Sargon II 009

(1) Palace of Sargon (II), great king, strong king, king of the world, king of Assyria, governor of Babylon, king of the land of Sumer and Akkad, favorite of the great gods;

(3) just shepherd, (one) to whom the gods Aššur, Nabû, (and) Marduk granted a reign without equal and whose reputation (these gods) exalted to the heights;

(5b) who (re)-established the šubarrû-privileges of (the cities) Sippar, Nippur, (and) Babylon; who abolished corvée duty for (the cities) Dēr, Ur, Eridu, Larsa, Kullaba, Kissik, (and) Nēmed-Laguda, (and) gave relief to their people; who (re)-established the privileged status of (the city) Baltil (Aššur) that had lapsed; who extended his protection over the city Ḫarrān and recorded their exemption (from obligations) as if (their people were) people of the gods Anu and Dagān;

(11) the strong man who is clad in awesome splendor (and) whose weapons are raised to strike down (his) enemies; who brought about the defeat of Ḫumbanigaš (Ḫumban-nikaš I), the Elamite; who subjugated the lands Mannea, Karalla, Andia, (and) Zikirtu, the cities of Kišesim (and) Ḫarḫar, (and) the lands Media (and) Ellipi; (15) who imposed the yoke of (the god) Aššur (upon them); who laid waste to the land Urarṭu (and) the city Muṣaṣir; in great fear of whom Ursâ (Rusâ), the Urarṭian, brought an end to his life with his own weapon; who carried off as booty the rulers of the city Carchemish, the land Hamath, the land Kummuḫu, (and) the city Ashdod — evil Hittites, who do not fear the words of the gods (and always) speak treachery; who (20) set eunuchs of his as provincial governors over all their lands and considered them as people of Assyria; who overwhelmed the city Samaria, all of the land Bīt-Ḫumria (Israel), (and) the land Kasku; who conquered the land Tabal, all of the land Bīt-Purutaš, (and) the land Ḫilakku; who brought about the defeat of Egypt at the city Raphia and counted Ḫanūnu (Hanno), the king of the city Gaza, as booty;

(24) who plundered the city Šinuḫtu; who drove out Mitâ (Midas), king of the land Musku; who brought back (to Assyrian control) the fortress(es) of the land Que (Cilicia) (25) that had been taken away (by the enemy); who caught the Ionians who (live in) the middle of the sea like fish; who deported Gunzinānu of the land Kammanu and Tarḫu-lara of the land Gurgum, who took away all of their lands, and made (them part of) the territory of Assyria; who subjugated seven kings of the land Yāʾ — a region of the land Adnana (Cyprus) — whose abode is situated at a distance of seven days (journey) in the middle of the Western Sea; who conquered the land Rāši; who subjugated the Puqudu (and) Damūnu (tribes) as far as the city Laḫīru of the land Yadburu (and) imposed his yoke (upon them);

(30b) who brought about the defeat of Marduk-apla-iddina (II) (Merodach-Baladan) — king of Chaldea, an evil enemy who exercised kingship over Babylon against the will of the gods — and whose great hand conquered (him); who eradicated the city Dūr-Yakīn, the great city upon which he (Marduk-apla-iddina) relied; who heaped up the corpses of his (Marduk-apla-iddina’s) fighting men in piles on the coastal plain — Upēri, king of Dilmun (35) who(se) lair is situated at a distance of thirty leagues in the middle of the Eastern Sea, like that of a fish, heard (of this) and brought me his audience gift;

(36b) the wise king who occupies himself with good matters (and) who turned his attention to (re)settling abandoned pasture lands, opening up unused land, (and) planting orchards.

(39b) At that time I built a city above the spring at the foot of Mount Muṣri, a mountain upstream from (the city) Nineveh, and I named it Dūr-Šarrukīn.

(41b) I created around it a botanical garden, a replica of Mount Amanus, in which were gathered every kind of aromatic plant from the land Ḫatti (Syria) (and) every type of fruit-bearing mountain tree.

(43) Not one of the three hundred and fifty previous rulers who had exercised lordship over Assyria before my time and had governed the subjects of the god Enlil (45) had noted its (the city’s) site or come to know how to make it habitable; nor had one ordered the digging of its canal (or) the planting of its orchards. Day (and) night I planned earnestly how to settle that town (and) to erect (there) a great shrine — a cella for the great gods — and palatial halls to be my lordly abode, and I (then) ordered its construction.

(49b) In a favorable month, (on) an auspicious day — in the month of the god Kulla, (on) the day of an eššēšu-festival — I had (workmen) wield hoe(s) and make bricks.

(52b) In the month of Abu (V) — the month for the one who lays the foundation of citi(es) and house(s) (and in) which all the black-headed people construct shelter(s) for their dwelling(s) — (55) I placed its limestone masonry on top of (foundation deposits of) gold, silver, copper, precious stones, (and) pieces (of aromatic woods) from Mount Amanus. I laid its foundation and established its brickwork.

(57b) I built inside it (the city) for the gods Ea, Sîn, Ningal, Šamaš, Nabû, Adad, (and) Ninurta awe-inspiring daises that were made as firm as the mountains.

(60b) At their august command, I built palatial halls using (lit.: “of”) elephant ivory, ebony, boxwood, musukkannu-wood, cedar, cypress, daprānu-juniper, juniper, and terebinth to be my royal residence and I roofed them with large cedar beams. (65) I bound the doors of cypress (and) musukkannu-wood with band(s) of shining copper and installed (them in) their entrance(s). I had built in front of their gates a portico (bīt appāti), a replica of a Hittite palace, which is called a bīt ḫilāni in the language of the land Amurru.

(70) Eight twin lion (colossi) of shining copper that weigh 4,610 full (lit.: “tested”) talents (and) that were cast by the craft of the god Ninagal and filled with radiance — upon (those) lion colossi I installed four matching cedar columns, whose diameter(s) are one nindanu each, the product of Mount Amanus; and I positioned cross-beams (upon them) as a cornice for their gates. (75) I skillfully fashioned magnificent mountain sheep colossi of massive mountain stone and in the four directions I had (them) hold their (the gates’) door bolt(s). I depicted the settlements that I had conquered upon large limestone slabs and surrounded their (the palatial halls’) lower courses (with them). I made (them) an object of wonder.

(79b) I made the length of its wall 16,280 cubits and I made its foundation secure upon (blocks of) massive mountain (stone). In front and in back, on both sides, facing the four directions, I opened eight gates (in the city wall). Then, I named the gate(s) of the gods Šamaš and Adad that face the east “The God Šamaš Is the One Who Makes Me Triumph” (and) “The God Adad Is the One Who Establishes My Prosperity” (respectively). I called the gate(s) of the god Enlil and the goddess Mullissu that face the north “The God Enlil Is the One Who Establishes the Foundation of My City” (85) (and) “The Goddess Mullissu Is the One Who Restores Abundance” (respectively). I made the name(s) of the gate(s) of the god Anu and the goddess Ištar that face the west “The God Anu Is the One Who Makes My Undertakings Successful” (and) “The Goddess Ištar Is the One Who Makes Its People Flourish” (respectively). I pronounced the names of the gate(s) of the god Ea and the goddess Bēlet-ilī that face the south (to be) “The God Ea Is the One Who Keeps Its Spring(s) in Good Order” (and) “The Goddess Bēlet-Ilī Is the One Who Increases Its (Animals’) Offspring” (respectively). (90) Its (city) wall was (called) “The God Aššur Is the One Who Prolongs the Reign of Its Royal Builder (and) Protects His Troops.” Its outer wall was (called) “The God Ninurta Is the One Who Establishes the Foundation of His City for (All) Days to Come.”

(92b) People from the four (quarters of the world), (speaking) foreign language(s) (and of) diverse speech, those who had dwelt in (both) mountain(s) and (low)land(s), as many as the “Light of the Gods” (Šamaš), the lord of all, shepherded, whom I had carried off as booty by the power of my staff at the command of the god Aššur, my lord, (95) I made act in concert and I (re)settled (them) inside it (the city). I commissioned native Assyrians, masters of every craft, as overseers (and) commanders to instruct (the settlers) in correct behavior (and how) to revere god and king.

(97b) After I had completed work on the city and my palatial halls, I invited the great gods who dwell in Assyria (to come) inside them and I held a celebration for them. From rulers from the east and the west, I received as their substantial audience gift(s) gold, silver, (and) everything valuable befitting these palatial halls.

(101) May every work of my hands be acceptable to the gods who dwell in this city. May they then forever decree that (they will) inhabit their shrines and that my reign will be firmly established.

(103) (As for) the one who alters the work of my hands, mutilates my features (on a relief), obliterates the reliefs that I have engraved, or effaces my own representation(s), may the gods Sîn, Šamaš, Adad, and the great gods who dwell there remove his name (and) his descendant(s) from the land and make him live in bondage under his enemy.