34 I placed my Lieutenant as Governor over them, and I treated them as Assyrians. They never again became guilty of impiety.
35 The King of Libya[23] lives in the middle of the desert, in an inaccessible place, at (a month's) journey. From the most remote times until the renewal of the lunar period[24] his fathers had sent no ambassadors to the kings, my ancestors, to ask for peace and friendship and to acknowledge the power of Merodach. But the immense terror inspired by my Majesty roused him, and fear changed his intentions. In fetters of iron he threw him (Iaman), directed his steps toward Assyria and kissed my feet.
36 Muttallu, of Commagene, a fraudulent and hostile man, did not honor the memory of the gods, he plotted a conspiracy, and meditated defection. He trusted upon Ar-gisti,[25] King of Armenia, an helper who did not assist him, took upon himself the collection of the tributes and his part of the spoil, and refused me his submission. In the anger of my heart, I took the road to his country with the chariots of my power, and the horsemen who never left the traces of my feet. Muttallu saw the approach of my expedition, he withdrew his troops, and no one saw any further trace of him. I besieged and occupied his capital and 62 large towns all together. I carried away his wife, his sons, his daughters, his money, his treasure, all precious things from his palace, together with the inhabitants of his country as spoil, I left none of them. I inaugurated this town afresh; I placed in it men from the country of Bit-Iakin, that my arm had conquered. I instituted my Lieutenant as Governor, and subdued them under my rule. I previously took from them 150 chariots, 1,500 horsemen, 20,000 archers, 1,000 men armed with shields and lances, and I confided the country to my Satrap.
37 While Dalta, King of Ellip, lived, he was submissive and devoted to my rule, the infirmities of age however came and he walked on the path of death. Nibie and Ispabara, the sons of his wives, claimed both the vacant throne of his royalty, the country and the taxes, and they fought a battle. Nibie applied to Sutruk-Nakhunti[26] King of Elam to support his claims, giving to him pledges for his alliance, and the other came as a helper. Ispabara, on his side, implored me to maintain his cause, and to encourage him, at the same time bowing down, and humbling himself, and asking my alliance. I sent seven of my Lieutenants with their armies to support his claims, they put Nibie and the army of the four rivers,[27] which had helped him, to flight, at the town of Mareobisti. I reinstated Ispabara on the throne; I re-established peace in his country, and confided it to his care.
38 Merodach-Baladan, son of Iakin,[28] King of Chaldæa, the fallacious, the persistent in enmity, did not respect the memory of the gods, he trusted in the sea, and in the retreat of the marshes; he eluded the precepts of the great gods, and refused to send his tributes. He had supported as an ally Khumbanigas, King of Elam. He had excited all the nomadic tribes of the desert against me. He prepared himself for battle, and advanced. During twelve years,[29] against the will of the gods of Babylon, the town of Bel which judges the gods, he had excited the country of the Sumers and Accads, and had sent ambassadors to them. In honor of the god Assur, the father of the gods, and of the great and august Lord Merodach, I roused my courage, I prepared my ranks for battle. I decreed an expedition against the Chaldeans, an impious and riotous people. Merodach-Baladan heard of the approach of my expedition, dreading the terror of his own warriors, he fled before it, and flew in the night time like an owl, falling back from Babylon, to the town of Ikbibel. He assembled together the towns possessing oracles, and the gods living in these towns he brought to save them to Dur-Iakin, fortifying its walls. He summoned the tribes of Gambul, Pukud, Tamun, Ruhua, and Khindar, put them in this place, and prepared for battle. He calculated the extent of a plethrum[30] in front of the great wall. He constructed a ditch 200 spans[31] wide, and deep one fathom and a half.[32] The conduits of water, coming from the Euphrates, flowed out into this ditch; he had cut off the course of the river, and divided it into canals, he had surrounded the town, the place of his revolt, with a dam, he had filled it with water, and cut off the conduits. Merodach-Baladan, with his allies and his soldiers had the insignia of his royalty kept as in an island on the banks of the river; he arranged his plan of battle. I stretched my combatants all along the river dividing them into bands; they conquered the enemies. By the blood of the rebels the waters of these canals reddened like dyed wool. The nomadic tribes were terrified by this disaster which surprised him and fled; I completely separated his allies and the men of Marsan from him; I filled the ranks of the insurgents with mortal terror. He left in his tent the insignia of his royalty, the golden …[33] the golden throne, the golden parasol, the golden sceptre, the silver chariot, the golden ornaments, and other effects of considerable weight; he fled alone, and disappeared like the ruined battlements of his fortress, and I entered into his retreat. I besieged and occupied the town of Dur-Iakin, I took as spoil and made captive, him, his wife, his sons, his daughters, the gold and silver and all that he possessed, the contents of his palace, whatever it was, with considerable booty from the town. I made each family and every man who had withdrawn himself from my arms, accountable for this sin. I reduced Dur-Iakin the town of his power to ashes. I undermined and destroyed its ancient forts. I dug up the foundation stone;[34] I made it like a thunder-stricken ruin, I allowed the people of Sippara, Nipur, Babylon, and Borsippa, who live in the middle of the towns to exercise their profession, to enjoy their belongings in peace, and I have watched upon them. I took away the possession of the fields which from remote times had been in the hand of theSutiNomad, and restored them to their rightful owners. I placed the nomadic tribes of the desert again under my yoke, and I restored the forgotten land delimitations which had existed during the tranquillity of the land. I gave to each of the towns of Ur, Orchoé, Erikhi, Larsa, Kullab, and Kisik, the dwelling of the god Laguda, the god that resides in each, and I restored the gods who had been taken away, to their sanctuaries. I re-established the altered laws in full force.
39 I imposed tributes on the countries of Bet-Iakin, the high and low part, and on the towns of Samhun, Bab-Dur, Dur-Tilit, Bubi, Tell-Khumba, which are the resort of Elam. I transplanted into Elam the inhabitants of the Commagene, in Syria, that I had attacked with my own hand, obeying the commands of the great gods my Masters, and I placed them on the territory of Elam, in the town of Sakbat. Nabu-Pakid-Ilan was authorized to collect the taxes from the Elamites in order to govern them; I claimed as a pledge the town of Birtu. I placed all this country in the hands of my Lieutenant at Babylon and my Lieutenant in the country of Gambul.[35]
40 I returned alone to Babylon, to the sanctuaries of Bel, the judge of the gods, in the excitement of my heart and the splendor of my appearance; I took the hands of the great Lord, the august god Merodach, and I traversed the way to the chamber of the spoil.
41 I transported into it 154 talents 26 minas 10 drachms of goldrussù;[36] 1804 talents 20 minas of silver;[37] ivory, a great deal of copper, iron in an innumerable quantity, some of the stoneka, alabaster, the mineralspi digili, flattenedpi sirrufor witness seals, blue and purple stuffs, cloth ofberomand cotton, ebony; cedar, and cypress wood, freshly cut from the fine forests on Mount Amanus, in honor of Bel, Zarpanit, Nebo, and Tasmit, and the gods who inhabit the sanctuaries of the Sumers and Accads; all that from my accession to the third year of my reign.[38]
42 Upir, King of Dilmun who dwells at the distance of 30 parasanges[39] in the midst of the sea of the rising sun and who is established as a fish, heard of the favor that the gods Assur, Nebo, and Merodach had accorded me; he sent therefore his expiatory gift.
43 And the seven Kings of the country of Iahnagi, of the country of Iatnan (who have established and extended their dwellings at a distance of seven days' navigation in the midst of the sea of the setting sun, and whose name from the most ancient ages until the renewal of the lunar period,[40] none of the Kings my fathers in Assyria and Chaldea[41] had heard), had been told of my lofty achievements in Chaldea and Syria, and my glory, which had spread from afar to the midst of the sea. They subdued their pride and humbled themselves; they presented themselves before me at Babylon, bearing metals, gold, silver, vases, ebony wood, and the manufactures of their country; they kissed my feet.
44 While I endeavored to exterminate Bet-Iakin and reduce Aram, and render my rule more efficacious in the country of Iatbur, which is beyond Elam, my Lieutenant, the Governor of the country of Kue, attacked Mita, the Moschian, and 3,000 of his towns; he demolished these towns, destroyed them, burnt them with fire, and led away many captives. And this Mita the Moschian, who had never submitted to the Kings my predecessors and had never changed his will, sent his envoy to me to the very borders of the sea of the rising sun, bearing professions of allegiance and tributes.
45 In these days, these nations and these countries that my hand has conquered, and that the gods Assur, Nebo, and Merodach have made bow to my feet, followed the ways of piety. With their help I built at the feet of themusri, following the divine will and the wish of my heart, a town that I calledDur-Sarkin[42] to replace Nineveh.[43] Nisroch,[44] Sin, Samas, Nebo, Bin, Ninip, and their great spouses, who procreate eternally in the lofty temple of the upper and the nether world (Aralli) blessed the splendid wonders, the superb streets in the town of Dur-Sarkin. I reformed the institutions which were not agreeable to their ideas. The priests, thenisi ramki, thesurmahhi supardisputed at their learned discussions about the pre-eminence of their divinities, and the efficacy of their sacrifices.
46 I built in the town some palaces covered with the skin of the sea-calf,[45] and of sandal wood, ebony, the wood of mastic tree, cedar, cypress, wild pistachio nut tree, a palace of incomparable splendor, as the seat of my royalty. I placed theirdunuupon tablets of gold, silver, alabaster,tilpestones,parutstones, copper, lead, iron, tin, andkhibistimade of earth. I wrote thereupon the glory of the gods. Above I built a platform of cedar beams. I bordered the doors of pine and mastic wood with bronze garnitures, and I calculated their distance. I made a spiral staircase similar to the one in the great temple of Syria, that is called in the Phoenician language,Bethilanni. Between the doors I placed 8 double lions whose weight is 1ner6soss, 50 talents[46] of first-rate copper, made in honor of Mylitta …[47] and their fourkuburin materials from Mount Amanus; I placed them onnirgalli.[8] Over them I sculptured artistically a crown of beast of the fields, a bird in stone of the mountains. Toward the four celestial regions, I turned their front. The lintels and the uprights I made in large gypsum stone that I had taken away with my own hand, I placed them above. I walled them in and I drew upon me the admiration of the people of the countries.
47 From the beginning to the end, I walked worshipping the god Assur, and following the custom of wise men, I built palaces, I amassed treasures.
48 In the month of blessing, on the happy day, I invoked, in the midst of them, Assur, the father of the gods, the greatest sovereign of the gods and theIstarât[49] who inhabit Assyria. I presented vessels of glass, things in chased silver, ivory, valuable jewels and immense presents, in great quantities, and I rejoiced their heart. I exhibited sculptured idols, double and winged, some …[50] winged, some …[50] winged, serpents, fishes, and birds, from unknown regions and abysses, the …[50] in high mountains, summits of the lands that I have conquered with my own hand, for the glory of my royalty. As a worshipper of the gods and the god Assur, I sacrificed in their presence, with the sacrifice of white lambs, holy holocausts of expiation, in order to withdraw the gifts that had not been agreeable to the gods.
49 He has granted me in his august power, a happy existence,long life, and I obtained a constantly lucky reign.I have entrusted myself to his favor.
50 The great Lord Bel-El, the Master of the lands, inhabitsthe lofty tracts; the gods andIstarâtinhabit Assyria;their legions remain there inpargiti, andmartakni.
51 With the Chiefs of provinces, the Satraps, wise men, Astronomers, Magnates, the Lieutenants and Governors of Assyria, I have ruled in my palace, and administered justice.
52 I have bid them take gold, silver, gold and silver vessels, precious stones, copper, iron, considerable products of mountains the mines of which are rich, cloth ofberomand cotton, blue and purple cloth, amber, skins of sea-calves, pearls, sandal-wood, ebony, horses from higher Egypt,[51] asses, mules, camels, oxen. With all these numerous tributes I have rejoiced the heart of the gods.
53 May Assur, the father of the gods, bless these palaces, by giving to his images a spontaneous splendor. May he watch over the issue even to the remote future. May the sculptured bull, the protector and god who imparts perfection, dwell in day and in night-time in his presence, and never stir from this threshold!
54 With the help of Assur, may the King who has built these palaces, attain an old age, and may his offspring multiply greatly! May these battlements last to the most remote future! May he who dwells there come forth surrounded with the greatest splendor; may he rejoice in his corporal health, in the satisfaction of his heart accomplish his wishes, attain his end, and may he render his magnificence seven times more imposing!
[Footnote 1: Orchoé, the Erech of the Bible, is certainly the Warka of the present day; Sippara, Sofeira; Nipur, Niffar; Larsam, Senkereh. Ur (the Ur of the Bible) is Mugheir; Kullab and Erikhi are unknown. (See "Expéd. en Mésopot.," i. p. 255 et seq.)]
[Footnote 2: The old empire Bal-bat-ki. The syllabaries explain this ideogram by "Assur," but it is very awkward that in these texts the identification with Assur occurs nowhere. I therefore transcribe "Sumer," which was the true name of the people and the language named wrongly Accadian. The term of "Sumerian" is supported by MM. Ménant, Eneberg, Gelzer, Prætorius, Delitzsch, Olshausen, and other scholars.]
[Footnote 3: "Itanus," or Yatnan, in the island of Crete, became afterward the name of the island of Cyprus.]
[Footnote 4: For the words in italics no satisfactory translation has as yet been found.]
[Footnote 5: The "Pekod" of the Bible (Jer. i. 21; Ezek. xxiii. 23).]
[Footnote 6: Which belongs to Elam.]
[Footnote 7: Lower Chaldea. Nearly all the names of the Elamite towns areSemitic (see Gen. x. 22), but the Susian ones are not.]
[Footnote 8: Tiglatpileser, whom Sargon would not acknowledge.]
[Footnote 9: This is the word "siltan," the Hebrew "shilton" ("power"), the Arabic "sultan."]
[Footnote 10: Raphia, near the frontier of Egypt.]
[Footnote 11: Khilakku. It seems to be identical with the "Sparda" ofPersian, the "Sepharad" of Obadiah.]
[Footnote 12: The condition of Jaubid before his accession.]
[Footnote 13: Or Minni.]
[Footnote 14: It seems not to be Paphos.]
[Footnote 15: Parthia(?).]
[Footnote 16: The same name as Belshazzar.]
[Footnote 17: This Agag is very possibly the country of Haman the Agagite, if we must not read Agaz.]
[Footnote 18: Ambanda is perhaps the Median "Kampanda."]
[Footnote 19: We find in the inscriptions of Van, the god Haldi as god of the Armenians, which proves more forcibly than ever that the syllabary of the Armenian inscriptions is the same as the Assyrian syllabary.]
[Footnote 20: See Isaiah xx. 1.]
[Footnote 21: Meluhhi is not Méroe, but Libya, and especially theMarmarica. The name seems to be the "Milyes" of Herodotus.]
[Footnote 22: "Asdudim" seems to be a Hebraic plural.]
[Footnote 23: Meluhhi. This is the only passage where small gaps occur.]
[Footnote 24: This is one of the most important passages of the text; the period is the Chaldean eclipse period of 1,805 years, and ended in 712 B.C. Instead of this passage, the stele of Larnaca, now in Berlin, has, "from the remotest times, the beginning of Assyria, until now." The commencement of the period, 2517 B.C., coincided very nearly with the capture of Babylon by the Medes. This date commences the real history; previous to this time reigned the 86 princes during twelve lunar periods of 1,805, and twelve solar periods of 1,460 years, viz., 39,180 years. The very event may have happened eleven years afterward, 2506 B.C. The Deluge happened, according to the Chaldeans, in 41697 B.C.]
[Footnote 25: This royal name is still found in the Armenian texts ofVan.]
[Footnote 26: The inscriptions of this prince are translated in the seventh volume.]
[Footnote 27: Elam. We are now certain of this identification.]
[Footnote 28: The same who occurs in the Ptolemaic canon (721-709).]
[Footnote 29: From 721 to 709 B.C.]
[Footnote 30: 32 m. 91 cm., 39 yds.]
[Footnote 31: 54 m. 85 cm., 65 yds.]
[Footnote 32: 4 m. 94 cm., 17-1/2 ft.]
[Footnote 33: Unexplained.]
[Footnote 34: "Timin," not "cylinder."]
[Footnote 35: Only two years after the commencement of the war.]
[Footnote 36: 12,544. pd. troy 68.]
[Footnote 37: 152,227. pd. troy, 75. A royal silver drachm is nearly 3s., a royal mina £9; the state drachm and mina is the half of it. A silver talent is always very close to £270 sterling.]
[Footnote 38: Sargon speaks of his third "year" and not of his third campaign, in order to mark what he had already accomplished before the year 717.]
[Footnote 39: One hundred and ten English miles.]
[Footnote 40: This is the second passage where Sargon alludes to this period ending under his reign.]
[Footnote 41: "Karduniyas."]
[Footnote 42: Or "Dur-Sarkayan." The King passes rapidly over some other peculiarities which he inserts in other texts, namely, the measures of the town, and the ceremonies of its edification. The circuit is given as containing 3-1/3 ners (miles) 1 stadium 3 canes 2 spans, or 24,740 spans, and Botta's measurings afford 6,790 metres (7,427 yds.). This statement gives for the span, with a slight correction in the fourth decimal, 27,425 cm. (10.797 ins., and for the cubit 5,485 cm. 21.594 ins.).]
[Transcriber's Note: Above, the author seems to be using the European decimal point ",", in the metric measurements, and the American decimal point in the Imperial measurements, ".".]
[Footnote 43: At this time the palace of Nineveh was still in ruins. It was rebuilt by Sennacherib.]
[Footnote 44: This is my former transcription of the divine name which is now pronounced Hea. But I think sincerely that the latter is not better than the former one.]
[Footnote 45: This assimilation is not quite certain.]
[Footnote 46: One thousand ten talents 602 cwt. English.]
[Footnote 47: Obscure.]
[Footnote 48: A very difficult passage; the name of the god Nergal does not interfere with the object.]
[Footnote 49: The Hebrew "Astaroth," which signifies "goddesses." CompareJudges x. 6.]
[Footnote 50: Obscure.]
[Footnote 51: It is not clear what animals are meant.]
End of Project Gutenberg's Babylonian and Assyrian Literature, by Anonymous