[Year 692] [i 18ff] Previously, in the reign of an earlier king, evil portents appeared in the land of Sumer and Akkad. Its inhabitants kept answering each other 'yes' for 'no' and spoke lies. They abandoned the rites of their gods and goddesses and embarked on a different course. They laid hand on the property of Esaggil, the (unapproachable) palace of the gods, and traded silver, gold 1 and precious stones for Elamite support.
[Year 689] [i 34ff] Seeing this, the Enlil of the gods, Marduk, got angry. His mind became furious, and he made an evil plan to disperse the land and its people. His angry heart was bent on levelling the land and destroying its people, and a grievous curse formed in his mouth. Evil portents indicating the disruption of cosmic harmony started appearing abundantly in heaven and on earth. The stars in the paths of Enlil, Anu and Ea worsened their positions and repeatedly disclosed abnormal omens. The river of abundance, Arahtu, became a raging current, a fierce surge of water, a violent flood like the Deluge, and swept away the city, its houses and sanctuaries, turning them into ruins. The gods and goddesses who dwelt within it (var. adds: got afraid), abandoned their shrines ( var. flew off like birds) and ascended to heaven [ ➔ 2.1, 2.3]. The people who lived there fled elsewhere and took refuge in an unknown land.
[Year 681] [ii 2ff] Though he had written 70 years [= 1 + 10] as the length of its abandonment, the merciful Marduk quickly relented, reversed the order of the numerical symbols, and ordered its resettlement for the 11 th year [ = 679]. In order to restore those deeds to their original state, you duly chose me, Esarhaddon, from amongst my older brothers, placed your sweet protection over me, leveled all my enemies like the deluge, killed all my foes, made me attain my desire, and gave me the shepherdship of Assyria to calm the heart of your great godhead and to placate your mind.
[Year 680] [ii 24ff] At the beginning of my kingship, in my first regnal year, when I magnificently ascended the royal throne, good portents concerning the resettling of the city and the restoration of its sanctuaries occurred to me in heaven and on earth. The angry gods [relented and] kept showing me most propitious signs concerning the rebuilding of Babylon and the restoration of Esaggil [--> 2. 1, 2.6]. The bright Jupiter, who gives the decision for the land of Akkad, approached in Sivan [680-III] and stood in the place where the sun shines forth. He was bright, his features were red, and his rising was as perfect as the rising of the sun; the angry gods became reconciled [--> 2.4] with the land of Akkad, and there were copious rains and regular floods in the land of Akkad. For the second time, he reached the hypsoma in Pet-Babi and became stable in his seat.
[ii 41ff] He commanded me to work to complete the cult centres, restore the sanctuaries and set aright the cult of Esaggil. Every month, Sin and Šamaš in their appearances jointly responded with a firm 'yes' regarding the mercy to be shown to the land of Akkad.
Simo Parpola
Simo Parpola, '3. The Gods of Esaggil ', Assyrian Prophecies, SAA 9. Original publication: Helsinki, Helsinki University Press, 1997; online contents: SAAo/SAA09 Project, a sub-project of MOCCI, 2021 [http://oracc.org/saao/saa09/appendixinscriptionsofesarhaddonpertainingtothecorpus/thegodsofesaggil/]