Sennacherib, great king, strong king, king of the world, king of Assyria, king of the four quarters (of the world), leader of a widespread population, the one who fashioned image(s) of (the god) Aššur and the great gods, the one who carries out to perfection the forgotten rites of Ešarra through divination, at the command of (5) the gods Šamaš and Adad, the one who makes great their purification rites, the one who returns the abandoned protective spirit of Ešarra to its place, who knows well how to revere the gods of heaven and the gods of Assyria, who exalts the great gods in their dwellings, who makes their accoutrements great,

the builder of Assyria, the one who brings his cult centers to completion, the one who makes enemy land(s) obedient, the one who destroys their settlements, the one who has canals dug, the one who opens streams, the one who makes watercourses gush, the one who establishes abundance and plenty in the wide plains of Assyria, the one who provides irrigation water in the meadows of Assyria — (15) which from the days of yore no one in Assyria had seen or known canals and artificial irrigation and which none in bygone times had used —

the one who makes brickwork structures (lit. “the craft of the god Kulla”) secure, from buildings for the living to tombs befitting the dead (made) from limestone, stone from the mountains, with which none of (20) the kings of the past (who came) before me in Assyria had used, circumspect ruler whose dominion is more praised than (that of all) kings who sit on (royal) daises, the support of his land, the one who is trustworthy in battle and combat, (and) the protection of his troops, I:

Then, after I had made the image of (the god) Aššur, the great lord, my lord, and the image(s) of the great gods, and installed them in their peaceful dwellings, in the month Nisannu (I), the first month, (the month) of father Enlil, the month of the heliacal rising of (25) the Plow-star: The festival of the feast of the king of the gods, (the god) Aššur, which from distant days, because of chaos and disruption, (and) the akītu-house of the steppe had been forgotten; the rites of the king of the gods, (the god) Aššur, had been performed inside the city. With (regard to) that work, I made up my mind to (re)build th(at) akītu-house, and (then) I found out the will of the gods Šamaš (and) Adad, and they answered me with a firm ‘yes’ and commanded me to (re)build (it).

In a favorable month, on a propitious day, through the craft of the purification priest (and) the wisdom of the exorcist, I laid its foundation with limestone, stone from the mountains, and I raised its superstructure. I completed it from its foundations to its crenellations with stone from the mountains and raised it as high as a mountain. I had two canals dug around each of its sides, and (then) (35) I had it surrounded with a lush garden, an orchard with fruit, and placed a splendid plantation around it.

After I destroyed Babylon, smashed its gods, (and) put its people to the sword, I removed its earth in order to make the site of that city unrecognizable and I had (it) carried to the sea by the Euphrates River. (When) its dirt (40) reached Dilmun and the people of Dilmun saw (it), fear (and) terror of (the god) Aššur fell upon them and they brought their audience gift(s) to me. Together with their audience gift(s), they sent people mustered from their land, corvée workers, (with) bronze spades (and) bronze plowshares, tools manufactured in their land, in order to demolish Babylon.

In order to pacify (the god) Aššur, my lord, for people to sing the praises of his might, (and) for the admiration of future people, I removed dirt from Babylon and piled (it) up in heaps (and) mounds in that akītu-house.

While laying the foundation of the akītu-house, the audience gift of Karib-il, king of the land Saba — pappardilû-stone, choice stones, (and) fine aromatics — [wa]s presented to me (50) and from that audience gift I laid stones (and) aromatics in its foundation. Like ..., I ... silver, gold, carnelian, lapis lazuli, ḫulālu-stone, muššaru-stone, pappardilû-stone, papparmīnu-stone, dāmātu-paste, (and) all of the finest aromatics in the foundation of that akītu-house. I sprinkled that foundation with perfumed oil (and) fine oil as (abundantly as) river water.

O you, foundation inscription, speak favorable things to (the god) Aššur about Sennacherib, king of Assyria, the one who loves correct behavior, the one who fashioned the image of (the god) Aššur, (and) the one who built (this) temple, so that his offspring, his sons, (and) his grandsons may flourish together with Baltil (Aššur) and Ešarra (and) endure forever with the black-headed (people).

May any future ruler whom (the god) Aššur names for shepherding the land and people (and) during whose reign that temple becomes dilapidated renovate its dilapidated section(s). May he find my inscribed objects, anoint (them) with oil, make an offering, (and) put (them) back in their (text: “its”) place. (The god) Aššur will (then) hear his prayers.

(As for) the one who alters my inscribed object (and) disrespects my words, who does [un]kind things t[o] ... and their offspring, may (the god) Aššur, king of the gods, and the great gods of heaven and netherworld curse him with a harsh, [ir]reversible curse, and may they overthrow his kingship, deprive him of his life, (and) make his name, his seed, his offspring, and his progeny disappear in all lands.