from A.K. Grayson, Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles (1975) and Jean-Jacques Glassner, Mesopotamian Chronicles (Atlanta, 2004).
An Anatolian fort, on an Assyrian relief from Nimrod (Louvre)
The Chronicle Concerning Year Three of Neriglissar (ABC 6) is one of the historiographical texts from ancient Babylonia. It deals with king Neriglissar (= Nergal-šarra-usur) and his war in the far west in 557/556 BCE. Unlike other chronicles, this text is very rich in detail.
This chronicle, like Chronicles 2, 4, 9, and 15, is inscribed on a tablet, BM 25124 (98-2-16, 178), which has the shape of a Neo-Babylonian business tablet. It measures 58 mm wide and 46 mm long. There are only minor lacunae in the tablet.
Translation
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1 The third year (557/556): on the Nth day of the month […], Appuašu, the king of Pirindu, |
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2 mustered a large army and set out[3] to plunder and sack |
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3 Syria. Neriglissar |
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4 mustered his army and marched to Hume [Cilicia] to oppose him. |
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5 Before his arrival Appuašu placed[7] |
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6 the army and cavalry which he had organized |
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7 in a mountain valley ambush. |
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8 When Neriglissar reached them he inflicted a defeat upon them |
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9 and conquered the large army. The army and numerous horses |
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10 he captured. He pursued[12] Appuašu |
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11 for a distance of fifteen double-hours and marched through difficult mountains, where men must walk in single file, |
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12 as far as Ura, the royal city. |
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13 He captured him, seized Ura, and sacked it. |
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14 [Erasure] |
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15-17 When he had marched for a distance of six double hours through rough mountains and difficult passes, from Ura to Kirši -his forefather’s royal city- |
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18 he captured Kirši, the mighty city, his royal metropolis. |
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19 He burnt its wall, its palace, and its people. |
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20 Pitusu, a land in the midst of the ocean, |
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21 and six thousand combat troops who were stationed in it |
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22 he captured by means of boats. He destroyed their city |
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23 and captured their people. In that same year from the pass |
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24 of Sallune to the border |
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25 of Lydia he started fires. Appuašu |
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26 fled, so he did not capture him. In the month of Addaru the king of Akkad |
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27 went home. |