Tukulti-Ninurta I 44add

(1) Tukultī-Ninurta (I), strong king, king of all of the people, ruler, vice-regent of (the god) Aššur, the foremost purification priest, ruler of rulers, the able favourite of the god Enlil, true shepherd, king (whose) decree cannot be rivalled, designate of the god Anu, the one who understands, the wise one, who reaches the utmost boundaries of wisdom, the beloved of the god Niššiku (Ea), the pure one, worthy representative of kingship (lit. “scepter and crown”), designate of the god Sîn, root of lordliness, attentive ruler, creature of the god Šamaš (and) his offspring, king of kings, fierce anger, king of the god Adad’s choice, the one who shakes resistance, understanding of the god Ninurta, courageous, destructive weapon of the gods, a Deluge of battle, a fierce storm, the incontestable attack, select of the goddess Ištar, provider of the gods of heaven (and) netherworld, loved one of the Igīgū gods, strong king, king of Assyria and king of Karduniaš (Babylonia), king of Sumer and Akkad, king of Sippar and Babylon, king of Dilmun and Meluḫḫa, king of the Upper and Lower Seas, king of the extensive mountains and plains, king of the lands of Šubarû (and) Qutû and king of all of the Naʾiri lands, king obedient to his gods, receiver in the city Aššur of valuable booty from the four quarters (of the world); son of Shalmaneser (I), king of the world, king of Assyria; (and) son of Adad-nārārī (I), (who was) also king of the world (and) king of Assyria.

(24) At the beginning of my kingship (lit. “at the beginning of the throne of my kingship”), at the beginning of my reign, I uprooted 28,800 Hittites from Across the Euphrates River (Syria-Palestine) and led (them) into my land. I conquered the lands Qutû, Uqumanî, Elḫunia and Šarnida, (and) Meḫri. I brought about in battle the defeat of the extensive army of the (land) Papḫû.

(30b) I became the lord of the lands Katmuḫi, Alzi, (A)madani, Niḫani, Alaya, Tepurzi, (and) Purulumzi, and the entirety of wide land Šubarû. I cut straight as a string through the rocky mountains of the Naʾiri lands. I made (their) forty kings and their troops bow down at my feet. Moreover, I imposed (upon them) corvée.

(37b) At that time, I approached Kaštiliašu, the king of Karduniaš (Babylonia), to do battle. I brought about the defeat of his armies and struck down his warriors. In the midst of that battle, I captured Kaštiliašu, the king of the Kassites. I brought him bound as a captive into the presence of the god Aššur, my lord. I became the lord of Sumer and Akkad to its full extent. I stood over them with joy and excellence.

(46) At that time, the god Aššur, my lord, requested of me a cult center on the bank opposite my city, the desired object of the gods (the city Aššur), and he commanded me to build his sanctuary. At the command of the god Aššur, the god who loves me, I built before my city, Aššur, a city for the god Aššur on the opposite bank, beside the Tigris River, in uncultivated plains (and) meadows, where there was neither house nor dwelling, where no ruin hill(s) or earth had accumulated, and no bricks had been laid. I called it Kār-Tukultī-Ninurta.

(55) I surrounded it with two walls (and) piled up heaps of earth in front of th(at) wall. Moreover, I dug a large moat around the circumference of th(at) wall. In my city, Kār-Tukultī-Ninurta, which I love, I constructed magnificent daises to serve as armchairs for the great gods and goddesses, my lords.

(60b) I cut straight as a string through rocky terrain, cleared a way through high difficult mountains with stone chisels, cut a wide path for a stream that supports life in the land (and) that provides abundance, (and) transformed the plains of my city into irrigated fields. From the produce of the waters of that canal, I arranged for eternity the ginû-offerings the god Aššur and the great gods, my lords.

(67) At that time, I constructed the wall of my city, Kār-Tukultī-Ninurta, and strengthened (it). I completed (it) from its foundations to its crenellations. Moreover, I deposited my commemorative inscription (therein).

(70b) May a future ruler, when that wall becomes dilapidated and old, renovate its dilapidated section(s). May he anoint my commemorative inscription with oil, make offerings, (and) return (it) to its place. The gods Aššur, Enlil, and Šamaš will (then) listen to his prayers.

(74) (As for) the one who does not renovate the dilapidated section(s) of that and does not ... my commemorative inscriptions, may (those three gods) make his name and his seed disappear from the land.