | ||
| r ii' 2323 | ||
| r ii' 2424 | (r ii' 24) To make (those) planted areas luxuriant, I cut with iron picks a canal straight through mountain and valley, from the border of the city Kisiri to the plain of Ninev[eh]. I caused an inexhaustible supply of water to flow there for a distance of one and a half leagues from the Ḫusur River (and) made (it) gush through feeder canals into those gardens. | |
| r ii' 2525 | ||
| r ii' 2626 | ||
| r ii' 2727 | ú-še-šir ÍD.ḫar-ru 1 1/2 KASKAL.GÍD qaq-qa-ru | |
| r ii' 2828 | ||
| r ii' 2929 | ||
| r ii' 3030 | ||
| r ii' 3131 | (r ii' 31) By divine will, vines, all kinds of fruit trees, olive trees, and aromatic trees flourished greatly in (those) gardens. Cypress trees, musukkannu-trees, (and) all kinds of tree[s] grew tall and sent out shoots. I [created a mar]sh [to] moderate the flow of [water] for (those) garde[ns and had a canebr]ake [planted (in it)]. | |
| r ii' 3232 | ||
| r ii' 3333 | ||
| r ii' 3434 | ⸢nap⸣-ḫar ⸢GIŠ⸣.[MEŠ] ⸢i-ši⸣-ḫu-ma ú-ṣar-ri-šú pa-pa-al-⸢lum⸣ | |
| r ii' 3535 | [a-na] ⸢šup⸣-šu-uḫ a-lak-ti [A.MEŠ] ⸢ša⸣ GIŠ.KIRI₆.⸢MAḪ⸣-[ḫi] | |
| r ii' 3636 | ||
| Lacuna |
1GU₄.NÍTA.MEŠ “oxen”: This is generally written GU₄.MEŠ in the Sennacherib corpus; see, for example, text no. 16 i 72 and text no. 22 i 52. This inscription omits ša la ni-bi “which were without number” after US₅.UDU.ḪI.A “sheep and goats.”
2man-da-ta-šú “his payment”: One expects ta-mar-ta-šú “his audience gift”; see, for example, text no. 16 i 80 and text no. 22 i 57. Text no. 1 line 57, however, also has man-da-ta-šú in this passage.
3GU₄.NÍTA “oxen”: One expects GU₄; see, for example, text no. 16 ii 3 and text no. 22 i 61.
4re-še-e-te-šú “his first-fruits offerings”: This is generally written re-še-te-šú or re-še-ti-šú in the Sennacherib corpus; see, for example, text no. 16 ii 4 and text no. 22 i 63.
5The translation assumes that obv. i 29´ began with i-na ti-ik-ka-ti ú-šá-áš-ši “I had carried on (men’s) necks.”
6The translation assumes that lu ú-za-ʾi-iz “I divided”appeared in the now-missing rev. i´ 4 or 5.
7The building report at this point most closely follows text no. 4; see lines 79b–80a of that text. This is evidence that the original text copied on this tablet was written on clay cylinders or clay prisms ca. 699–698; for further evidence, see the on-page notes to ii´ 17–30 and 31–36. Cf., for example, text no. 15 vi 19b–28.
820?: Or possibly restore 30?; compare text no. 4 line 82 to text no. 15 vi 36. ar-ṣip-ma “I built up and”: This is an error for uṣ-ṣip-ma “I added and.”
9[1 ME] ⸢80?⸣: Or possibly [1 ME] ⸢90?⸣; compare text no. 4 line 82 to text no. 15 vi 38.
10ši-kit-ta-šá “its structure”: This is generally written ši-kit-taš in the Sennacherib corpus; see, for example, text no. 4 line 83.
11The building report at this point most closely follows text no. 4; see lines 85–88 of that text. Cf. text no. 15 vii 10–viii 19´ and text no. 16 vii 17–viii 23.
124 PI.TA.ÀM “four pānu each”: This is an error for NIGIDAMIN.TA.ÀM “two pānu each”; see, for example, text no. 4 line 86.
13The building report at this point most closely follows text no. 8; see lines 4´–5´ of that text. Cf. text no. 16 viii 29–39.
14The translation assumes that ú-šá-as-ti-il “I had planted” appeared at the beginning of the now-missing rev. ii´ 37.
Created by A. Kirk Grayson, Jamie Novotny, and the Royal Inscriptions of the Neo-Assyrian Period (RINAP) Project, 2014. Lemmatized by Jamie Novotny, 2013. The annotated edition is released under the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike license 3.0. Please cite this page as http://oracc.org/rinap/Q003943/.