Sennacherib, great king, strong king, king of Assyria, unrivalled king, pious shepherd who reveres the great gods, guardian of truth who loves justice, renders assistance, goes to the aid of the weak, (and) strives after good deeds, perfect man, virile warrior, foremost of all rulers, the bridle that controls the insubmissive, (and) the one who strikes enemies with lightning:

The god Aššur, the great mountain, granted to me unrivalled sovereignty and made my weapons greater than (those of) all who sit on (royal) daises.

At the beginning of my kingship, I brought about the defeat of Marduk-apla-iddina (II) (Merodach-baladan), king of Karduniaš (Babylonia), together with the troops of (the land) Elam in the plain of Kish. In the midst of that battle he abandoned his camp. He fled alone and escaped to the land Guzummānu, (where) he entered the swamps and marshes and (thereby) saved his life. I seized the chariots, wagons, horses, mules, donkeys, camels, and Bactrian camels that he had abandoned in the thick of battle.

I joyfully entered his palace, which is in Babylon, then I opened his treasury and brought out gold, silver, gold (and) silver utensils, precious stones, all kinds of possessions (and) property, a substantial treasure, (together with) his wife, his palace women, courtiers, attendants, all of the craftsmen, as many as there were, (and) his palace attendants, and I counted (them) as booty.

I pursued him to the land Guzummānu and ordered my warriors into the midst of swamps and marshes. For five days they searched (for him), but his (hiding) place could not be found.

With the strength of the god Aššur, my lord, I surrounded, conquered, (and) plundered 89 fortified cities, fortresses of Chaldea, and 820 small(er) settlements in their environs. I brought out the auxiliary forces of the Arameans and Chaldeans who were in Uruk, Nippur, Kish, Ḫursagkalama, (and) Cutha, together with the guilty citizens, and I counted (them) as booty.

I appointed over them Bēl-ibni, a son of a rab banî (and) a scion of Šuanna (Babylon) who had grown up like a young puppy in my palace, as king of the land of Sumer and Akkad.

On my return march, I defeated all together the Tuʾumuna, Riḫiḫu, Yadaqqu, Ubudu, Gibrê, Maliḫu (Malaḫu), Gurumu, Ubulu, Damunu, (15) Gambulu, Ḫindaru, Ruʾuʾa, Puqudu, Ḫamrānu, Ḫagarānu, Nabatu, (and) Liʾtaʾu, insubmissive Arameans. I carried off into Assyria a substantial booty (consisting of) 208,000 people, male and female, 7,200 horses (and) mules, 11,073 donkeys, 5,230 camels, 80,100 oxen, (and) 800,600 sheep and goats.

In the course of my campaign, I received a substantial audience gift from Nabû-bēl-šumāti, the official in charge of the city Ḫararatu: gold, silver, large musukkannu-trees, donkeys, camels, oxen, and sheep and goats.

I put to the sword the population of the city Ḫirimmu, a dangerous enemy who since time immemorial had not submitted to my yoke, and I did not leave one alive. I reorganized that district (and) imposed for eternity one ox, ten sheep, ten homers of wine, (and) twenty homers of dates as his first-fruits offerings to the gods of Assyria, my lords.

On my second campaign, the god Aššur, my lord, encouraged me and I marched to the land of the Kassites and the land of the Yasubigallians, a dangerous enemy who since time immemorial had not submitted to the kings, my ancestors. In the high mountains, difficult terrain, I rode on horseback and had my personal chariot carried on (men’s) necks. In very rugged terrain I roamed about on foot like a wild bull.

I surrounded (and) conquered the city Bīt-Kilamzaḫ, their fortified city. I brought out of it people, young (and) old, horses, mules, donkeys, oxen, and sheep and goats, and I counted (them) as booty. I destroyed, devastated, (and) turned into ruins their small(er) settlements, which were without number. I burned with fire the pavilions (and) tents that they relied upon, and reduced (them) to ashes.

I made that city Bīt-Kilamzaḫ a fortress again (and) strengthened its enceinte more than before. I settled therein the people of the lands that I had conquered. (25) I brought down from the mountains the people of the land of the Kassites and the land of the Yasubigallians who had fled from my weapons and I made (them) dwell in the cities Ḫardišpu (and) Bīt-Kubatti. I placed them under the authority of a eunuch of mine, the governor of the city Arrapḫa. I had a stele made, had all the victorious conquests that I achieved over them written on it, and I erected (it) in (that) city.

I turned around (lit. “I turned the front of my yoke”) and took the road to the land Ellipi. Before my arrival, Ispabāra, their king, abandoned his fortified cities (and) his treasury and fled far away. I overwhelmed all of his wide land like a fog. I destroyed, devastated, (and) burned with fire the cities Marʾubištu (and) Akkuddu, cities of his royal house, together with thirty-four fortified cities and small(er) settlements in their environs, which were without number, then I cut down their orchards (and) poured deathly quiet over their fertile fields. (In this manner) I reduced to desolation the land Ellipi to its full extent.

I carried off people, young (and) old, male and female, horses, mules, donkeys, oxen, and sheep and goats without number and brought them to nought. I detached from his land the cities Ṣi(ṣ)ṣirtu (and) Kummaḫlum, fortified cities, together with the small(er) settlements in their environs (and) the district of the land Bīt-Barrû in its entirety, and I added (this area) to the territory of Assyria.

I took the city Elenzaš as a royal city and a fortress for that district, then I changed its former name and called it Kār-Sennacherib.

On my return march, I received a substantial payment from the distant Medes, of whose land none of the kings, my ancestors, had heard mention. (Thus) I made them bow down to the yoke of my lordship.

At that time, Nineveh, the exalted cult center, the city loved by the goddess Ištar in which all of the rituals for gods and goddesses are present; (35) the enduring foundation (and) eternal base whose plan had been designed by the stars (lit. “writing”) of the firmament and whose arrangement was made manifest since time immemorial; a sophisticated 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;

in which since time immemorial earlier kings, my ancestors, before me exercised dominion over Assyria and ruled the subjects of the god Enlil, and wherein annually, without interruption, they received an income unsurpassed in amount, the tribute of the rulers of the four quarters (of the world);

(but) not one among them had paid heed to (or) shown interest in the palace inside it, the seat of lordly dwelling whose site had become too small; (40) nor had anyone (of them) conceived of and put his mind towards the straightening of the city’s street(s) and the widening of (its) squares, the dredging of the river, (and) the planting of orchards:

(But) as for me, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, the performing of this work came to my attention by the will of the gods and I put my mind to it. I forcibly removed the people of Chaldea, Aramean (tribes), the land of the Manneans, (and) the lands Que and Ḫilakku, who had not submitted to my yoke, then I made them carry baskets (of earth) and they made bricks. I cut down canebrakes in Chaldea and I had their splendid reeds hauled (to Nineveh) for its (the palace’s) construction by enemy soldiers whom I had defeated.

The former palace, which was 360 cubits long opposite the zamû-wall of the ziggurrat, 80 cubits wide opposite the tower of the temple of the goddess Ištar, 134 cubits wide opposite the tower of the Bīt-Kidmuri, (and) 95 cubits wide (on the other side); (45) which earlier kings, my ancestors, had had constructed for their lordly dwelling, but whose construction they had carried out inexpertly — the Tebilti River, a tempestuous flood (of water) which when it rose had destroyed sacred buildings inside the city and exposed the mounds of their tombs (lit. “their mounded tombs”) to the sun, and which had flowed from distant days by the side of the palace and which (thereby) had caused erosion in its foundation when its flood was in full spate (and) had shaken its base:

I tore down that small palace in its entirety, then I changed the course of the Tebilti River, repaired (the effects of) the erosion, and directed its outflow.

In the hidden depths of its subterranean waters I bonded together, with bitumen, reeds below (and) strong mountain stone above, then I raised (that) area out of the water and converted (it) to dry land. (50) I filled in and measured a terrace of 700 large aslu-cubits along (its) longer side, 162 large aslu-cubits along (its) upper, northern shorter side, 217 large aslu-cubits along the inner, shorter side, (and) 386 large aslu-cubits along the lower, southern shorter side, (which is) beside the Tigris River. In order to prevent its foundation from being weakened over the passage of time by cresting flood(s), I surrounded its damp course with large limestone slabs (and thereby) reinforced its base.

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.

Afterwards, I decided to increase the height of the terrace, then I added 20 courses of brick to the former (terrace) and (thus) I raised (it) to a (total) height of 180 courses of brick. (55) I made the area larger than before, added (it) to the former dimensions of the palace, and (thus) enlarged its structure.

I had a palace of elephant ivory, ebony, boxwood, musukkannu-wood, cedar, cypress, juniper, and terebinth, (a palace that I named) Egalzagdinutukua (“The Palace Without a Rival”), constructed thereon as my royal residence.

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.

To plant gardens, I subdivided the meadowland upstream of the city into plots of two pānu each for the citizens of Nineveh and I handed (them) over to them.

To make (those) planted areas luxuriant, I cut with iron picks a canal straight through mountain and valley, from the border of the city Kisiru to the plain of Nineveh. (60) 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.

I enlarged the site of Nineveh, my capital city. I broadened its squares and brought light into the alleys and streets, making (them) as bright as day.

In the future, may one of the kings, my descendants, whom the god Aššur names for shepherding the land and people, renovate its dilapidated section(s) when that palace becomes old and dilapidated. May he find an inscribed object bearing my name, anoint (it) with oil, make an offering, (and) return (it) to its place. The god Aššur will (then) hear his prayers.

ruling

The line count of the inscription is 63 (lines). Sibūti, eponymy of Nabû-lēʾi, governor of the city Arbela (702).