SAA 12 086. Sennacherib Dedicates Personnel to his Newly-built Akitu Temple (PKTA 27)

(1) The se[al of] Aššur, king of the gods; the seal of God the King, not to be contested.

(2) I am Sennacherib, king of the world, king of Assyria, circumspect monarch, the perfecter of the forgotten cult of Ešarra according to the oracular command of Šamaš and Adad, the enlarger of their purificatory cult, the restorer of the protective deity of Ešarra, which had ceased to function, [to] its place.

(5) In Nisan (I), when at the New Year's Festival, on account of chaos and anarchy, [A]ššur was going to the festival banquet in a garden within the city;

(7) at that time, after I had made the statue of Aššur, king of all the gods, the creator of himself, the father of the great gods, whose figure was exalted in the Abyss, king of heaven and earth, lord of all the gods, the progenitor of the Igigi and the Anunnaki, the builder of the roof of heaven and the basement of earth, the maker of all the regions, living in the [pur]e starlit heave[ns], the foremost god, the one who decrees the destinies, the one who lives in Ešarra [which] is in Assur, the [great] lord, my lord,

(12) and (after I had made) the statues of the great gods, with the clever understanding that Ea bestowed upon me, and with the [wis]dom that Aššur, king of the gods, had given unto me;

(14) I pondered and on my own initiatve I performed an oracle query concerning the Akitu Temple of the steppe. Šamaš and Adad commanded me to build the Akitu Temple for the festival of Aššur, which is appropriate for his great divinity.

(16) I took its foundations down until I reached the underground waters.

(17) Of my [own initiat]ive I ski[lfu]lly built it from the foundation to the parapet with mountain [limestone] and raised it as high as a mountain. I opened [a canal] and called its name "That which Purifies the New Year's Festival." I encircled it with [trees] of the orchard, all kinds of fruits and aromatic plants, as with a garland.

(22) [...]-Adad 3 persons, Ta'allu 15 persons, Nabû-zaqip-enši 4 pe[rsons],

(23) [...] 3 persons, Yaluzu 4 persons, Nabû-le'ani 2 [persons],

(24) [... x] persons, Balṭaku-ammar 5 persons, Nabû-šulmu-amur 3 [persons],

(25) [... x] persons, Nabû-kašir 3 persons, Nabû-kenu-uṣur 7 per[sons],

(26) [Ki]nziru 3 persons, Urad-Gula 5 persons, Hanaba' 4 per[sons],

(27) [Pi]rahu 4 persons Nabû-balliṭ 4 persons Ahu'a 10 per[sons],

(28) [Pu]hunu 3 persons, Nabû-iddina 5 persons, Lidbubu-lipušu single,

(29) [...]-aplu-iddina 2 persons, Urda-Nabû 2 persons, Nabû-šabši 7 per[sons],

(30) [Rem]uttu single, Haruranu 4 persons, Napusî 4 persons,

(31) [...i]q-ili 14 persons, Il-yaba 2 persons, Uqayyaqi 2 persons.

(32) [Total x pe]rsons from Raṣappa (that) I have donated as a present to the Akitu Temple of the steppe of Nisan (I) [which] I built skilfully [according to] my own wish. I have assigned them [as the responsibility of ...]. The prefect, the mayor or the city overseer [shall not exercise au]thority [over them]. They are [re]sponsible for the Akitu Temple.

(r 11) [......] of heaven and earth [......]

(r 13) ... [...] the great [god]s of heaven and earth [......]

(r 14) their offices, their ..., their seed, their offspring [......]

(r 15) ...... by the command of Aššur and the great gods. They are [......].

(r 16) [Witness NN], chief judge. Witness Inurta-na'id, grand [vizier].

(r 17) Wi[tness NN], deputy [vizier]. Witness Nergal-šumu-lešir, [...] of Aššur.

(r 18) Witness [NN, .... Witness] Nabû-šumu-iškun, [chari]ot dri[ver ...].

(r 19) Witness [NN, 'third] man.' Witness Aššur-bani, chief sc[ribe ...].

(r 20) Wi[tness NN, .... Witness] Aplaya, chief [...].

(r 21) Wi[tness NN], chief physician. [Witness Ašš]ur-duri, recruitment officer.

(r 22) Witness Mutaqqin-ahhe, recruitment officer. Witness [N]N, 'third man.'

(r 23) Witness Aššur-dur-paniya, 'third man.' Witness ...-damqu, cohort (commander) of [...].

(r 24) Witness Aššur-šimanni, cohort commander of the ša šēpi guard. Witness Aššur-matu-taqqin, [...].

(r 25) [Witness Ma]nnu-ki-Aššur, ...[...].

(r 26) [Witness ...]-abu-uṣur, ditto. Witness Abi-ram, c[ity] overseer [...].

(r 27) Wi[tness] Nabû-eṭiranni, temple scribe. Witness Šamaš-ila'i, inspector of the Aššur Gate.

(r 28) Witness [...]su, inspector of the Šamaš Gate. Witness Mannu-ki-Ištar, ditto of the Tigris Gate.

(r 29) Witness Nabû-mudammiq, city scribe.

(r 30) Witness Kanunayu, chariot driver of Aššur. Witness Aššur-isse'a, 'third man' of Aššur.

(r 31) Witness Kakkusu, scribe. Witness Aššur-le'i, chief gaddāyu.

(r 32) Witness Sangu-Issar, commander-of-fifty of the tanners of coloured leather.

(r 33) 22nd year of Sennacherib, king of the world, king of Assy[ria (...)].