The text has been translated in part by Mr. George Smith.
(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 …mixed-breed demigods in teal…)
OBVERSE
1. When the moon at its setting with the color of a dust-cloud filled the crescent,
(bust of Sargon)
the moon was favorable for Sargon who at this season
2. marched against the country of Elam and subjugated the men of Elam.
3. Misery (?) he brought upon them; their food he cut off.
_________
4. When the moon at its setting filled the crescent with the color of a dust-cloud, and over the face of the sky the color extended behind the moon during the day and remained bright,
5. the moon was favorable for Sargon who marched against the country of [Phœnicia], and
6. subjugated the country of Phœnicia. His hand conquered the four quarters (of the world).
_________
-
When the moon increased in form on the right hand and on the left, and moreover [during] the day the finger reached over the horns,
(Sargon, leader with a Moses-like life, born a millennium prior)
8. the moon was favorable for Sargon who at this season produced joy (?) [in] Babylon, and
9. [like] dust the spoil of Bab-dhuna was carried away and
10. … he made Accad (Akkad) a city; the city of … he called its name;
11. [the men of … in the] midst he caused to dwell.
_________
12. [When the moon] on the left the color of fire [on] the left of the planet, and
13. [the moon was favorable to Sargo]n who at this season against the country of Phœnicia
14. [marched and subjugated it]. The four quarters (of the world) his hand conquered.
_________
15. [When the moon] behind the moon the four heads were placed,
16. [the moon was favorable to Sargon who at this season] marched [against] the country of Phœnicia and
17. [subjugated the country of Phœnicia.] His [enemies?] he smote; his heroes
18. …………in the gate of its rising.
_________
-
[When the moon was fixed?] and a span [the moon was favorable to Sargon] as for whom at this season the goddess [Ishtar] (Inanna)
(Inanna / Ishtar, goddess of love, spouse to many mixed-breed kings, Sargon included)
20. [with favors] filled for him his hand the goddess Ishtar [all countries]
21. caused him to conquer; against Tiri (?) …
_________
22. [When the moon] appeared [like] a lion, the moon was favorable to Sargon who at this season
23. was [very] exalted and a rival (or) equal had not; his own country was at peace. Over
24. [the countries] of the sea of the setting sun he crossed and for 3 years at the setting sun
25. [all countries] his hand conquered. Every place to form but one (empire) he appointed. His images at the setting sun
(victory stele of Sargon, ancient artifact)
26. he erected. Their spoil he caused to pass over into the countries of the sea.
_________
27. [When the moon on] the right hand was like the color of gall, and there was no finger; the upper part was long and the moon was setting (?),
28. [the moon was favorable for] Sargon who enlarged his palace of Delight (?) by 5 mitkhu, and
(Sargon The Great with his chiefs)
29. established the chiefs [in it] and called it the House of Kiâm-izallik.
_________
30. When the moon was like a cloud (?), like the color of gall, and there was no finger, on the right side was the color of a sword; the circumference of the left side was visible;
31. towards its face on the left the color extended; the moon was favorable for Sargon against whom at this season Kastubila of the country of Kazalla rebelled and against Kazalla
(Sargon’s prisoners of war)
32. (Sargon) marched and he smote their forces; he accomplished their destruction.
33. Their mighty army he annihilated; he reduced Kazalla to dust and ruins.
34. The station of the birds he overthrew.
_________
35. When the moon was like a cloud (?), like the color of
gall, and there was no finger; on the right side was the color of a sword; the circumference of the left was visible;
36. and against its face the Seven advanced; the moon was favorable to Sargon, against whom at this season
37. the elders of the whole country revolted and besieged him in the city of Accad; but
38. Sargon issued forth and smote their forces; their destruction he accomplished.
Reverse
-
Their numerous soldiery he massacred; the spoil that was upon them he collected.
(Inanna, giant alien Goddess of Love & War)
2. “The booty of Istar (Inanna)!” he shouted.
_________
3. When the moon had two fingers, and swords were seen on the right side and the left, [and] might and peace were on the left
4. its hand presented a sword; the sword in its left hand was of the color of ’sukhuruni; the point was held in the left hand and there were two heads;
5. [the moon] was favorable for Sargon who at this season
6. subjected the men of [the country] of ’Su-edin in its plenitude to the sword, and
(Sargon nearly 4,500 years ago, “hero of old”, “mighty man” of the gods)
7. Sargon caused their seats to be occupied, and
8. smote their forces; their destruction he accomplished; their mighty army
9. he cut off, and his troops he collected; into the city of Accad he brought (them) back.
_________
10. [When the moon] had two fingers and on the right side it was of the color of a sword and on the left it was visible;
11. [and against its face] the Seven advanced; (its) appearance was of the color of gall; the moon was favorable for Naram-Sin
12. [who at] this season marched against the city of Apirak, and
13. [utterly] destroyed it: Ris-Rimmon the king of Apirak
14. [he overthrew], and the city of Apirak his hand conquered.
_________
15. [When the moon] on the right it was of the color of a sword, and on the left it was visible;
(Sargon’s giant grandson Naram-Suen)
16. [and against its face the Seven advanced?]; the moon was favorable for Naram-Sin who at this season
17. marched [against the country of Mâ]ganna and seized the country of Mâganna, and
18 the king of Mâganna his hand captured.
_________
19. [When against the moon] the Seven were banded, [and] behind it
20. …… never may there be a son (?) ……
Footnotes
37:1 W.A.I., iv. 34. The text has been translated in part by Mr. George Smith. The astrological notices with which the account of Sargon’s campaigns is associated are explained by the fact that the great Chaldean work on astronomy and astrology was compiled for his library at Accad, and that one of the objects of this work was to trace a connection between certain astronomical occurrences and the events which immediately followed them.
37:2 Ana pikhirti-su tsirip zakiki.
37:3 The moon lay on its back, and the distance from the extremity of one horn to that of another was as much as a span.
38:1 The Sun-god (Utu, Inanna’s twin brother) must be referred to.
39:1 We infer from this that Sargon had crossed over into Cyprus, and there erected an image of himself. This might explain why his later namesake Sargon sent to the island a monument, which is now in Berlin. General di Cesnola brought back from Cyprus a Babylonian cylinder of hæmatite bearing the inscription, “Abil-Istar, the son of Ilu-Balidh, the servant of the deified Naram-Sin.” The cylinder was probably executed either during the reign of Naram-Sin, or shortly afterwards, as the cult of the king is not likely to have continued after the fall of his dynasty.
39:2 It could not be measured.
39:4 What this refers to it is impossible to say. The expression can hardly be metaphorical.
40:1 It could not be measured.
40:2 The Seven Evil Spirits who were supposed to cause eclipses of the moon.
40:3 “The plain of the ’Suti,” or nomad tribes on the eastern side of Babylonia.