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The Synchronous History of Assyria and Babylonia

Records of the Past, 2nd Series, Vol. IV , ed. by A.H. Sayce, [1890], at sacred-texts.com

 

(Texts: All Artifacts, Color Coding, & Writings in Bold Type With Italics Inside Parenthesis, are Added by Editor R. Brown, not the Authors, Translators, or Publishers!)

(gods in bluemixed-breed demigods in teal…)

 

Obverse

COLUMN I.—The Commencement is destroyed

1. Kara-indas king of Kar-Du[nias]

2. and Assur-bil-nisi-su king of Assyria a covenant

3. between them with one another established;

4. and they gave an oath of their own accord 1 to one another in regard to the boundaries.

____________

5. Buzur-Assur king of Assyria and Burna-buryas

6. king of Kar-Dunias had a conference, and a definite

7. boundary they fixed of their own accord.

____________

8. In the time of Assur-yuballidh king of Assyria, Kara-Murudas

9. king of Kar-Dunias the son of Muballidhat-Serua

10. the daughter of Assur-yuballidh, soldiers of the Kassi 2

11. revolted against and slew him. Nazi-bugas

12. [a man of] low parentage they raised to the kingdom to be over them.

____________

13. [Bel-nirari to] exact vengeance

14. [for Kara-]Murudas 1 [his nephew] marched to Kar-Duniyas.

15. [Nazi-]bugas king of Kar-Du[ni]as he slew;

16. [Kuri-]galzu the second, the son of Burna-buryas,

17. he appointed to the kingdom; on the throne of [his] father [he seated him].

____________

18. In the time of Bel-nirari king of Assyria Kuri-galzu the second 2 [king of Kar- Dunias]

19. with Bel-nirari king of Assyria in the city of ’Sugagi which is upon the [Tigris]

20. fought. He utterly defeated him. His soldiers [he slew].

21. His camp he spoiled. From the ascent (?) to the land of Subari 3

22. as far as the land of Kar-Dunias they neutralized 4 the country and fixed (it);

23. a definite boundary they established.

____________

24. Rimmon-nirari king of Assyria 5 (and) Nazi-Murudas king of Kar-Dunias

25. fought with one another in the city of Kar-Istar-Agar’sallu. 6

26. Rimmon-nirari utterly overthrew Nazi-Murudas.

27. He shattered his forces; 7 his camp (and) his tutelary gods 8 he took from him.

28. In regard to a definite boundary, willingly (?) 1

29. their boundaries from the direction of the country of Pilasqi

30. on the farther 2 banks of the Tigris (and) the city of Arman-[Agar]’sali

31. as far as (the country) of Lulume they established and fixed.

____________

COLUMN II

Lacuna.

1. his servants he made

2. as far as the city of Kullar

____________

3. Bel-kudur-utsur king of Assyria Uras-[pileser] 3

4. had slain. Bel-kudur-utsur did Rimmon-[suma-natsir 4 king of Kar-Dunias avenge].

5. With combat (and) slaughter thereupon Uras-pileser [was defeated, and]

6. to his country returned. His many soldiers [did Rimmon-suma-natsir collect, and]

7. marched to the city of Assur to capture (it).

8. In the midst of it he fought. He turned about and [returned to his own land].

____________

9. In the time of Zamama-suma-iddin 5 king of [Kar-Dunias]

10. Assur-danan 6 king of Assyria [marched] against Kar-Du[nias].

11. The cities of Zaban, Irriya (and) Agar’sal [he captured].

12. [Their spoil] in abundance [he carried away] to Assyria. 1

____________

Lacuna.

1. … to his own country [Assur-ris-ilim] 2 returned. After him Nebo-[kudur-utsur king of Kar-Dunias]

2. carried his war-engines. To the passes on the frontier of the land of [Assyria]

3. to conquer he went. Assur-ris-ilim king of Assyria

4. mustered his chariots to march against him.

5. Nebo-kudur-utsur, because his engines could not advance, burned his baggage 3 with fire;

6. he turned about and returned to his own country.

7. Nebo-kudur-utsur again (with) a chariot and grooms to the edge of the frontier

8. of Assyria marched to conquer. Assur-ris-ilim

9. sent chariots (and) grooms for defense. 4

10. He fought with him; he utterly overthrew him; his soldiers he slew;

11. his camp he spoiled, after they had brought back forty of his chariots (with their) coverings.

12. They had taken a standard 5 which went before his host.

____________

13. Tiglath-pileser 6 king of Assyria smote Merodach-nadin-akhi king of Kar- Dunias

14. a second time (with) a squadron of chariots, as many as over against the city of Zaban

15. (on) the Lower (Zab) in the direction of the city of Arzukhina he made,

16. in the second year, on the shore of the sea which is above the land of Accad.

17. The cities of Dur-Kurigalzu, 1 Sippara (Sippar) of Samas (Utu),

18. Sippara of Anunit (Inanna), 2

19. Babylon (and) Upe, 3 great strongholds,

20. together with their fortresses, he captured.

21. At that time the city of Agar’sal

22. together with the city of Lubdi he devastated. 4

23. The country of the Shuhites 5 as far as the city of Rapiqi, throughout its whole extent, [he conquered].

____________

24. In the time of Assur-bil-kala 6 king [of Assyria, he and]

25. Merodach-sapik-kullat king of Kar-Du[nias],

26. friendship 7 (and) complete alliance

27. with one another made.

28. In the time of Assur-bil-kala king of [Assyria]

29. Merodach-sapik-kullat was over[come] by death.

30. Rimmon-bal-iddina the son 8 of Ê-Saggil-saduni the son of a plebeian

31. they raised to the sovereignty over them.

32. [Assur-]bil-kala king of Assyria

33. took (to wife) the daughter of Rimmon-bal-iddina king of Kar-Dunias.

34. Her large dowry he brought to Assyria.

35. The men of Assyria (and) of Kar-Dunias

36. [lived at peace] with one another.

Reverse

COLUMN III

1. In the time of Rimmon-nirari 1 king of Assyria, (he and)

2. Samas-suma-damiq king of Kar-Dunias

3. set their forces in battle array at the foot of mount Yalman.

4. Rimmon-nirari king of Assyria overthrew Samas-suma-damiq

5. king of Kar-Dunias utterly.

6. He shattered his forces: 2 [his] chariots [and horses harnessed]

7. to the yoke [he carried away].

8. Samas-suma-damiq king of [Kar-Dunias]

9. did Nebo-suma-iskun [slay].

10. Rimmon-nirari king [of Assyria with] Nebo-suma-iskun

11. king [of Kar-Dunias] fought; he utterly overthrew him.

12. [The cities of] Bambala (and) Khuda[du] 3

13. [and] many [other] cities

14. [he captured, and] their abundant spoil

15. he took [to Assyria].

16. … tsalmati was overcome by death.

17. … concerning their daughter(s) they [spoke] to one another.

18. [Friendship and] complete alliance they [made] with one another.

19. The men of Assyria (and) Accad 4 were united 5 with one another.

20. From the Tel 6 of Bit-Bari which is above the city of Za[ban]

21. as far as the Tel of Batani 7 and (the Tel) of the city of Zabdani they fixed the boundary-line.

____________

22. [In the] time of Shalmaneser 1 king of [Assyria]

23. [and Nebo-]bal-iddina king of Kar-Duni[as]

24. friendship (and) complete alliance

25. [with] one another they made. In the time of Shalmaneser king [of Assyria]

26. [Nebo-]bal-iddina king of Kar-Dunias was [overcome] by death.

27. Merodach-nadin-sumi sat on the throne of his father.

28. Merodach-bil-u’sate his brother revolted against him.

29. He seized [the city] of [Ah]daban. The country of Accad

30. was disturbed [everywhere]. Shalmaneser king of [Assyria]

31. to the help of Merodach-nadin-[sumi]

32. king of Kar-Dunias marched.

33. Merodach-bil-u’sate the king he smote. 2

34. The rebel soldiers who (were) with him he slew.

35. [In] Kutha, 3 Babylon,

36. [and Borsippa 4 he offered sacrifice]. 5

Lacuna.

COLUMN IV

1. He besieged him. That city he took. Bahu-akha-iddin 6

2. together with his goods (and) the treasures of his palace he took to Assyria.

3. The cities of Dur-ili, 7 Sukhiru, 8 Gananate,

4. Dur-kissat-Papsukal, 1 the house of the harem, (and) the city of the waters of the Dhurnat,

5. the numerous cities of Kar-Dunias,

6. together with their fortresses, their gods (and) their abundant spoil,

7. the Great god, the god Khumkhummu, the goddess of Babylon, the goddess of Accad,

8. the god Simaliya, the god Nergal, the goddess Anunit (Inanna), (and) the divine Son of the Temple

9. of the city of Mali he brought away. To the cities of Kutha, Babylon,

10. (and) Borsippa he went up. Holy sacrifices [in them] he offered.

11. To the Kaldi 2 he descended. The tribute of the kings

12. of the land of the Kaldi I received. 3 His officers

13. div[ided] the fields of Kar-Duni[as].

14. A definite boundary he fixed.

____________

15. Rimmon-nirari 4 king of Assyria … [the king of Kar-Dunias]

16. subdued. 5 Many soldiers

17. in …

18. and …

19. men (and) spoil to his place he [brought back].

20. The perpetual obligation of a corn-tax (?) he imposed upon them.

21. The men of Assyria (and) Kar-Dunias [were united] with one another.

22. A common boundary in perpetuity they established.

23. The future prince who [shall rule] in Accad

24. shall observe it, and [the record] of power (and) conquest

25. may he write, and to this monument [may he hearken]

26. perpetually, and that it may not be forgotten may he [who]

27. has possessed the people listen, and …

28. may they exalt the power of Assyria unto [future] days.

29. May he who shall give laws (?) to Sumer (and) Accad [its words]

30. interpret to all the world.

____________

31. [The property of Assur-bani-pal] king of Assyria.


Footnotes

27:1 The word has nothing to do with the pronoun annu as is supposed in Schrader’s Keilinschriftliche Bibliothek.

27:2 The Kassi or Kossæans were mountaineers who lived in Elam on the eastern side of Babylonia. They conquered Babylonia and there founded a dynasty to which Kara-Murudas belonged.

28:1 The text has -indas, but this is evidently an error of the scribe. Bel-nirari was the son of Assur-yuballidh and the great-grandfather of Shalmaneser I., who, we learn from an inscription of Sennacherib, was reigning about 1300 B.C.

28:2 Or perhaps “the child.” There seem to have been three kings of the name of Kuri-galzu.

28:3 This can hardly be the Subari or Subarti of the historical texts, which lay in the far north in the neighbourhood of Diarbekir. See vol. i. p. 99, note 1.

28:4 Literally “caused to be alike” to both.

28:5 Rimmon-nirari I. was the grandson of Bel-nirari and the father of Shalmaneser I. We possess an inscription of his, of which a translation has been given in the first series of the Records of the Past, vol. xi. pp. 1–6.

28:6 Agar’sallu is a man’s name. The name of the city signifies “Fort of Istar of Agar’sal.”

28:7 Silim not abikta.

28:8 Literally “divine elder brothers.” The “reed of the divine elder brothers” is mentioned in 1266, 5.

29:1 Annime.

29:2 The scribe has written ammamate in mistake for ammate.

29:3 It is to Uras-pileser that Tiglath-pileser I. traces his genealogy. He was probably the founder of a dynasty, and his date may perhaps be placed about 1180 B.C.

29:4 For Rimmon-suma-natsir see Records of the Past, new series, p. 16, No. 24.

29:5 Or Zamama-nadin-sumi, see vol. i. p. 16, note 5.

29:6 We should probably read Assur-da’an, since the chronological position occupied by the king shows that he must be Assur-da’an the son of Uras-pileser and great-grandfather of Tiglath-pileser I.

30:1 These twelve lines come from a fragment belonging to a duplicate copy of the text.

30:2 The father of Tiglath-pileser I.

30:3 Or “ringed encampment.”

30:4 Literally “aid.”

30:5 Not a proper name Karastu.

30:6 Tiglath-pileser I. According to Sennacherib Merodach-nadin-akhi invaded Assyria in the reign of Tiglath-pileser, 418 years before his own capture of Babylon, and consequently 1106 B.C. If the war between Assyria and Babylonia had been provoked by this invasion the accession of Tiglath-pileser would fall 1107 B.C.

31:1 Now Akerkuf near Bagdad.

31:2 Sippara was divided into two quarters, one dedicated to the goddess Anunit, the other (now represented by the mounds of Abu-Habba) to Samas the Sun-god. The double nature of the city has caused it to be called in scripture Sepharvaim “the two Sipparas” (2 Kings xvii. 35).

31:3 Upe was at the junction of the Tigris and the Adhem, and was known to classical geographers as Opis.

31:4 Ikh[lig].

31:5 The Shuhite tribes to which Bildad the friend of Job belonged extended along the western side of the Euphrates northward to the mouth of the Khabour.

31:6 Assur-bil-kala was the son of Tiglath-pileser I.

31:7 Literally “goodness.”

31:8 The word abil is not omitted in the original as is stated by Prof. Tiele.

32:1 Rimmon-nirari II, who reigned 911–889 B.C.

32:2 Silim not abiktu.

32:3 Or Bagdadu.

32:4 Northern Babylonia.

32:5 Ibba[nû].

32:6 Or “mound.”

32:7 The name of a man.

33:1 Shalmaneser II, who reigned 858–823 B.C.

33:2 Or “the king self-appointed along with the rebel soldiers,” if we read im-[gi-da] with Drs. Peiser and Winckler.

33:3 Now Tel Ibrahim a little to the east of Babylon. It is called Cuth in the Old Testament (2 Kings xvii. 30).

33:4 Borsippa was the suburb of Babylon which contained the great temple whose ruins are now known as the Birs-i-Nimrud.

33:5 This is supplied from an inscription of Shalmaneser.

33:6 Bahu-akha-iddin must have been the name of a Babylonian king.

33:7 Dur-ili (“the fortress of the god”) was in southern Babylonia, near the Elamite frontier.

33:8 Or Lakhiru.

34:1 Or Dur-Papsukal, “the fortress of the god Papsukal.” The city stood on an island in the Tigris, and was probably not far from Gananate on the southern side of the Dhurnat or Diyaleh (the Tornadotos of classical antiquity).

34:2 The Kaldi inhabited the marshes at the mouths of the Euphrates and Tigris. Under Merodach-baladan they established themselves in Babylonia and became so important a part of the population as to give their name to the whole of it in classical times. Hence the Kasdim of the Old Testament are represented by “Chaldæans” in the Authorised Version.

34:3 This is evidently a quotation from the royal annals.

34:4 Rimmon-nirari III, who reigned 850–781 B.C.

34:5 Ik-nu-us.

Chronicle P (ABC 22)

The translation on this webpage was adapted from A.K. Grayson, Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles (1975) and Jean-Jacques Glassner, Mesopotamian Chronicles (Atlanta, 2004).

 

(Texts: All Artifacts, Color Coding, & Writings in Bold Type With Italics Inside Parenthesis, are Added by Editor R. Brown, not the Authors, Translators, or Publishers!)

(gods in blue)

 

Chronicle P (ABC 22) is one of the historiographical texts from ancient Babylonia. It deals with several conflicts between Assyria, Babylonia, and Elam in the fourteenth to twelfth century BCE. It may be a Babylonian adaptation of the Assyrian Synchronistic History.

The tablet, BM 92701 (82-7-4, 38), upon which Chronicle P is inscribed is in very poor condition. The fragment is 180 mm wide and 120 mm long and represents only about one third of the original tablet. The fragment comes from the bottom portion of the chronicle.

Translation of Column 1

Lacuna
2′ […] king of Karduniaš and […]
3′ king of Assyria between them made a treaty and together they fixed the boundary.
4′ […] he rebuilt and restored it.

——————————————

5′ Kadašman-harbe, son of Karaindaš, son of Muballitat-serua,
6′ the daughter of Aššur-uballit,[1] king of Assyria, ordered[7] the overthrow of the Suteans
7′ from the east to west, and annihilated their extensive forces.
8′ He reinforced the fortresses in Mount Šaršar.[2] He dug wells and
9′ settled people on fertile lands to strengthen the guard. Afterwards
10′ the Kassite people rebelled against him and killed him. Šuzigaš, a Kassite,
11′ the son of a nobody,[3] they appointed as sovereign over them. Aššur-uballit,
12′ king of Assyria, marched to Karduniaš[13], to avenge Kadašman-harbe, his daughter’s son, and
13′ Šuzigaš, the Kassite,
14′ he killed. Aššur-iballit put Kurigalzu, son of Kadašman-harbe, on his father’s throne.

Translation of Column 2

1′ Too broken
2′ Too broken
3′ upon them […] and a shout/complaint […] [4]
4′ The enemy seized him. Together […] to the sword
5′ he put all of them, and he did not leave a soul. Those who were fallen,
6′ they put in distress. They colored the midst of the rolling sea with their blood.
7′ They sent out their troops, fought zealously, and achieved victory.
8′ They subdued the enemy troops. He gathered the possessions of the vast enemy and
9′ made piles of them. Again the warriors said:
10′ “We did not know, Kurigalzu, that you had conquered all peoples.
11′ We had no rival among people. Now you [have overcome us??]
12′ We have set out, sought the place where you are and brought gifts.
13′ We have helped you conquer […]” Again he […]
14′ […] them and […]

Note 1:
Aššur-uballit was king of Assyria from 1353 to 1318. These events are also described in the
Synchronistic Chronicle (ABC 21), which, however, offers slightly different names.

Note 2:
The Djebel Bišri.

Note 3:
This means that his father did not belong to a royal dynasty.

Note 4:
The next section is very unlike other chronicles and may have belonged to an epic.

Translation of Column 3

1′ […]
2′ N thousand […]
3′ N thousand […]
4′ one thousand piebald horses their gift […]
5′ He [1] seized the spy and brought the knight […]
6′ He set a watch and […]
7′ the return, your path. Silver, gold, precious stones, […]
8′ I brought.
9′ I […] Babylon and Borsippa, upon/over me […]
10′ Hurbatila, king of Elam, wrote to Kurigalzu:
11′ “Come! At Dur-Šulgi, I and you,
12′ let us do battle together!” Kurigalzu heard […]
13′ He went to conquer Elam and Hurbatila,
14′ king of Elam, did battle against him at Dur-Šulgi.
15′ Hurbatila retreated before him and Kurigalzu brought about their defeat.
16′ He captured the king of Elam. All of Elam […]
17′ Bowing down, Hurbatila, king of Elam, said:
18′ “I know, king Kurigalzu, that this […]
19′ with the kings of all lands I have brought the tribute of Elam.”
20′ He went to conquer Adad-nirari, king of Assyria.
21′ He did battle against him at Sugaga, which is on the Tigris, and brought about his defeat.
22′ He slaughtered his soldiers and captured his officers.

——————————————

23′ Nazi-maruttaš, son of […] [2]
24′ king of Assyria in […].
Lacuna

Translation of Column 4

1′ […]
2′ […] he threw iron bands and […] [3]
3′ […] Tukulti-Ninurta returned to Babylon and
4′ brought […] near. He destroyed the wall of Babylon and put[5] the Babylonians to the sword.
5′ He took out the property of the Esagila and Babylon amid the booty. The statue of the great lord Marduk
6′ he removed from his dwelling-place and sent him to Assyria.
7′ He put his governors[6] in Karduniaš. For seven years, Tukulti-Ninurta
8′ controlled Karduniaš[7]. After the Akkadian officers of Karduniaš had rebelled and
9′ put Adad-šuma-ušur on his father’s throne,
10′ Aššur-nasir-apli, son of that Tukulti-Ninurta who had[9] carried criminal designs against Babylon, and the officers of Assyria rebelled against Tukulti-Ninurta,
11′ removed him from the throne, shut him up in Kar-Tukulti-Ninurta and killed him.
12′ For sixty[?]-six (until the time of Ninurta-tukulti-Aššur) [4], Bêl stayed in Assyria, in the time of Ninurta-tukulti-Aššur, Bêl
13′ went to Babylon.

——————————————

14′ At the time of Enlil-nadin-šumi, the king,[5] Kiden-Hutran, king of Elam, attacked.
15′ He went into action against Nippur and scattered its people. Der and Edimgalkalamma
16′ he destroyed, carried off its people, drove them away and eliminated the suzerainty of Enlil-nadin-šumi, the king.

——————————————

17′ At the time of Adad-šuma-iddina,[6] Kiten-Hutran returned and attacked Akkad a second time.
18′ […] he destroyed Isin, crossed the Tigris, all of
19′ […] Maradda. A terrible defeat of an extensive people 
20′ he brought about. […] and with oxen […]
21′ […] he removed to wasteland […]
22′ […]

——————————————

23′ […] he dominated […]
24′ Too broken”
Lacuna

Note 1:
Probably the Babylonian king Kurigalzu II (1322-1298).

Note 2:
Nazi-maruttaš was king of Babylonia in 1302-1272.

Note 3:
Tikuluta-Ninurta I was king of Assyria from 1233 to 1197. The man he ordered to be chained was, probably, king Kaštiliašu (1222-1215).

Note 4:
In c.1132

Note 5:
c.1214.

Note 6:
c.1212-1207.

The Assyrian Epic of the Creation

Records of the Past, 2nd series, Vol. I, ed. by A. H. Sayce, [1888], at sacred-texts.com

(Texts: All Artifacts, Color Coding, & Writings in Bold Type With Italics Inside Parenthesis, are Added by Editor R. Brown, not the Authors, Translators, or Publishers!)

(gods in blue)

FIRST TABLET OF THE STORY OF THE CREATION

Obverse

1. At that time the heaven above had not yet announced,
2. or the earth beneath recorded, a name;
3. the unopened deep was their generator,
4.
Mummu (Mercury)Tiamat (original Earth) (the chaos of the sea) was the mother of them all.
5. Their waters were embosomed as one and
6. the corn-field was unharvested, the pasture was un-grown.
7. At that time the gods had not appeared, any of them;
8. by no name were they recorded, no destiny (had they fixed).
9. Then the (great) gods were created,
10.
Lakhmu (Mars) and Lakhamu (Venus) issued forth (the first),
11. until they grew up (when)
12.
An-sar (Saturn) and Ki-sar (Jupiter)
were created.
13. Long were the days, extended (was the time, until)
14. the gods
Anu (Uranus), (Bel (Nibiru) and Ea (Neptune) were born),
15.
An-sar (Saturn) and Ki-sar (Jupiter) (gave them birth).

The rest of the tablet is lost.


Footnotes

133:1 Or ” first-born,” if we adopt Delitzsch’s reading ristu instead of la patû.

133:2 This is shown to be the signification of istenis by S 1140, 8.

133:3 Gipara; see W.A.I., V. i. 48-50. Nirba kân yusakhnapu giparu ’sippâti summukha inbu, “the corn-god continuously caused the cornfield to grow, the papyri were gladdened with fruit;” S 799, 2. Ana gipâri eltu erubbi (Accadian mi-para-ki azagga imma-dan-tutu), “to the holy cornfield he went down.” The word has nothing to do with “clouds” or “darkness.”

THIRD TABLET OF THE STORY OF THE CREATION

Obverse

17. “The gods have marched round her, all of them;
18. up to those whom thou hast created at her side I have gone.”
19. When they were gathered (?) beside her,
Tiamat (full Earth)
they approached.
20. The strong one (
Merodach (Nibiru)), the glorious, who desists not night or day,
21. the exciter to battle, was disturbed in heart.
22. Then they marshaled (their) forces; they create darkness.
23. “The mother of
Khubur, the creatress of them all,
24. I pursued with (my) weapons unsurpassed; (then) did the great snake(s) bite.
25. With my teeth sharpened unsparingly did I bite.
26. With poisoned breath like blood their bodies I filled.
27. The raging vampires I clothed with terror.
28. I lifted up the lightning-flash, on high I launched (it).
29. Their messenger
Sar-baba ……
30. Their bodies were struck, but it pierced not their breasts.
31. I made ready the dragon, the mighty serpent and the god
Lakha(ma) (Venus),

32. the great reptile, the deadly beast and the scorpion-man,
33. the devouring reptiles, the fish-man and the gazelle-god,
34. lifting up (my) weapons that spare not, fearless of battle,
35. strong through the law which (yields?) not before the foe.
36. The eleven-fold (offspring), like him (their messenger), were utterly (overthrown?).
37. Among the gods her forces
38. I humbled the god
Kingu (Moon) in the sight (of his consort?), the queen.
39. They who went in front before the army (I smote?),
40. lifting up (my) weapons, a snare for
Ti(amat) (original Earth).


Footnotes

134:1 I’skhuru-si.

134:2 Khubur is identified with ’Su-edin on the eastern side of the Babylonian plain in W.A.I., ii. 50, 51. Professor Delitzsch suggests that the expression ummu Khubur may be the origin of the name Omorôka assigned by Berôssos to Tiamat.

134:3 Ittaqur from naqaru. In Hebrew the verb is used especially of piercing the eyes.

134:4 The usumgalli or “solitary monsters” were fabulous beasts who were supposed to devour the corpses of the dead, and were therefore not exactly vampires which devoured the living, but corresponded rather with one of the creatures mentioned in Is. xiii. 21, 22; xxxiv. 14.

134:5 Umtas[sir].

135:1 According to the 9th tablet of the Epic of Gisdhubar, “the scorpion-men” guard the gate between “the twin mountains” through which the sun passes at its rising and setting. The fish-man was Oannes, afterwards identified with Ea (Enki), who brought wisdom and culture to Chaldæa out of the Persian Gulf.

135:2 Dapruti (see W.A.I., v. 16, 80) from the same root as diparatu, “a flame.”

135:3 The gazelle-god was identified by the later mythology of Babylonia, sometimes with Ea the god of Eridu, sometimes with Bel (Enlil) the god of Nipur: see my Lectures on the Religion of the Ancient Babylonians, pp. 283 seq.

135:4 Kingu was the husband of Tiamat.

FOURTH TABLET OF THE STORY OF THE CREATION

Obverse

1. So he established for him (i.e. Merodach (Nibiru)) the shrine of the mighty;
2. before (?) his fathers for a kingdom did he found (it).
3. Yea, thou art glorious among the great gods;
4. thy destiny is unrivaled; thy gift-day is (that of)
Anu (Uranus).
5. O
Merodach (Nibiru), thou art glorious among the great gods;
6. thy destiny is unrivaled; thy gift-day is (that of)
Anu (Uranus).
7. Since that day unchanged is thy command.
8. High and low entreat thy hand:
9. may the word that goes forth from thy mouth be established; untroubled is thy gift-day.
10. None among the gods has surpassed thy power
11. at the time when (thy hand) founded the shrine of the god of the sky.
12. May the place of their gathering (?) become thy home!
13. “O
Merodach (Nibiru), thou art he who avenges us;
14. we give thee the sovereignty, (we) the hosts of all the universe!
15. Thou possessest (it), and in the assembly (of the gods) mayest thou exalt thy word!
16. Never may thy weapons be broken; may thine enemies tremble!
17. O lord, be gracious to the soul of him who putteth his trust in thee,

18. and destroy the soul of the god who has hold of evil.”
19. Then they set in their midst his saying unique;
20. to
Merodach (Nibiru) their first-born they spake:
21. “May thy destiny, O lord, go before the god of heaven;
22. may he confirm (?) the destruction and creation of all that is said.
23. Set thy mouth; let it destroy his word:
24. turn, speak unto it, and let him lift up his word (again).”
25. He spake and with his mouth destroyed his word;
26. he turned, he spake unto it and his word was re-created.
27. Like (the word) that issues from his mouth the gods his fathers saw it:
28. they rejoiced, they approached
Merodach (Nibiru) the king.
29. They bestowed upon him the scepter (and) throne and reign;
30. they gave him a weapon unsurpassed, consuming the hostile.
31. “Go” (they said), “and cut off the life of
Tiamat (Earth)
;
32. let the winds carry her blood to secret places.”
33. The gods his fathers also hear the report of
Ea (Neptune):
34. “A path of peace and obedience is the road I have caused (him) to take.”
35. There was too the bow, as his weapon he prepared (it);
36. he made the club swing, he fixed its seat;
37. and he lifted up the sacred weapon which he bade his right hand hold.
38. The bow and the quiver he hung at his side;

39. he set the lightning before him;
40. with a glance of swiftness he filled his body.
41. He made also a snare to enclose the dragon of the sea.
42. He seized the four winds that they might not issue forth, any one of them,
43. the south wind, the north wind, the east wind (and) the west wind.
44. His hand brought the snare near the bow of his father
Anu (Uranus).
45. He created the evil wind, the hostile wind, the storm, the tempest,
46. the four winds, the seven winds, the whirlwind, the unending wind;
47. and he caused the winds which he had created to issue forth, the seven of them,
48. confounding the dragon
Tiamat (Earth), as they swept after him.
49. Then the lord lifted up the deluge, his mighty weapon.
50. He rode in the chariot of destiny that retreats without a rival.
51. He stood firm and hung the four reins at its side.
52. (He held the weapon?) unsparing, that overfloods her panoply.
53. ……… their teeth carry poison.
54. …… they sweep away the learned.
55. …… might and battle.
56. On the left they open their ……
57. …… fear ……
58. With the lightning-flash and … he crowned his head.
59. He directed also (his way), he made his path descend, and
60. humbly he set the … before him.
61. By (his) command he kept back the …
62. His finger holds the …

63. On that day they exalted him, the gods exalted him,
64. the gods his fathers exalted him, the gods exalted him.
65. Then the lord approached; he catches
Tiamat (Earth)by her waist;
66. she seeks the huge bulk (?) of
Kingu (Moon) her husband,
67. she looks also for his counsel.
68. Then the rebellious one (
Tiamat (Earth)) appointed him the overthrower of the command of
Bel (Nibiru).
69. But the gods his helpers who marched beside him
70. beheld (how
Merodach (nibiru)) the first-born held their yoke.
71. He laid judgment on
Tiamat (earth)(but) she turned not her neck.
72. With her hostile lip(s) she announced opposition.
73. (Then) the gods (came) to the help of the lord, sweeping after thee:
74. they gathered their (forces) together to where thou vast.
75. (And) the lord (launched) the deluge, his mighty weapon;
76. (against)
Tiamat (Earth), whom he requited, he sent it with these words:
77. “(War) on high thou hast excited.
78. (Strengthen?) thy heart and muster (thy troops) against the god(s).
79. …… their fathers beside (thee).
80. …… thou hast opposed
81. …… to (thy) husband.
82. ……… lordship (?)
83. …………thou seekest.

Reverse

1. (Against) the gods my fathers thou has directed thy hostility.
2. Thou harnesser of thy companions, may thy weapons reach their bodie(s).
3. Stand up, and I and thou will fight together.”
4. When Tiamat (Earth) heard this,

5. she uttered her former spells, she repeated her command.
6. Tiamat (Earth) also cried out vehemently with a loud voice.
7. From its roots she strengthened (her) seat completely.
8. She recites an incantation, she casts a spell,
9. and the gods of battle demand for themselves their arms.
10. Then Tiamat (Earth) attacked Merodach (Nibiru) the chief prophet of the gods;
11. in combat they joined; they met in battle.
12. And the lord outspread his snare (and) enclosed her.
13. He sent before him the evil wind to seize (her) from behind.
14. And Tiamat (original Earth) opened her mouth to swallow it.
15. He made the evil wind enter so that she could not close her lips.
16. The violence of the winds tortured her stomach, and
17. her heart was prostrated and her mouth was twisted.
18. He swung the club, he shattered her stomach;
19. he cut out her entrails; he overmastered (her) heart;
20. he bound her and ended her life.
21. He threw down her corpse; he stood upon it.
22. When Tiamat (current Earth) who marched before (them) was conquered,
23. he dispersed her forces, her host was overthrown,
24. and the gods her allies who marched beside her
25. trembled (and) feared (and) turned their backs.
26. They escaped and saved their lives.
2 7. They clung to one another fleeing helplessly.
28. He followed them and shattered their weapons.
29. He cast his snare and they are caught in his net.
30. Knowing (?) the regions they are filled with grief.
31. They bear their sin, they are kept in bondage,
32. and the elevenfold offspring are troubled through fear.
33. The spirits as they march perceived (?) the glory (of Merodach (Nibiru)).
34. His hand lays blindness (on their eyes).
35. At the same time their opposition (is broken) from under them;

36. and the god Kingu (Moon) who had (marshaled) their (forces)
37. he bound him also along with the god of the tablets (of destiny in) his right hand.
38. And he took from him the tablets of destiny (that were) upon him.
39. With the string of the stylus he sealed (them) and held the … of the tablet.
40. From the time when he had bound (and) laid the yoke on his foes
41. he led the illustrious enemy captive like an ox,
42. he established fully the victory of
An-sar (Saturn)
over the foe;
43.
Merodach (Nibiru) overcame the lamentation of (Ea (Neptune)) the lord of the world.
44. Over the gods in bondage he strengthened his watch, and
45.
Tiamat (new Earth) whom he had bound he turned head backwards;
46. then the lord trampled on the underpart of
Tiamat (Earth).
47. With his club unbound he smote (her) skull;
48. he broke (it) and caused her blood to flow;
49. the north wind bore (it) away to secret places.
50. Then his father (
Ea (Neptune)) beheld (and) rejoiced at the savor;
51. he caused the spirits (?) to bring a peace-offering to himself.

52. So the lord rested; his body he feeds.
53. He strengthens (his) mind (?), he forms a clever plan,
54. and he stripped her of (her) skin like a fish, according to his plan;
55. he described her likeness and (with it) overshadowed the heavens;
56. he stretched out the skin, he kept a watch,
57. he urged on her waters that were not issuing forth;
58. he lit up the sky; the sanctuary (of heaven) rejoiced, and
59. he presented himself before the deep, the seat of
Ea (Neptune).
60. Then the lord measured (
Tiamat (Earth)) the offspring of the deep;
61. the chief prophet made of her image the house of the Firmament.
62.
Ê-sarra
which he had created (to be) the heavens
63. the chief prophet caused
Anu (Uranus), Bel (Nibiru) and Ea (Neptune) to inhabit as their stronghold.

_________

64. [First line of the next tablet:] He prepared the mansions of the great gods.
65. [
Colophon.] One hundred and forty-six lines of the 4th tablet (of the series beginning:) “When on high unproclaimed.”
66. According to the papyri of the tablet whose writing had been injured.
67. Copied for
Nebo (Nabu) his lord by Nahid-Merodach, the son of the irrigator, for the preservation of his life
68. and the life of all his house. He wrote and placed (it) in
Ê-zida.


Footnotes

136:1 These are the last two lines of the Third Tablet.

136:2 ’Sigar. In W.A.I., v. I, 12, we read that the 12th of Iyyar was the ’sigar or “festival” of the goddess Gula (Bau).

136:3 Literally “the covering of heaven” (nalbas same).

136:4 Literally “may they open.”

137:1 Literally “pour out.”

137:2 The “saying,” or “Word,” is regarded as having a real existence which could be created, destroyed, and re-created by Merodach. The “Word” is similarly personified in Zech. ix. 1.

137:3 We have here the same idea as in the “burden” of the Hebrew prophets, the Assyrian verb “to lift up” being nasu, the Hebrew nasâ, whence massâ, “a burden” or “oracle.”

137:4 The badhdhu was the name of the weapon sacred to Merodach. From the sculptures it would appear to have been a kind of boomerang.

138:1 Here we have a curiously weakened form, kisti instead of qasti.

138:2 Or if we correct the text and read makhri la galidta, “that fears not a rival.”

139:1 Read ip-qid.

141:1 The primæval god of the Firmament.

141:2 The meaning of the blood of Tiamat is shown by the two contradictory Babylonian legends of the creation which Berôssos, the Chaldean historian, has amalgamated together:—”Bêlos (Merodach) came and cut the woman (Tiamat) asunder, and of one half of her he formed the earth, and of the other half the heavens, and at the same time destroyed the animals within her (in the abyss). All this was an allegorical description of nature. For, the whole universe consisting of moisture, and animals being continually generated therein, the deity above mentioned (Bêlos) cut off his own head; upon which the other gods mixed the blood, as it gushed out, with the earth, and from thence men were formed. On thisaccount it is that they are rational and partake of divine knowledge.” Similarly, according to Philon Byblios, Phœnician cosmology declared that the blood of Uranos or Baal-samaim, when mutilated by his son Kronos near the rivers and fountains, flowed into them and fertilised the earth.

142:1 “Its” in the original.

142:2 Ê-Sarra.

142:3 Ê-Zida, “the constituted house,” was the great temple of Nebo in Borsippa, now represented by the Birs-i-Nimrud. The copy of the text deposited in it by Nahid-Merodach was probably made in the Persian age.

Fifth Tablet of the Story of the Creation

Obverse

1. He prepared the twin mansions of the great gods.
2. He fixed the stars, even the twin-stars, to correspond with them.
3. He ordained the year, appointing the signs of the Zodiac over (it).
4. For each of the twelve months he fixed three stars,
5. from the day when the year issues forth to the close.
6. He founded the mansion of (the Sun-god) the god of the ferry-boat, that they might know their bonds,
7. that they might not err, that they might not go astray in any way.
8. He established the mansion of
Bel and Ea along with himself.
9. Moreover he opened the great gates on either side,
10. he strengthened the bolts on the left hand and on the right,
11. and in the midst of it he made a staircase.
12. He illuminated the Moon-god that he might be porter of the night,
13. and ordained for him the ending of the night that the day may be known,
14. (saying:) “Month by month, without break, keep watch in thy disk.
15. At the beginning of the month light up the night,
16. announcing thy horns that the heaven may know.
17. On the seventh day, (filling thy) disk
18. thou shalt open indeed (its) narrow contraction.
19. At that time the sun (will be) on the horizon of heaven at thy (rising).
20. Thou shalt cut off its …

21. (Thereafter) towards the path of the sun thou shalt approach.
22. (Then) the contracted size of the sun shall indeed change (?)
23. … seeking its path.
24. … descend and pronounce judgment.

The rest of the obverse and the first three lines of the reverse are destroyed.

Reverse

4. [First line of the next tablet:] When the assembly of the gods had heard him.
5. Fifth tablet of the (series beginning) “When on high.”
6. The property of Assur-bani-pal the king of hosts, the king of Assyria.


Footnotes

143:1 Lu-masi, literally “the twin oxen,” of which seven were reckoned.

143:2 Mizrâta, which is the same word as the mazzarôth of Job xxxviii. 32.

144:1 The mutilated condition of the tablet makes the translation of this line extremely doubtful. There may be a reference in it to the star Al-tar or Dapinu.

The Seventh Tablet of the Story of the Creation

Obverse

1. At that time the gods in their assembly created (the beasts).
2. They made perfect the mighty (monsters).
3. They caused the living creatures (of the field) to come forth,
4 the cattle of the field, (the wild beasts) of the field and the creeping things (of the field).
5. (They fixed their habitations) for the living creatures (of the field).
6. They distributed (in their dwelling-places) the cattle and the creeping things of the city.
7, (They made strong) the multitude of creeping things, all the offspring (of the earth).
8. …… in the assembly of my family.
9. ……
Ea the god of the illustrious face.
10. … the multitude of creeping things did I make strong.
11. … the seed of
Lakhama did I destroy.

The rest is lost.


Footnotes

145:1 Yuzahi(zu).

The Following Fragment (K 3449) Belongs to the Story of the Creation, but its Position is Uncertain

Obverse

1. The snare which they had made the gods beheld.
2. They beheld also the bow, how it had been stored up.
3. The work they had wrought they lay down,
4. and
Anu lifted (it) up in the assembly of the gods.
5. He kissed the bow; it …
6. and he addressed the arch of the bow, (saying) thus:
7. “The wood I stretch once and yet again.
8. The third time is the … of the star of the bow in heaven.
9. I have established also the position of …
10. Since the fates” …

……………


Footnotes

146:1 Istenumma.

Synchronistic Chronicle (ABC 21)

The translation on this webpage was adapted from A.K. Grayson, Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles (1975) and Jean-Jacques Glassner, Mesopotamian Chronicles (Atlanta, 2004).

Synchronistic Chronicle (ABC 21); British Museum, London (Britain). Photo Jona Lendering.
Synchronistic Chronicle (British Museum)

 

(Texts: All Artifacts, Color Coding, & Writings in Bold Type With Italics Inside Parenthesis, are Added by Editor R. Brown, not the Authors, Translators, or Publishers!)

(gods in bluemixed-breed demigods in teal…)

 

The Synchronistic Chronicle (ABC 21) is one of the historiographical texts from ancient Assyria. It deals with the relations between Assyria and its southern neighbor Babylonia (which is called Karduniaš), and is an important source for those who want to study the chronology of this period, as it offers many synchronisms.

The text, which has a strong pro-Assyrian bias, is preserved on three tablets from the library of king Aššurbanipal in Nineveh, and purports to render the text of a boundary stone between Assyria and Babylonia that stood somewhere on the east bank of the Tigris. This may be a literary fiction.

The text must have been composed after the accession of Adad-nirari III in 810, but not much later, because there are no references to later troubles.

Colors

Of the three tablets, tablet A (yellow) is the main text; B (pink) and C (blue) are fragments.

Translation of Column 1

B1 […] for the god Aššur

B2 […] his utterance

B3 […] settlements

B4 […] Meli-Šipak[?]

B5 […] forever

B6 […] he makes known the word

B7 […] praise of strength

B8 […] when he ruled all

B9 […] former kings

B10 […] they were seized

B11 […] fall

Lacuna

A1′ Karaindaš, king of Karduniaš [1]
A2′ and Aššur-bêl-nišešu, king of Assyria,

A3′ made a treaty[2] between them

A4′ and took an oath together concerning this very boundary.

——————————————

A5′ Puzur-aššur, king of Assyria, and Burnaburiaš,

A6′ king of Karduniaš, took an oath and

A7′ fixed this very boundary-line.

——————————————

A8′ In the time of Aššur-uballit,[2] king of Assyria, Kassite troops[10]

A11′ rebelled against and killed Karahardaš,[8]

A9′ king of Karduniaš, son of Muballit-šerua,

A10′ the daughter of Aššur-uballit.

A12′ They appointed Nazibugaš,[11] a Kassite, son of a nobody, as sovereign over them.

——————————————

A13′ To avenge Karaindaš, his grandson,[14] Aššur-uballit

A14′ marched to Karduniaš.

A15′ He killed Nazibugaš, king of Karduniaš.

A16′ Kurigalzu the Younger, son of Burnaburiaš,

A17′ he appointed as king and put him on his father’s throne.[3]

——————————————

A18′ In the time of Enlil-nirari,[4] king of Assyria, Kurigalzu the Younger, was king of Karduniaš.
A19′ At Sugagi, which is on the Tigris, Enlil-nirari, king of Assyria,

A20′ fought with Kurigalzu. He brought about his total defeat, slaughtered his troops and

A21′ carried off his camp. They divided the districts[22] from Šasili of Subartu,

A22′ to Karduniaš into two and

A23′ fixed the boundary-line.

——————————————

C24′ Adad-nirari, king of Assyria, and Nazi-Marrutaš, king of Karduniaš,[5]

C25′ fought with one another at Kar-Ištar of Ugarsallu.

C26′ Adad-nirari brought about the total defeat of Nazi-Marrutaš and

C27′ conquered him. He took away from him his camp and his standards.

C28′ As for this very boundary-line, they fixed a division of[31]

C29′ their confines from Pilasqu,

C30′ which is on the other side of the Tigris, and Arman of Ugarsallu

C31′ as far as Lullume.

The Assyrian supreme god Ashur. From J. Black & A. Green, Gods, demons, and symbols of ancient Mesopotamia (1992).

Aššur (©!!!; from J. Black & A. Green, Gods, demons and
symbols of ancientMesopotamia, 1992)

Translation of Column 2

Lacuna
C1’* [Tukulti-Ninurta, king of Assyria, and] Kaštiliašu, king of Karduniaš [6]

C2’* […] in open battle.

Lacuna

B1′ his servants, he made […]

B2′ to Mount Kullar […]

——————————————

B3′ Enlil-kudurri-usur, king of Assyria, and Adad-šuma-usur, king of Karduniaš,[7] with another

B4′ did battle. As Enlil-kudurri-usur and Adad-šuma-usur

B5′ were engaged in battle, Ninurta-apil-ekur

B6′ went home. He mustered his numerous troops and

B7′ marched to conquer Libbi-ali (the city of Aššur).

B8′ But […] arrived unexpectedly, so he turned and went home.

——————————————

B9′ In the time of Zababa-šuma-iddina, king of Karduniaš,

B10′ Aššur-dan, king of Assyria, went down to Karduniaš.[8]

B11′ Zaban, Irriya, Ugarsallu and […]

B12′ he captured. He took their vast booty to Assyria.

Lacuna

A1′ […] together they made an entente cordiale.

A2′ […] he went home. After he had gone, Nebuchadnezzar [9]

A3′ took his siege engines and Zanqi, a fortress in Assyria,

A4′ he went to conquer. Aššur-reš-iši, king of Assyria,

A5′ mustered his chariots to go against him.

A6′ To prevent the siege engines being taken from him, Nebuchadnezzar burnt them.

A7′ He turned and went home.

A8′ This same Nebuchadnezzar with chariots and infantry,

A9′ went to conquer Idi, a fortress[8] of Assyria. Assur-reš-iši

A10′ sent chariots and infantry to help the fortress.

A11′ He fought with Nebuchadnezzar, brought about his total defeat, slaughtered his troops and

A12′ carried off his camp. Forty of his chariots with harness were taken away and

A13′ Karaštu[?], Nebuchadnezzar’s field-marshal, was captured.

——————————————

A14′Tiglath-pileser I, king of Assyria, and Marduk-nadin-ahhe, king of Karduniaš.[10]

A15′ Twice Tiglath-pileser drew up[16] a battle array of chariots, as many as were by the Lower Zab,

A16′ opposite Ahizûhina, and

A17′ in the second year he defeated Marduk-nadin-ahhe at Gurmarritu, which is upstream from Akkad.

A18′ Dur-Kurigalzu, Sippar-ša-Šamaš

A19′ Sippar-ša-Anunitu,

A20′ Babylon, and Upû, the great urban centers,

A21′ he captured together with their forts.

A22′ At that time, Ugarsallu

A23′ he plundered as far as Lubda.

A24′ He ruled every part of Suhu as far as Rapiqu.

——————————————

A25′ In the time of Aššur-bêl-kala, king of Assyria,

A26′ Marduk-šapik-zeri was the king of Karduniaš.

A27′ An entente cordiale

A28′ they together made.

A29′ At the time of Aššur-bêl-kala, king of Assyria,

A30′ Marduk-šapik-zeri, king of Karduniaš, passed away.

A31′ Aššur-bêl-kala appointed Adad-apla-iddina, son of Esagil-šaduni, son of a nobody,

A32′ as sovereign over the Babylonians.

A33′ Aššur-bêl-kala, king of Assyria,

A34′ married the daughter of Adad-apla-iddina, king of Karduniaš, and

A35′ took her with a vast dowry to Assyria.

A36′ The peoples of Assyria and Karduniaš

A37′ were joined together.

Note 1: The first seven lines of table A contain a serious chronological problem. King Aššur-Bêl-nišešu ruled from 1407 to 1399. Puzur-aššur, who ruled in c.1500, was the eighth king preceding him, and can therefore not be presented after Aššur-Bêl-nišešu. The other two kings were Kassites ruling in Babylonia.

Note 2:
King Aššur-uballit ruled from 1353 to 1318. The revolt of Nazibugaš took place in 1323. The events that are described over here are also mentioned in Chronicle P (ABC 22), which offers different names.

Note 3:
Kurigalzu II ruled until 1298.

Note 4:
Enlil-nirari succeeded Aššur-uballit as king of Assyria in 1317 and remained on the throne until 1308.

Note 5:
Adad-nirari I was king of Assyria from 1295 to 1264; Nazi-Marrutaš was king Babylonia from 1297 to 1272.

Note 6:
Only the name Kaštiliašu (1222-1215) is legible. The name of his opponent is a conjecture, and the identification with the fourth king called Kaštiliašu is hypothetical.

Note 7:
Enlil-kudurri-usur was king of Assyria from 1186 to 1182; he was succeeded by Ninurta-apil-ekur (1181-1179). Adad-šuma-usur was king of Babylonia between 1206 and 1177.

Note 8:
Zababa-šuma-iddina briefly was king of Babylonia in 1158; Aššur-dan ruled Assyria from 1178 to 1133.

Note 9:
The rule of Nebuchadnezzar I of Babylonia lasted from 1125 to 1104; his Assyrian contemporary Aššur-reš-iši ruled from 1132 to 1114.

Note 10:
Tiglath-pileser I became king of Assyria in 1114 and ruled to 1176. Marduk-nadin-ahhe was ruler of Babylonia from 1099 to 1082.

Note 11:
The Assyrian Aššur-bêl-kala’s rule lasted from 1073 to 1056; his contemporary Marduk-šapik-zeri became king of Babylonia in 1081 and passed away in 1069.

Translation of Column 3

A1 At the time of Adad-nirari, king of Assyria,[1]
A2 Šamaš-muddamiq, king of Karduniaš,

A3 drew up a battle array at the foot of Mount Yalman and

A4 Adad-nirari, king of Assyria, brought about the defeat[A5]of Šamaš-muddamiq,

A5 king of Karduniaš, and

A6 conquered him.

A7 His chariots, and teams of horses, he took away from him.

A8 Šamaš-muddamiq, king of Karduniaš, passed away.

A9 Nabû-šuma-iškun,[2] son of [Šamaš-muddamiq, ascended his father’s throne?].

A10 Adad-nirari, king of Assyria, fought[A11] with Nabû-šuma-iškun

A11 king of Karduniaš, and defeated him.

A12 […]banbala, Huda[…]

A13 […] numerous cities

A14 […] he conquered. Their vast booty

A15 he took to Assyria.

A16 […] his land, he enclosed him.

A17 […] he received from him. They gave their daughters to one another in marriage.

A18 Together they made an entente cordiale.

A19 The peoples of Assyria and Akkad were joined together.

A21 They established a boundary to Til-ša-Abtani and Til-ša-Zabdani

A20 from Til-Bit-Bari, which is upstream on the Zab.

——————————————

A22 In the time of Šalmaneser, king of Assyria,

A23 Nabû-apla-iddina was the king of Karduniaš.[3]

A24 An entente cordially

A25 together they made. At the time of Šalmaneser, king of Assyria,

A26 Nabû-apla-iddina, king of Karduniaš, passed away.

A27 Marduk-zakir-šumi ascended his father’s throne.

A28 Marduk-bêl-usate, his brother, rebelled against him.

A29 He seized Daban. Akkad

A30 they equally divided. Šalmaneser, king of Assyria,

A31 went[A32] to the aid of Marduk-zakir-šumi,

A32 king of Karduniaš.

A33 Marduk-bêl-usate, the usurper,

A34 Šalmaneser defeated him and the rebellious troops who were with him.[4]
A35 […] Cuthah, Babylon

A36 […]

Lacuna

C1′-2′ Together they made an entente cordiale.

C3′ The people of Assyria and Akkad were joined together.

C4′ […]

C5′ They fixed a boundary line by mutual consent.

——————————————

C6′ Šamši-Adad, king of Assyria, and Marduk-balassu-iqbi, king of Karduniaš,[5]

C7′ […] Šamši-Adad, king of Assyria,

C8′ brought about the defeat of Marduk-balassu-iqbi.

C9′ He filled the plain with the corpses of his warriors.

Lacuna

The god Marduk and his snake dragon. From: J. Black & A. Green, Gods, demons and symbols of ancient Mesopotamia (1992)

Marduk and his snake dragon (from J. Black & A. Green, Gods, demons and symbols ofancient Mesopotamia,1992; ©!!!)

Translation of Column 4

A1 Šamši-Adad enclosed him and captured that city. Baba-aha-iddina

A2 he took together with his property and the treasure of his palace to Assyria.

A3 Der, Lahiru, Gananati,

A4 Dur-Papsukkal, Bit-Riduti, Me-Turan,

A5 and numerous [other] cities of Karduniaš

A6 he captured, together with their districts, their gods, and booty.

A7 Anu the Great, Humhumya, Šarrat-Deri, Bêlet-Akkadi,

A8 Šimalaya, Palil, Annunitu and Mar-Biti

A9 of Maliku he carried off. To Cuthah, Babylon,

A10 and Borsippa he went up and made pure sacrifices.

A11 He went down to Chaldea and the tribute of the kings

A12 he received of Chaldea. His officers

A13 received the tax of Karduniaš […]

A14 he made. They fixed the boundary-line.

——————————————

A15 Adad-Nirari, king of Assyria,[6] and […], king of Karduniaš,

A16 bowed down […]

A17 in […]

A18 […] his craftsmen the gods.

A19 He brought back the abducted people and

A20 granted them an income, privileges, and barley rations.

A21 The peoples of Assyria and Karduniaš were joined together.

A22 They fixed the boundary-line by mutual consent.

A23 Let a later prince, who in Akkad

A24 wishes to achieve fame, write[A25] about the prowess of his victories.

A25 Let him turn to this very stela

A26 continually and look at it that it may not be forgotten.

A27 Let the […] vizier heed all that is graved thereon!

A28 May the praises of Assyria be lauded forever!

A29 May the crime of Sumer and Akkad

A30 be bruited about in every quarter!

——————————————

A31 Palace of Aššurbanipal, king of the universe, king of Assyria.[7]

Note 1:
Adad-nirari II of Assyria ruled from 911 to 891; the reign of his opponent, Šamaš-muddamiq of Babylonia, can not be dated.

Note 2:
A mistake. Šamaš-muddamiq was succeeded by Nabû-šuma-ukin.

Note 3:
Šalmaneser III ruled from 858 to 824; Nabû-apla-iddina can not be dated accurately.

Note 4:
The inverted word order is typical for the
Astronomical Diaries on which the Chronicles are based.

Note 5:
Šamši-Adad V succeeded Šalmaneser as king of Assyria in 823 and ruled until 811. Marduq-balassu-iqbi died in 813 and was succeeded by Baba-aha-iddina, whose first regnal year was 812.

Note 6:
Adad-nirari III was king of Assyria from 810 to 783. He succeeded Šamši-Adad V.

Note 7:
Aššurbanipal was king of Assyria from 668 to 631 (or 627). The tablets were found in his library.

 

Hymn to Osiris on the Stele of Amon-em-ha

Translated by D. Mallet

(Texts: All Artifacts, Color Coding, & Writings in Bold Type With Italics Inside Parenthesis, are Added by Editor R. Brown, not the Authors, Translators, or Publishers!)

(gods in blue)

This hymn to Osiris is engraved on a semi-circular stele of limestone which forms part of the collection of the Bibliothèque Nationale at Paris. It comprises 28 lines of hieroglyphics, in a very good state of preservation, excepting only that the name of the god Amon, which once figured in several proper names, has been carefully chiselled out, in the age of the so-called heretic kings Khu-n-Aten (Amenophis IV) and his successors.

1. “Adoration to Osiris by the superintendent of the oxen, Amon-em-ha son of the lady Nofri-t-ari. He says: Homage to thee, Osiris, lord of eternity, king of the gods with the thousand names,1 with the sacred existences,2 with the secret acts3 in the temples; he is rich in Ka4 in Tattu,5 holding property6

2. in Sokhem,7 master of the sacred dances8 in Busiris, prince of abundance9 in On,10 master of remembrance in Mati,11 hidden soul, master of Kerer,12 venerated in the Memphite nome;13 the soul whose body itself is Ra, who reposes in

3. Hnes;1 dispensing benefits2 in Nart,3 when his soul awakens, master of the great dwelling of Shmun,4 very valiant5 in Shashotep,6 lord of eternity, the first in Abydos; distant is his domain in To-Sar,7 stable is

4. his name in the mouth of mankind; he who contains the double ennead of the double land; Tum who nourishes the doubles, first of the divine ennead, perfect ghost among the ghosts.8 The Nu9 has procured for him his water,10 the wind of the north has brought him food,11 the air enters his nostrils, to refresh his heart,

5. to strengthen his heart.12 The soil has produced for him provisions, the vault of heaven has brought13 unto him its stars; the wide gates open for him, the master of acclamations in the southern sky, of adorations in the northern sky. The indestructible ones

6. are under the place of his face, the immortals are his abodes.14 When he has gone forth in peace by the order of Seb, the divine ennead adores him, the inhabitants of the tuau1 prostrate themselves to the ground, the mighty2 bow the head, the ancestors3 are in prayer.

7. When they beheld him, the august dead4 submit to him, the two lands together5 unite to render glory to him, marching before his majesty. Glorious noble among the nobles6 from whom proceeds [all] dignity, who establishes supreme authority,7 excellent chief of the ennead of the gods, with charming aspect,

8. beloved of him who has contemplated him, extending his terror through all countries that they may proclaim his name before all others.8 All make offerings unto him, even to him the master whose memory (is eternal) in heaven as on the earth. Manifold are the shouts during the festival of Uaga9; the two lands are united to celebrate the funeral dances.10

9. The great prince, eldest of his brothers, the chiefs11 of the divine enneads, who establishes the truth in thedouble land, who seats the son on the throne of his father, the favorite of his father Seb, the beloved of his mother Nut; very valiant, he overthrows the impious; strong of arm, he immolates

10. his adversary, breathing terror upon his enemies, conquering the distant frontiers of the wicked.1 Firm of heart, his feet are vigilant. Flesh2 of Seb, royalty3 of the two lands, [Seb] contemplates his benefits, he has ordered him to govern

11. [all] countries to assure their prosperity.4 He has fashioned this earth with his hand, [with] its waters, its atmosphere, its vegetation, all its large cattle, all its wild birds, all its domesticated birds,5 its reptiles and its game.

12. The desert carries its tribute to the son of Nut, Egypt is happy when it sees him appear on the throne of his father. Like Ra (Marduk) he rises on the horizon, he creates light on the face of the darkness; he has illuminated Shu6 by the help of his two feathers, he has inundated the earth like

13. the (solar) disk at dawn. His white crown pierces the vault of heaven fraternizing with the stars, guides7 of all the gods. Accomplished are the commands of his voice; [for he is the] favorite of the great ennead, the chosen of the small divine ennead. His sister has saved him, scattering the rebels,

14. repelling8 evil, uttering the word with the incantations9of her mouth. Expert is her tongue, voice is not wanting to her, and her speech is effectual. [For she is] Isis the charmer, the avenger of her brother, who seeks him without failing,

15. who traverses this earth with lamentations, without resting1 before she has found him, creating the light with her feathers, producing the wind with her wings, celebrating the sacred dances and depositing her brother in the tomb,

16. raising2 the remains of the god with the immovable heart;3 inhaling his seed, making flesh,4 suckling the infant5 in solitude without any knowing where he is.6 She makes him grow, his arm becomes strong in the great dwelling

17. of Seb. The divine ennead rejoices, when the son of Osiris comes, even Horus7 with the firm heart, with the just voice,8 the son of Isis, the flesh of Osiris (Ashur). He has assembled the chiefs of truth,9 the divine ennead, [he] himself the universal master.10 The lords of truth collected there

18. cast sin afar from them,11 seated in the vast dwelling-place of Seb, to establish the dignity of him who is their master, the royalty of justice who resides there. Horus has been found of just voice; to him has been given the office of his father. The diadem has come to him by the order of Seb;

19. he has assumed the dominion of the double land, the white crown being established on his head. He has valued1 the earth with all it contains; heaven and earth are under the place of his face;2 [Seb] has made him command mankind, the spirits,3 the race of the men of Egypt, the Ha-neb-u.4 The circle

20. of the solar disk is under his orders, winds, river, inundation, fruit trees5 as well as all the annual plants. As the god Nepri6 he makes all his herbage, the wealth of the soil, to grow; he ascends and all are satiated; he spreads7 himself through all lands.

21. All that exists breathes; (all) hearts are happy, (all) breasts rejoice. Every being invokes him, every man adores his beauties. Delightful for us is his love; his grace environs the heart; great is his love in all the reins. One offers

22. unto the son of Isis his enemy overthrown by his vigor. The author of evil pronounces magical words and displays his power in his turn;8 [but] the son of Isis makes his way unto him, he avenges his father, sanctifying and honoring9 his name. Terror is calmed;

23. her domain is extended, is strengthened according to the laws which he10 dictates. The paths are cleared, the roads are opened, evil flies away; the earth,fertilised by its lord, teems1 with produce. Established is the truth

24. for its master; sin is pursued; happy is thy heart, O Unnofré.2 The son of Isis has assumed the white crown, he has caused the authority of his father to be recognized in the great dwelling of Seb. Ra is his word, Thoth (Ningishzidda) are his writings.

25. The divine chiefs3 are happy, [for] what thy father Seb has ordained for thee, that is executed when he has spoken.

___________________

Divine oblation to OsirisKhent-Amenti , lord of Abydos, so that he may give good funeral offerings of bread, liquids, oxen, geese, cloths, incense, perfumes

26. and all vegetable products; [so that he may grant] to grow,4 to take possession of the Nile, to appear in the form of a living soul, to see the (solar) disk at dawn, to enter and depart by the ro-sta-u;5 so that the soul may not be driven into the other world, but be received

27. among those who chant in the presence of Un-nofré and who share in the offerings laid upon the altar of the great god; so that it breathes the delicious breezes of the north and drinks of the current

28. of the river. To the double of the superintendent of the oxen of Amon, Amon-mes, of the just voice, born of the lady Hont, of the just voice, his wife who loves him [Nofri-t-ari].


Footnotes

17:1 Compare the epithet ”with a myriad of names” often applied to Isis by the Greeks (Plutarch: de Isid. et Osirid. 53). A Greek inscription in the Louvre (No. 2) calls her “many-named.” The same expression is used of Amon.

17:2 Kheperu is usually translated here “transformations.” But Osiris is never transformed and khoper merely signifies “to be” or “become.”

17:3 Ar-u or it-u has no determinative; it appears to refer to the ceremonies performed in the temples rather than to the forms of the god.

17:4 The Ka is the double of the individual; the gods and sometimes men themselves have several; at Mendes Osiris doubtless had quite a series of them inherent in his sacred statues.

17:5 Mendes.

17:6 Or perhaps, “great nourisher.”

17:7 Letopolis.

17:8 The word is several times determined in this stele by the figure of a dancing man, so that it must refer to dances in the temple performed in honour of the god.

17:9 Literally “provisions of victualling.”

17:10 Heliopolis, the On of the Old Testament, the daughter of whose priest was married by Joseph.

17:11 Unidentified locality. It is the name of the Hall of Truth where Osiris and his assessors judge the souls of the dead.

17:12 Perhaps Paqrur, Phagroriopolis. In the tomb of Bok-en-ranf near Saqqarah, Osiris also is named “master of Kerer”; in the temple of Seti I. at Qurnah, Anubis has the same title.

17:13 “The White Wall.”

18:1 Herakleopolis, now the mounds of Ahnas el-Medîneh, S.E. of the Fayoum. It is the Hanes of the Old Testament (Isai. xxx. 4).

18:2 Literally “beneficent in useful things”: hannu here has no determinative.

18:3 A locality near Hanes and often identified with the latter.

18:4 Hermopolis Magna.

18:5 Literally “great with the double solar force.”

18:6 Shotb, capital of the Hypselite nome, S. of Assiout.

18:7 “The sacred land.”

18:8 Khu, “luminous,” and hence “a magic power,” often applied to the dead as having become luminous.

18:9 The primordial water or abyss. Compare “the deep” of Gen. i. 2.

18:10 Khenp is usually rendered “to extract.” But the Nu is anterior to Osiris, and therefore gives instead of receiving his water. Moreover the construction seems to make this explanation necessary.

18:11 Meses, “the night,” more especially that which precedes the New Year, and hence the feast which took place then in honor of Osiris (Brugsch, Dict., 700).

18:12 Perhaps the word I have read rut-u should be decomposed into rtu renpet-i-u, “to give the productions of the year (to his heart).”

18:13 Or “has submitted to him.”

18:14 The two compound words in parallelism here, akimbo-u sek-u, akhim-u urtt-u, have been translated: “the fixed stars” and “the wandering stars” or planets, as well as “stars which always remain on the horizon,” and “stars which are there only at certain hours.” These distinctions are not proved; and it is best to adhere to the literal sense of the words.

19:1 The other world, which in Egyptian belief was not under the earth but beyond its limits; see Maspero, Revue de l’Histoire des Religions, 1887.

19:2 The word read t’at’a-u by Chabas seems to be tes-ti-u, “those who are exalted,” and forms a natural antithesis to kes-u, “bent.”

19:3 T’er-ti-u and not t’era-u (“all”), that is the common herd of the dead, the ancestors of men in general, in opposition to the tes-ti-u or “mighty.”

19:4 Nti-u am, “those who are below,” a vague expression, euphemistic for “the dead.”

19:5 Literally “in a single place.”

19:6 Sahu probably denotes the higher officials.

19:7 Hiq is a feudal prince, and hiq-t the absolute authority he possessed in his domain, large or small, whether composed of several names or of less extent than a single name. The title is often applied to the kings, though not as kings of all Egypt.

19:8 Literally “in advance.”

19:9 One of the great festivals of Osiris when lamps were lit throughout Egypt (see Herodotos ii. 62).

19:10 Ahi is, like hannu, determined by the figure of a dancing man. As the festival was in honor of the dead, the dances would have had a funereal character.

19:11 Ur-u is in the plural, and consequently must be construed with the preceding word.

20:1 Literally, “bringing on the frontiers,” often applied to conquering kings.

20:2 Or “heir.”

20:3 As in English, abstract terms are sometimes used of persons.

20:4 Literally, “to conduct the countries to prosperity.”

20:5 Pai are the birds who fly freely through the air, khenen those who rest, probably therefore domestic fowls or perhaps water-fowl.

20:6 Shu sometimes means “the shade,” but here it seems to denote either the god Shu himself or the space which he occupies between the earth and the sky, uplifting, like Atlas, the celestial vault with his two arms.

20:7 Sem-u also signifies “image,” a sense which would suit here very well, the stars being images or manifestations of each god. The absence of a determinative makes a decision difficult.

20:8 “Making turn,” literally.

20:9 Khu, the magic charms which enable the gods and more especially Isis to triumph.

21:1 Khen used of birds who remain stationary. Elsewhere Isis is winged.

21:2 Putting them one on the other so as to reconstitute the mutilated body of Osiris.

21:3 That is Osiris.

21:4 Or “an heir.”

21:5 Horus, born of Isis and the revivified Osiris.

21:6 Isis hid herself in the marshes of the Delta with Horus in order to rear him in peace.

21:7 In the text “Osiris son Horus.” This way of expressing affiliation belongs to the age of the twelfth dynasty, e.g. in the tomb of Khnum-hotep at Beni-Hassan, where we have “Neheri son Khnum-hotep,” i.e. Khnum-hotep son of Neheri (Cf. Lepsius, Denkmäler, iv. pl. 126 sqq.).

21:8 M. Maspero explains this expression, which is used generally of the defunct, in a material sense, “he whose voice knows the correct intonation in reciting prayers and formula.” M. Grébaut and most Egyptologists take it in a moral sense: “true of speech,” “truth speaking.”

21:9 The acolytes who sit with Osiris in the Hall of Truth.

21:10 Perhaps this merely signifies “the entire god” who now has all his limbs.

21:11 Literally “put behind them.”

22:1 Properly, “count,” “reckoning.” The same metaphor occurs in the Bible.

22:2 Compare the Biblical expression in Psalm lx. 13.

22:3 Rekhi-u “the intelligent,” “those who know,” frequently used of the dead.

22:4 “All those of the north,” i.e. all the inhabitants of the islands and coasts of the Mediterranean. In later times the term was specially used of the Greeks.

22:5 Or perhaps “trees which last,” in opposition to plants which die and revive each year.

22:6 The grain-god who presided over cereals, vegetation, and the products of the earth. Amon-Ra is also called Nepri in the hymn contained in the Bulaq Museum (pl. viii. Grébaut, Hymne à Amon-Ra, p. 21).

22:7 Properly, “every face.”

22:8 Literally “his time.”

22:9 Or “rendering beneficent.”

22:10 Horus or Osiris.

23:1 The determinative of the legs seems to contradict this rendering, but I can find no other signification for the word aura, wuru, and we are compelled to admit a grammatical error.

23:2 “The good being,” Osiris.

23:3 Those who sit with Osiris in the Hall of Judgment.

23:4 Khopiru, “the becomings.”

23:5 The corridors or defiles which led (like the defiles of the mountain-cliffs to the west of Abydos) from this world to the next.”

Chronicle of Aššur-reš-iši

http://www.livius.org/cg-cm/chronicles/cm/enlil-nirari.html

The Chronicle of Aššur-reš-iši is a fragment of an Assyrian chronicle; the tablet was found in Aššur. It describes the war of king Aššur-reš-iši (1133-1115) against the Babylonian king Ninurta-nadin-šumi (1132-1126).

(Texts: All Artifacts, Color Coding, & Writings in Bold Type With Italics Inside Parenthesis, are Added by Editor R. Brown, not the Authors, Translators, or Publishers!)

(gods in bluesemi-divine kings in teal)

        2 - Ashur (giant Anunnaki god Ashur, son to Marduk)

      Translation

(…)
[…] against them […] their […] an alliance […] the merchants […] he inflicted a defeat on them.

——————————————

[…] conquest. Aššur-reš-iši, king of Assyria, […] in this fortress […] the residence of Aššur (Ashur), his lord, […] of bronze […] the towns […] the majesty of Aššur […] of his bravery […] and the lands of Assyria […] the sides […].

(…)

[…] the lands […] the other side […] he killed. […] the desert […] he killed. That year, Aššur-reš-iši, king of Assyria, took his soldiers and his chariots and marched on Arbela. Ninurta-nadin-šumi, the king of Karduniaš, heard of the march of Aššur-reš-iši, king of Assyria. He [recalled?] his troops. The forces and the king of Karduniaš fled […] with hum […] he sent […] against […]

(…)

The Monolith Inscription of Shalmaneser III

(Black Obelisk-Version C)

Records of the Past, 2nd Series, Vol. IV , ed. by A.H. Sayce, [1890], at sacred-texts.com

(Texts: All Artifacts, Color Coding, & Writings in Bold Type With Italics Inside Parenthesis, are Added by Editor R. Brown, not the Authors, Translators, or Publishers!)

(gods in blue)

COLUMN I

2a - Ashur, son to Marduk (Ashur in his winged sky-disc, weaponized for battle)

1. Assur (Osiris) the great lord, the king of all the great gods; Anu the king of the Igigi (Anunnaki space truckers) and Anunnaki, 1 the master of the world; Bel (Enlil, sometimes Marduk) the father of the gods, who determines destiny,

2. who institutes the laws [of heaven and earth]; Ea (Enki), the wise, the king of the Abyss, the discoverer of cunning arts; Sin (Nannar / Sin) the illuminator of heaven (and) earth, the illustrious god; Shamash (Utu)

 4bbb - Utu & Inanna gods of war (Utu & twin sister Inanna with captive earthlings)

3. the judge of the (four) zones, the director of mankind; Ishtar (Inanna) the lady of battles and combats, whose delight (is) conflict; the great gods who love my royalty,

4. my empire, my power, and my government have they magnified; a famous name, an illustrious renown, above all the sovereigns (of the world) have they bestowed on me in abundance!

  (Shalmaneser II stele, King of Assyria)

5. Shalmaneser, the king of the multitudes of men, the sovereign pontiff of Assur, the powerful king, the king of Assyria, the king of all the four zones, the Sun-god (Utu) 2 of the multitudes of men,

6. who governs all the world; the king who fears the gods, the favorite 3 of Bel, the appointed vicar of Assur, the august prince, who has traversed

7. easy paths and difficult roads, who has trodden the summits of the mountains (and) all (their) ranges, who has received tribute and presents

8. from all regions, who has opened the mountains above and below; before the onset of whose mighty battle the regions (of the world) have yielded,

2 - Ashur2 - Utu-Shamash, god of the mountains, (gods Ashur & Utu the Commander of the alien Space Port)

9. the world has trembled to its foundations before his warlike fury; the male hero who has marched under the protection of Assur (and) Shamash (Utu), the gods his allies;

10. who has no rival among the kings of the four zones (of the world); the royal despot of the world, who has traversed difficult roads, (and) has advanced over mountains and seas;

11. the son of Assur-natsir-pal, the vicegerent of Bel, the priest of Assur, whose priesthood has been pleasing to the gods, and who has subjected to his feet all lands; the illustrious descendant of Tukulti-Adar 1

3a - Ashur in his flying disc (Ashur in his winged sky-disc, protecting his king)

12. who subjugated all his foes, and swept them like the tempest, when Assur the great lord in the determination of his [heart] had turned upon me his illustrious eyes, and

13. had called me to the government 2 of Assyria; had given me to hold the mighty weapon (alien technology) which overthrows the rebellious; had [invested] me with the [sacred] crown; the lordship over all lands

14. had granted me; had strongly urged me to conquer and subjugate: in those days at the beginning of my reign, in the first of my (regnal) years, 3

15. (when) I had seated myself in state on the throne of royalty, I summoned my chariots (and) armies; into the defiles of the country of Simesi I entered; to Aridu (Eridu) the fortified city

3d - Ishtar, Inanna, flying goddess (Inanna, tHE Goddess of Love & A winged pilot)

16. of Ninni (Inanna) I approached. The city I besieged, I captured; its numerous soldiers I slew; its spoil Icarried away. I erected a pyramid of heads at the entrance of his city.

17. Their youths and maidens I delivered to the flames. 1 While I remained in Aridu the tribute of the people of Kharga, Kharmasa,

18. Simesi, Simera, Sirisha, (and) Ulmania, horses trained to the yoke, oxen, sheep, (and) wine I received. From Aridu (Eridu)

19. I departed; difficult paths (and) inaccessible mountains whose peaks rose to the sky like the point of an iron sword I cut with axes of bronze (and) copper. The chariots

20. (and) troops I caused to cross (them). To the city of Khupushkia I approached. Khupushkia with 100 towns which (were) dependent on it I burned with fire. Kakia

21. a king of the country of Nairi and the rest of his troops trembled before the splendor of my arms, and occupied the strong mountains. After them I ascended the mountains,

22. I fought a hard battle in the midst of the mountains (and) utterly destroyed them. I brought back from the mountains chariots, troops, (and) horses trained to the yoke. The terror of the glory (alien tech weapons)

23. of Assur my lord overwhelmed them; they descended (and) took my feet. Taxes and tribute I imposed upon them. From the city of Khupushkia I departed.

24. To Sugunia the stronghold of Arame of Arara 2 I approached. The city I besieged, I captured; their numerous soldiers I slew.

25. Its spoil I carried away. I erected a pyramid of heads at the entrance of his city; 14 towns which (were) dependent on it I burned with fire. From Sugunia

26. I departed; to the sea of the country of Nairi 1 I descended. I purified my weapons in the sea; I sacrificed victims to my gods. In those days an image of my person

3 - Ashur & his flying disc, (Ashur above his king in his winged sky-disc)

27. I made; I inscribed upon it the glory of Assur the great lord, my lord, and the mightiness of my empire; I erected (it) overlooking the sea. On my return

28. from the sea I received the tribute of Asû of the land of Guzan in abundance, horses, oxen, sheep, wine, (and) two camels with two humps;

2a - Assur with man-made mountain (Ashur’s ziggurat residence in his patron city of Assur)

29. to my city of Assur I brought (them).—In the month Iyyar, on the 13th day, 2 I departed from Nineveh. I crossed the Tigris. I passed through the mountains 3 Of Khasamu and Dikhnunu.

3b - Ashur the god of Assyria (many ancient artifacts of Ashur, some destroyed by Radical Islam)

30. To La’la’te 4 a city of Akhuni the son of Adini I approached. The terror of the glory (alien tech) of Assur my lord overwhelmed [them, to the mountains …]

31. they ascended. The city I threw down, dug up (and) burned with fire. From La’la’te I departed. [To Ki … qa the stronghold]

32. of Akhuni the son of Adini I approached. Akhuni the son of Adini to the multitude [of his troops trusted, and to make] combat and battle [came against] me. Under the protection of Assur

5b - Ashur flying above King Ashurnasirpal, governing (Shalmaneser II protected by Ashur above)

33. and the great gods, my lords, I fought with him; I utterly defeated him. I shut him up in his city. From the city of Ki … qa I departed;

34. to Bur-mar’âna 5 a city of Akhuni the son of Adini [I approached. The city] I besieged, I captured. I destroyed with my weapons 300 of his fighting-men. A pyramid of heads

35. I erected [at the entrance to his city]. The tribute ofKhapini 1 of Til-abna, 2 of Ga’uni of Sa[llu], … of Giri-Dadda 3

36. [of Assu], silver, gold, oxen, sheep, (and) wine I received. From the city of Bur-mar’âna I departed; in boats of seal-skin the Euphrates

37. I crossed. The tribute of Qata-zilu of Kummukh, 4 silver, gold, oxen, sheep, (and) wine I received. To the city of Paqarrukhbuni 5

38. (and) the cities of Akhuni the son of Adini on the farther bank of the Euphrates I approached. I utterly destroyed the country. Its cities to ruins

39. I reduced. I filled the broad plain with the corpses of his warriors; 1300 of his fighting-men I slew with weapons.

40. From the city Paqarrukhbuni I departed; to the cities of Mutalli 6 of the city of the Gamgumians I approached. The tribute

41. of Mutalli of the city of the Gamgumians, silver, gold, oxen, sheep, wine, (and) his daughter with a large dowry I received. From the city of Gamgumê

42. I departed; Lutibu the stronghold of Khânu of the country of the Sam’alians I approached. Khânu of the country of the Sam’alians, Sapalulme 7

43. of the country of the Patinians, 8 Akhuni the son of Adini, Sangara of the country of the Carchemishians, trusted to their mutual alliance and prepared for

2b - Nergal, god of the Underworld (alien giant Nergal, Lord of the Under World, WARRIOR GOD WHO GOES 1ST, BEFORE THE KING INTO BATTLE)

44. battle; they came against me to fight. By the supreme power of Nergal who marches before me, with the forceful (alien tech) weapons

45. which Assur the lord has granted (me) I fought with them, I utterly defeated them. Their combatants

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA (alien giant Adad stele, God of Thunder, god who kills earthlings at will)

46. I slew with weapons; like Hadad (Adad / Ishkur)1 I poured the deluge upon them, I heaped them up in the ditches; with the bodies

47. of their warriors I filled the broad plain; with their blood I dyed the mountains like wool. (His) many chariots [and troops], (and) horses

(stacking & counting severed heads)

48. trained for the yoke I took from him. 2 I erected a pyramid of heads at the entrance to his city. His cities I threw down, dug up (and) burned with fire.

49. In those days I celebrated the greatness of the great gods; I proclaimed for ever the valor of Assur and Shamash (Utu). A great image of my royalty

(his image & text made by Shalmaneser II)

50. I made; I inscribed upon it the exploits of my valor (and) the deeds of my glory. At the source of the river Saluara

51. at the foot of mount Amanus I erected (it). From mount Amanus I departed; the Orontes 3 I crossed; to Alimush 4

52. the stronghold of Sapalulme the Patinian I approached. Sapalulme the Patinian to save

53. his life [called to his aid] Akhuni the son of Adini, Sangara the Carchemishian, Khayânu the Sam’alian, Kate-[zilu the Komagenian], …

54. the Quan, 5 Pikhirim the Cilician, 6 Bur-anate the Yasbukian, Ada … the country of Assyria

COLUMN II

1. …

2. … I shattered [his forces]; the city I besieged, I captured. …

3. … his numerous chariots (and) horses trained to the yoke … I carried away …

4. [His fighting-men] I slew [with] weapons. In the midst of this battle Bur-anate

5. … my hands captured. The great cities of the Patinian I in[vested. The countries]

6. of the Upper [Sea] 1 of Syria 2 and of the sea of the setting sun I swept like a mound under a storm.

7. The tribute of the kings of the sea-coast I received. On the shores of the broad sea, straight before me, victoriously

8. I marched. An image of my majesty I made to perpetuate my name for ever, overlooking the sea I e[rected it].

9. To the mountains of Amanus I ascended. Logs of cedar and thuya I cut. To the mountains

10. of mount Atalur where the image of Assur-irbi 3 was set up I marched. I erected an image by the side of his image. From the sea I went [down];

11. the cities of Taya …, Khazazu, 4 Nulia (and) But-âmu belonging to the Patinian I captured; 2800 fighting-men

12. I slew; 14,600 prisoners I carried away. The tribute of Arame the son of Gusi, 5 silver, gold, oxen,

13. sheep, wine, (and) couches of gold and silver I received.—In the year of my own eponymy, 6 on the 13th day of the month Iyyar from [Nineveh]

14. I departed; the Tigris I crossed, the mountains 7 of Khasamu and Dikhnunu I traversed. To Til-Bursip 8 the stronghold of Akhuni

15. the son of Adini I approached. Akhuni the son of Adini trusted to the multitude of his troops and came to meet me. I utterly defeated him. In [his city]

16. I shut him up. From Til-Bursip I departed; in boats of seal-skin the Euphrates at its flood I crossed. Al (?) … , Tagi

17. Sûrunu, Paripa, Til-Basherê 1 (and) Dabigu, six strongholds of Akhuni the son of Adini I [besieged], I captured. His numerous fighting-men

18. I slew: their spoil I carried away; 200 towns which (were) dependent on them I threw down, dug up (and) burned with fire. [From] Dabigu I (departed);

19. to Sazabê the stronghold of Sangara the Carchemishian I approached. The city I besieged, I captured. Their numerous fighting-men I slew;

20. their spoil I carried away. The towns which (were) dependent on him I threw down, dug up (and) burned with fire. The kings of the country [of the Hittites] all of them,

21. trembled before the splendor of my powerful weapons and my violent onset, and they took my feet. From … shun 2 the Patinian

22. 3 talents of gold, 100 talents of silver, 300 talents of copper, 300 talents of iron, i000 vases of copper, i000 vestments of embroidered stuff (and) linen, his daughter

23. with her abundant dowry, 20 talents of blue purple, 300 oxen, (and) 5000 sheep, I received. A talent of gold, 2 talents of blue purple, (and) 100 logs of cedar

24. I imposed upon him as tribute; each year I receive (it) in my city of Assur. From Khayânu the son of Gabbaru who (dwells) at the foot of mount Amanus 10 talents of silver, 90 talents

25. of copper, 30 talents of iron, 300 vestments of embroidered stuff (and) linen, 300 oxen, 3000 sheep, 200 logs of cedar … 2 homers of cedar-resin

26. (and) his daughter with her dowry I received. I laid upon him as tribute 10 manehs of silver, 200 logs of cedar, (and) a homer of cedar-resin; each year

27. I receive (it). From Aramu the son of Agûsi 10 manehs of gold, 6 talents of silver, 500 oxen, (and) s000 sheep I received. From Sangara the Carchemishian 2 talents

28. of gold, 70 talents of silver, 30 talents of copper, 100 talents of iron, 20 talents of blue purple, 500 weapons, his daughter with a dowry, and 100 daughters of his nobles,

29. 500 oxen, (and) 5000 sheep, I received. I laid upon him as tribute a maneh of gold, a talent of silver, (and) 2 talents of blue purple; each year I receive (it). From Qata-zilu

30. the Komagenian I receive each year 20 manehs of silver (and) 300 logs of cedar.—In the eponymy of Assur-bel-kain, 1 on the 13th day of the month Tammuz (named after Dumuzi), I departed from Nineveh;

31. the Tigris I crossed; the mountains of Khasamu and Dikhnunu I traversed. At Til-Barsip the stronghold of Akhuni the son of Adini I arrived. Akhuni

32. the son of Adini, before the splendor of my powerful weapons and my violent onset, to save his life, crossed [to the western bank] of the Euphrates;

3d - Asar-Ashur-Osiris in winged disc (Ashur in his winged sky-disc)

33. to other countries he passed over. By the command of Assur the great lord, my lord, the cities of Til-Barsip (and) Aligu [I occupied. The city of] … Shaguqa as my royal city

 34. I chose. I settled men of Assyria within (it). I founded palaces within it for the habitation of mymajesty. To Til-Barsip the name of Kar-Shalmaneser, 1

35. to Nappigu the name of Lita-Assur, 2 to Aligu the name of Atsbat-la-kunu, 3 to Ruguliti the name of Qibit-[Assur] 4 I gave. In those days

36. the city of Ana-Assur-utir-atsbat, 5 which the Hittites call Pitru, 6 which (is) upon the river Sagura on the farther side of the Euphrates,

37. and the city of Mutkînu which is upon the hither side of the Euphrates, which Tiglath-Pileser, 7 the royal forefather who went before me had [captured] (and which) in the time of Assur-Irbi (?), 8

38. the king of Assyria, the king of the country of Aram 9 had taken away by force, these cities I restored to their (former) position, I settled men of Assyria in them.

39. While I was staying in the city of Kar-Shalmaneser the tribute of the kings of the sea-coast and of the kings of the banks of Euphrates, silver, gold, lead, copper,

40. vases of copper, oxen, sheep, (and) embroidered and linen vestments I received. From Kar-Shalmaneser I departed; mount 10 Sumu I traversed.

41. Into the country of Bit-Zamâni I descended. From Bit-Zamâni I departed; the mountains 11 of Namdanu (and) Merkhisu I traversed. Difficult paths (and) mountains

42. inaccessible whose peaks rose to the sky like the point of a sword I cut with axes of bronze. I caused chariots (and) troops to pass (them). Into the country of Enzite 1 in mount Shua 2

43. I descended. My hand conquered the country of Enzite throughout its extent. Their cities I threw down, dug up and burned with fire. Their spoil, their goods, their riches without number

44. I carried away. A great image of my majesty I made; I inscribed upon it the glory of Assur the great lord, my lord, and the power of my empire; I set (it) up (in) the city of Saluria at the foot (?) of Qirêqi.

45. From the country of Enzite I departed; the river Arsania 3 I crossed. To the country of Sukhme I approached. Uashtal its stronghold I captured. The [land] of Sukhme throughout its extent

46. I overthrew, dug up (and) burned with fire. Sua their governor with my hand I captured. From the country of Sukhme I departed; into the country of Dayaeni 4 I descended. The city of Dayaeni

47. with all its territory I conquered. Their cities I threw down, dug up (and) burned with fire. Their spoil, their goods (and) abundant wealth I took. From the country of Dayaeni I departed;

48. to Arzasku 5 the royal city of Arrame of Ararat I approached. Arramu of Ararat before the splendor of my powerful weapons

49. and my violent onset trembled and abandoned his city; to the mountains of Adduri he ascended. After him I ascended the mountains. A hard battle in the mountains I fought; 3400

2e - Adad, war god upon Taurus the bull (Adad atop his zodiac symbol of Taurus, warrior son to Enlil)

50. of his soldiers I slew with weapons. Like Hadad (Adad)1 I poured a deluge upon them. (With) their blood I dyed (the mountains) like wool. His camp I took from him;

51. his chariots, his litters (?), his horses, his colts, (his) calves, his riches, his spoil, (and) his abundant goods I brought back from the mountains. Arramu, to save

52. his life ascended the inaccessible mountains. In the energy of my manhood I trampled on his country like a wild bull; I reduced his cities to ruins. Arzasku together with the towns

53. which (were) dependent on it I threw down, dug up (and) burned with fire. I erected pyramids of heads at the entrance of his great gate. [Some of the survivors] alive within 

54. [the pyramids I immured]; others I impaled on stakes round about the pyramids. From Arzasku I departed; to the mountains

55. [of Eritia I ascended]. A great image of my majesty I made. The glory of Assur my lord and the mighty deeds of my empire which I had wrought in the land of Ararat upon it

56. [I inscribed. On the mountains of Eri]tia I set (it) up. From mount Eritia I departed; the city of Aramale 2 I approached. Its towns I threw down, dug up (and) burned with fire.

57. From Aramale I departed; to the city of Zanziuna [I approached], … he trembled; he took my feet.

3c - god Ashur, flying disc, weapons (Ashur artifacts destroyed by Radical Islam)

58. Horses trained to the yoke, oxen (and) sheep I received from him. I granted pardon to [him] … [On] my [return?], to the sea

59. of the country of Nairi 1 I descended; I purified the forceful weapons of Assur in the sea. [I sacrificed] victims. [An image of my majesty] I made; the glory

60. of Assur the great lord, my lord, the exploits of my valor and the deeds of my renown I inscribed upon it. [From the sea] I departed; to the country of Guzan

61. I approached. Asâu the king of the country of Guzan with his brothers (and) his sons came forth to meet me [and took the feet] of my majesty. Horses

62. trained to the yoke, oxen, sheep, wine (and) 7 camels with two humps I received from him. A great image of my majesty I made. The glory of Assur the great lord, my lord,

63. and the illustrious deeds of my empire which I had wrought in the land of Nairi I inscribed upon it; in the middle of his city, in his temple, I set (it) up. From the country of Guzan I departed;

64. to Shilaya the stronghold of Kâki the king of the city of Khupushkia I approached. The city I besieged, I captured. Their numerous fighting men I slew; 3000 of them as prisoners, their oxen,

65. their sheep, horses, colts, (and) calves to a countless number I carried away; to my city of Assur I brought (them). The defiles of the country of Enzite I entered; by the defiles of the country of Kirruri

66. which commands 2 the city of Arbela I came out.—As for Akhuni the son of Adini, who with the permission of the kings my fathers had acquired power and strength, in the beginning of my reign, in the eponymy

67. of the year called after my own name I departed from Nineveh, Til-Barsip his stronghold I besieged, I surrounded him with my soldiers, I fought a battle in the midst of it,

68. I cut down his plantations, I rained upon him arrows (and) javelins, before the splendor of my weapons (and) the glory of Assur he trembled and abandoned his city,

69. to save his life he crossed the Euphrates,—(again) in the second year in the eponymy of Assur-bunâya-utsur 1 I pursued after him; Shitamrat, a mountain peak on the bank of the Euphrates,

70. which hangs from the sky like a cloud, he made his stronghold. By the command of Assur the great lord, my lord, and Nergal who marches before me, I approached the mountain of Shitamrat,

71. within which none of the kings my fathers had penetrated. In three days a soldier scaled the mountain, a hero whose heart led (him) to the fray, (who) climbed up on his feet. The mountain

72. I stormed. Akhuni trusted to the multitude of his troops and came forth to meet

3f - Ashur, Sumerian bow in the clouds (Ashur)

me; he drew up (his) array. I launched among them the (alien tech) weapons of Assur my lord; I utterly

73. defeated them. I cut off the heads of his soldiers and dyed the mountains with the blood of his fighting-men. Many of his (people) flung themselves against the rocks of the mountains. A hard battle in the midst of his city

74. I fought. The terror of the glory of Assur my lord overwhelmed them; they descended (and) took my feet. Akhuni with his troops, chariots, his litters (?) and the many riches of his palace,

75. whose weight could not be estimated, I caused to be brought before me; I transported (them) across the Tigris; I carried (them) to my city of Assur. As men of my own country I counted the inhabitants.—In this same year I marched against the country of Mazamua. 2 Into the defiles

76. of the country of Bunais (?) 1 I entered: the cities of Nikdime (and) Nigdera 2 I approached. They trembled before the splendor of my powerful weapons and violent onset, and

77. took refuge on the sea 3 in coracles of willow. In boats of seal-skin I followed after them. A hard battle I fought in the middle of the sea (and) utterly defeated them.

78. The sea with their blood I dyed like wool.—In the eponymy of Dayan-Assur, 4 on the 14th day of the month Iyyar, I departed from Nineveh; the Tigris I crossed; to the cities

79. of Giammu on the river Balikh I approached. (Before) the fear of my lordship (and) the splendor of my forceful weapons they trembled and with their own weapons Giammu their lord

80. they slew. Into the cities of Kitlala 5 and Til-sa-Turakhi 6 I entered. I introduced my gods into his palaces; I made a feast in his palaces.

81. I opened (his) treasury; I saw his stored-up wealth; his riches (and) his goods I carried away; to my city of Assur I brought (them). From Kitlala I departed; to the city of Kar-Shalmaneser

82. I approached. In boats of seal-skin for the second time I crossed the Euphrates at its flood. The tribute of the kings of the farther 7 bank of the Euphrates, of Sangar

83. of the city of Carchemish, of Kundashpi of the city of Kummukh, 8 of Arame the son of Gusi, of Lalli of the city of Melid, 9 of Khayanu the son of Gabaru,

84. of Girparuda of the country of the Patinians, (and) of Girparuda of the country of the Gamgumians, silver, gold, lead, copper (and) vases of copper

85. in the city of Assur-utir-atsbat on the farther side of the Euphrates, which (is) upon the river Saguri, which the Hittites

86. call Pitru, I received. From the banks of the Euphrates I departed; to the city of Khalman 1 I approached. They were afraid to fight (and) took my feet.

87. Silver (and) gold as their tribute I received. I offered sacrifices before Dadda 2 the god of Khalman. From Khalman I departed. To the cities

88. of Irkhulêni the Hamathite I approached. The cities of Adennu, 3 Mashgâ 4 (and) Argana his royal city I captured. His spoil, his goods,

89. (and) the riches of his palaces I removed; his palaces I delivered to the flames. From the city of Argana I departed; to the city of Qarqara I approached.

90. Qarqara his royal city I threw down, dug up (and) burned with fire; 1200 chariots, 1200 litters (?) (and) 20,000 men from Dadda-idri

91. of the [country] of Damascus, 700 chariots, 700 litters (?) (and) 10,000 men from Irkhulêni the Hamathite, woo chariots (and) 10,000 men from Ahab

92. the Israelite; 5 500 men from the Guans; 6 1000 men from the Egyptians; 10 chariots (and) 10,000 men from the Irqanatians; 7

93. 200 men from Matinu-ba’al the Arvadite; 200 men from the Usanatians; 1 30 chariots (and) 10,000 men

94. from Adunu-ba’al the Shianian; 2 1000 camels from Gindibu’i the Arabian; 3 (and) … 00 men

95. from Ba’asha, the son of Rukhubi 4 of the country of Ammon 5—these 12 kings 6 he took to his assistance; to [offer]

96. battle and combat they came against me. With the mighty forces which Assur the lord has given (me),

4d - Nergal & sky-chariot 1600 B.C. (Nergal in his sky-chariot)

with the powerful weapons which Nergal who goes before me

97. has granted (me), I fought with them; from the city of Qarqara to the city of Kirzau I utterly defeated them; 14,000

1d - Adad, giant, Enlil's son (Hadad / Adad & smaller mixed-breed descendant-king)

98. of their fighting-men I slew with weapons. Like Hadad I rained a deluge upon them (and) exterminated (?) them.

99. I filled the face of the plain with their wide-spread troops, with (my) weapons I covered with their blood the whole district;

100. (the soil) ceased to give food to its inhabitants; in the broad fields was no room for their graves; with (the bodies of) their men

101. as with a bridge I bound together (the banks of) the Orontes. In this battle their chariots, their litters(?)

102. (and) their horses bound to the yoke I took from them.


Footnotes

55:1 The spirits of heaven and earth.

55:2 [The identification of the king with the Sun-god is frequent in the cuneiform tablets of Tel el-Amarna, where it is an imitation of an Egyptian usage. It is probable that the application of the term to the Assyrian king was due to the early influence of Egypt.—Ed.]

55:3 [Literally “the pupil of the eyes.”—Ed.]

56:1 Or Tiglath-Uras.

56:2 Literally “had called me as a prophet (nabium) to the shepherding.”

56:3 B.C. 858.

57:1 [Literally, “I burned for a holocaust.” There seems to be a reference to human sacrifice; cf. 2 Kings iii. 27.—Ed.]

57:2 [In the time of Shalmaneser the kingdom of Ararat, with its capital near Lake Van, was distinguished from Nairi, with its centre at Khubuskia. See Records of the Past, new series, i. p. 106, note 7.—Ed.]

58:1 Lake Van.

58:2 B.C. 857. The events of the year are summed up in the annals of the Black Obelisk, lines 26–31.

58:3 [Or “countries.”—Ed.]

58:4 [Lahlahte.—Ed.]

58:5 [Perhaps an Aramaic name signifying “the son of our lord.”—Ed.]

59:1 Called Khabini by Assur-natsir-pal and on the Black Obelisk.

59:2 [“The mound of stones.”—Ed.]

59:3 [Or perhaps Ki-giri-Dadda: he is called Giri-Dadi by Assur-natsir-pal, Records of the Past, new series, ii. p. 173, note 1.—Ed.]

59:4 Komagênê.

59:5 Called Paqarkhubuna on the Black Obelisk, line 90.

59:6 [The name of Mutalli is the same as that of the Hittite king Mutal, formerly read Mautenar, who is mentioned in the Egyptian copy of the treaty concluded between Ramses II, the Egyptian monarch, and the Hittites of Kadesh.—Ed.]

59:7 [Or Sapa-lulve, the Saplil of the Egyptian texts.—Ed.]

59:8 Between the Afrin and the gulf of Antioch, extending southwards to the sources of the Orontes.

60:1 Rimmon (Adad).

60:2 That is, Akhuni.

60:3 Arantu.

60:4 Or Alizir.

60:5 Twenty-five years later the king of Que was Kate or Katî; see Black Obelisk, line 132.

60:6 Khilukâ.

61:1 The Mediterranean.

61:2 Literally, “the country of the west.”

61:3 [The Assyrian king Assur-irbi is otherwise unknown, but he probably reigned in the interval between Samsi-Rimmon I, B.C. 1070, and Tiglath-pileser II, B.C. 950. For his identification with Assur-rab-buri, see note on line 37.—Ed.]

61:4 [The modern ’Azaz, about twenty-two miles north-west of Aleppo.—Ed.] .

61:5 [Called Agûsi in line 27, and on the Black Obelisk.—Ed.]

61:6 B.C. 856; Black Obelisk, lines 32–35.

61:7 Or countries.

61:8 [Probably meaning in Aramaic “Mound of the Son of ’Sip,” a name which must be identified with that of Saph in 2 Sam. xxi. 18. Til-Bur´sip is also written Til-Bur´saip and Til-Bar´sip.—Ed.]

62:1 [Probably the modern Tel Basher; see Records of the Past, new series, i. p. 109, note 5, and ii. p. 166, note 3. The printed text of the inscription has to be corrected here.—Ed.]

62:2 [This king must have been the successor of Sapalulve mentioned in Column I, and the predecessor of Girparuda mentioned in Column n, line 84.—Ed.]

63:1 B.C. 856. Black Obelisk, lines 35 sq.

64:1 “The Fortress of Shalmaneser.”

64:2 “The Glory of Assur (Osiris).”

64:3 “I have taken; (it is) not yours.”

64:4 “The Command of Assur.”

64:5 “To Assur I have restored, I have taken.”

64:6 [The Pethor of the Old Testament, from which Balaam came. We learn from this and parallel passages that it stood on the eastern side of the Sagura, the modern Sajur, not far from the junction of this river with the Euphrates.—Ed.]

64:7 [Tiglath-pileser I, B.C. 1100. The name may be a modified form of that of Mitanni, for which see Records of the Past, new series, i. p. 113.—Ed.]

64:8 [The reading of the name is doubtful, the characters being partly obliterated. George Smith read Assur-rab-buri.—ED].

64:9 Arumu.

64:10 Or “country of Sumu.”

64:11 Or “countries.”

65:1 [For Enzite, the Anzitênê of classical geography, see Records of the Past, new series, i. p. 103, note 2.—Ed.]

65:2 [Or “belonging to the country of Isua.” See the inscription of Tiglath-pileser I, Column III, line 91.—Ed.]

65:3 The Arsanias of classical geography, now called the Murad-Su.

65:4 [The Diyaveni or kingdom of the son “of Diaus” of the Vannic texts, which lay upon the Murad-Su in the neighbourhood of Melasgerd. One of its cities, Quais, is now represented by Yazlu-tash.—Ed.]

65:5 [Also called Arzaskun. The destruction of Arzasku and the defeat of Arrame seem to have led to the overthrow of his dynasty. Immediately afterwards Sarduris I, the son of Lutipris, built the citadel of Van, and founded a new kingdom on the shores of Lake Van.—Ed.]

66:1 Or Rimmon (Adad).

66:2 [Aramalis would be a Vannic adjective, formed by a suffix li, and signifying “belonging to Arama.” It had evidently been built by King Aramas or Aramis.—Ed.]

67:1 Lake Van.

67:2 Literally “at the head of.”

68:1 B.C. 856.

68:2 See Records of the Past, new series, p. 149, note 6.

69:1 [The reading of the last syllable is doubtful; we should perhaps read Bunae. See my “Memoir on the Vannic Inscriptions,” Jrl. R.A.S., xiv. 3, p. 396.—Ed.]

69:2 Called Nigdiara on the Black Obelisk, line 51.

69:3 Lake Van.

69:4 [B.C. 854. According to the Black Obelisk (ll. 54 sq.), however, the events here recorded took place two years later in B.C. 852, during the eponymy of Samas-bela-utsur.—Ed.]

69:5 Or Lillala.

69:6 Or Til-sa-Balakhi, “The mound of the Balikh.”

69:7 That is, western.

69:8 Komagene.

69:9 The modern Malatiyeh.

70:1 [Or Khalvan, Aleppo. Compare Helam in 2 Sam. x. 17.—Ed.]

70:2 [According to K 2100. i. 7, 16, 17, Addu and Dadu were the names given to Rimmon in Syria, Adad or Hadad being a further name by which the god was known in Assyria. Besides Dadu we also find the forms Dadda and Dadi. In Hadad-Rimmon (Zech. xii. II) the two names of the Air-god are united, while a comparison of 2 Sam. viii. to with 1 Chr. xviii. 9 (Jo-ram and Hado-ram) shows that at Hamath Hado or Addu was identified with the national god of Israel. In the Babylonian contract-tablets the name of the Syrian god Ben-Hadad appears as Bin-Addu.—Ed.]

70:3 [Probably the Eden of Amos i. 5.—Ed.]

70:4 Or Bargâ.

70:5 Akhabbu mat ’Sir’alâ.

70:6 Probably the same as the Que.

70:7 [The “Arkite” of Gen. x. 17. The city is called Irqatu in the tablets of Tel el-Amarna.—Ed.]

71:1 [Us’û is referred to, the Ushâ of the Talmud, which, as Delitzsch has shown, was not far from Acre.—Ed.]

71:2 [The printed text has Si-za-na-â in mistake for Si-a-na-a. Probably “the Sinite” of Gen. x. 17 is meant.—Ed.]

71:3 Arbâ.

71:4 Baasha the son of Rehob.

71:5 Amanâ.

71:6 Only eleven are mentioned. It seems probable that the scribe has omitted the name of one of the confederates.

Inscription on the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III (Version B)

Library collection: “World’s Greatest Literature”

Published work: “Babylonian and Assyrian Literature”

Translator: Rev. A. H. Sayce, M.A.

Publisher: P. F. Collier & Son, New York

(Texts: All Artifacts, Color Coding, & Writings in Bold Type With Italics Inside Parenthesis, are Added by Editor R. Brown, not the Authors, Translators, or Publishers!)

(gods in blue)

Face A, Top

2a - Ashur, son to Marduk (Ashur, eldest son to Marduk)

I. Assur (Orien / Osiris), the great lord, the king of all

  (Anu in his winged sky-disc, king on planet Nibiru & over the giant aliens on Earth)

2. the great gods; Anu the king of the Igigi (space truckers)

1ae - Enlil, Babylonian (Bel / Enlil, King Anu‘s son & heir, Anu‘s Earth Colony Commander)

3. and the Anunnaki; 1 the lord of the world, the supreme, Bel (Enlil)

4. the father of the gods, the creator

5 - Anu above, Enlil, & Enki  (Enki, King Anu in his winged sky-disc, Enlil, & winged minor Apkulla pilots)

5. of the universe; Ea (Enki), the king of the abyss (waters) who determines destinies;

2c - Nannar & his symbol   (Nannar / Sin, Enlil‘s son, Moon Crescent god of Ur; Nannar)

6. Sin (Nannar), the king of the (lunar) disk, who sheds the light;

ec38270f26f3389accd140dd8e16b186 5dd - Shamash & Hammurabi  (Adad; King Hammurabi & Utu / Shamash, the Sun god)

7. Adad (Ishkur), 2 the very mighty, the master of abundance; Shamash (Utu),

8. the judge of heaven and earth, the ordainer of all things;

babylonian_cylinder_seal  (giant alien god Marduk, patron god of Babylon, son to Enki)

9. Merodach (Marduk), the herald of the gods, the master of the laws; Adar, 3 the captain

 4d - Nergal & sky-chariot 1600 B.C.  (Nergal; Nergal in his sky-chariot / sky-disc, lord of the Under World, spouse to Ereshkigal)

10. of the Igigi (space truckers on mars) and the Anunnaki, the god all-powerful; Nergal,

          11. the valiant, the king of battles; Nusku (Enlil‘s son) who bears the august scepter,

4b - Enlil & spouse Ninlil (Enlil & equal spouse Ninlil images carved into ancient city wall)

         12. the omniscient god; Beltis (Ninlil), the wife of Bel (Enlil), the mother of the great gods;

1b - war dressed Ishtar atop lion - Leo (Inanna, daughter to Nannar, powerful Goddess of Love & War, upon her Zodiac symbol Leo)

13. Ishtar (Inanna), the princess of heaven and earth, accomplished in courageous decisions;

14. the great gods who have determined my destinies and enlarged my royalty!

5aa - Ashur & a king  (alien giant Ashur with his king, attentively receiving his instructions directly from god)

15. Shalmaneser (II), the king of the multitude of men, high-priest of Assur, the powerful king,

2ee - Utu, Shamash  (damaged semi-divine Babylonian king stands before the “Sun-godUtu, Nannar‘s son, Inanna‘s twin)

16. the king of all the four regions, the Sun-god (Utu) of the multitude of mankind, who governs

9a - King Ashurnasirpal I  (giant mixed-breed King Ashurnatsirpal I pointing at symbols of the gods)

17. in all countries; the son of Assur-natsir-pal, the supreme priest, (& king) whose priesthood unto the gods

18. was pleasing, and who has subdued unto his feet all lands;

Face B, Top

19. the illustrious offspring of Tukulti-Adar 1

20. who subjugated all his enemies and

21. swept them like the tempest.—

22. At the beginning of my reign, when on the throne

23. of the kingdom I had seated myself in state, my chariots

24. (and) my armies I assembled. Into the defiles of the land of Simesi2

2ba - Enki's Temple-Ziggourat in Eridu 2e - Eridu temple reconstruction  (Enki‘s patron city Eridu; & his ziggurat temple residence)

25. I penetrated. Aridu (Eridu, Enki‘s patron city), the strong city

26. of Ninni (Ninki?) I captured.—In the first year of my reign

27. I crossed the Euphrates in its flood; towards the sea of the setting sun

28. I marched. I purified my weapons in the sea. Victims

29. to my gods I sacrificed. I ascended mount Amanus; 3

30. I cut logs of cedar and thuya.

31. I climbed mount Lallar and erected there an image of my royalty.—

32. In the second year of my reign I approached the city of Til-Barsaip. 4 The cities

33. of Akhuni the son of Adini I captured; I shut him up in his city. 5 The Euphrates

34. I crossed in its flood. Dabigu, a fortress of the land of the Hittites, 6

35. together with the cities that were dependent upon it I captured.—In the third year of my reign Akhuni

36. the son of Adini trembled before my powerful arms, and Til-Barsaip,

Face C, Top

37. his royal city, he abandoned, and he crossed the Euphrates.

38. The City of Ana-Assur-utir-atsbat, 1 situated on the further side

39. of the Euphrates, upon the river Sagurra, 2 which the people

40. of the land of the Hittites call Pitru, 3

41. I took for myself. On my return

42. I penetrated into the defiles of the country of Alzi. 4 The countries of Alzi, Lukh[me],

43. Dayeni (and) Numme, the City of Arzashkun the capital

44. of Arame of the country of Urardhu, 5 the countries of Guzan (and) Khupushkia [I have conquered].

45. In the eponymy of Dayan-Assur 6 I departed from Nineveh; the Euphrates

46. I crossed at its flood. I marched against Akhuni the son of Adini; the country of Shitamrat, 7

47. a mountain peak on the bank of the Euphrates, he made his stronghold. The peak

48. of the mountain I assaulted and captured. Akhuni with his gods, his chariots,

2a - Assur with man-made mountain  (Ashur‘s ziggurat temple residence in his patron city of Assur, city found way below)

49. his horses, his sons, his daughters, (and) his army I carried away and to my city of Assur (Ashur‘s patron city)

50. I brought. In that same year I crossed mount Kullar; to the country of Zamua

51. of Bitani 8 I descended. The cities of Nikdiara the prince of the Idians

52. (and) of Nikdima I captured.—In the fifth year of my reign I ascended mount Kashyari. 1 Eleven strong cities

53. I captured. I besieged Ankhitti 2 of the country of the Rurians in his city. His tribute

54. abundant I received.—In the sixth year of my reign to the cities on the banks of the Balikhi 3

Face D, Top

55. I approached. They had slain Giammu their governor.

56. I entered the city of Til-Turakhe. 4

57. I crossed the Euphrates at its flood.

58. The tribute of the kings of the country of the Hittites

59. all of them I received. Then Dadda-Idri 5

60. the king of the country of Emerishu, 6 Irkhulina 7 of the country of the Hamathites, together with the kings

61. of the country of the Hittites and of the coast of the Sea, to their allied forces

          62. trusted, and to offer combat and battle

3b - Ashur the god of Assyria (Marduk‘s son Ashur in his winged sky-disc, instructing his king to continue on)

63. came against me. By the command of Assur (Ashur) the great lord, my lord,

64. I fought with them, I defeated them.

65. I took from them their chariots, their litters (?) (and) their war material.

66. I slew 20,500 of their soldiers with weapons.—

67. In the 7th year of my reign I marched against the cities of Khabini (prince) of Til-Abnê.

68. I captured Til-Abnê his stronghold and the cities dependent on it.

69. I marched to the sources of the Tigris, the place from whence the waters gush forth;

70. there I purified the arms of Assur (alien advanced weaponry); I sacrificed victims to my gods; a feast of rejoicing

71. I made. I erected a great image of my royal majesty. The glory of Assur my lord, the exploits

72. of my valor, and all that I had done in these countries, I inscribed upon it; I set (it) up there.—

Face A, Base

73. In the 8th year of my reign (against) Merodach-shum-iddin the king of the country of Karduniash 1

74. Merodach-bel-usate his younger brother revolted. (The country)

75. they divided between them. To avenge

76. Merodach-shum-iddin I marched. I captured the city of Me-Turnat. 2

        77. In the 9th year of my reign for the second time I marched to the country of Accad (Akkad). 3

         I besieged Gananate. As for Merodach-bel-usate, the terror

2 - Ashur 2a - Marduk, Enki's 1st son, god of Babylon (Ashur; father Marduk, used alien weaponry insuring victories for their mixed-breed kings)

79. of the glory of Assur (and) Merodach overwhelmed him, and to save his life

80. he ascended the mountain. I marched after him. Merodach-bel-usate (and) the soldiers,

81. the rebel-chiefs who were with him I slew with my weapons. To the great cities

82. I marched; I offered sacrifices in Babylon (Marduk‘s city), Borsippa (Nabu‘s city) and Kuta. 4

83. I made offerings to the great gods. I descended to the country of Chaldæa; 1 I captured their cities.

84. I received the tribute of the kings of the country of Chaldæa. The torrent (?) of my arms overwhelmed as far as the Salt-marshes. 2

85. In the 10th year of my reign for the eighth time I crossed the Euphrates; I captured the cities of Sangara of Carchemish; 3

86. I approached the cities of Arame. I captured Arnê. his royal city and 100 of his towns.—

87. In the 11th year of my reign for the ninth time I crossed the Euphrates. I captured cities without number. To the cities of the land of the Hittites

88. (and) of the country of the Hamathites I descended. I captured 89 towns. Dadda-idri of the country of Damascus (and) twelve kings of the country of the Hittites 4

89. ranged themselves side by side; I overthrew them.—In the 12th year of my reign for the tenth time I crossed the Euphrates.

90. I marched against the country of Paqarkhubuna; I carried away their spoil.— In the 13th year of my reign I went up against the country of Yaeti;

91. I carried away their spoil.—In the 14th year of my reign I assembled (the men) of the country; I crossed the Euphrates; twelve kings met me;

92. I fought [with them]; I overthrew them.—In the 15th year of my reign I marched to the sources of the Tigris (and) Euphrates. An image

93. I erected in their caverns.—In the 16th year of my reign I crossed the Zab; 5 to the country of Namri 6

94. I marched. Merodach-mudammiq king of Namri, to save his life, ascended (the mountain): his goods,

95. his troops (and) his gods I transported to Assyria. Yanzu 1 the son of Khanban I raised to the sovereignty over them.—

Face B, Base

96. In the 17th year of my reign I crossed the Euphrates; I ascended mount Amanus; logs

97. of cedar I cut.—In the 18th year of my reign for the sixteenth time I crossed the Euphrates. Hazael

98. of the country of Damascus advanced to battle: 1121 chariots, 470 litters (?) with

99. his camp I took from him. 2—In the 19th year of my reign for the eighteenth time I crossed the Euphrates. Mount Amanus

100. I ascended: logs of cedar I cut.—In the 20th year of my reign, for the twentieth time, the Euphrates

101. I crossed. Into the country of Qaue 3 I descended. I captured their cities. Their spoil

102. I carried away.—In the 21st year of my reign for the21st time I crossed the Euphrates. Against the cities

103. of Hazael of the country of Damascus I marched; four of his cities I captured. The tribute of the Tyrians,

104. the Sidonians (and) the Gebalites 1 I received.—In the 22d year of my reign for the 22d time the Euphrates

105. I crossed. I descended into the country of Tubal. 2 At that time from the twenty-four

106. kings of Tubal I received gifts. To mount Tumar,

107. a mountain of silver, a mountain of mulî, 3 a mountain of marble, I marched. —In the 23d year of my reign

108. the Euphrates I crossed. Uetash the stronghold

109. of Lalla the Milidian 4 I captured. The kings of Tubal

110. had come; their tribute I received.—In the 24th year of my reign the Lower Zab

111. I crossed. I passed over mount Khashimur; into the country of Namri

112. I descended. Yanzû the king of Namri before

113. my powerful (advanced alien) weapons trembled, and to save his life

114. ascended (the mountain). Sikhishalakh, Bit-Tamul, Bit-Sakki

115. (and) Bit-Shêdi his strong cities I captured. His soldiers I slew.

116. His spoil I carried away. I threw down, dug up (and) burned with fire the cities.

117. The survivors of them ascended the mountains. The mountain peaks

118. I assaulted, I captured: their soldiers I slew; their spoil (and) their goods

119. I carried down. I departed from the country of Namri. The tribute of twenty- seven kings

120. of the country of Parsua 1 I received. From Parsua I departed. Into

121. the country of Messi, the country of the Amadians, 2 the country of Araziash (and) the country of Kharkhar I descended.

Face C, Base

122. The cities of Kuakinda, Khatstsanabi, 3 Esamul

123. (and) Kinablila as well as the towns dependent on them I captured. Their soldiers

124. I slew, their spoil I carried away. The cities I threw down, dug up (and) burned with fire. An image of my majesty

125. in the country of Kharkhâra I set up. Yanzû the son of Khaban, with his numerous goods,

126. his gods, his sons, his daughters (and) his many troops I carried away, to Assyria I brought (them).—In the 25th year of my reign

127. the Euphrates at its flood I crossed. I received the tribute of all the kings of the country of the Hittites. Mount Amanus

128. I passed over. I descended into the cities of Katê of the country of the Qauians. Timur his stronghold

129. I assaulted, I captured. I slew their soldiers. I carried away their spoil. The cities to a countless number I threw down, dug up

130. (and) burned with fire. On my return Mûru the stronghold of Arame the son of Agusi

131. I took for myself as a fortress. 4 I surrounded its enclosure (with a wall); I founded therein a palace as my royal abode.—

132. In the 26th year of my reign for the 7th time I passed over Mount Amanus; for the 4th time against the cities of Katê

133. of the country of the Qauians I marched. I besieged Tanakun 1 the stronghold of Tulka. The terror

3e - Ashur, son to Marduk (Ashur overwhelms earthlings using alien advanced weaponry)

134. of the glory of Assur my lord overwhelmed him and they came forth, they took my feet. I took hostages from him. Silver, gold,

135. iron, oxen (and) sheep I received from him as his tribute. I departed from Tanakun; against the country of Lamena

136. I marched. The inhabitants fled; they occupied an inaccessible mountain; the summit of the mountain I assaulted,

137. I captured. Their soldiers I slew; their spoil, their oxen (and) their sheep I brought down from the mountain.

138. I threw down, dug up (and) burned with fire their cities. Against the city of Tarzi 2 I marched. They took my feet. Silver (and) gold,

139. I received as their tribute. Kirrî the brother of Katê to the sovereignty over them

140. I appointed. On my return I ascended over mount Amanus. Logs of cedar I cut,

2b - Assur, Ashur's city named after himself (city of Assur with Ashur‘s mud brick-built ziggurat-house way above)

141. I removed, to my city of Assur I transported.—In the 27th year of my reign I assembled my chariots (and) my armies. Dayân-Assur

142. the Tartan, 3 the commander of my numerous armies, at the head of my troops against the country of Ararat I despatched,

143. I sent. Into the country of Bit-Zamani 4 he descended; into the defiles of the city of Ammash he entered; the river Arzania 5 he crossed.

144. Seduri 1 of the country of the Araratians heard and to the strength of his numerous armies

145. trusted; he came against 2 me to make combat (and) battle. I 2 fought with him,

146. I defeated him; I filled the wide plain with the bodies of his warriors.—In the 28th year of my reign,

147. while I was staying in Calah, news was brought to me (that) the men of the country of the Patinians 3

148. had slain Lubarni their prince (and) had raised to the sovereignty over them Surri who had no right to the throne.

149. Dayan-Assur the Tartan, the commander of my numerous armies, at the head of my army (and) my train

150. I dispatched, I sent. He crossed the Euphrates at its flood. In Kinalua, 4 the royal city of (Surri), 

151. he made a massacre. As for Surri the usurper, the terror of the glory of Assur my lord

2ba - King Esarhaddon stele  (giant alien god Ashur, & scared, overpowered, non-capable earthlings in perfect attention & amazement)

152. overwhelmed him and he died a natural death. The men of the country of the Patinians before the splendour of my powerful weapons (alien high-tech weaponry)

Face D, Base

153. trembled, and they seized the sons of Surri and the leaders in the rebellion (and) delivered (them) to me.

154. I hung these men on gibbets. Sasi a son of the country of Utstsâ took my feet; to the sovereignty

155. over them I appointed (him). I received from them silver, gold, lead, copper, iron, (and) ivory to a countless amount.

156. I made a very lofty image of my majesty; I placed (it) in Kinalua his royal city in the house of his gods.—In the 29th

157. year of my reign my armies (and) train I dispatched, I sent. I ascended to the country of Kirkhi. 1 Their cities I threw down,

158. dug up (and) burned with fire. Their country I swept like the tempest. The terror

159. of my glory I poured over them.—In the 30th year of my reign, while I was staying in Calah, Dayan-Assur

160. the Tartan, the commander of my numerous armies, I dispatched, I sent at the head of my armies. The Zab

161. he crossed, he made his way to the cities of Khubushkâ. 2 The tribute of Datana

162. the Khubushkian I received. From the cities of the Khubushkian

163. I departed. He 3 approached the cities of Makdubi 4 the Malkhisian. Tribute

164. I received. He 3 departed from the cities of the Malkhisians. To the cities of Ualki

5a - Hittite rockets, god in sky chamber, shem 5b - Hittite relief of the gods rockets

           (ancient battle scene of rocket launches & sky-ships manned by alien gods)

165. the Mannian 5 he approached. Ualki the Mannian before the splendour of my puissant weapons

166. trembled, and quitted Zirta his royal city, and to save his life ascended (the mountains).

167. I pursued after him; I brought back his oxen, his sheep (and) his goods to a countless number. His cities

168. I threw down, dug up (and) burned with fire. He 1 departed from the country of the Mannâ; to the cities of Shulusunu of the country of Kharru

169. he approached. He captured Masashuru his royal city as well as the cities dependent on it. To Shulusunu

170. and his sons I granted pardon. I restored him to his country. Gifts (and) tribute, horses trained

171. to the yoke I imposed upon him. He approached Shurdira. The tribute of Artasari

172. the Shurdirian I received. Into the country of Parsu 2 I descended. The tribute of the kings

173. of the country of Parsua I received. As for the rest of the country of Parsua (which was) not obedient to Assur, their cities

174. I captured, their spoil (and) their goods I carried away to Assyria.—In the 31st year of my reign, for the second time, the face

3d - Asar-Ashur-Osiris in winged discd6270faa93067bede70bcac2a3479aec

         (Ashur in his winged sky-disc;   Anu‘s daughter Shala & spouse Hadad / Adad, with winged sky-disc above)

175. I fixed (?) on Assur (Ashur) (and) Hadad (Adad). 3 At that time, while I was staying in Calah, Dayan-Assur

176. the Tartan, the commander of my numerous armies, at the head of my armies (and) my train I dispatched, I sent.

177. The cities of Datâ 4 the Khubushkian he approached. Tribute I received.

178. Against the city of Tsapparia the stronghold of the country of Mutsatsira 5 I marched. The city of Tsapparia together with

179. 46 cities of the Mutsatsirians he captured. As far as the fortresses of the people of Ararat

180. I marched. I threw down, dug up (and) burned with fire their cities. Into the country of Guzan 1 I descended. The tribute

181. of Ubû the Guzanian, of the Mannians, the … Burisians, the Kharranians, 2

182. the Shashganians, the Andians (and) the A … rians, oxen, sheep, and horses

183. trained to the yoke I received. I descended into the cities of the country of …; the cities of Perria

184. (and) Shitiuarya 3 his cities, with twenty-two towns dependent on it, I threw down, dug up

185. (and) burned with fire. I spread over them the terror of my glory. He marched against the cities of the Parsuans.

186. The cities of Bushtu, 4 Shala-Khamanu, (and) Kinikhamanu, strongholds, together with 22 cities

187. which (were) dependent on them I captured. I slew their fighting men, I carried away their spoil. Into the country of Namri I descended.

4 - Ashur & his father Marduk 2800-2600 BC (Ashur & father Marduk symbolized as a multi-headed beast)

188. The terror of the glory (alien technologies) of Assur (and) Merodach (Marduk) overwhelmed them; they abandoned their cities, to

189. inaccessible mountains they ascended. I threw down, dug up (and burned with fire 250 of their cities.

190. I descended through the pass of Simesi, the key 5 of the country of Khalman.

THE EPITAPHS OVER THE BAS-RELIEFS

I

I have received the tribute of Sûa of the country of Guzan: silver, gold, lead, vases of copper, scepters for the hand of the king, horses, (and) dromedaries with two humps.

II

I have received the tribute of Jehu, the son of Omri: 1 silver, gold, bowls of gold, chalices of gold, cups of gold, pails of gold, lead, scepters for the hand of the king, (and) spear-shafts.

III

I have received the tribute of the country of Mutsri: 2 dromedaries with two humps, an ox of the river Sakeya (?) an antelope, elephants, 3 (and) apes with their young (?)

IV

I have received the tribute of Merodach-abil-utsur of the country of the Shuhites: 4 silver, gold, pails of gold, ivory, spear-shafts, bûya, embroidered vestments, (and) linen.

V

I have received the tribute of Garparunda of the country of the Patinians: silver, gold, lead, copper, vases of copper, ivory, (and) boxwood.”


Footnotes

38:1 That is to say, of the spirits of heaven and earth.

38:2 [Ramman, Rimmon (Adad),Ed.]

38:3 [Or Uras (Urash).Ed.]

39:1 Tiglath-Uras (mixed-breed demigod son made king).

39:2 [For the situation of ’Sime’si, see note on line 190.—Ed.]

39:3 Khamanu.

39:4 [Probably the Barsampsê of Ptolemy, though Delitzsch identifies it with Birejik.]

39:5 Bit-Adin or Til-Barsip.

39:6 [Or “the city Dabigu (and) the city Birtu of the land of the Hittites” (Khatti).—Ed.]

40:1 [”For Assur (Marduk‘s son) I have taken (it) again”; the name given by Shalmaneser (mixed-breed bloodline descendant made king) to Pethor.—Ed.]

40:2 The modern Sajur.

40:3 [The Pethor of the Old Testament, to which Balaam belonged.—Ed.

40:4 For Alzi, at the sources of the Sebbeneh Su, see Records of the Past, new series, i. p. 94, note 4.

40:5 Ararat.

40:6 [B.C. 854. This was at the beginning of the fifth year of the king’s reign.—Ed.]

40:7 [Or Siparrat.—Ed.]

40:8 [In Armenia, on the southern shores of Lake Van, so called to distinguish it from another Zamua in Kurdistan between Sulamaniyeh and p. 41 the Shirwan. The Lake of Van is called “the sea of Zamua of Bitani.” The Armenian Zamua is also termed Mazamua. Bitâni in Assyrian signified “palace,” but when applied to Armenia it seems to be intended for an incorrect representation of the native name Biaina(s) or Van.—Ed.]

41:1 [Mount Masius.—Ed.]

41:2 [Or perhaps, Ilu-Khitti, see Records of the Past, new series, ii. p. 148, note 2.—Ed.]

41:3 [The modern Belikh, which flows into the Euphrates north of the Khabour.—Ed.]

41:4 [Perhaps Tiele is right in reading Til-Balakhe, “the mound of Belikh. “—Ed.]

41:5 [Hadad-ezer, which in Aramaic would be Hadad-eder. He is the Ben-hadad of the Old Testament, Ben-Hadad “the (mixed-breed demigod) son of Hadad (Adad),” being, as we learn from the cuneiform inscriptions, the name or title of one of the Syrian gods.—Ed.]

41:6 [The Assyrian name of the kingdom of Damascus, possibly connected with the word Amorite.—Ed.]

41:7 [“The moon is our god (Nannar).”—Ed.]

42:1 Babylonia.

42:2 “The waters of the Turnat” or Tornadotus, the modern Dijâlah, which falls into the Tigris a little below Bagdad. With the name of the city compare that of the capital of Ammon, 2 Sam. xii. 27.

42:3 Northern Babylonia.

42:4 Now Tell-Ibrahim, east of Babylon.

43:1 Kaldi, in the marshes at the head of the Persian Gulf.

43:2 Literally “the bitter (river),” Marrati: cf. the Merathaim of Jer. l. 21.

43:3 [Gargamis, now Jerablûs, on the western bank of the Euphrates, a little to the north of the Sajur.—Ed.]

43:4 [The name is here extended so as to include Syria, Palestine, and even northern Arabia.—Ed.]

43:5 [Here written Me-Zaba, “the water of the (Lower) Zab.”—Ed.]

43:6 [In the Kurdish mountains north of Holwân.—Ed.]

44:1 [In the Kassite language, spoken in the district adjoining Namri, yanzi signified “king.”—Ed.]

44:2 [The following fragment (W. A. I., iii. 5, No. 6) gives an account of this campaign in further detail:—”In the 18th year of my reign for the 16th time I crossed the Euphrates. Hazael of Damascus trusted to the strength of his armies and assembled his armies to a large number. Saniru (the Biblical Shenir, Deut. iii. 9), a mountain summit as you come to Lebanon, he made his stronghold. I fought with him, I defeated him: 6000 of his soldiers I slew with weapons, 1121 of his chariots, 470 of his war-horses along with his camp I took from him. To save his life he ascended (the mountain). I pursued after him. In Damascus his royal city I shut him up. His plantations I cut down. As far as the mountains of the Hauran I marched. The cities to a countless number I threw down, dug up (and) burned with fire. Their spoil to a countless amount I carried away. As far as the mountain of Bahli-rahsi (Baal-rosh at the mouth of the Dog River), which (is) a headland of the sea, I marched: an image of my majesty I set up upon it. At that time I received the tribute of the Tyrians, the Sidonians (and) of Yahua (Jehu) the son of Khumrî (Omri).”—Ed.]

44:3 [Elsewhere written Que. They seem to have inhabited the northern shore of the Gulf of Antioch. Lenormant has suggested that the name occurs in 1 Kings x. 28, where the word translated “linen yarn” ought to be rendered “from Queh. “—Ed.]

45:1 See Josh. xiii. 5; 1 Kings v. 32; Ez. xxvii. 9. Gebal was the classical Byblos, eight miles north of Beyrout.

45:2 [Tabali, the Tibareni of classical geography. In the Assyrian period they lived between the Muskâ or Meshech and Komagênê, to the east of Malatiyeh.—Ed.]

45:3 [Perhaps “salt.”—Ed.]

45:4 Milid is represented by the modern Malatiyeh.

46:1 [Also called Par´suas; in the Vannic inscriptions Bar´suas. It lay to the south-east of the Mannâ or Minni on the south-western shore of Lake Urumiyeh.—Ed.]

46:2 [Amadâ, probably to be identified with Madâ or “Medes.” If so, this is the earliest mention we have of the latter people.—Ed.]

46:3 [Or Tarzanabi.—Ed.]

46:4 Birtu.

47:1 [Compare the name of Thanakê given by Apollodoros (iii. 14, 3, I) as the wife of Sandakos, who came from Syria to Kilikia and there founded Kelenderis; she was the mother of Kinyras and the daughter of king Megessaros.—Ed.]

47:2 Tarsus.

47:3 [Turtannu or “commander-in-chief.” See Is. xx. 1; 2 Kings xviii. 17.—Ed.]

47:4 [Literally “the house of the country of Zamani.”—Ed.]

47:5 [The Arsanias of classical geography, which joins the Euphrates near Mush to the west of Lake Van.—Ed.]

48:1 [Sarduris I., of the native Vannic texts, of whom we have two inscriptions in the Assyrian language, both found at Van. He introduced the cuneiform system of writing into Armenia, and seems to have founded the Vannic kingdom. In his inscriptions he calls himself the son of Lutipris and king of Nairi, and claims to have built the citadel of Van. His son and successor, Isbuinis, substituted the native language for Assyrian in his inscriptions. See my Memoir on the Cuneiform Inscriptions of Van, Jrl. R. A. S., xiv. 3, 4; xx. 1.—Ed.]

48:2 Shalmaneser here identifies himself with his commander-in-chief.

48:3 [The Patinâ inhabited the district between the eastern bank of the Afrin and the Gulf of Antioch, extending southward to the Orontes.—Ed.]

48:4 [Also called Kunulua and Kinalia, between the Afrin and the Orontes, perhaps the classical Gindarus.—Ed.]

49:1 [Probably the same as Qurkhi “opposite the land of the Hittites.” See Records of the Past, new series, ii. p. 540, note 4.—Ed.]

49:2 [Khubuska, also called Khubuskia, lay on the north-eastern frontier of Assyria, between the Zab and the territory of the Minni.—Ed.]

49:3 That is to say Dayan-Assur.

49:4 [Or Maggubbi.—Ed.]

49:5 [The Mannâ, called the Manâ in the Vannic inscriptions, are the Minni of Old Testament (Jer. l. 27), who inhabited the country on the eastern border of the kingdom of Ararat or Van, and extended along the western shore of Lake Urumiyeh.—Ed.]

50:1 That is to say Dayan-Assur.

50:2 See p. 46, note 1, above.

50:3 [Or Rimmon (Adad).—Ed.]

50:4 Called Datana above, line 161.

50:5 [Mutsatsira lay on the southern border of the kingdom of Ararat or Van, and was destroyed by Sargon in B.C. 714. The cylinder of its last king Urzana is now in the Museum of the Hague. See my Memoir on the Vannic Inscriptions, p. 693.—Ed.]

51:1 [This northern Guzan or Gozan was different from the Gozan near Diarbekir, at the sources of the Khabour, to which the Israelites were transported according to 2 Kings xviii. 11. See Epigraph I.—Ed.]

51:2 [Not to be confounded with the famous city of Kharran or Haran in Mesopotamia, mentioned in Genesis.—Ed.]

51:3 [Called Satiraraus in the Vannic Inscriptions.—Ed.]

51:4 [Called the country of Bustus in the Vannic inscriptions, from which we learn that it lay to the south-east of the Mannâ. It would have occupied the southern shore of Lake Urumiyeh.—Ed.]

51:5 [Literally “at the head.” Khalman, or rather Khalvan, is the modern Holwan. It was here, at Sir-Pul, that Sir H. Rawlinson discovered the cuneiform inscription of Kannubanini king of the Lulubini.—Ed.]

52:1 “Yahua the son of Khumrî.” This was in B.C. 842. Shalmaneser was misinformed in regard to the relationship of Jehu to the dynasty of Omri. Samaria, however, was known to the Assyrians as “the House of Omri,” in consequence of their first becoming acquainted with it in the reign of Ahab.

52:2 Mutsri lay to the north-east of Khorsabad on the caravan route from the east. See Records of the Past, new series, i. p. 109, note 7.

52:3 [Rather “female elephants.” Perhaps the next word baziati is an adjective in agreement. The “ox” would be either a yak or a rhinoceros according to the bas-relief.—Ed.]

52:4 [Sukhâ. The Shuhites extended along the western bank of the Euphrates from the Khabour to the Belikh. Cf. Job ii. 11.—Ed.]

Annals of Assur-nasir-pal II

http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/txt/ah/assyria/inscra02.html

(Texts: All Artifacts, Color Coding, & Writings in Bold Type With Italics Inside Parenthesis, are Added by Editor R. Brown, not the Authors, Translators, or Publishers!)

(gods in bluemixed-breed demigods in teal…)

Column 1

(giant god Ninurta, & mixed-breed king with dinner offering)

[1.1] To Ninip (Ninurta) most powerful hero, great, chief of the gods, warrior, powerful Lord, whose onset in battle has not been opposed, eldest son (of Enlil‘s),

[1.2] crusher of opponents, first-born son of Nukimmut (Ninhursag), supporter of the seven, noble ruler, King of the gods the producers, governor, he who rolls along the mass

[1.3] of heaven and earth, opener of canals, treader of the wide earth, the god who in his divinity nourishes heaven and earth, the beneficent,

[1.4] the exalted, the powerful, who has not lessened the glory of his face, head of nations, bestower of scepters, glorious, over all cities a ruler,

[1.5] valiant, the renown of whose scepter is not approached, chief of widespread influence, great among the gods, shading from the southern sun, Lord of Lords, whose hand the vault of heaven

[1.6] (and) earth has controlled, a King in battle mighty who has vanquished opposition, victorious, powerful, Lord of water-courses and seas,

[1.7] strong, not yielding, whose onset brings down the green corn, smiting the land of the enemy, like the cutting of reeds, the deity who changes not his purposes,

[1.8] the light of heaven and earth, a bold leader on the waters, destroyer of them that hate (him), a spoiler (and) Lord of the disobedient, dividing enemies, whose name in the speech of the gods

[1.9] no god has ever disregarded, the gatherer of life, the god(?) whose prayers are good, whose abode is in the city of Calah, a great Lord, my Lord – (who am) Assur-nasir-pal (II), the mighty King,

5a - Ashur & King Ashur-Nasir-Apal parade (Ashur above Ashurnatsirpal II from above in his sky-disc)

[1.10] King of multitudes, a Prince unequaled, Lord of all the four countries, powerful over hosts of men, the possession of Bel (Enlil) and Ninip (Ninurta) the exalted and Anu

[1.11] and of Dakan (unidentified?), a servant of the great gods in the lofty shrine for great (O Ninip) is thy heart; a worshipper of Bel whose might upon

[1.12] thy great deity is founded, and thou makest righteous his life, valiant, warrior, who in the service of Assur (Osiris) his Lord hath proceeded, and among the Kings

 3l - Ashur hovering above (Ashur in his weaponized winged sky-disc)

[1.13] of the four regions who has not his fellow, a Prince for admiration, not sparing opponents, mighty leader, who an equal

[1.14] has not, a Prince reducing to order his disobedient ones, who has subdued whole multitudes of men, a strong worker, treading down

             (scribes count the severed heads of the enemy)

[1.15] the heads of his enemies, trampling on all foes, crushing assemblages of rebels, who in the service of the great gods his Lords

[1.16] marched vigorously and the lands of all of them his hand captured, caused the forests of all of them to fall, and received their tribute, taking

[1.17] securities, establishing laws over all lands, when Assur the Lord who proclaims my name and augments my Royalty

 2a - Ashur, son to Marduk  (Ashur, patron god of Assyria with sky-disc)

[1.18] laid hold upon his invincible power for the forces of my Lordship, for Assur-nasir-pal, glorious Prince, worshipper of the great gods

[1.19] the generous, the great, the powerful, acquirer of cities and forests and the territory of all of them, King of Lords, destroying the wicked, strengthening

[1.20] the peaceful, not sparing opponents, a Prince of firm will(?) one who combats oppression, Lord of all Kings,

[1.21] Lord of Lords, the acknowledged, King of Kings, seated gloriously, the renown of Ninip the warrior, worshipper of the great gods, prolonging the benefits (conferred by) his fathers:

3d - Asar-Ashur-Osiris in winged disc (Ashur protecting his king from his sky-disc above)

[1.22] a Prince who in the service of Assur and the Sun-god (Utu), the gods in whom he trusted, royally marched to turbulent lands, and Kings who had rebelled against him

[1.23] he cut off like grass, all their lands to his feet he subjected, restorer of the worship of the goddesses and that of the great gods,

[1.24] Chief unwavering, who for the guidance of the heads (and) elders of his land is a steadfast guardian, the work of whose hands and

[1.25] the gift of whose finger the great gods of heaven and earth have exalted, and his steps over rulers have they established forever;

[1.26] their power for the preservation of my Royalty have they exercised; the retribution of his power, (and) the approach of His Majesty over Princes

[1.27] of the four regions they have extended: the enemies of Assur in all their country, the upper and the lower I chastised, and tribute and impost

[1.28] upon them I established, capturing the enemies of Assur mighty King, King of Assyria, son of Tuklat-Adar who all his enemies

[1.29] has scattered; (who) in the dust threw down the corpses of his enemies, the grandson of Bin-nirari, the servant of the great gods,

[1.30] who crucified alive and routed his enemies and subdued them to his yoke, descendant of Assur-dan-il, who the fortresses

[1.31] established (and) the fanes made good.  In those days by the decree of the great gods to royalty power supremacy I rose up:

[1.32] I am a King, I am a Lord, I am glorious, I am great, I am mighty, I have arisen, I am Chief, I am a Prince, I am a warrior

[1.33] I am great and I am glorious, Assur-nasir-habal, a mighty King of Assyria, proclaimer of the Moon-god, worshipper of Anu (king & father of ruling sons on Earth), exalter of Yav (Adad), suppliant of the gods

3 - Adad with divine weapons (Anunnaki King Anu; Adad the Thunder God)

[1.34] am I, servant unyielding, subduing the land of his foeman, a King mighty in battle, destroyer of cities and forests,

[1.35] Chief over opponents, King of the four regions, expeller of his foes, prostrating all his enemies, Prince of a multitude of lands of all Kings

[1.36] Even of all, a Prince subduing those disobedient to him, who is ruling all the multitudes of men.  These aspirations to the face of the great gods

[1.37] have gone up; on my destiny steadfastly have they determined; at the wishes of my heart and the uplifting of my hand,  Istar (Inanna), exalted Lady,

1b - Inanna & torch or a weapon (Inanna holding alien lion-headed weapon, Goddess of War)

[1.38] hath favored me in my intentions, and to the conduct of (my) battles and warfare hath applied her heart.  In those days I Assur-nasir-pal, glorious Prince, worshipper of the great gods

  (Enlil, King Anu’s son & heir, appointed Earth Colony Commander)

[1.39] the wishes of whose heart Bel will cause him to attain, and who has conquered all Kings who disobey him, and by his hand capturing

[1.40] his enemies, who in difficult places has beaten down assemblages of rebels; when Assur, mighty Lord, proclaimer of my name

[1.41] aggrandizer of my royalty over the Kings of the four regions, bountifully hath added his invincible power to the forces of my government,

[1.42] putting me in possession of lands, and mighty forests for exploration hath he given and urgently impelled me – by the might of Ashur my Lord,

3a - Ashur in his flying disc (Ashur in his winged sky-disc)

[1.43] perplexed paths, difficult mountains by the impetuosity of my hosts I traversed, and an equal there was not. In the beginning of my reign

[1.44] (and) in my first campaign when the Sun-god guider of the lands threw over me his beneficent protection on the throne of my dominion I firmly seated myself; a scepter

[1.45] the dread of man into my hands I took; my chariots (and) armies I collected; rugged paths, difficult mountains, which for the passage

[1.46] of chariots and armies was not suited I passed, and to the land of Nairi I went: Libie, their capital city, the cities Zurra and Abuqu

[1.47] Arura Arubie, situated within the limits of the land of Aruni and Etini, fortified cities, I took, their fighting-men

[1.48] in numbers I slew; their spoil, their wealth, their cattle I spoiled; their soldiers were discouraged; they took possession of a difficult mountain, a mountain exceedingly difficult; after them

[1.49] I did not proceed, for it was a mountain ascending up like lofty points of iron, and the beautiful birds of heaven had not reached up into it: like nests

[1.50] of the young birds in the midst of the mountain their defense they placed, into which none of the Kings my fathers had ever penetrated: in three days

[1.51] successfully on one large mountain, his courage vanquished opposition: along the feet of that mountain I crept and hid: their nests, their tents,

[1.52] I broke up; 200 of their warriors with weapons I destroyed; their spoil in abundance like the young of sheep I carried off;

[1.53] their corpses like rubbish on the mountains I heaped up; their relics in tangled hollows of the mountains I consumed; their cities

[1.54] I overthrew, I demolished, in fire I burned: from the land of Nummi to the land of Kirruri I came down; the tribute of Kirruri

[1.55] of the territory of Zimizi, Zimira, Ulmanya, Adavas, Kargai, Harmasai, horses, (fish (?).

[1.56] oxen, horned sheep in numbers, copper, as their tribute I received: an officer to guard boundaries over them I placed.  While in the land of Kirruri

3 - Ashur & his flying disc, (ancient artifact of Ashur in his winged sky-disc)

[1.57] they detained me, the fear of Assur my Lord overwhelmed the lands of Gilzanai and Khubuskai; horses, silver

[1.58] gold, tin, copper, kams of copper as their tribute they brought to me.  From the land of Kirruri I withdrew;

[1.59] to a territory close by the town Khulun in Gilhi Bitani I passed: the cities of Khatu, Khalaru, Nistun, Irbidi,

[1.60] Mitkie, Arzanie, Zila, Khalue, cities of Gilhi situated in the environs of Uzie and Arue

[1.61] and Arardi powerful lands, I occupied: their soldiers in numbers I slew; their spoil, their riches I carried off;

[1.62] their soldiers were discouraged; the summits projecting over against the city of Nistun which were menacing like the storms of heaven, I captured;

[1.63] into which no one among the Princes my sires had ever penetrated; my soldiers like birds (of prey) rushed upon them;

[1.64] 260 of their warriors by the sword I smote down; their heads cut off in heaps I arranged; the rest of them like birds

[1.65] in a nest, in the rocks of the mountains nestled; their spoil, their riches from the midst of the mountains I brought down; cities which were in the midst

[1.66] of vast forests situated I overthrew, destroyed, burned in fire; the rebellious soldiers fled from before my arms; they came down; my yoke

[1.67] they received; impost tribute and a Viceroy I set over them.  Bubu son of Bubua son of the Prefect of Nistun

[1.68] in the city of Arbela I flayed; his skin I stretched in contempt upon the wall.  At that time an image of my person I made; a history of my supremacy

[1.69] upon it I wrote, and (on) a mountain of the land of Ikin(?) in the city of Assur-nasir-pal at the foot I erected (it). In my own eponym in the month of July and the 24th day

 

5 - Ashur, King Ashurbanipal & Inanna  (Ashur, Assyrian mixed-breed king, & Inanna crowning him).

[1.70] in honor of Assur and Istar (Inanna) the great gods my Lords,  I quitted the city of Nineveh: to cities situated below Nipur and Pazate powerful countries

1.71] I proceeded; Atkun, Nithu, Pilazi and 20 other cities in their environs I captured; many of their soldiers I slew;

[1.72] their spoil, their riches I carried off; the cities I burned with fire; the rebel soldiers fled from before my arms, submitted,

[1.73] and took my yoke; I left them in possession of their land.  From the cities below Nipur and Pazate I withdrew; the Tigris I passed;

[1.74] to the land of Commagene I approached; the tribute of Commagene and of the Moschi in kams of copper, sheep and goats I received; while in Commagene

[1.75] I was stationed, they brought me intelligence that the city Suri in Bit-Khalupe had revolted.  The people of Hamath had slain their governor

[1.76] Ahiyababa the son of Lamamana they brought from Bit-Adini and made him their King. By help of Assur and Yav (Adad)

[1.77] the great gods who aggrandize my royalty, chariots, (and) an army, I collected: the banks of the Chaboras I occupied; in my passage tribute

[1.78] in abundance from Salman-haman-ilin of the city of Sadikannai and of Il-yav of the city of Sunai, silver, gold,

[1.79] tin, kam of copper, vestments of wool, vestments of linen I received.  To Suri which is in Bit-Halupe I drew near;

              (alien god Ashur overwhelms his semi-divine king’s enemies)

[1.80] the fear of the approach of Assur my Lord overwhelmed them; the great men and the multitudes of the city, for the saving of their lives, coming up after me,

[1.81] submitted to my yoke; some slain, some living, some tongue-less I made: Ahiyababa son of Lamamana

[1.82] whom from Bit-Adini they had fetched, I captured; in the valor of my heart and the steadfastness of my soldiers I besieged the city; the soldiers, rebels all,

[1.83] were taken prisoners; the nobles to the principal palace of his land I caused to send; his silver, his gold, his treasure, his riches, copper

[1.84] (?)tin, kams, tabhani, hariati of copper, choice copper in abundance, alabaster and iron-stone of large size

[1.85] the treasures of his harem, his daughters and the wives of the rebels with their treasures, and the gods with their treasures,

[1.86] precious stones of the land of . . . , his swift chariot, his horses, the harness, his chariot-yoke, trappings for horses, coverings for men,

[1.87] vestments of wool, vestments of linen, handsome altars of cedar, handsome . . . , bowls of cedar-wood

[1.88] beautiful black coverings, beautiful purple coverings, carpets, his oxen, his sheep, his abundant spoil, which like the stars of heaven could not be reckoned,

[1.89] I carried off; Aziel as my lieutenant over them I placed; a trophy along the length of the great gate I erected: the rebellious nobles

[1.90] who had revolted against me and whose skins I had stripped off, I made into a trophy: some in the middle of the pile I left to decay; some on the top

             (losers of ancient wars)

[1.91] of the pile on stakes I impaled; some by the side of the pile I placed in order on stakes; many within view of my land

[1.92] I flayed; their skins on the walls I arranged; of the officers of the King’s officer, rebels, the limbs I cut off;

[1.93] I brought Ahiyababa to Nineveh; I flayed, him and fastened his skin to the wall; laws and edicts

[1.94] over Lakie I established.  While I was staying in Suri the tribute of the Princes of Lakie throughout the whole of them,

[1.95] silver, gold, tin, copper, kam of copper, oxen, sheep, vestments of wool and linen, as tribute

[1.96] and gift, I defined and imposed upon them.  In those days, the tribute of Khayani of the city of Hindanai, silver,

[1.97] gold, tin, copper, amu-stone, alabaster blocks, beautiful black (and) lustrous coverings I received as tribute from him.  In those days an enlarged image

[1.98] of my Royalty I made; edicts and decrees upon it I wrote; in the midst of his palace I put it up; of stone my tablets I made;

[1.99] the decrees of my throne upon it I wrote; in the great gate I fixed them, in the date of this year which takes its name  from me, in honor of Assur my Lord and Ninip who uplifts my feet.

             (Ninurta & Ashur, giant gods who uplifts semi-divine kings’ feet)

[1.100] Whereas in the times of the Kings my fathers no man of Suhi to Assyria had ever come, Il-bani Prince of Suhi together with his soldiers

[1.101] (and) his son, silver, gold as his tribute to Nineveh in abundance brought: in my own eponym at the city of Nineveh I stayed: news

[1.102] they brought me that men of the land of Assyria, (and) Hulai the governor of their city which Shalmaneser King of Assyria my predecessor

[1.103] to the city of Hasiluha had united, had revolted: Dandamusa a city of my dominion marched out to subdue (them );

[1.104] in honor of Assur, the Sun-god (Utu) and Yav, the gods in whom I trust, my chariots and army I collected at the head of the river Zupnat, the place of an image

[1.105] which Tiglath-Pileser and Tiglath-Adar, Kings of Assyria my fathers had raised; an image of My Majesty I constructed and put up with theirs.

[1.106] In those days I renewed the tribute of the land of Izala, oxen, sheep, goats: to the land of Kasyari I proceeded, and to Kinabu

[1.107] the fortified city of the province of Hulai. I drew near; with the impetuosity of my formidable attack I besieged and took the town; 600 of their fighting men

[1.108] with (my) arms I destroyed; 3,000 of their captives I consigned to the flames; as hostages I left not one of them alive; Hulai

[1.109] the governor of their town I captured by (my) hand alive; their corpses into piles I built; their boys and maidens I dishonored;

[1.110] Hulai the governor of their city I flayed: his skin on the walls of Damdamusa I placed in contempt; the city I overthrew demolished, burned with fire;

[1.111] the city of Mariru within their territory I took; 50 warrior fighting men by ( my ) weapons I destroyed; 200 of their captives in the flame I burned;

[1.112] the soldiers of the land of Nirbi I slew in fight in the desert; their spoil, their oxen, their sheep, I brought away; Nirbu which is at the foot of mount Ukhira

[1.113] I boldly took; I then passed over to Tila their fortified city; from Kinabu I withdrew; to Tila I drew near;

[1.114] a strong city with three forts facing each other: the soldiers to their strong forts and numerous army trusted and would not submit;

[1.115] my yoke they would not accept; (then,) with onset and attack I besieged the city; their fighting men with my weapons I destroyed; of their spoil,

[1.116] their riches, oxen and sheep, I made plunder; much booty I burned with fire; many soldiers I captured alive;

[1.117] of some I chopped off the hands and feet; of others the noses and ears I cut off; of many soldiers I destroyed the eyes;

[1.118] one pile of bodies while yet alive, and one of heads I reared up on the heights within their town; their heads in the midst I hoisted; their boys

Column 2

[2.1] and their maidens I dishonored, the city I overthrew, razed and burned with fire, In those days the cities of the land of Nirbi

[2.2] (and) their strong fortresses, I overthrew, demolished, burned with fire: from Nirbi I withdrew and to the city Tuskha

[2.3] I approached; the city of Tuskha I again occupied; its old fort I threw down: its place I prepared, its dimensions I took; a new castle

[2.4] from its foundation to its roof I built, I completed, I reared: a palace for the residence of My Royalty with doors of iki wood I made;

[2.5] a palace of brick from its foundations to its roof I made, I completed: a complete image of my person of polished stone I made; the history

[2.6] of my surpassing nation and an account of my conquests which in the country of Nairi I had accomplished I wrote upon it; in the city of Tuskha

[2.7] I raised it; on suitable stone I wrote and upon the wall I fixed it; (then) the men of Assyria, those who from the privation of food to various countries

[2.8] And to Rurie had gone up, to Tuskha I brought back and settled there: that city to myself

[2.9] I took; the wheats and barleys of Nirbi I accumulated in it; the populace of Nirbi who before my arms had fled,

[2.10] returned and accepted my yoke; of their towns, their Viceroys, their many convenient houses I took possession; impost and tribute, horses,

[2.11] horses for the yoke, fish, oxen, sheep, goats in addition to what I had before settled, I imposed upon them; their youths as hostages

[2.12] I took. While I was staying in Tuskha, I received the tribute of Ammibaal son of Zamani, of Anhiti of the land of Rurie

[2.13] of Labduri son of Dubuzi of the land of Nirdun and the tribute of the land of Urumi-sa Bitani, of the Princes of the land of Nairi,

[2.14] chariots, horses, horses for the yoke, tin, silver, gold, kam of copper, oxen, sheep, goats.

[2.15] Over the land of Nairi I established a viceroy: (but) on my return the land of Nairi, and Nirbu which is in

[2.16] the land of Kasyari, revolted; nine of their cities leagued themselves with Ispilipri one of their fortified towns and to a mountain difficult of access

[2.17] they trusted; but the heights of the hill I besieged and took; in the midst of the strong mountain their fighting men I slew; their corpses like rubbish on the hills

[2.18] I piled up; their common people in the tangled hollows of the mountains I consumed; their spoil, their property I carried off; the heads of their soldiers

            (brutal treatment of female captives)

[2.19] I cut off; a pile (of them) in the highest part of the city I built; their boys and maidens I dishonored; to the environs of the city Buliyani

[2.20] I passed; the banks of the river Lukia I took possession of; in my passage I occupied the towns of the land of Kirhi hard by; many of their warriors

[2.21] I slew; their spoil I spoiled; their cities with fire I burned: to the city of Ardupati I went. In those days the tribute

[2.22] of Ahiramu son of Yahiru of the land of Nilaai son of Bahiani of the land of the Hittites and of the Princes of the land of Hanirabi, silver, gold,

[2.23] tin, kam of copper, oxen, sheep, horses, as their tribute I received; in the eponym of Assuridin they brought me intelligence that

[2.24] Zab-yav Prince of the land of Dagara had revolted.  The land of Zamua throughout its whole extent he boldly seized; near the city of Babite

[2.25] they constructed a fort; for combat and battle they marched forth: in the service of Assur, the great god my Lord and the great Merodach (Marduk)

 3d - Marduk waging war on Inanna & cousins (Marduk atop Ningishzidda snake symbol, & Inanna)

[2.26] going before me, by the powerful aid which the Lord Assur extended to my people, my servants and my soldiers I called together; to the vicinity

[2.27] of Babite I marched: the soldiers to the valor of their army trusted and gave battle: but in the mighty force of the great Merodach going before me (with alien technologies)

2d - Marduk & flying discs (Marduk & sky-discs)

[2.28] I engaged in battle with them; I effected their overthrow; I broke them down; 1,460 of their warriors in the environs

[2.29] I slew; Uzie, Birata, and Lagalaga, their strong towns, with 100 towns within their territory I captured;

[2.30] their spoil, their youths, their oxen, and sheep I carried off; Zab-yav for the preservation of his life, a rugged mountain

[2.31] ascended; 1,200 of their soldiers I carried off; from the land of Dagara I withdrew; to the city of Bara I approached; the city of Bara

[2.32] I captured; 320 of their soldiers by my weapons I destroyed; their oxen, sheep, and spoil in abundance I removed;

[2.33] 300 of their soldiers I took off; on Tasritu 15th from the town Kalzi I withdrew, and came to the environs of Babite;

[2.34] from Babite I withdrew; to the land of Nizir which they call Lulu-Kinaba I drew near; the city Bunasi one of their fortified cities

[2.35] belonging to Musazina and 20 cities of their environs I captured; the soldiers were discouraged; they took possession of a mountain difficult of access; I, Assur-nasir-pal impetuously after them

[2.36] like birds swooped down; their corpses lay thick on the hills of Nizir; 326 of their warriors I smote down; his horses I exacted of him,

[2.37] their common people in the tangled hollows I consumed; seven cities in Nizir, which were of their duly appointed fortresses I captured; their soldiers

[2.38] I slew; their spoil, their riches, their oxen, their sheep I carried off; the cities themselves I burned; to these my tents I returned to halt;

[2.39] from those same tents I departed; to cities of the land of Nizir whose place no one had ever seen I marched; the city of Larbusa

[2.40] the fortified city of Kirtiara and 8 cities of their territory I captured; the soldiers lost heart and took to a steep mountain, a mountain (which) like sharp iron stakes

[2.41] rose high upward; as for his soldiers, I ascended after them; in the midst of the mountain I scattered their corpses; 172 of their men I slew; soldiers

[2.42] in numbers in the hollows of the mountain I hunted down; their spoil, their cattle, their sheep, I took away; their cities with fire

[2.43] I burned; their heads on the high places of the mountain I lifted up; their boys and maidens I dishonored; to the tents aforesaid I returned to halt;

[2.44] from those same tents I withdrew; 150 cities of the territory of Larbusai, Durlulumai, Bunisai and Barai I captured;

[2.45] their fighting men I slew; their spoil I spoiled; the city of Hasabtal I razed (and) burned with fire; 50 soldiers of Barai I slew in battle on the plain.

[2.46] In those days the Princes of the entire land of Zamua were overwhelmed by the dread of the advance of Assur my Lord and submitted to my yoke; horses, silver, gold,

 (god Ashur in his weaponized sky-disc)

[2.47] I received; the entire land under a Prefect I placed; horses, silver, gold, wheat, barley, submission, I imposed upon them

[2.48] from the city of Tuklat-assur-azbat I withdrew; the land of Nispi accepted my yoke; I went down all night; to cities of remote site in the midst of Nispi

[2.49] which Zab-yav had established as his stronghold I went, took the city of Birutu and consigned it to the flames.  In the eponym of Damiktiya-tuklat, when I was stationed at Nineveh, they brought me news

[2.50] that Amaka, and Arastua withheld the tribute and vassalage due to Assur my Lord. In honor of Assur mighty Lord and Merodach the great going before me,

3bb - Marduk in battle, Nabu, & unknown (Marduk wars against Inanna, etc.)

[2.51] on the first of May I prepared for the third time an expedition against Zamua: my fighting men before the many chariots I did not consider: from Kalzi I withdrew; the lower Zab

[2.52] I passed; to the vicinity of Babite I proceeded; the river Radanu at the foot of the mountains of Zima, my birthplace, I approached; oxen,

[2.53] sheep, goats, as the tribute of Dagara I received: near Zimaki I added my strong chariots and battering rams as chief of warlike implements to my magazines; by night

[2.54] and daybreak I went down; the Turnat in rafts I crossed; to Amali the strong city of Arastu I approached;

[2.55] with vigorous assault the city I besieged and took; 800 of their fighting men I destroyed by my weapons; I filled the streets of their city with their corpses;

[2.56] their many houses I burned; many soldiers I took alive; their spoil in abundance I carried off; the city I overthrew razed and burnt with fire; the city Khudun

[2.57] and 20 cities in its environs I took; their soldiers I slew; their booty in cattle and sheep I carried off; their cities I overthrew razed and burned; their boys

[2.58] their maidens I dishonored; the city of Kisirtu a fortified city of Zabini with 10 neighboring cities I took; their soldiers I slew; their spoil

[2.59] I carried off; the cities of Barai and Kirtiara, Bunisai together with the province of Khasmar I overthrew razed and burned with fire;

[2.60] I reduced the boundaries to a heap, and then from the cities of Arastua I withdrew: to the neighborhood of the territory of Laara and Bidirgi, rugged land, which for the passage

[2.61] of chariots and an arms was not adapted, I passed: to the royal city Zamri of Amika of Zamua I drew near; Amika from before the mighty prowess of my formidable attack

[2.62] fled in fear and took refuge on a hill difficult of access: I brought forth the treasures of his palace and his chariot; from Zamri I withdrew and passed the river Lallu and to the mountains of Etini,

[2.63] difficult ground, unfit for the passage of chariots and armies, whither none of the Princes my sires had ever penetrated; I marched in pursuit of his army on the mountains of Etini:

[2.64] the hill I ascended: his treasure, his riches, vessels of copper, abundance of copper, kam of copper, bowls of copper, pitchers of copper, the treasures of his palace and of his storehouses,

[2.65] from within the mountains I took away to my camp and made a halt: by the aid of Assur and the Sun-god (Utu), the gods in whom I trust, from that camp I withdrew and proceeded on my march;

[2.66] the river Edir I passed on the confines of Soua and Elaniu, powerful lands; their soldiers I slew in numbers; their treasure, their riches, am of copper,

[2.67] kam of copper, sapli and namziete of copper, vessels of copper in abundance, pasur wood, gold and ahzi, their oxen sheep, riches,

[2.68] his abundant spoil, from below the mountains of Elani, his horses, I exacted from him: Amika for the saving of his life to the land of Sabue went up

[2.69] the cities Zamru, Arazitku, Amaru. Parsindu, Eritu, Zuritu his fortified city, with 150 cities

[2.70] of his territory I overthrew, razed, burned; the boundary I reduced to a heap. While in the vicinity of Parsindi I was stationed, the war-like engines of the tribe of Kallabu

[2.71] came forth against the place; 150 of the fighting men of Amika I slew in the plain; their heads I cut off and put them up on the heights of his palace;

[2.72] 200 of his soldiers taken by (my) hands alive I left to rot on the wall of his palace: from Zamri the battering-rams and . . . my banners I made ready;

[2.73] to the fortress Ata, of Arzizai, whither none of the Kings my sires had ever penetrated I marched; the cities of Arzizu, and Arzindu

[2.74] his fortified city, with ten cities situated in their environs in the midst of Nispi a rugged country, I captured; their soldiers I slew the cities I overthrew razed and burned with fire:

[2.75] to those my tents I returned.  In those days I received copper, tabbili of copper, kanmate of copper, and sariete as the tribute of the land of Siparmina, such as women

[2.76] collect: from the city of Zamri I withdrew; to Lara, (the rugged hill-country, unfitted for the passage of chariots and armies, with instruments [axes] of iron I cut through and

[2.77] with rollers of metal I beat down) with the chariots and troops I brought over to the city of Tiglath-assur-azbat in the land of Lulu – the city of Arakdi they call it – I went down;

[2.78] the Kings of Zamue, the whole of them, from before the impetuosity of my servants and the greatness of my power drew back and accepted my yoke; tribute of silver, gold, tin,

[2.79] copper, kam of copper, vestments of wool, horses, oxen, sheep, goats, in addition to what I had before settled, I imposed upon them; a Viceroy

[2.80] in Kalach I created. While in the land of Zamue I was stationed the cities Khudunai, Khartisai, Khutiskai Kirzanai

3j - Ashur, Assyrian god of war, silver pendant (armed warrior god Ashur in his winged sky-disc)

[2.81] were overwhelmed by fear of the advance of Assur my Lord; impost, tribute, silver, gold, horses, vestments of wool, oxen, sheep, goats, they brought to me; the rebel soldiers

[2.82] fled from before my arms; they fled to the mountains; I marched after them; within confines of the land of Aziru they settled and got ready the city of Mizu as their strong place;

[2.83] the land of Aziru I overthrew and destroyed from Zimaki as far as the Turnat I scattered their corpses; 500 of their fighting men I destroyed;

[2.84] their spoil in abundance I carried off.  In those days in the land of Samua, (in which is) the city of Atlila which Zibir King of Kardunias had taken, devastated,

[2.85] and reduced to a heap of ruins, I Assur-nasir-pal King of Assyria took, after laying siege to its castle a second time the palace as a residence for My Majesty I therein strengthened, made princely and enlarged beyond what of old was planned;

[2.86] the wheat and barleys of the land of Kalibi I accumulated therein; I gave it the name of Dur-Assur. On the first of May in the eponym of Sanmapakid I collected my chariots and soldiers

[2.87] the Tigris I crossed; to the land of Commagene I passed on; I inaugurated a palace in the city of Tiluli; the tribute due from Commagene I received; from Commagene I withdrew;

[2.88] I passed on to the land of the Istarat; in the city of Kibaki I halted; from Kibaki I received oxen, sheep, goats and copper; from Kibaki I withdrew;

[2.89] to the city of Mattyati I drew nigh; I took possession of the land of Yatu with the town Kapranisa; 2,800 of their fighting men I smote down with my weapons; their spoil in abundance I carried off;

[2.90] the rebels who had fled from before my arms now accepted my yoke; of their cities I left them in possession; tribute impost and an officer over them I set;

[2.91] an image of my person I made; collected laws I wrote upon it and in the city of Mattiyati I placed it; from Mattiyati I withdrew; at the city of Zazabuka

[2.92] I halted; the tribute of Calach in oxen, sheep, goats and various copper articles I received; from Zazabuka I withdrew;

[2.93] at the city of Irzia I made a halt; that city I burned; but received there the tributes due from Zura in oxen, sheep, goats and kam copper:

[2.94] from Izria I withdrew; in the land of Kasyari I halted; Madara (and) Anzi two cities of the territory I captured and slew their soldiers;

[2.95] their spoil I carried off; the cities I burned with fire; six lakes I crossed over in Kasyari, a rugged highland for the passage of chariots and an army

[2.96] unsuited; (the hills with instruments of iron I cut through [and] with rollers of metal I beat down;) the chariots and army I brought over.  In a city of Assur on the sandy side which is in Kasyari,

[2.97] oxen, sheep, goats kam and gurpisi of copper I received; by the land of Kasyari I proceeded; a second time to the land of Nairi I went down; at the city of Sigisa

[2.98] I made a halt; from Sigisa I withdrew; to Madara the fortified city of Labduri the son of Dubisi I drew near, a city extremely strong with four impregnable castles;

[2.99] the city I besieged; they quailed before my mighty prowess; I received, for the preservation of their lives, their treasures, their riches, their sons, by tale; I imposed upon them

[2.100] tribute and duties; an officer I appointed over them; the city I demolished, razed, and reduced to a heap of ruins; from Madara I withdrew; to Tuskha

[2.101] I passed over; a palace in Tuskha I dedicated; the tribute of the land of Nirdun, horses, yoke-horses, fish, kam of copper, gurpisi of copper, oxen, sheep,

[2.102] goats, in Tuskha I received; 60 cities and strong castles below Kasyari, belonging to Labduri son of Dubuzi I overthrew razed and converted to a heap of ruins.

[2.103] In the service of Assur my Lord from Tuskha I withdrew.  The powerful chariots and battering-rams I put up in my stores; on rafts

[2.104] I passed the Tigris; all night I descended; to Pitura a strong town of Dirrai I drew near – a very strong city –

[2.105] two forts facing each other, whose castle like the summit of a mountain stood up: by the mighty hands of Assur my Lord and the impetuosity of my army and my formidable attack

[2.106] I gave them battle; on two days before sunrise like Yav (Adad) the inundator I rushed upon them; destruction upon them I rained with the might

3a - Teshub stele (Yav / Adad The Inundator, God of Storms)

[2.107] and prowess of my warriors; like the rush of birds coming upon them, the city I captured; 800 of their soldiers by my arms I destroyed; their heads

[2.108] I cut off; many soldiers I captured in hand alive; their populace in the flames I burned; their spoil I carried off in abundance; a trophy of the living and of heads

[2.109] about his great gate I built; 700 soldiers I there impaled on stakes; the city I overthrew, razed, and reduced to a heap of ruins all round; their boys,

[2.110] their maidens, I dishonored; the city of Kukunu facing the mountains of Matni I captured; 700 of their fighting men I smote down with my weapons;

[2.111] their spoil in abundance I carried off; 50 cities of Dira I occupied; their soldiers I slew; I plundered them; 50 soldiers I took alive; the cities I overthrew

[2.112] razed and burned; the approach of my Royalty overcame them; from Pitura I withdrew, and went down to Arbaki in Gilhi-Bitani;

[2.113] they quailed before the approach of my Majesty, and deserted their towns and strong places: for the saving of their lives they went up to Matni a land of strength

[2.114] I went after them in pursuit; 1,000 of their warriors I left in the rugged hills; their corpses on a hill I piled up; with their bodies the tangled hollows

[2.115] of the mountains I filled; I captured 200 soldiers and cut off their hands; their spoil I carried away; their oxen, their sheep

[2.116] without number, I took away; Iyaya, Salaniba, strong cities of Arbaki I occupied; the soldiers I slew; their spoil I carried off

[2.117] 250 towns surrounded with strong walls in the land of Nairi I overthrew demolished and reduced to heaps and ruins; the trees of their land I cut down; the wheat

[2.118] and barley in Tuskha I kept. Ammiba’al the son of Zamani had been betrayed and slain by his nobles. To revenge Ammiba’al

[2.119] I marched; from before the vehemence of my arms and the greatness of my Royalty

[2.120] they drew back: his swift chariots, trappings for men and horses one hundred in number,

[2.121] horses, harness, his yokes, tribute of silver and gold with 100 talents

[2.122] in tin, 100 talents in copper, 300 talents in annui, 100 kam of copper, 3,000 kappi of copper, bowls of copper, vessels of copper,

[2.123] 1,000 vestments of wool, nui wood, eru wood, zalmalli wood, horns, choice gold,

[2.124] the treasures of his palace, 2,000 oxen, 5,000 sheep, his wife, with large donations from her; the daughters

[2.125] of his chiefs with large donations from them I received.  I, Assur-nasir-pal, great King, mighty King, King of legions, King of Assyria,

[2.126] son of Tuklat-Adar great and mighty King, King of legions, King of Assyria, noble warrior, in the strength of Assur his Lord walked, and whose equal among the Kings

[2.127] of the four regions exists not; a King who from beyond the Tigris up to Lebanon and the Great Sea

[2.128] hath subjugated the land of Laki in its entirety, the land of Zuhi with the city of Ripaki: from the sources of the Ani

[2.129] (and) the Zupnat to the land bordering on Sabitan has he held in hand: the territory of Kirrouri with Kilzani on the other side the Lower Zab

[2.130] to Tul-Bari which is beyond the country of the Zab; beyond the city of Tul-sa-Zabdani, Hirimu, Harute, the land of Birate

[2.131] and of Kardunias I annexed to the borders of my realm and on the broad territory of Nairi I laid fresh tribute.  The city of Calach I took anew; the old mound

[2.132] I threw down; to the top of the water I brought it; 120 hand-breadths in depth I made it good; a temple to Ninip my Lord I therein founded; when

(Ninurta, warrior son & heir to Enlil & King Anu)

[2.133] an image of Ninip (Ninurta) himself which had not been made before, in the reverence of my heart for his great mighty god-ship, of mountain stone and brilliant gold I caused to make in its completeness;

[2.134] for my great divinity in the city of Calach I accounted him: his festivals in the months of January and September I established: Bit-kursi which was unoccupied I closed:

[2.135] an altar to Ninip (Ninurta) my Lord I therein consecrated: a temple for Beltis (Inanna), Sin (Nannar), and Gulanu (Bau / Gula), Hea-Manna (Enki) and Yav (Adad) great ruler of heaven and earth I founded.

Column 3

[3.1] On the 22d day of the third month, May, in the eponym of Dagan-bel-ussur, I withdrew from Calach; I passed the Tigris at its nearer bank

[3.2] and received a large tribute; at Tabite I made a halt; on the 6th day of the fourth month, June, I withdrew from Tabite and skirted the banks of Kharmis;

[3.3] at the town of Magarizi I made a halt; withdrew from it and passed along by the banks of the Chaboras and halted at Sadikanni;

[3.4] the tribute due from Sadikanni, silver, gold, tin, kam of copper, oxen, sheep, I received and quitted the place.

[3.5] At the city of Katni I made a halt; the tribute of Sunaya I received, and from Katni withdrew;

[3.6] at Dar-Kumlimi I halted; withdrew from it and halted at Bit-Halupe, whose tribute

[3.7] of silver, gold, tin, kam of copper, vestments of wool and linen, oxen and sheep I received, and withdrew from it;

[3.8] at the city of Zirki I made a halt; the tribute of Zirki, silver, gold, tin, oxen,

[3.9] sheep, I received; withdrew from Zirki; halted at Zupri, whose tribute

[3.10] of silver, gold, tin, kami, oxen, sheep, I received; withdrew from Zupri and halted at Nagarabani,

[3.11] whose tribute in silver, gold, tin, kami, oxen, sheep, I received and withdrew from it;

[3.12] near Khindani, situated on the nearer banks of the Euphrates I halted;

[3.13] the tribute of Khindani, silver, gold, tin, kami, oxen, sheep, I received.  From Khindani

[3.14] I withdrew; at the mountains over against the Euphrates I halted; I withdrew from those mountains and halted at Bit-Sabaya near the town of Haridi

[3.15] situate on the nearer bank of the Euphrates. From Bit-Sabaya I withdrew; at the commencement of the town of Anat

[3.16] I made a halt. Anat is situated in the midst of the Euphrates. From Anat I withdrew. The city of Zuru the fortified city of

[3.17] Sadudu of the land of Zuhi I besieged: to the numerous warriors of the spacious land of the Kassi he trusted and to make war and battle to my presence advanced;

[3.18] the city I besieged; two days I was engaged in fighting; I made good an entrance: (then) through fear of my mighty arms Sadudu and his soldiers

[3.19] for the preservation of his life, into the Euphrates threw himself: I took the city; 50 bit-hallu and their soldiers in the service of Nabu-bal-idin King of Kardunias;

[3.20] Zabdanu his brother with 300 of his soldiers and Bel-bal-idin who marched at the head of their armies I captured, together with them

[3.21] many soldiers I smote down with my weapons; silver, gold, tin, precious stone of the mountains, the treasure of his palace,

[3.22] chariots, horses trained to the yoke, trappings for men and horses, the women of his palace, his spoil,

[3.23] in abundance I carried off; the city I pulled down and razed; ordinances and edicts I imposed on Zuhi; the fear of my dominion to Kardunias reached;

[3.24] the greatness of my arms overwhelmed Chaldaea; on the countries of the banks of the Euphrates my impetuous soldiers I sent forth; an image

[3.25] of my person I made; decrees and edicts upon it I inscribed; in Zuri I put it up, I Assur-nasir-pal, a King who has enforced his laws

           9c - Ashur flying above Ashurnasirpal (Ashurnatsirpal II protected by Ashur above)

[3.26] (and) decrees and who to the sword hath directed his face to conquests and alliances hath raised his heart. While I was stationed at Calach

[3.27] they brought me news that the population of Laqai and Khindanu of the whole land of Zukhi had revolted and crossed the Euphrates

[3.28] on the eighteenth of May I withdrew from Calach, passed the Tigris, took the desert to Zuri:

[3.29] by Bit-Halupi I approached in ships belonging to me which I had taken at Zuri: I took my way to the sources of the Euphrates;

[3.30] the narrows of the Euphrates I descended, the cities of Khintiel and Aziel in the land of Laqai I took; their soldier I slew; their spoil

[3.31] I carried off; the cities I overthrew, razed, burned with fire.  In my expedition marching westward of the banks of the Chaboras to

[3.32] the city Zibate of Zuhi, cities on the other side of the Euphrates in the land of Laqai I overthrew, devastated an burned with fire; their crops I seized 460 soldiers

[3.33] their fighting men by (my) weapons I destroyed; I took 20 alive and impaled them on stakes; on ships which I had built –

[3.34] in 20 ships which were drawn up on the sand at Haridi I crossed the Euphrates. The land of Zuhaya and Laqai

[3.35] and the city of Khindanai to the power of their chariots armies and hands trusted and summoned 6,000 of their soldiers to engage in fight and battle.

[3.36] They came to close quarters; I fought with them; I effected their overthrow; I destroyed their chariots 6,500 of their warriors I smote down by my weapons; the remainder

[3.37] in starvation in the desert of the Euphrates I shut up.  From Haridi in Zukhi to Kipina and the cities of Khindanai

[3.38] in Laqai on the other side I occupied; their fighting men I slew; the city I overthrew razed and burned. Aziel of Laqai

[3.39] trusted to his forces and took possession of the heights of Kipina; I gave them battle; at the city of Kipina I effected his overthrow; 1,000 of his warriors I slew;

[3.40] his chariots I destroyed; spoil I carried off in plenty; their gods I took away; for the preservation of his life he took refuge on a rugged hill of Bizuru at the sources of the Euphrates;

[3.41] for two days I descended the river in pursuit: the relic of his army with my weapons I destroyed; their hiding place by the hills on the Euphrates I broke up;

[3.42] to the cities of Dumite and Azrnu belonging to the son of Adini I went down after him; his spoil, his oxen, his sheep,

[3.43] which like the stars of heaven were without number I carried off.  In those days Ila of Laqai, his swift chariots and 500 soldiers

[3.44] to my land of Assyria I transported; Dumutu and Azmu I captured, overthrew, razed and burned; in the narrows of the Euphrates I turned aside in my course and

[3.45] I outflanked Aziel, who fled before my mighty power to save his life. Ila, the Prince of Laqai, his army his chariots his harness,

[3.46] I carried off and took to my city of Assur: Khimtiel of Laqai I made prisoner in his own city.  Through the might of Assur my Lord, (and) in the presence of my mighty arms (alien technologies) and the formidable attack

            5l - Ashur directing events on the ground (Ashur protecting King Ashurnatsirpal II positioned from his sky-disc)

[3.47] of my powerful forces he was afraid, and I received the treasures of his palaces, silver, gold, tin, copper, kam of copper, vestments of wool, his abundant spoil; and tribute

[3.48] and impost in addition to what I had previously fixed I laid upon them; in those days I slew 50 buffaloes in the neighborhood of the nearer side of the Euphrates: eight buffaloes I caught alive;

[3.49] I killed 20 eagles, and captured others alive: I founded two cities on the Euphrates; one on the farther bank

[3.50] of the Euphrates which I named Dur-Assur-nasir-pal; one on the nearer bank which I named Nibarti-Assur.  On the 20th of May I withdrew from Galach;

[3.51] I crossed the Tigris; to the land of Bit-Adini I went; to their strong city of Katrabi I approached, a city exceedingly strong, like a storm rushing from heaven,

[3.52] the soldiers confided to their numerous troops, and would not submit and accept my yoke: in honor of Assur the great Lord, my Lord, and the god the great protector going before me, I besieged the city

[3.53] by the warlike engines on foot and strong, the city I captured; many of their soldiers I slew; 800 of their fighting men I dispersed; their spoil and property I carried off, 2,400 of their warriors

[3.54] I transported away and detained them at Calach; the city I overthrew razed and burnt; the fear of the approach of Assur my Lord over Bit-Adini I made good.

[3.55] In those days the tribute of Ahuni son of Adini of Habini, of the city of Tul-Abnai, silver, gold, tin, copper, vestments of wool and linen, wood for bridges,

[3.56] cedar wood, the treasures of his palace I received; their hostages I took, rimutu I imposed upon them.  In the month April and on the eighth day I quitted Calach; the Tigris

[3.57] I passed; to Carchemish in Syria I directed my steps; to Bit-Bakhiani I approached; the tribute due from the son of Bakhiani, swift chariots, horses, silver,

[3.58] gold, tin, copper, kami of copper, I received; the chariots and warlike engines of the officer of the son of Bakhiani I added to my magazines;

[3.59] I menaced the land of Anili: the tribute of Hu-immi of Nilaya, swift war chariots, horses, silver, gold, tin, copper,

[3.60] kami of copper, oxen, sheep, horses, I received; the chariots and warlike instruments of the officer I added to my magazines.  From Anili I withdrew; to Bit-Adini I approached;

[3.61] the tribute of Ahuni son of Adini, silver, gold, tin, copper, wood of ereru, and rabaz, horns, sai-wood, horns

[3.62] of thrones horns of silver, and gold, sari, bracelets of gold, sahri fastenings for covers of gold, scabbards of gold, oxen, sheep, goats as his tribute I received;

[3.63] the chariots and warlike engines of the officer of Ahuni I added to my magazines. In those days I received the tribute of Habini of Tul-Abnai, four maneh of silver and 400 sheep;

[3.64] ten maneh of silver for his first year as tribute I imposed upon him: from Bit-Adini I withdrew; the Euphrates, in a difficult part of it, I crossed in ships of hardened skins:

[3.65] I approached the land of Carchemish: the tribute of Sangara King of Syria, twenty talents of silver, sahri gold, bracelets of gold, scabbards of gold, 100 talents

[3.66] of copper, 250 talents of annui kami, hariate, nirmakate kibil of copper, the extensive furniture of his palace,

[3.67] of incomprehensible perfection different kinds of woods, ka and sara, 200 female slaves, vestments of wool,

[3.68] and linen; beautiful black coverings, beautiful purple coverings, precious stones, horns of buffaloes, white chariots, images of gold, their coverings, the treasures of his Royalty, I received of him;

[3.69] the chariots and warlike engines of the General of Carchemish I laid up in my magazines; the Kings of all those lands who had come out against me received my yoke; their hostages I received;

[3.70] they did homage in my presence; to the land of Lebanon I proceeded.  From Carchemish I withdrew and marched to the territory of Munzigani and Harmurga:

[3.71] the land of Ahanu I reduced; to Gaza the town of Lubarna of the Khatti I advanced; gold and vestments of linen I received:

[3.72] crossing the river Abrie I halted and then leaving that river approached the town of Kanulua a royal city belonging to Lubarna of the Khatti:

[3.73] from before my mighty arms and my formidable onset he fled in fear, and for the saving of his life submitted to my yoke; twenty talents of silver, one talent of gold,

[3.74] l00 talents in tin, 100 talents in annui, 1,000 oxen, 10,000 sheep, 1,000 vestments of wool, linen, nimati and ki woods coverings,

[3.75] ahusate thrones, kui wood, wood for seats, their coverings, sarai, zueri-wood, horns of kui in abundance, the numerous utensils of his palace, whose beauty

[3.76] could not be comprehended: . . . pagatu(?) from the wealth of great Lords as his tribute

[3.77] I imposed upon him; the chariots and warlike engines of the land of the Khatti I laid up in my magazines; their hostages I took.  In those days (I received) the tribute of Guzi

[3.78] of the land of Yahanai, silver, gold, tin, . . . oxen, sheep, vestments of wool and linen I received: from Kuna1ua the capital of Lubarna I withdrew,

[3.79] of the land of the Khatti, crossed the Orontes, and after a halt left it, and to the borders

[3.80] of the land of Yaraki and of Yahturi I went round: the land . . . had rebelled: from the Sangura after a halt I withdrew;

[3.81] I made a detour to the lands of Saratini and Girpani . . . I halted and advanced to Aribue a fortified city belonging to Lubarna of the land of the Khatti:

[3.82] the city I took to myself; the wheats and barleys of Luhuti I collected; I allowed his palace to be sacked and settled Assyrians there.

[3.83] While I was stationed at Aribua, I captured the cities of the land of Luhiti and slew many of their soldiers; overthrew razed and burned them with fire;

[3.84] the soldiers whom I took alive I impaled on stakes close by their cities.  In those days I occupied the environs of Lebanon; to the great sea

[3.85] of Phoenicia I went up: up to the great sea my arms I carried: to the gods I sacrificed; I took tribute of the Princes of the environs of the sea-coast,

[3.86] of the lands of Tyre, Sidon, Gebal, Maacah Maizai Kaizai, of Phoenicia and Arvad

[3.87] on the sea-coast – silver, gold, tin, copper, kam of copper, vestments of wool and linen, pagutu great and small,

[3.88] strong timber, wood of ki teeth of dolphins, the produce of the sea, I received as their tribute: my yoke they accepted; the mountains of Amanus I ascended; wood for bridges,

[3.89] pines, box, cypress, li-wood, I cut down; I offered sacrifices for my gods; a trophy of victory I made, and in a central place I erected it;

[3.90] gusuri-wood, cedar wood from Amanus I destined for Bit-Hira, and my pleasure house called Azmaku, for the temple of the Moon and Sun the exalted gods.

[3.91] I proceeded to the land of Iz-mehri, and took possession of it throughout: I cut down beams for bridges of mehri trees, and carried them to Nineveh; (and)

4p - Ninsun, Gilgamesh, Inanna, & Enkidu (Ninsun, her son-king Gilgamesh, Inanna, & Enkidu)

[3.92] to Istar Lady of Nineveh (on) my knees I knelt.  In the eponym of Samas-nuri in the honor of the great Lord Assur my Lord on the 20th of April

[3.93] from Calach I withdrew – crossed the Tigris – descended to the land of Kipani, and there, in the city of Huzirina, received the tribute of the governors of its cities.

[3.94] While stationed at Huzirana I received the tribute of Ittiel of Nilaya, Giridadi of Assaya, in silver

[3.95] gold, oxen, sheep. In those days I received the tribute in beams for bridges, cedar wood, silver, gold of Qatuzili

[3.96] of Commagene – withdrew from Huzirina and took my way upward along the banks of the Euphrates; to Kubbu.

[3.97] I crossed over into the midst of the towns of Assa in Kirkhi over against Syria. The cities of Umalie and Khiranu

[3.98] powerful cities centrally situated in Adani I captured; numbers of their soldiers I slew; spoil beyond reckoning

[3.99] I carried off; the towns I overthrew and demolished; 150 cities of their territory I burned with fire; then from Khiranu

[3.100] I withdrew; I passed over to the environs of the land of Amadani; I went down among the cities of Dirrie, and the cities within the lands of

[3.101] Amadani and Arquanie I burned with fire: Mallanu which is in the middle of Arquanie I took as my own possession; I withdrew from Mallanu

[3.102] to the cities of Zamba on the sandy outskirt, which I burned with fire: I passed the river Sua, proceeding up to the Tigris whose cities

[3.103] on those banks and on these banks of the Tigris in Arkanie to a heap I reduced: its waters overflowed all Kirkhi: my yoke they took;

[3.104] their hostages I exacted; a Viceroy of my own I appointed over them: in the environs of the land of Amadani I arrived: at Barza-Nistun

[3.105] To Dandamusa the fortified city of Ilani son of Zamani I drew near and laid siege to it: my warriors like birds of prey rushed upon them;

[3.106] 600 of their warriors I put to the sword and decapitated; 400 I took alive;

[3.107] 3,000 captives I brought forth; I took possession of the city for myself: the living soldiers, and heads to the city of Amidi the royal city, I sent;

[3.108] heaps of the heads close by his great gate I piled; the living soldiers I crucified on crosses at the gates of the town;

[3.109] inside the gates I made carnage; their forests I cut down ; from Amidi I withdrew toward the environs of Kasyari; the city of Allabzie

[3.110] to whose rocks and stones no one among the Kings my fathers had ever made approach, I penetrated; to the town of Uda the fortress of Labduri son of Dubuzi

[3.111] I approached and besieged the city with bilsi(?) strengthened and marching; the city I captured: . . . soldiers . . . with my weapons I destroyed; 570 soldiers

[3.112] I captured; 3,000 captives I took forth; soldiers alive I caught; some I impaled on stakes; of others

[3.113] the eyes I put out: the remainder I carried off to Assur and took the city as my own possession – I who am Assur-nasir-pal mighty King, King of Assyria son of Tuklat-Adar, (Tuklat-Ninip)

           5 - Ashur, King Ashurbanipal & Inanna (Ashur, mixed-breed Assyrian king Ashurnatsirpal II, & Inanna crowning him)

[3.114] great King, powerful King, King of legions, King of Assyria son of Vul-nirari great King, mighty King, King of legions, King of Assyria, noble warrior, who in the service of Assur his Lord proceeded, and among the Kings of the four regions,

[3.115] has no equa1, a Prince (giving) ordinances, not fearing opponents, mighty unrivaled leader, a Prince subduer of the disobedient, who all

[3.116] the thrones of mankind has subdued; powerful King treading over the heads of his enemies, trampling on the lands of enemies, breaking down the assemblages of the wicked; who in the service of the great gods

[3.117] his Lords marched along; whose hand hath taken possession of all their lands, laid low the forests of all of them, and received their tributes, taking hostages (and) imposing laws

5a - Marduk & a king  (giant alien god Ashur & his king Ashurnatsirpal II, named after him at birth)

[3.118] upon all those lands; when Assur the Lord proclaimer of my name, aggrandizer of my Royalty, who added his unequivocal service to the forces of my government

[3.119] I destroyed the armies of the spacious land of Lulumi.  In battle by weapons I smote them down. With the help of the Sun-god

            2j - Teshub in a chariot pulled by Taurus (Yav / Adad The Inundator, destroyer of earthling men)

[3.120] and Yav, the gods in whom I trust, I rushed upon the armies of Nairi, Kirkhi Subariya and Nirbi like Yav the inundator;

[3.121] a King who from the other side the Tigris to the land of Lebanon and the great sea has subjugated to his yoke the entire land of Lakie and the land of Zukhi as far as the city Rapik;

[3.122] to whose yoke is subjected (all) from the sources of the Zupnat to the frontiers of Bitani; from the borders of Kirruri to Kirzani;

[3.123] from beyond the Lower Zab to the town of Tul-sa-Zabdani and the town of Tul-Bari beyond the land of Zaban as far as the towns of Tul-sa-Zabdani and

[3.124] Tul-sa-Abtani; Harimu, Harutu in Birate of Kardunias to the borders of my land I added; (the inhabitants) of the territory of Babite

[3.125] with Khasmar among the people of my own country I accounted: in the countries which I held I established a deputy: they performed homage: submission

[3.126] I imposed upon them; I, Assur-nasir-pal, great, noble, worshipper of the great gods, generous, great, mighty possessors of cities and the forests of all their domains, King of Lords, consumer of

[3.127] the wicked taskaru invincible, who combats injustice, Lord of all Kings, King of Kings, glorious, upholder of Bar (Ninip) the warlike, worshipper

[3.128] of the great gods, a King who, in the service of Assur and Ninip, gods in whom he trusted, hath marched royally, and wavering lands and Kings his enemies in all their lands

[3.129] to his yoke hath subdued, and the rebels against Assur, high and low, hath opposed and imposed on them impost and tribute – Assur-nasir-pal

[3.130] mighty King, glory of the Moon-god worshipper of Anu, related to Yav (Adad), suppliant of the gods, an unyielding servant, destroyer of the land of his foes; I, a King vehement in war,

[3.131] destroyer of forests and cities, chief over opponents, Lord of four regions, router of his enemies in strong lands and forests, and who Kings mighty and fearless from the rising

[3.132] to the setting of the sun to my yoke subjugated.  The former city of Calach which Shalmaneser King of Assyria going before me, had built –

[3.133] that city was decayed and reduced to a heap of ruins: that city I built anew; the people captured by my hand of the countries which I had subdued, Zukhi and Lakie,

[3.134] throughout their entirety, the town of Sirku on the other side of the Euphrates, all Zamua, Bit-Adini, the Khatti, and the subjects of Liburna I collected within, I made them occupy.

[3.135] A water-course from the Upper Zab I dug and called it Pati-kanik: timber upon its shores I erected: a choice of animals to Assur my Lord and (for) the Chiefs of my realm I sacrificed;

[3.136] the ancient mound I threw down: to the level of the water I brought it: 120 courses on the low level I caused it to go: its wall I built; from the ground to the summit I built (and) completed.

[Additional clauses are found on the monolith inscription in the British Museum. They are not, however, of any great importance and amount to little more than directions for the preservation and reparation of the palace, with imprecations upon those who should at any time injure the buildings. On this same monolith is found an invocation to the great gods of the Assyrian Pantheon: namely, to Assur (Osiris), Anu, Hea (Enki), Sin (Nannar) [the Moon], Merodach (Marduk), Yav (Adad) Jahve, Jah[?] (Yahweh?), Ninip (Ninurta), Nebo (Nabu), Beltis (Ninlil), Nergal, Bel-Dagon (Enlil), Samas (Utu) [the Sun], Istar (Inanna).]

End of Translation

Note: The comment above is the translator’s published remarks, not mine. Unfortunately, I can only provide what was published. BJB

Copyright (c) 1996 by Bruce J. Butterfield

No restrictions are intended for non-profit use

A Votive Inscription of Assur-natsir-pal II

Records of the Past, 2nd series, Vol. I, ed. by A. H. Sayce, [1888], at sacred-texts.com

(Texts: All Artifacts, Color Coding, & Writings in Bold Type With Italics Inside Parenthesis, are Added by Editor R. Brown, not the Authors, Translators, or Publishers!)

(gods in bluemixed-breed demigods in teal…)

1. Assur-natsir-pal (II), the great king, the mighty king, king of the world, king of Assyria,

         2. son of Tukulti-Uras, the great king, the mighty king, king of the world, king of Assyria, son of Rimmon-nirari,

         3. the great king, the mighty king, king of the world, king of the same Assyria,

         3c - god Ashur, flying disc, weapons (Ashur protects his king from above)

         4. the warrior chief, who with the help of Assur (Orien / Osiris) his lord

          5. has marched, and among the princes of the four regions 1

         6. his rival has not had; the king who from

         7. beyond the Tigris to Lebanon and the great sea,

         8. Laqi throughout its circuit,

          9. ’Sukhi 2 as far as the city of Rapiqu to his feet

          10. subdued; from the source 3

           11. of the ’Supnat 4 to the passes of

         12. Kirruri, to Gilzani, 5

         13. from the other side of the lower Zab

         14. to the city of Til-bari, which (is) above

         15. Zaban, from the city of Til-sabtani

         16. to the city of Til-sa-zabdani,

         17. the city of Khirimu, the city of Kharutu, the fortresses

         18. of Kar-Dunias 1 to the territory

         19. of my country I restored, and the broad

         20. lands of Nairi throughout its whole extent

         21. I conquered. That city I took anew;

         22. Imgur-Bel its name I called;

         23. this temple with the brick of my palace

            24. verily I built; an image of Makhir (unknown, Marduk ?)2 my lord 

          25. in the midst verily I set up; to Lebanon

          26. verily I went; beams of cedar,

          27. of cypress, of juniper I cut;

          28. beams of cedar upon this temple

          29. I fastened; doors of cedar

          30. I made; with a rim of copper I overlaid (them);

          31. at its gates I fixed (them); this temple

          32. I furnished, I made great; Makhir the great lord

          33. in the midst I seated; an inscribed tablet in his temple

          34. I placed. O later prince of the kings

2 - Ashur  (AshurAshur directs his Assyrian mixed-breed king)

35. my sons, whom Assur shall call,

36. (if) this temple decay, (and) the tablet thou see, and

37. read, its ruins do thou restore; thy name with my name write; 3

38. to its place do thou bring (it) back! Assur the lord, the great one, Makhir,

39. who dwells in this temple by their favorite 4 rightly

40. shall triumph; his tablet, his name, his seed in their land may they establish!

         41. He who the tablet shall see, and offense in plenty

1 - Ishtar & her divine weapons  (Inanna, Goddess of War upon her zodiac symbol Leo)

42. speak, may Ishtar (Inanna), lady of fight and battle,

43. his weapons break in pieces, his throne

44. take from him! 1 He who the tablet shall see, and

45. read, (and) anointing the pavement-stones, sacrificing a lamb,

46. to its place shall restore (it), Assur the great lord his prayers

47. shall hear, (and) in the battle of kings, the field

48. of engagement, his heart’s desire 2

49. shall cause him to attain.


Footnotes

83:1 The translator in the Transactions of the Society of Biblical Archæology, p. 71, reads ina sar sa kiprat arbata, having evidently mistaken the wedges of the plural-sign for the character for “king.”

83:2 The Shuhites of the Old Testament (Job ii. 11), on the west bank of the Euphrates between the Balikh and the Khabour.

83:3 Ris ini, the source: not riseni, as one word, which would be, if anything, an anomalous plural from risu.

83:4 The Sebbeneh Su, which forms one of the sources of the Tigris north of Diarbekir.

83:5 [Or Guzan (Gozan).]

84:1 Babylonia.

84:2 In W. A. I., ii. 58, 12, Makhir is called “the daughter of Samas(Utu); but the same deity is invoked as a male in one of the penitential psalms (W. A. I., iv. 66, 2) translated by Zimmern (Busspsalmen, p. 100), and Sayce (Hibbert Lectures, p. 355), “May Makhir, god of dreams, rest upon my head!

84:3 There is no need here for an amendment of the text, which is plainly as follows: sumi-ka itti sumi-ya sudhur.

84:4 The phrase nisi ini, literally “the raising of the eyes,” means “grace” or “favor,” hence the object of such grace or favour, a favourite or darling (Liebling, Delitzsch).

85:1 By separating lu from the verb and giving it a temporal meaning the translator in T. S. B. A. (p. 78) has missed the force of this passage, which is clearly precative. See Delitzsch, Assyrian Grammar, p. 260.

85:2 Ammar libbi = mâla libbi, literally “the fullness of the heart;” cp. Esarhaddon, Hexagonal Prism, Col. iv. 41, amtsu mâla libbi, “I attained my heart’s desire.