Nabonidus 01 (Q005398)
Royal Inscription, Neo-Babylonian, Babylon · c. 626 BCE–539 BCE
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| Designation | Nabonidus 01 |
|---|---|
| ID | Q005398 |
| Collection | University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Nebuchadnezzar Museum, Babylon, Iraq |
| Language | Akkadian |
| Period | Neo-Babylonian · c. 626 BCE–539 BCE |
| Genre | Royal Inscription |
| Find spot | Babylon |
| Coordinates | 32.5350, 44.4258 |
English translation
By ORACC project ribo/babylon7 · Via Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus (ORACC) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (ORACC)
| Line | English |
|---|---|
| Obverse Column i [0:12] i 1i 1–i 1212 | Nabonidus, king of Babylon, attentive prince, the shepherd who provides, the one who is constantly attentive to the will of the gods, the wise (and) pious one, the one who constantly seeks out the shrines of the great gods, most befitting warrior, creation of the sage of the gods — the god Marduk — product of the goddess Erua — creator of all rulers — selected by the god Nabû — the heir of Esagil who controls (cosmic) harmony — creation of the god Ninšiku — the (all-)knowing creator of everything — chosen by the god Nannāru — the lord of the crown who makes astrological signs known — the one who strives every day (to show) devotion to the great gods (and) whose mind is focused on provisioning Esagil and Ezida, son of Nabû-balāssu-iqbi, wise prince, am I. |
| Obverse Column i [12:16] i 1313–i 1616 | I constantly seek out the city of Babylon for good deeds. I increase gifts to Esagil, the palace of the great gods; I abundantly supply everything to Ezida, the mountain of life; (and) I lavishly provide abundance to Emeslam, the temple of the hero of the gods. |
| Obverse Column i [16:19] i 1717–i 1919 | At that time, (with regard to) Imgur-Enlil, the wall of Babylon, its foundations had become shaky, its walls had buckled, its superstructure was tottering, and it had no support. |
| Obverse Column i [19:30] i 2020– | <In order to> strengthen that wall and give (it) support, I removed the buckled sections of its wall (lit. “its buckled walls”). (As for) Imgur-Enlil, the wall of Babylon, the boundary (with a length) of 20 UŠ (7,200 m), the eternal boundary marker, the plan of stability, the firmly-founded border, the wide-stretching ground plan, the strong shield that bolts (Babylon) before enemies, the foremost cult center on which people rely, I strengthened its foundation(s), made (them) firm like mountains, and (then) I raised its high parts up like mountain(s), (and) made it as secure as a great mountain. I established it as an object of wonder. |
| Obverse Column ii [4:6] ii 55–ii 66 | (As for) an inscription bearing the name of a former king that I had discovered inside (it), I firmly placed (it) inside it (Imgur-Enlil) forever with an inscription bearing my name. |
| Obverse Column ii [6:11] ii 77–ii 1111 | O Enlil of the gods, Marduk, whose command is reliable, (divine) lord, sage of the gods, supreme hero, look with pleasure upon this work (of mine) so that whatever I have built stays in good repair and endures in your presence. |
| Obverse Column ii [11:16] ii 1212–ii 1616 | Prolong the days of my life so that I may be sated with old age. May I have no rival. Cut down my enemies so that I may exercise the shepherdship of all (four) quarters (of the world and) rule over the entirety of the black-headed (people), all humankind; may I shepherd all of them for eternity. |
| Obverse Column ii [16:19] ii 1717–ii 1919 | (As for) the kings who sit on (royal) dais(es), wherever they drink spring water, may I impose (my) scepter upon them (and) exercise dominion over them. |
| Obverse Column ii [19:22] ii 2020–ii 2222 | The lord who reveres you will live for eternity (and) he will increase (his) vigor; his name will be important. |
| Obverse Column ii [22:25] ii 2323–ii 2525 | May I be the king who provides for you (and) the one who constantly seeks out your place (of worship) for eternity. |
Transliteration (ATF)
From Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus (ORACC) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (ORACC default); per-file JSON license fields say: This data is released under the CC0 license (133618)
| Line | ATF | Machine English (draft) |
|---|---|---|
| i | ||
| 1 | {d}AG-na-ʾi-id LUGAL TIN.TIR{ki} NUN na-a-du | |
| 2 | re-e₂-a-am za-ni-nu ša₂ a-na ṭe₄-em DINGIR.MEŠ pu-tuq-qu | |
| 3 | e-em-qa₂ mu-ut-ne₂-en-nu-u₂ mu-uš-te-ne₂-ʾu-u₂ aš-ra-a-ti₃ DINGIR.MEŠ GAL.MEŠ | |
| 4 | eṭ-lu šu-us-su-mu bi-nu-ut ABGAL DINGIR.MEŠ {d}AMAR.UTU | |
| 5 | na-ab-ni-it {d}E₄.RU₆ ba-na-a-ta gi-mir ma-al-ku | |
| 6 | i-ti-it {d}MU.U₂.A.TI a-pil e₂-sag-il₂ sa-niq mit-hur-tu₂ | |
| 7 | bi-nu-tu {d}nin-ši-ku₃ mu-du-u₂ ba-nu-u₂ ka-la-ma | |
| 8 | ni-bi-it {d}ŠEŠ.KI-ri be-lu a-gi-i mu-kal-li-im ṣa-ad-du | |
| 9 | ša u₄-mi-šam-ma iš-te-ne₂-eʾ-u₂ pu-luh-tu₄ DINGIR.MEŠ GAL.MEŠ | |
| 10 | a-na zi-in-na-a-ti e₂-sag-il₂ u₃ e₂-zi-da | |
| 11 | ba-ša-a uz-na-a-šu | |
| 12 | DUMU {m}{d}na-bi-um-ba-lat-su-iq-bi NUN e-em-qa₂ a-na-ku | |
| 13 | URU KA₂.DINGIR.RA{ki} a-na dam-qa-a-ti aš-te-ne₂-eʾ-e | |
| 14 | a-na e₂-sag-il₂ E₂.GAL DINGIR.MEŠ GAL.MEŠ šu-tu₂-ra-ku IGI.SA₂-e | |
| 15 | a-na e₂-zi-da ša₂-ad ba-la-ṭu mim-ma šum-šu du-uš-ša₂-ku | |
| 16 | ša₂ e₂-mes-lam E₂ qar-ra-du DINGIR.MEŠ ṭu₂-uh-hu-da-ak hi-iṣ-bi | |
| 17 | i₃-nu-šu im-gur-{d}EN.LIL₂ BAD₃ KA₂.DINGIR.RA{ki} | |
| 18 | iš-da-a-šu i-nu-šu-ma i-qu-pu i-ga-ru-šu | |
| 19 | re-e-ši-šu it-ru-ur-ma ne₂-me₂-et-ta la i-ši | |
| 20 | BAD₃ šu-a-ti <ana> du-un-nu-nim-ma ne₂-me₂-et-ta šu-ur₂-ši-i | |
| 21 | i-ga-ru-šu qu-up-pu-tim ad-ke-e-ma | |
| 22 | BAD₃ im-gur-{d}EN.LIL₂ BAD₃ KA₂.DINGIR.RA{ki} ku-du-ur-ru UŠ.20.TA.A | |
| 23 | pu-lu-uk-ku da-ru-u₂ u₂-ṣur-ti₃ ki-na-a-ta | |
| 24 | mi-ṣi-ir šu-ur₂-šu-du ki-sur-ra-a šu-un-du-lu | |
| 25 | tu-uk-šu da-num₂ e-di-il pa-ni a-a-bi | |
| ii | ||
| 1 | ma-ha-za re-eš-tu-u₂ tuk-la-tu₄ ba-u₂-la-a-ti i-ši-id-su | |
| 2 | u₂-da-an-ni-in ki-ma kin-ne₂-e u₂-pat-tin-ma | |
| 3 | ša-da-ni-iš u₂-zaq-qi₂-ir me₂-la-a-šu | |
| 4 | uhu₂-mi-iš u₂-šar-ši-id-su a-na tab-ra-a-tu₂ aš-tak₂-kan-šu | |
| 5 | ši-ṭi-ir šu-mi ša₂ LUGAL mah-ri ša₂ qe₂-reb-šu ap-pal-su | |
| 6 | it-ti ši-ṭi-ir šu-mi-ia qer-ba-šu u₂-ki-in a-na ṣa-a-tu₂ | |
| 7 | {d}EN.LIL₂ DINGIR.MEŠ {d}AMAR.UTU ša₂ qi₂-bit-su ki-na-at | |
| 8 | be-lu ap-kal-lu₄ DINGIR.MEŠ šu-ur₂-bu-u₂ qu-ra-du | |
| 9 | ši-ip-ri šu-a-ti ha-di-iš nap-lis-ma | |
| 10 | mi-im-mu-u₂ e-te-ep-pu-šu li-bur-ma | |
| 11 | li-ku-un ma-ha-ar-ka | |
| 12 | šu-ri-ik UD.MEŠ ba-la-ṭi-ia lu-uš-ba-a lit-tu-tu | |
| 13 | a-a ar-ša₂-a ša₂-ni-na šu-um-qi₂-it a-a-bi-ia | |
| 14 | lu-pu-uš re-e₂-u₂-si-na ša₂ ka-li-iš kib-ra-a-ti | |
| 15 | nap-har ṣal-mat SAG.DU gi-mir te-ne₂-še-e-ti | |
| 16 | lu-be-el a-na da-ri₂-a-ti lu-re-ʾe-e na-gab-šu-un | |
| 17 | LUGAL.MEŠ a-ši-ib pa-rak-ku | |
| 18 | ša iš-ta-na-at-tu-u₂ me₂-e nag-bi | |
| 19 | e-li-šu-nu lu-ki-in {giš}NIG₂.GIDRU lu-pu-uš be-lu-su-un | |
| 20 | be-lu pa-li-ih-ka i-lab-bi-ir a-na da-ri₂-a-ti | |
| 21 | uṣ-ṣa-ab ba-la-ṭu | |
| 22 | i-ba-ʾi-il šu-um-šu | |
| 23 | a-na-ku lu-u₂ LUGAL za-nin-ku | |
| 24 | mu-uš-te-ʾu-u₂ | |
| 25 | aš-ri-ka a-na da-ri₂-a-ti | |
Sources & licences
- Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus (ORACC) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (ORACC default); per-file JSON license fields say: This data is released under the CC0 license (133618) · ORACC project editions, https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/ ; cite the individual project (see texts.extra_json.project)
Cite the original edition and translator. Page generated by Unread Atlas from the public corpus export of 2026-10-11.