Nebuchadnezzar II 109
| Obverse | ||
| Column i | ||
| i 1i 1 | (i 1) Nebuchadnezzar (II), king of Babylon, the wise (and) capable one, favorite of the god Marduk, governor of the land of Sumer and Akkad, the one who makes the foundations of the land firm, the pious prince whose name the god Marduk — the great lord — called to provide for the cult centers and renovate sanctuaries (and) in whose hands the god Nabû — the triumphant heir — let grasp the rod that protects the people for widening the land and leading humankind in the right way, the wise (and) pious one who provides for Esagil and Ezida, foremost heir of Nabopolassar, king of Babylon, am I. | |
| i 22 | ||
| i 33 | ||
| i 44 | ||
| i 55 | ||
| i 66 | ||
| i 77 | ||
| i 88 | ||
| i 99 | ||
| i 1010 | ||
| i 1111 | ||
| i 1212 | ||
| i 1313 | IBILA SAG.KAL ša dAG-IBILA-ú-ṣu-úr LUGAL KÁ.DINGIR.RA.KI a-na-ku | |
| i 1414 | (i 14) When the god Marduk, the great lord, happily named me and order the enduring name for be king, as for me, I was reverently (and) I constantly sought him out and (my mind) pondered his divinity. I am praying submissively to the god Nabû, his legitimate heir, the one who loves my royal majesty (and) I praise his lordship. | |
| i 1515 | ||
| i 1616 | ||
| i 1717 | ||
| i 1818 | ||
| i 1919 | (i 19) I provided Esagil and Ezida, the palace(s) beloved by their heart(s), with gold, silver, precious (and) fine stone, and tall cedars and I made (them) shine like the interior of the heavens. | |
| i 2020 | i-na KÙ.GI KÙ.BABBAR ni-sì-iq-tim NA₄.NA₄ da-am-qú-ú-tim ù GIŠ.EREN ši-ḫu-ú-tim az-nu-un-ma | |
| i 2121 | ||
| i 2222 | e-eš-re-e-ti DINGIR GAL.GAL e-ma bi-ib-il li-ib-bi-šu-nu ú-še-e-pí na-am-ri-iš | (i 22) I made the sanctuaries of the great gods, wherever their hearts’ desired, shine forth resplendently. |
| i 2323 | (i 23) (With regard to) Ebabbar, the bright shrine, the residence of the god Šamaš — the judge — which in the distant past had turned into ruins inside Sippar and which no king of the past had (re)built, the god Šamaš, (my) lord, commanded me — the ruler of whom he approves — to build (it). | |
| i 2424 | ša iš-tu u₄-um ru-qú-ú-tim i-na qé-re-eb ZIMBIR.KI in-na-mu-ú-ma | |
| i 2525 | ||
| i 2626 | ||
| i 2727 | (i 27) I examined (and) checked the original foundation(s) and (then) I laid its (new) foundations over its original foundation(s). I built (and) completed Ebabbar as (it had been) in ancient times and (then) I made (it) shine like daylight. During joyous celebrations, I made the god Šamaš and the goddess Aya take up residence inside them, (on) their exalted seat(s). | |
| i 2828 | ||
| i 2929 | ||
| i 3030 | ||
| i 3131 | ||
| i 3232 | ||
| Column ii | ||
| ii 1ii 1 | ì-nu-mi-šu é-ul-la É dnin-kar-ra-ak-a ša qé-re-eb ZIMBIR.KI2 | (ii 1) At that time, (with regard to) Eulla, the temple of the goddess Ninkarrak, which is inside Sippar, which from distant days, far-off years, (that) temple had not been kept in good repair so that its plans were in ruins, its ground plans were no (longer) recognizable (and) covered with earth. It was no longer mentioned among the (other) sanctuaries of the gods, (its) sattukku-offering(s) were cut off (and) ceased to be talked about, (and) its nindabû-offerings stopped (completely). |
| ii 22 | ||
| ii 33 | ||
| ii 44 | ||
| ii 55 | ||
| ii 66 | it-ti e-eš-re-e-tì DINGIR.DINGIR la in-na-am-bu-ù pí-it-ru-su sa-at-tu-uk-ku | |
| ii 77 | ||
| ii 88 | (ii 8) Because I myself took hold of the hem of the god Marduk, my lord, the god Marduk, (my) lord, loves me. He entrusted to me (the task of) renewing sanctuaries (and) restoring (their) destroyed parts. During my legitimate reign, the merciful god Marduk became reconciled with that temple (Eulla) and the god Šamaš, the exalted judge, decreed (its) renewal. They (Marduk and Šamaš) commanded me, the shepherd who reveres them, to (re)built (it). | |
| ii 99 | ||
| ii 1010 | ||
| ii 1111 | ||
| ii 1212 | ||
| ii 1313 | ||
| ii 1414 | ||
| ii 1515 | ||
| ii 1616 | ||
| ii 1717 | ||
| ii 1818 | (ii 18) (As) I examined (and) checked its original foundation(s), the mention of the name of the goddess Ninkarrak, who dwells in Eulla, (which) was written on (a figurine of) a dog, was discovered and (thus) I laid its (new) foundation(s) on top of the (original) foundation(s). | |
| ii 1919 | ||
| ii 2020 | ṣe-e-ri UR.GI₇ ša-ṭi-ir-ma i-na qé-er₄-bi-šu in-na-am-mi-ir-ma | |
| ii 2121 | ||
| ii 2222 | (ii 22) For the goddess Ninkarrak, the lady who loves me, the one who safeguards my life (and) preserves the well-being of my descendants, I built anew Eulla, her temple that its inside Sippar. I lavishly provided (once again) her sattukku-offering(s) and (re)confirmed her nindabû-offering(s). | |
| ii 2323 | na-ṣi-ra-at na-pí-iš-<ti>-ia mu-ša-<al>-li-ma-at pe-er-ʾi-ia é-ul-la É-sa ša qé-re-eb ZIMBIR.KI | |
| ii 2424 | ||
| ii 2525 | ||
| ii 2626 | ||
| ii 2727 | (ii 27) O Ninkarrak, exalted lady, look upon my handiwork with pleasure [so that] good things about me are set upon your lips. Grant me a life of distant days, the attainment of very old age, good health, and happiness. | |
| ii 2828 | ||
| ii 2929 | ||
| ii 3030 | ||
| ii 3131 | ||
| ii 3232 | ||
| ii 3333 | (ii 33) Make my deeds find acceptance in the presence of the gods Šamaš and Marduk (and) say good thing(s) about me (to them). | |
| ii 3434 |
1a-ḫi-iṭ ab-re-e-ma “I examined (and) checked”: This two-word combination is attested eleven other times in the Nebuchadnezzar II corpus. It is attested once in Nabopolassar’s inscriptions, once in Neriglissar’s texts, and twice in Nabonidus’ inscriptions.
2These lines are also known from Nbk. 110 (C37) iii 13–59. For further information (including earlier scholarly literature) on Eulla, the temple of the goddess Ninkarrak, see p. 28 of the present volume.
Created by Frauke Weiershäuser and Jamie Novotny, 2015-25, for the Munich Open-access Cuneiform Corpus Initiative (MOCCI), a corpus-building initiative funded by LMU Munich, the Henkel Foundation, and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (through the establishment of the Alexander von Humboldt Chair for Ancient History of the Near and Middle East), and and based at the Historisches Seminar - Abteilung Alte Geschichte of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. The annotated edition is released under the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike license 3.0. At the present time, there is no stable, citable URL for this text and, therefore, the RINBE team kindly requests that this edition be cited as "RIBo Nebuchadnezzar II C211".