Sennacherib Prism

Author: A scribe under King Sennacherib 
Date written: Between 681 and 691 BC
Location written in: Assyria 
Genre: Record of military campaign 

Other notes:

This Prism, as known as The Taylor Prism gives details about the military conquest of the Assyrians under King Sennacherib. It is of interest to Biblical archaeologists who want to know more about the assault against Judah.

King Sennacherib's interaction with the surviving city of Jerusalem can be read in 2 Kings 18:13-37, 2 Kings 19, and 2 Chronicles 32.

The text reads as follows:

Sennacherib, the great king,
the mighty king,
king of the world,
king of Assyria,
³king of the four quarters,
the wise shepherd,
favorite of the great gods,
guardian of right,
lover of justice,
who lends support,
who comes to the aid of the destitute,
who performs pious acts,
⁷perfect hero,
mighty man,
⁸first among all princes,
the powerful one who consumes ⁹the insubmissive,
who strikes the wicked with the thunderbolt;

¹⁰the god Assur, the great mountain, an unrivaled kinship ¹¹has entrusted to me, and above all those ¹²who dwell in palaces, has made powerful my weapons;¹³from the upper sea of the setting sun ¹⁴to the lower sea of the rising sun, ¹⁵he has brought the black-headed people in submission at my feet; ¹⁶and mighty kings feared my warfare, ¹⁷leaving their homes and ¹⁸flying alone, like the sidinnu, the bird of the cave, ¹⁹to some inaccessible place.
²⁰In my first campaign I accomplished the defeat of Morodach-baladan, ²¹king of Babylonia, together with the army of Elam, ²²his ally, on the plain of Kish.²³In the midst of that battle he deserted his camp, ²⁴and he escaped alone, so he saved his own life. ²⁵The chariots, horses, wagons, mules, ²⁶which he left behind at the beginning of the battle ²⁷my hands siezed. Into his palace, which is in ²⁸Babylon, I entered jubilantly. ²⁹I opened his treasure-house: gold, silver, vessels of god and silver, ³⁰precious stones of every name, goods and property ³¹without limit, heavy tribute, his harem, ³²courtiers and officials, singers;male and ³³female & emdash;all his artisans, ³⁴as many as there were, his palace servants ³⁵I brought out, and I counted as spoil. In the might of Assur ³⁶my lord, seventy-five of his strong walled cities ³⁷of Chaldea, and 420 small cities ³⁸of their area I surrounded, I conquered, I carried off their spoil.³⁹The Arabs, Arameans, and Chaldeans ⁴⁰who were in Erech, Nippur, Kish, Harsagkalamma, ⁴¹Kutha and Sippar, together with the citizens, ⁴²the rebels I brought out and counted as booty.
⁴³On my return, the Tu'muna, ⁴⁴Rihihu, Yadakku, Ubudu, ⁴⁵Kibrê, Malahu, Gurumu, ⁴⁶Ubulu, Damunu, Gambulu, ⁴⁷Hindaru, Ru'ûa, Bukudu, ⁴⁸Hamrânu, Hagarânu, Nabatu, ⁴⁹Li'tâu, Arameans who were not submissive&emdash; ⁵⁰I conquered all of them. 208,000 people, great and small, ⁵¹male and female, horses, mules, asses, ⁵²camels, cattle and sheep, without number; ⁵³a heavy booty&emdash;I carried off to Assyria
⁵⁴In the course of my campaign, I received from Nabû-bêl-shumâte, ⁵⁵governor of the city of Hararate: gold silver, great musukkani-trees, ⁵⁶asses, camels, cattle, and sheep ⁵⁷as his onerous contribution. The warriors of ⁵⁸Hirimme, wicked enemies, I cut down with the sword. ⁵⁹No one escaped. Their corpses ⁶⁰I hung on stakes, surrounding the city (with them). ⁶¹That district I reorganized: one ox, ⁶²ten lambs, ten homers of wine, twenty homers of dates, ⁶³its choicest, for the gods of Assyria, ⁶⁴my lords, I established for all time.
⁶⁵In my second campaign, Assur, my lord, encouraged me, and ⁶⁶against the land of the Kassites and the land of the Yasubigallai, ⁶⁷who from of old had not been submissive to the kings, my ancestors, ⁶⁸I marched. In the midst of the high mountains ⁶⁹I rode on horseback where the terrain was difficult, ⁷⁰and had my chariot drawn up with ropes: ⁷¹where it became too steep, I clambered up on foot like the wild-ox. ⁷²The cities of Bît-Kilamzah, Hardishpi ⁷³and Bît-Kubatti, their strong, walled cities, ⁷⁴I besieged, I captured. People, horses, ⁷⁵mules, asses, cattle, and sheep, ⁷⁶I brought out from their midst and counted as booty. ⁷⁷And their small cities, which were beyond numbering ⁷⁸I destroyed, I devastated, and I turned into ruins. The houses of the steppe, (namely) the tents,⁷⁹in which they lived, I set on fire and ⁸⁰turned them into flames. I turned round, and ⁸¹made that Bît-Kilamzah into a fortress; ⁸²I made its walls stronger than they had ever been before;
COLUMN 2 ¹and settled in it people of the lands my hands had conquered. ²The people of the land of the Kassites and the land of the Yasubigallai, ³who had fled before my arms, ⁴I brought down out of the mountains and ⁵settled them in Hardishpi and Bît-Kubatti. ⁶Into the hand of my official, the governor of Arapha, ⁷I placed them. I had a stele made, and ⁸the might of my conquering hand which I had ⁹established upon them, I had inscribed on it. ¹⁰I set it up in the midst of the city.
The front of my yoke I turned around and ¹¹took the road to the land of the Elippi. ¹²Before me Ispabâra, their king, ¹³abandoned his strong cities, his treasurehouses, ¹⁴and fled to the distant parts.¹⁵Over the whole of his wide land I swept like a hurricane. ¹⁶The cities Marubishti and Akkuddu, ¹⁷his royal residence-cities, together with 34 small towns ¹⁸of their area, I besieged, I captured, I destroyed, I devastated, ¹⁹I burned with fire. The people, great and small, male and female, ²⁰horses, mules, asses, camels, ²¹cattle, and sheep, without number I carried off. ²²I brought him to nothing; I diminished his land.
²³Sisirtu and Kummahlum, ²⁴strong cities, together with the small towns in their areas, ²⁵the district of Bît-Barrû in its totality, ²⁶I cut off from his land and added it to the territory of Assyria.²⁷Elenzash I turned into the royal city ²⁸and stronghold of that district. ²⁹I changed its former name, calling its name Kar-Sennacherib. ³⁰Peoples of the lands my hands had conquered ³¹I settled in it. To my official, ³²the governor of Harhar, I handed it over. Thus I extended my land.
^33-35On my return, I received the heavy tribute of the distant Medes, whose name none of the kings, my fathers, had ever heard. ³⁶I made them submit to the yoke of my rule.
³⁷In my third campaign, I went against the Hittite-land. ³⁸Lulê, king of Sidon, the terrifying splendor ³⁹of my sovereignty overcame him, and far off ⁴⁰into the midst of the sea he fled. There he died.⁴¹Great Sidon, Little Sidon, ⁴²Bît-Zitti, Zaribtu, Mahalliba, ⁴³Ushu, Akzib, Akko, ⁴⁴his strong, walled cities, where there were fodder and drink, ⁴⁵for his garrisons, the terrors of the weapon of Assur,⁴⁶my lord, overpowered them and they bowed in submission at my feet. ⁴⁷I seated Tuba'lu on the royal throne ⁴⁸over them, and tribute, gifts for my majesty, ⁴⁹I imposed upon him for all time, without ceasing.
⁵⁰From Menachem, the Shamsimurunite, ⁵¹Tuba'lu the Sidonite, ⁵²Abdi-liti the Arvadite, ⁵³Uru-milki the Gublite, ⁵⁴Mitinti the Ashdodite ⁵⁵Budu-ilu the Beth Ammonite, ⁵⁶Kammusu-nadbi the Moabite, ⁵⁷Malik-rammu the Edomite, ⁵⁸kings of Amurru, all of them, numerous presents ⁵⁹as their heavy tribute, ⁶⁰they brought before me for the fourth time, and kissed my feet.
But Sidka, ⁶¹the king of Ashkelon, who had not submitted ⁶²to my yoke, the gods of his father's house, himself, his wife, ⁶³his sons, his daughters, his brothers, the seed of his paternal house, ⁶⁴I tore away and brought to Assyria. ⁶⁵Sharru-lu-dari, son of Rukibti, their former king, ⁶⁶I set over the people of Ashkelon, and ⁶⁷I imposed upon him the payment of tribute: presents to my majesty. ⁶⁸He accepted my yoke. In the course of my campaign, ⁶⁹Beth-Dagon, Joppa, ⁷⁰Banaibarka, Asuru, cities ⁷¹of Sidka, who had not speedily bowed in ⁷²submission at my feet, I besieged, I conquered, I carried off their spoil.
⁷³The officials, nobles, and people of Ekron, ⁷⁴who had thrown Padi their king&emdash;bound by oath and curse of Assyria; ⁷⁵into fetters of iron and ^76-77had given him over to Hezekiah, the Judahite;he kept him in confinement like an enemy; ⁷⁸their heart became afraid, ⁷⁹and they called upon the Egyptian kings, the bowmen, chariots and horses ⁸⁰of the king of Meluhha, a countless host, and ⁸¹these came to their aid. ⁸²In the neighborhood of Eltekeh, ⁸³their ranks being drawn up before me,
COLUMN 3  ¹they offered battle. With the aid of Assur, ²my lord, I fought with them and ³brought about their defeat. The Egyptian charioteers and princes, ⁴together with the Ethiopian king's charioteers, ⁵my hands captured alive in the midst of the battle. ⁶Eltekeh and Timnah ⁷I besieged, I captured, and I took away their spoil.
⁸I approached Ekron and slew the governors and nobles ⁹who had rebelled, and ¹⁰hung their bodies on stakes around the city. The inhabitants ¹¹who rebelled and treated (Assyria) lightly I counted as spoil. ¹²The rest of them, who were not guilty of rebellion ¹³and contempt, for whom there was no punishment, ¹⁴I declared their pardon. Padi, their king, ¹⁵I brought out to Jerusalem, ¹⁶set him on the royal throne over them, and ¹⁷imposed upon him my royal tribute.
¹⁸As for Hezekiah the Judahite, ¹⁹who did not submit to my yoke: forty-six of his strong, walled cities, as well as ²⁰the small towns in their area, ²¹which were without number, by levelling with battering-rams ²²and by bringing up seige-engines, and by attacking and storming on foot, ²³by mines, tunnels, and breeches, I besieged and took them. ²⁴200,150 people, great and small, male and female, ²⁵horses, mules, asses, camels, ²⁶cattle and sheep without number, I brought away from them ²⁷and counted as spoil. (Hezekiah) himself, like a caged bird ²⁸I shut up in Jerusalem, his royal city. ²⁹I threw up earthworks against him; ³⁰the one coming out of the city-gate, I turned back to his misery. ³¹His cities, which I had despoiled, I cut off from his land, and ³²to Mitinti, king of Ashdod, ³³Padi, king of Ekron, and Silli-bêl, ³⁴king of Gaza, I gave (them). And thus I diminished his land. ³⁵I added to the former tribute, ³⁶and I lad upon him the surrender of their land and imposts;gifts for my majesty. ³⁷As for Hezekiah, ³⁸the terrifying splendor of my majesty overcame him, and ³⁹the Arabs and his mercenary troops which he had brought in to strengthen⁴⁰Jerusalem, his royal city, ⁴¹deserted him. In addition to the thirty talents of gold and ⁴²eight hundred talents of silver, gems, antimony, ⁴³jewels, large carnelians, ivory-inlaid couches, ⁴⁴ivory-inlaid chairs, elephant hides, elephant tusks, ⁴⁵ebony, boxwood, all kinds of valuable treasures, ⁴⁶as well as his daughters, his harem, his male and female ⁴⁷musicians, which he had brought after me ⁴⁸to Nineveh, my royal city. To pay tribute ⁴⁹and to accept servitude, he dispatched his messengers.
⁵⁰In my fourth campaign, Assur, my lord, gave me courage, and ⁵¹I mustered my numerous troops and gave the ⁵²command to proceed against Bît-Yakin. In the course of my campaign, ⁵³I accomplished the overthrow of Shuzubi, the Chaldean, who sat in the midst of the swamps, ⁵⁴at Bitûtu. ⁵⁵That one, the terror of my battle fell upon him, and ⁵⁶tore his heart; like a criminal he fled alone, and ⁵⁷his place was seen no more.
The front of my yoke I turned and ⁵⁸and I took the way to Bît-Yakin. ⁵⁹That Merodach-baladan, whose defeat I had brought about ⁶⁰in the course of my first campaign, and whose forces I had shattered, ⁶¹the roar of my mighty arms ⁶²and the onset of my terrible battle he feared and ⁶³he gathered together the gods of his whole land in their shrines, ⁶⁴and loaded them into ships and fled⁶⁵like a bird to Nagite-rakki, which is in the middle of the sea. His brothers, ⁶⁶the seed of his father's house, whom he had left by the seashore, ⁶⁷together with the rest of the people of his land, ⁶⁸I brought out of Bît-Yakin, from the midst of the swamps and canebrakes, ⁶⁹and counted as spoil. I turned about and ruined and devastated his cities; ⁷⁰I made them like ruin-heaps. Upon his ally, the king of Elam, ⁷¹I poured out my terror. On my return, ⁷²I placed on his (Merodach-baladan's) royal throne, ⁷³Assur-nâdin-shum, my oldest son, offspring of my knees. ⁷⁴I placed him in charge of the wide land of Sumer and Akkad.
⁷⁵In my fifth campaign, the warriors of Tumurru, ⁷⁶Sharum, Ezama, Kibshu, Halgidda, ⁷⁷Kua, and Kana&emdash;whose abodes ^78-79were set on the peak of Mt. Nipur, a steep mountain, like the nests of the eagle, king of birds; were not submissive to my yoke. ⁸⁰I had my camp pitched at the foot of Mt. Nipur and ⁸¹with my choice bodyguard
COLUMN 4  ¹and my relentless warriors, ²I, like a strong wild-ox, went before them. ^3-4I surmounted gullies, mountain torrents and waterfalls, dangerous cliffs in my sedan-chair. ⁵Where it was too steep for my chair, I advanced on foot. ⁶Like a young gazelle, I mounted the highest peakss pursuing them. ⁷Wherever my knees found a resting-place, ⁸I sat down on some mountain boulder and drank the cold water from a waterskin ⁹for my thirst. To the summits ¹⁰of the mountains I pursued them and brought about ¹¹their overthrow. I captured their cities and carried off their spoil, ¹²I destroyed, I devastated, I burned with fire.
The front of my yoke ¹³I turned. Against Maniae, king of Ukku ¹⁴of the land of Daie, who was not submissive, I took the road. ^15-17Before my day, none of the kings who lived before me, had traveled the unblazed trails and wearisome paths which run along these rugged mountains. ¹⁸At the foot of Mt. Anara and Mt. Uppa, mighty mountains, ¹⁹I had my camp pitched, and on a house-chair I²⁰together with my seasoned warriors, ²¹made my wearisome way through their narrow passes, ²²and with great difficulty climbed to the highest peak of the mountains. ²³That Maniae saw the clouds of dust raised by the feet of my armies, ²⁴abandoned Ukku, his royal city, ²⁵and fled to distant parts. ²⁶I besieged Ukku, I captured it, and took away its spoil. All kinds of goods and merchandise, ²⁷the treasure of his palace, ²⁸I carried away from it and counted it as booty. Furthermore, 33 cities ²⁹within the bounds of his province I captured. People, asses, cattle ³⁰and sheep, I carried away from them as spoil. ³¹I destroyed, I devastated, and I burned with fire.
³²In my sixth campaign the rest of the people of Bît-Yakin, ³³who had run off before my powerful weapons like wild asses, ³⁴who had gathered together the gods of their whole land in their shrines, had ³⁵crossed the great sea of the rising sun and ³⁶in Nagitu of Elam had established their abodes; ³⁷in Hittite ships I crossed the sea. Nagitu ³⁸Nagitu-di'bina, together with the lands of Hilmu, Billatu ³⁹and Hupapanu, provinces of Elam, I conquered. ⁴⁰The people of Bît-Yakin, together with their gods, and the people ⁴¹of the king of Elam, I carried off; ⁴²not a rebel escaped. I had them loaded in vessels, ⁴³brought over to this side, and started on the way ⁴⁴to Assyria. The cities which were in those ⁴⁵provinces I destroyed, I devastated, I burned with fire. Into tells and ruins ⁴⁶I turned them. On my return, Shuzubu, ⁴⁷the Babylonian, who during an uprising in the land ⁴⁸had turned to himself the rule of Sumer and Akkad, ⁴⁹I accomplished his defeat in a battle of the plain.⁵⁰I seized him alive with my own hands, I threw him into bonds and fetters of iron and ⁵¹brought him to Assyria. The king of Elam, who ⁵²had gone over to his side and had aided him, I defeated.⁵³His forces I scattered and I shattered his army.
⁵⁴In my seventh campaign, Assur, my lord, supported me, ⁵⁵and I advanced against Elam. Bît-Ha'iri and ⁵⁶Rasâ, cities on the border of Assyria ⁵⁷which the Elamite had seized by force during the time of my father ⁵⁸&emdash;in the course of my campaign I conquered and I despoiled them. ⁵⁹I settled my garrisons in them ⁶⁰and restored them to the borders of Assyria. ⁶¹I placed them under the commandant of Dêr. The cities of Bubê, Dunni-Shamash, Bît-Risia, ⁶²Bît-ahlamê, Duru, Kalte-sulai ⁶³Shilibtu, Bît-Asusi, Kar-Zêr-ikîsha, ⁶⁴Bît-Gissi, Bît-Katpalani, Bît-Imbia, ⁶⁵Hamânu, Bît-Arrabi, Burutu, ⁶⁶Dimtu-sha-Sulai, Dimtu-sha-Marbîti-etir, ⁶⁷Harri-ashlaki, Rabbai, ⁶⁸Râsu, Akkabarina Tel-Uhuri, ⁶⁹Hamranu, Naditu, together with the cities ⁷⁰of the passes of Bît-Bunaki, tel-Humbi, ⁷¹Dimtu-sha-Dume-ilu, Bît-Ubia, ⁷²Balti-lishir, Tagab-lishir, ⁷³Shanakidate, the lower Masutu, ⁷⁴Sar-hudiri, Alum-sha-bêlit-bîti, ⁷⁵Bît-ahê-iddina, Ilte-uba, ⁷⁶34 strong cities, together with the small cities ⁷⁷in their areas, which were countless, ⁷⁸I besieged, I conquered, I despoiled, I destroyed, I devastated, ⁷⁹I burned with fire, with the smoke of their conflagration ⁸⁰I covered the wide heavens like a hurricane. ^81-1The Elamite, Kudur-nahundu, heard of the overthrow of his cities,

COLUMN 5 ^81-1The Elamite, Kudur-nahundu, heard of the overthrow of his cities, ²terror overwhelmed him, the (people of) the rest of his cities ³he brought into the strongholds. He himself ⁴left Madaktu, his royal city, ⁵and took his way to Haidala which is in the distant mountains. ⁶I gave the word to march against Madaktu, his royal city. ⁷In the month of rain, extreme cold set in and the ⁸heavy storms sent down rain upon rain and ⁹snow. I was afraid of the swollen mountain streams; ¹⁰the front of my yoke I turned and took the road to ¹¹Nineveh. At that time, at the command of Assur, my lord, ¹²Kudur-Nahundu, the king of Elam, in less than three months ¹³died sudenly on a day not of his fate. ¹⁴After him, Umman-menanu, ¹⁵who possessed neither sense nor judgment, ¹⁶his younger brother, sat on his throne.
¹⁷In my eighth campaign, after Shuzubu had revolted, ¹⁸and the Babylonians, wicked devils, had ¹⁹closed the city-gates&emdash;their hearts planning resistance; ²⁰Shuzubu the Chalden, a weakling hero, ²¹who had no knees, a slave, subject to the governor of the city of ²²the city of Lahiri; the fugitive Arameans gathered around him, the runaway, ²³the murderer, the bandit. Into the marshes²⁴they descended and started a rebellion. But I completely surrounded him. ²⁵I pressed him to the life. Through fear and hunger ²⁶he fled to Elam. When plotting ²⁷and treachery were hatched against him, ²⁸he fled from Elam and entered Shuanna. The Babylonians ²⁹placed him on the throne&emdash;for which he was not fit&emdash; ³⁰and entrusted to him the government of Sumer and Akkad. ³¹They opened the treasury of the Esagila temple and the gold and silver ³²belonging to Bêl [Marduk] and Sarpanit, they brought forth the property of the temples of their gods. ³³And to Umman-menanu, king of Elam, who had ³⁴neither sense nor judgment, they sent them as a bribe (saying): ³⁵"Gather your army, prepare your camp, ³⁶haste to Babylon, stand at our side, for³⁷you are our trust." That Elamite&emdash; ³⁸whose cities I had conquered and turned into ruins ³⁹on my earlier campaign against Elam&emdash; ⁴⁰without thinking ⁴¹received the bribes from them, gathered his army and camp, ⁴²collected his chariots and wagons, and hitched his horses ⁴³and mules to them. The lands of Parsuash ⁴⁴Anzan, Pasheru, Ellipi, the men of Yazan, ⁴⁵Lakabra, Harzunu, Dummuku, ⁴⁶Sulai, Samuna, the son of Merodach-baladan, ⁴⁷the lands of Bît-Adini, Bît-Amukkanu, Bît-Sillana, ⁴⁸Bît-Sâlatutu-akki, the city of Lahiru, the men of Bukudu, ⁴⁹Gambulum, Halatum Ru'ua, ⁵⁰Ubulum, Malahu, Rapiku, ⁵¹Hindaru, Damunu&emdash;an enormous vassal army ⁵²he called to his side. The largest portion of them ^53-55took the road to Akkad. Closing in on Babylon, they exchanged courtesies with Shuzubu, the Chaldean king of Babylon, and brought their army to a halt. ⁵⁶Like the onset of locust swarms of the springtime, ⁵⁷they steadily progressed against me to offer battle. ⁵⁸With the dust of their feet covering the wide heavens, ⁵⁹like a mighty storm with masses of dense clouds, ⁶⁰they drew up in battle array before me in the city of Halulê, on the bank of the Tigris. ⁶¹They blocked my passage and offered battle. ^62-65As for me, I prayed for victory over the mighty foe to Assur, Sin, Shamash, Bêl, Nabû, Nergal, Ishtar of Nineveh, Ishtar of Arbela. ⁶⁶They quickly gave ear to my prayers and came ⁶⁷to my aid. Like a lion I raged; I put on ⁶⁸a coat of mail. A helmet, emblem of victory, ⁶⁹I placed upon my head. My great battle chariot,⁷⁰which brings the foe low, ⁷¹I hurriedly mounted in the anger of my heart. The mighty bow, ⁷²which Assur had given me, I seized in my hands; ⁷³the javelin, piercing to the life, I grasped. ⁷⁴Against all of the armies of wicked enemies, ⁷⁵I cried out, rumbling like a storm. I roared like Adad. ⁷⁶At the word of Assur, the great lord, my lord, on flank and front ⁷⁷I pressed upon the enemy like the onset of a raging storm. ⁷⁸With the weapons of Assur, my lord, and the terrible onset of my attack, ⁷⁹I stopped their advance, I succeeded in surrounding them, ⁸⁰I decimated the enemy host with arrow and spear. ⁸¹I bored through all of their bodies. ⁸²Humban-undasha, the field-marshall ⁸³of the king of Elam, a trustworthy man, commander ⁸⁴of his armies, his chief support, together with his nobles ⁸⁵who wear the golden belt-daggar ^86-87and whose wrists are encircles with thick rings of shining gold ⁸⁸like fat steers who have hobbles put on them,

COLUMN 6 ¹quickly I cut them down and defeated them. ²I cut their throats, ³and I cut off their precious lives like a string. Like the many waters ⁴of a storm, I made their gullets and entrails ⁵run down upon the wide earth. My prancing ⁶steeds harnessed for my riding plunged ⁷into the streams of their blood as (into) a river. The wheels of my war chariot, ⁸which brings the wicked and evil low, ⁹were spattered with blood and filth. With the bodies of their warriors ¹⁰I filled the plain like grass. Their testicles ¹¹I cut off and tore out their privates like the seeds ¹²of cucumbers of Siwan. I cut off their hands. ¹³The heavy rings of brightest gold which were on their wrists ¹⁴I took away. With sharp swords ¹⁵I pierced their belts and took away ¹⁶the belt-daggars of gold and silver which were on their persons. The rest of his nobles, together with Nabû-shum-ishkun, ¹⁷son of Moerodach-baladan, who was frightened at my onslaught ¹⁸and had gone over to their side, my hands ¹⁹seized in the midst of the battle. The chariots and their horses, ²⁰whose riders had been slain at the beginning of the terrible battle, ²¹and who had been left to themselves, ²²kept running back and forth ²³for two double-hours; I stopped their headlong flight. ²⁴That Umman-menanu, king of Elam, ²⁵together with the king of Babylon and the princes of Chaldea, ²⁶who had gone over to their side, the terror of my battle ²⁷overturned their bodies like a bull. They abandoned their tents; ²⁸and to save their lives, they trampled ²⁹the bodies of their soldiers; they fled like young pigeons ³⁰that are pursued. Their hearts were torn; ³¹they held their urine, but let their dung go into their chariots. ³²In pursuit of them, ³³I dispatched my chariots and horses after them. ³⁴Those among them who had escaped, who had fled for their lives, ³⁵wherever they [the charioteers] met them, they cut them down with the sword.
³⁶After that time;after I had completed the palace ³⁷in the midst of the city of Nineveh for my royal residence, ³⁸had filled it with beautiful furnishings, to the astonishment of all the people; ³⁹the side-palace, which the former kings, ⁴⁰my ancestors, had built ⁴¹for the care of the camp, the stabling of the horses, and general storage, ⁴²had no terrace, that its site was too small, ⁴³that its construction had not been skillfuly done, that, as the days went by, its foundation-platform ⁴⁴had become weak, its foundation had given way and its roof had falen in. ⁴⁵I tore down that palace in its entirety. ⁴⁶A large tract of land in the meadows ⁴⁷and environs of the city I confiscated, according to plan, ⁴⁸and added to it. The site of the former palace ⁴⁹I abandoned. With the ground of the meadows ⁵⁰which I had seized from the riverflats, I filled in a terrace, ⁵¹I raised its top 200 tipki (thickness of brick) on high. In a favorable month ⁵²on an auspicious day, on the top of that terrace, ⁵³following the cunning of my heart, a palace of limestone ⁵⁴and cedar, of Hittite workmanship also a ⁵⁵lofty palace of Assyrian workmanship, which ⁵⁶far surpassed the former one in size and beauty, ⁵⁷according to the plan of wise architects, ⁵⁸I had them build for my royal residence. ⁵⁹Mighty cedar beams, the product of Amanus, the shining mountain, ⁶⁰I stretched over them. Door-leaves of liari-wood I ⁶¹covered with a sheathing of bright bronze and set up ⁶²in their doors. Out of white limestone, ⁶³which is found in the land of the city of Baladai, ⁶⁴I had mighty statues fashioned and ⁶⁵positioned on the right and left of the entrances. For the equipment of the ⁶⁶black-headed people, the stabling of horses, mules, colts, ⁶⁷riding camels, chariots, wagons, carts, quivers, ⁶⁸bows and arrows, all kinds of battle equipment: ⁶⁹teams of horses and mules which ⁷⁰possessed enormous strength, and were broken to the yoke. ⁷¹I greatly enlarged its court of the gates. That palace, from its foundation ⁷²to its coping, I constructed, I finished. A stele ⁷³with my name inscribed on it I set up in it. In the days to come ⁷⁴among the kings, my sons, whose name Assur⁷⁵and Ishtar shall name for the rule of land and people, ⁷⁶when that palace shall become old and ruined, ⁷⁷may some future prince restore its ruins, look upon ⁷⁸the stele with my name inscribed on it, anoint it with oil, ⁷⁹pour out a libation upon it, and return it to its place. Then Assur and Ishtar ⁸⁰will hear his prayers. He who destroys my inscription and my name; ⁸¹may Assur, the great lord, the father of the gods, ⁸²treat him as an enemy, ⁸³take away the scepter and throne from him, and overthrow his rule. ⁸⁴The month of Tammuz; eponym of Gahilu, ⁸⁵governor of Hatarikka.