Ashurbanipal 194

(i 1) You know, O Aššur, the Enlil of the gods, from the past into the future, that Uaiteʾ (Iautaʾ), son of Hazael, the king of the land of the Arabs, in the time of Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, the servant, the creation of your hands, (i 5) had turned hostile and had cast off the yoke of his (Esarhaddon’s) lordship. Through your great support (and) your exalted strength, Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, the father who had engendered me, mustered his army and dispatched (them) against him. In a pitched battle, he brought about his defeat (and) they (the army) carried off his gods. (i 10) Uaiteʾ (Iautaʾ), in order to save his (own) life, abandoned his camp, escaped alone, and fled far away.

(i 13) After (the god) Aššur, the king of the entirety of heaven and netherworld, chose me by his [pure] glance and (i 15) de[sired me t]o be king, [...] entrusted me with [...] the land of the Arabs [...] he heard what I said and [...] he returned and

(i 35) he (Uaiteʾ (Iautaʾ)) had not re[spect]ed [the kindness that I had d]one for him, and [had cast off the] yoke of my lordshi[p]. He refra[in]ed [fro]m inquiring abo[ut] my [well-b]ei[ng] and [withhel]d from me audience gift(s and) his subst[antia]l payment(s). [Just li]ke the land Elam, (i 40) he listened to the lie[s] spoken by the land Akkad and (then) he did not honor m[y] treaty. He abandoned me, Ashurbanipal, the holy priest, the servant, the creation of your hands, and he sided with Šamaš-šuma-ukīn, accursed by your great divinity, whose kingship you overthrew. (i 45) (As for) the people of the land of the Arabs (who were) with him, he made (them) hostile (towards me) and (then) they were constantly plundering the kings of the land Amurru, servants who belonged to me whom you had handed over to me.

(i 48) I dispatched my troops, who were stationed on the border of his land, against him and they brought about his defeat. (i 50) They struck down with the sword the people of the land of the Arabs, as many as had risen up with him. They set fire to pavilion(s and) tents, their abodes, (and thus) consigned (them) to the god Gīra.

(i 54) I carried off to Assyria [peo]ple — male and female — donkeys, camels, [oxe]n, and sheep and goats without number. They filled (with them) [the whole extent of] my land, all (of it) [in] its entirety, [t]o all of its border(s). I apportioned [c]amels like sheep and goats (and) divided (them) [amo]ng the people of Assyria (ii 1) (so that) within my country they (the Assyrians) could purchase a camel for one shekel (or even) a half shekel of silver at the market gate. The female tavern keeper for a serving, the beer brewer for a jug (of beer), (and) the gardener for his bag of vegetables were regularly receiving camel(s) and slaves.

(ii 6) (As for) the rest of the land of the Arabs who had fled from my weapons, the heroic god Erra struck (them) down. Famine broke out among them and they ate the flesh of their children on account of their hunger. (ii 10) You decreed curses, as many as were written in (their) treaties through the invocation of your name and (that of) the gods, your children, accordingly as a harsh fate upon them.

(ii 13) The foal (of camels), the foal (of donkeys), the calf, (and) the spring lamb sucked more than seven times at (their) wet nurses and (yet) (ii 15) they could not satisfy their stomach(s) with milk. The people inside the land of the Arabs constantly asked one another: “Why [have] e[vil] deed[s] such as these (lit. “this”) [befallen the land of the Arabs]?” (ii 20) (The other answered): (ii 20) “Because [we did] not [honor] the [great] treati[es] (sworn) [b]y (the god) Aššur (and) [sinne]d against the kindness of [Ashur]banipal, [the king] (who is) the favorite of the heart of the god Enlil.”

(ii 24) [(As for) Uait]eʾ (Iautaʾ), hardship befell him and he fled [alone] to the land of the Nabayateans.

(ii 26) [Ab]ī-Yateʾ, son of Tēʾri, came [t]o Nineveh and kissed my feet. I concluded with him a treaty, an oath (sworn) by your great divinity. (ii 30) I installed him as king in place of Uaiteʾ (Iautaʾ) in ... I imposed upon him gold, eye(stones), pappardilû-stone, kohl, camels, (and) prime quality donkeys as annual payment.

(ii 35) (As for) Ammi-ladīn — the king of the land Qedar, who, like him (Iautaʾ), had turned hostile (and) repeatedly plundered the kings of the land Amurru, servants who belonged to me, whom you made bow down at my feet — (ii 40) by invoking m[y] name [wh]ich (the god) Aššur had made great, I captu[red] Ammi-lad[īn (and) the res]t of his [peo]ple who had escaped [the slaughter]. I placed (his) hands and feet in iron f[etter]s and brought [him] to Assyria.

(ii 46) I inflicted [a h]eavy defeat on Adiya, the queen of the land of the Arabs. I burned [her] tents [wi]th fire. I captured her al[i]ve (and) [took h]er to Assyria, [to]gether with the plunder of [her] la[nd].

(ii 51) [Na]tnu, the k[ing of the land of the N]abayateans — who[se] location is [r]emote — heard about the mig[ht of (the god) Aš]šur, who had encouraged me. The one who (ii 55) had never sent his messenger t[o the k]ings, my ancestors, (and) had never inquired about the well-be[i]ng of their royal majesties — after you had deranged the mind of Uaiteʾ (Iautaʾ), the king of the land of the Arabs, (and) had commanded the scattering of his land, (and after) he had fled to the land of the Nabayateans (and) (ii 60) had gone before Natnu, Natnu said the following to Uaiteʾ (Iautaʾ), (iii 1) saying: “Can I myself be spared from the grasp of Ashurbanipal, whose help is (the god) Aššur? Nevertheless, you have made me your stronghold!” Natnu became frightened and distressed. (iii 5) He sent his messenger to me to inquire about my well-being and kissed my feet. He was constantly beseeching my lordly majesty to conclude a treaty (and) peace agreement, (and) to do obeisance to me. I myself looked with pleasure upon him and tur[ned] my benevolent face towards him. I imposed [upon him] annual tribute payment.

(iii 12) On account of [thes]e words which U[aiteʾ (Iautaʾ) ...] to Natnu, I became enraged [...] (iii 15) for a second time [...] ... [... (iii 20) I safely crossed] the Tigris [and Euphrates] Rivers when they were in ful[l] spate, traveled on re[mote] paths, climbed hi[gh] mountains, crept through forests whose canop(ies) were wide, (and) (iii 25) constantly passed between tall trees, thorn bush(es), brambles, (and) path(s filled with) eddittu-bush(es). Through desert — a place of parching thirst (iii 30) in which no bird of the heavens, onagers, (or) gazelles exist — a distance of one hundred leagues from Nineveh, the city loved by the goddess Ištar — the wife of the god Enlil — I advanced (and) marched against Uaiteʾ, the king of the land of the Arabs.

(iii 35) In the month Simānu (III), the month of the god Sîn — the el[de]st (and) foremost son of the god Enlil — on the twenty-fifth day, the procession of the Lady of Babylon, the honored one of the great gods, I set out from the city Ḫadattâ (and) (iii 40) set up my camp at the city Laribda, a stone fortress, next to water cisterns. My [troop]s d[rew] water to (fill) their drinking vessel(s), [and] (then) [adv]anced (and) mar[ched] (iii 45) (through) a lan[d of] par[ching t]hirst (lit. “a lan[d of t]hirst (and) a place of pa[rching]”) as far as the city Ḫura[rīna], (which is) between the cities [Yarki] and Azall[a, in the desert, a distant place] where t[here are] no creatures of the steppe (iii 50) and (where) no bird of the heavens makes (its) ne[st]. They brought about a defeat among the Yisammeʾ, the confederation of the god Atar-samayin, and the Nabayateans. (iii 55) They (lit. “I”) plundered countless people, donkeys, camels, and sheep and goats. My troops marched about on the right and left over a distance of eight leagues. They returned safely and drank water in the city Azalla.

(iii 59) They (my troops) advanced (and) marched from the city Azalla to the city Qu<ra>ṣiti, a distance of six leagues (through) a place of parching thirst. (iv 1) They (lit. “I”) surrounded the confederation of the god Atar-samayi[n] and the Qederites of Uaiteʾ, son of Bir-Dāda, the king of the land of the Arabs and Qederites. (iv 5) (As for) his gods, his mother, his sisters, his wife, his family, the people of the land Qedar, all (of it), donkeys, camels, and sheep and goats, as many as I had captured with the support of (the god) Aššur, my lord, I made them take the road to the city Damascus.

(iv 11) In the month Abu (V), the month of the bow-star — the warrior, daughter of the god Sîn — (on) the third day, (the day of) the evening meal of the king of the gods — the god Marduk — I set out from the city Damascus. I advanced (and) marched a distance of six leagues, (iv 15) (all) [n]i[g]h[t] un[ti]l daybreak, as [far as the city Ḫu]lḫuliti, at Mount Ḫukkuruna, a rugg[ed] mountain. (iv 20) I reached the confederation of Abī-Yat[eʾ], son of Tēʾr[i], the Qederite. I brought about his defeat (and) plundered hi[m]. (As for) Abī-Yateʾ (and) Aya-ammu, son of Tē[ʾri], by the command of (the god) Aššur, my lord, I capture[d] them alive in the thick of ba[ttle]. (iv 25) I placed (their) hands and feet in iron fetters (and) took them to Assyria — (to) the fortified city (Nineveh) that you generously granted me — together with plunder from their land.