Sargon II 014

(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.

(4b) I continually act[ed] as provider for (the cities) Sippar, Nippur, Babylon, and Borsippa; I [(re)-established] the freedom (from obligations) of (the cities) Dēr, Ur, Uruk, Eridu, Larsa, Kulla[ba], Kissik, (and) Nēmed-La[gu]da. I restored the exemption (from obligations) of (the city) [Bal]til (Aššur) (10) and [the city] Ḫarrā[n], which had fallen into [oblivion] in the distant [pa]st, and [their privile]ged status that had lapsed.

(12) By the strength of the great gods, <my> lords, I regularly advanced and made uncompliant land[s] (and) insubmissive mountain regions bow down at my feet. I ruled all together from the land Yadnana (Cyprus), which is in the middle of the Western Sea, (15) as far as the border(s) of Egypt and the land Musku, the wide land Amurru, the land Ḫatti (Syria) in its entirety, all of (the land) Gutium, the distant Medes (who live) on the border of Mount Bikni, the lands Ellipi (and) Rāši on the border of the land Elam, the Arameans who (live) beside the Tigris, (20) Surappu, (and) Uqnû Rivers, all the Sutians, the people of the steppe of the land Yadburu, as many as there are, from the cities Samʾūna, Bāb-dūri, Dūr-Telīte, Bubê, (and) Tīl-Ḫumba which are on the border of the land Elam, the land Karduniaš (Babylonia) from end to end (lit.: “above and below”), all of the Chaldeans, (25) as many as there are, (and) the land Bīt-Yakīn, which is [on the shore] of the sea, as far as the border of Dilmun; I set eunuchs of mine as provincial governors over them and imposed the y[oke] of my lordship upon them.

(28b) At that time, using (as laborers) enemy people whom I had captured, [whom] the gods Aššur, Nabû, (30) and Mar[duk] had [made bow down at] my feet, [and] (who) (now) pull my yoke, [in] accordance with divine will (and) my [hea]rt’s desire, I built a city a[t the foo]t of Mount Muṣri, upst[ream from Nineveh], and [nam]ed it Dūr-Šarru[kīn].

(33b) I built inside it (the city) palatial halls using (lit.: “of”) elephant ivory, ebony, [boxwood], musukkannu-wood, cedar, cypress, daprānu-juniper, juniper, and terebinth [to be] my [roy]al [residence] and I [roofed] them with large [ce]dar [beams]. I [bound the doors] of cypress (and) musukkannu-wood [with band(s)] of shi[ning] copper [and installed (them) in their entrance(s). (40) I had built in front of th]eir [gates a po]rtico ([bīt] appāti), a replica of a [Hittite] pal[ace, which is] called a bīt ḫilāni [in the language of the land Amurru].

(41) [Eight tw]in [lion (colossi) of shining copper] that weigh 4,[610 full (lit.: “tested”) talen]ts (and) [that] were cast [by the craft of the god N]inagal [and filled with radiance — upon (those) lion colossi I instal]led [four match]ing [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]. I [had magnificent mountain sheep colossi of mass]ive [mountain stone] skillfully [made 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] s[labs; [...].