Sometime between 668 and 652, Ashurbanipal set up four silver-plated (and inscribed) statues of wild bulls (rīmu) in two prominent gateways of Ezida ("True House"), the temple of the god Nabû at Borsippa: in the Gate of the Rising Sun and the Gate of Lamma-RA.BI.[137] Later in his reign, sometime after V-648 and before 6-II-639, although Kandalānu was the king of Babylon, Ashurbanipal stationed an additional pair of wild bulls in the Luguduene Gate, as well as outfitting the god of scribes' temple with lavish appurtenances and architectural features, including (re)casting Kizalaga ("Bright Place"), the seat of the god Nūru, from a large amount of zaḫalû-metal (a silver alloy); setting up silver(-plated) pirkus (meaning uncertain) in the gates Kamaḫ and Kanamtila; and fashioning a reddish gold threshold (askuppu).[138]
In addition, prior to the outbreak of the Brothers' War in 652, Ashurbanipal restored Borsippa's city wall, Ṭābi-supūršu ("Its Fold Is Pleasant").[139]
[137] Novotny and Jeffers, RINAP 5/1 p. 104 Asb. 5 (Prism I) ii 6–8; p. 114 Asb. 6 (Prism C) i 44´–47´; p. 139 Asb. 7 (Prism Kh) i 14´–17´; p. 216 Asb. 10 (Prism T) ii 1–6; and Jeffers and Novotny, RINAP 5/2 p. 308 Asb. 215 (Edition L) i 26´–29´: and p. 354 Asb. 229 i 10´–13´. Ashurbanipal's father Esarhaddon and the Neo-Babylonian king Nabonidus also set up statues of wild bulls in gateways of Ezida. See Leichty, RINAP 4 p. 117 Esarhaddon 54 (Smlt.) rev. 10b–16a; and Weiershäuser and Novotny, RINBE 2 p. 76 Nabonidus 4 Frgm. 7 ii´ 1´–11´. Tablet fragment K 6806 (Asb. 1028) preserves parts of the last two lines of an inscription that was written on the metal plating of wild bulls erected in Ezida at Borsippa, which is evident from the subscript (rev. 3´), which reads "That which (is written) upon the wild bulls of Borsippa [(...)]." It is uncertain if this inscription was composed in the name of Esarhaddon or Ashurbanipal. For information on this Ezida temple, see George, House Most High pp. 159–160 no. 1236.
[138] Novotny and Jeffers, RINAP 5/1 p. 267 Asb. 12 (Prism H) i 4´–13´a; pp. 275–276 Asb. 13 (Prism J) ii 15´–30´; pp. 293–294 Asb. 22 i 5´–12´; and p. 303 Asb. 23 (IIT) lines 54–59.
[139] Asb. 253.
Jamie Novotny
Jamie Novotny, 'Borsippa', RINAP 5: The Royal Inscriptions of Ashurbanipal, Aššur-etel-ilāni, and Sîn-šarra-iškun, The RINAP/RINAP 5 Project, a sub-project of MOCCI, 2023 [http://oracc.org/rinap/rinap5/rinap53introduction/buildinginbabylonia/borsippa/]