Nebuchadnezzar II Isht (Q005521)
Royal Inscription, Neo-Babylonian, Babylon · c. 626 BCE–539 BCE
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| Designation | Nebuchadnezzar II Isht |
|---|---|
| ID | Q005521 |
| Collection | Louvre Museum, Paris, France; Vorderasiatisches Museum, Berlin, Germany |
| Language | Akkadian |
| Period | Neo-Babylonian · c. 626 BCE–539 BCE |
| Genre | Royal Inscription |
| Find spot | Babylon |
| Coordinates | 32.5434, 44.4222 |
English translation
By ORACC project ribo/babylon7 · Via Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus (ORACC) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (ORACC)
| Line | English |
|---|---|
| Obverse [0:23] 11–2323 | Nebuchadnezzar (II), king of Babylon, pious prince, favorite of the god Marduk, exalted ruler who is the beloved of the god Nabû, the one who deliberates (and) acquires wisdom, the one who constantly seeks out the ways of their divinity (and) reveres their dominion, the indefatigable governor who is mindful of provisioning Esagil and Ezida daily and (who) constantly seeks out good things for Babylon and Borsippa, the wise (and) pious one who provides for Esagil and Ezida, foremost heir of Nabopolassar, king of Babylon, am I. |
| Obverse [23:39] 2424–3939 | With regard to Imgur-Enlil and Nēmetti-Enlil, (specifically) the gates of both, their entrances became too low as a result of the raising (of the level) of the street(s) of Babylon. I removed those gates and (then) secured their foundation(s) at the level of the water table with bitumen and baked brick. I had (them) skillfully built with baked bricks (colored with) shining blue glaze that have (representations of) wild bulls (and) mušḫuššu-dragon(s) fashioned upon them (lit. “it”). |
| Obverse [39:50] 4040–5050 | I had (beams of) hard cedar stretched (over them) as their roofs. At each of its gate, I fixed doors (made) of cedar with a facing of bronze (and) threshold(s) and nukuššû-fittings of cast copper. I stationed fierce wild bulls of copper and raging mušḫuššu-dragons at their door-jamb(s). |
| Obverse [50:53] 5151–5353 | I filled those gates with splendor to be an object of wonder for all of the people. |
| Obverse [53:60] 5454–6060 | (As for) Esiskur, the exalted akītu-house of the Enlil of the gods — the god Marduk — (which was) established in the outskirts of Babylon for joyful celebrations of the Igīgū and Anunnakū gods, I set (it firmly in place) like a mountain with bitumen and baked brick. |
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) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | {d}AG-ku-dur₂-ri-u₂-ṣu-ur₂ | |
| 2 | LUGAL KA₂.DINGIR.RA{ki} | |
| 3 | ru-ba-a na-a-dam | |
| 4 | mi-gi-ir {d}AMAR.UTU | |
| 5 | ENSI₂ ṣi-i-ri | |
| 6 | na-ra-am {d}na-bi-um | |
| 7 | mu-uš-ta-lam a-hi-iz ne₂-me-qi₂ | |
| 8 | ša a-lak-ti i-lu-ti-šu-nu | |
| 9 | iš-te-ne₂-eʾ-u₃ | |
| 10 | pi₂-it-lu-hu be₂-e-lu-ut-su-nu | |
| 11 | GIR₃.NITA₂ la a-ne-ha | |
| 12 | ša a-na zi-in-na-a-ti | |
| 13 | e₂-sag-il₂ u₃ e₂-zi-da | |
| 14 | u₄-mi-ša-am ti-iṣ-mu-ru-ma | |
| 15 | da-am-qa₂-a-ti KA₂.DINGIR.RA{ki} | |
| 16 | u₃ bar-si₂-pa{ki} | |
| 17 | iš-te-ne₂-eʾ-u₂ ka-a-a-nam | |
| 18 | e-em-qa₂ mu-ut-ne₂-en-nu-u₂ | |
| 19 | za-ni-in e₂-sag-il₂ | |
| 20 | u₃ e₂-zi-da | |
| 21 | IBILA a-ša-re-du | |
| 22 | ša {d}AG-IBILA-u₂-ṣu-ur₂ | |
| 23 | LUGAL KA₂.DINGIR.RA{ki} a-na-ku | |
| 24 | ša im-gur-{d}EN.LIL₂ | |
| 25 | u₃ ne₂-me₂-et-ti-{d}EN.LIL₂ | |
| 26 | KA₂.GAL.MEŠ ki-la-at-ta-an | |
| 27 | i-na ta-am-le-e | |
| 28 | su-le-e KA₂.DINGIR.RA{ki} | |
| 29 | iš-ta-ap-pi-la | |
| 30 | ne₂-re-ba-ši-in | |
| 31 | KA₂.GAL.MEŠ ši-na-a-ti | |
| 32 | ad-ke-e-ma | |
| 33 | me₂-eh-ra-at me-e i-šid-si-in | |
| 34 | i-na ku-up-ri u₃ a-gur-ri | |
| 35 | u₂-šar-ši-id-ma | |
| 36 | i-na a-gur-ri {na₄}ZA.GIN₃ KU₃-tim | |
| 37 | ša AM.AM u₃ MUŠ.HUŠ | |
| 38 | ba-nu-u₂ qer-bu-uš-ša | |
| 39 | na-ak-li-iš u₂-še-piš | |
| 40 | {giš}EREN da-nu₄-ti | |
| 41 | a-na ṣu₂-lu-li-ši-na | |
| 42 | u₂-ša-at-ri-iṣ | |
| 43 | {giš}IG.{giš}IG {giš}EREN | |
| 44 | ta-ah-lu-up-ti ZABAR | |
| 45 | as₃-ku-up-pu u₃ nu-ku-še-e | |
| 46 | pi₂-ti-iq URUDU e-ma KA₂.KA₂-ša | |
| 47 | e-er-te-et-ti | |
| 48 | AM.MEŠ URUDU e-ek-du-tum | |
| 49 | u₃ MUŠ.HUŠ še-zu-zu-ti | |
| 50 | i-na si-ip-pe-ši-na uš-zi-iz | |
| 51 | KA₂.GAL.MEŠ ši-na-a-ti | |
| 52 | a-na tab-ra-a-ti KIŠ ni-ši | |
| 53 | lu-le-e uš-ma-al-lam | |
| 54 | e₂-siskur₂ a-ki-ti ṣi-ir-ti | |
| 55 | ša {d}EN.LIL₂ DINGIR.DINGIR {d}AMAR.UTU | |
| 56 | ši-kin hi-da-a-ti u₃ ri-ša-a-ti | |
| 57 | ša i-gi₄-gi₄ u₃ {d}a-nun-na-ki | |
| 58 | i-na ka-ma-a-ti KA₂.DINGIR.RA{ki} | |
| 59 | i-na ku-up-ri u₃ a-gu-ur₂-ri | |
| 60 | ša-da-ni-iš e-er-te |
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.