Nebuchadnezzar II 021

(i 1) Nebuchadnezzar (II), king of Babyl[o]n, pious prince, the one selected by the steadfast heart of the god Marduk, the true shepherd who ensures that the sanctuaries of the god Nabû are looked after correctly, the one who plea[s]es their hearts, the exalted ruler who is every day mindful of provisioning Esagil and Ezida and (who) constantly seeks out good things for Babylon and Borsippa, the wise (and) pious one who provides for Esagil and Ez[i]da, the foremost heir of Nabopolassar, king of Babylon, a[m I].

(i 9) When the god Marduk, the great lord, the god who created m[e], steadfastly named me and magnificently commissioned m[e] (to perform) good things for his city Babylon, I myself am constantly present (and) unfailing towards the god Marduk, my lord, (and) all day, without ceasing, (my mind) pondered things that were pleasing to him.

(i 13) I provided Esagil with silver, gold, precious (and) valuable stone(s), copper, musukkannu-wood, ce[dar], (and) an abundance of anything that is valuable, leaving nothing (else) to be desired, and made its sheen shine forth like the sun.

(i 16) I completed Ezida and decorated (it) as beautifully as the stars (lit. “writings”) of the heavens.

(i 17) (With regard to) Imgur-Enlil and Nēmetti-Enlil, the great wall(s) of Babyl[on] that Nabopolassar, the king of Babylon, my father who had eng[endered me], had built and [whose] foundation(s) he had put in good order, (something) that no king who had come before him had done previously; (that) he had surrounded the city on the outside with a fourteen-baked-brick(-thick) embankment for its moat using bitumen and baked brick; (that) he built the embankment of the Araḫtu River using bitumen and baked brick from the gate of the goddess Ištar to the gate of the god Uraš and constructed piers of baked brick on the other side of the Euphrates River, but he did not complete the rest;

(i 27) that which in the distant past no king among the (former) king(s) had built (and) that which no king of the past had do[ne], (he did); for the protection of Babylon, 4,000 cubits distance outside of Babylon, he surrounded the eastern bank of Babylon, from the bank of the Euphrates River upstream of the city to the bank of the Euphrates River downstream of the city, with a fortified wall, dug its canal, and built its embankment wall(s) using bitumen and baked brick —

(i 32) As for me, his first-born son, the beloved of his heart, with the wisdom that the gods Ea and Marduk had granted [me], I co[mpleted] everything that my father who had engendered me had done, ... Imgur-Enlil and Nēmetti-Enlil, the wall[s ...].

(i 36) I had Ištar-sākipat-tēbîša, (the gate) of (both) Imgur-Enlil and Nē[metti-Enlil], the entrance gate to the place where the gods are checked, the bro[ad] gate of Babylon, resplendently built using baked bricks (colored with) shining blue glaze. At its door-jamb(s), (I did something) that no king of the past had done: I created and stationed fierce wild bulls of copper and [raging] mušḫuššu-dragons.

(ii 2) On the outside of Imgur-Enlil, alongside the embankment that my father had constructed, I built a strong twenty-one-baked-brick(-thick) embankment using bitumen and baked brick and I adjoined (it) to the embankment that my father had constructed. I secured its foundation on the surface (lit. “breast”) of the netherworld and raised its superstructure as high as a mountain.

(ii 7) On the western bank, I surrounded the wall of Babylon with an embankment of baked bricks. Alongside the embankment of the Araḫtu (River) that my father had built, I built a strong embankment like a mountain using bitumen and baked brick.

(ii 10) (With regard to) the wall that my father who had engendered me had built alongside the wall for the protection of Babylon, but whose construction he had not completed, I completed that wall and raised its superstructure. I dug out its moat and reached the water table. I built three strong thirty-six-baked-brick(-thick) embankments and I adjoined (them) to the embankment that (my) father had constructed.

(ii 16) On [its] embankment, [I built] a fortified wall, which like a mountain [cannot be shaken], using bitumen and baked brick [and] raised its superstructure as hi[gh as a mountain]. I constructed its broad gates (and) fitted each of them with doors (made) of cedar with a facing of bronze.

(ii 21) At that time, I constantly strove (to do things) to strengthen the protection [of] Esagil and Babylon. Beside Nēmetti-Enlil, the outer wall of Babylon, from the bank of the Euphrates River up to the lower corner of Nēmetti-Enlil, which faces east, (at) a distance of 335 cubits from Nēmetti-Enlil on the outside, using bitumen and baked brick, I built [o]ne embankment (whose width was) thirty-two baked bricks (and) a second embankment (whose width was) twenty-three baked bricks, [(altogether) two] strong embankments, one in front of the other. I secured their foundation(s) directly on the apsû, [i]n the water table far below, and raised their superstructure(s) as high as mountain(s).

(ii 33) I fashion[ed] a baked brick structure between them like a mountain [and, on t]op of them, I built to a great height a kummu-building (made) of large gegunnûs.

(ii 36) I skillfully strengthened (Esagil’s and Babylon’s) [protect]ion and established [the city of B]abylon as a fortress.

(ii 38) [O Marduk], great lord, look upon my [handiw]ork with favor and pleasure and may [good things about] me be set upon your lips. [By] your holy [command], which cannot be altered, [proclaim the prolongation of] my days (and) command my (attainment of) very old age. May [everything that I have bu]ilt endure and stay in good repair [forev]er (and) I may be sated with its luxuriousness. [By] your true [command], which cannot be overturned, may I not have (any) enemies nor acquire (any) troublemaker(s).