[Title]

Nebuchadnezzar to the Babylonians
[Alternate Title]


[Akkadian Title]


[Translation]

~[To the citizenry of Babylon], of protected status, leaders learned
~And wise, [ ], men of business and commerce, great and small,
~[thus says Nebuchadnezzar, v] iceroy of Enlil, native of Babylon,
~The king, your lord, [ ] on a stele: [ ] you should know [that
~The great lord Marduk, who] was angry at all the holy places for a
~long time, took [pity] on Babylon. He gave me in his majesty the
~[sublime] command, [in?] the awe-inspiring sanctuary [Esagila] he
~ordered me to take the road of march to [the land of] Elam.
~~I gave reverent heed [to the command of the great lord] Marduk,
~assembled the army of Enlil, Shamash, and Marduk, and set forth
~towards [the land of] Elam. On I went, traversing distant [ways],
~waterless roads, night and d[ay. At the] Ulaya River, the enemy,
~the vile Elamite, [blocked] the water places in the gr[oves ] the
~troops [ ] traversed. I could give no water, nor could I relieve their
~fatigue.
~~He advanced, hurtling his arrows, weapons [brandished] in
~battle. Through the might of Enlil, [Shamash, and Marduk, which]
~has no [equ]al, I overwhelmed(?) the king of Elam, defeating him~
~…His army scattered, his forces dispersed, [ ] deathly still, he(?)
~ravaged his (own) land, abandoned his strongholds, and disappeared.
~~I hastened on [ ] I beheld the [great lord] Marduk, lofty warrior
~of the gods, and the gods of the land [of Babylonia whom?] he
~commanded to convene with him. I raised [ ] … and set up a
~wailing, I brought the great lord [Marduk] in procession and set
~out on the road to his homeland.
~~ (Rest fragmentary. The king commands the restoration of Marduk and his treasures to Esagila.)
[Explanatory Notes]

A fragmentary manuscript from the Late period preserves a letter, evidently addressed by Nebuchadnezzar to the Babylonians, telling them of  his victory in Elam and recovery of Marduk's statue.<br /><br />Literature”  George, BiOr 46 (1989). 382-383, whence several restorations used here.<br />
[Publication]

Benjamin R. Foster, Before the Muses: An Anthology of Akkadian Literature,  3rd ed., 2005, p. 302
[Publisher URL]

http://www.cdlpress.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=23&products_id=54
[Source]

Text: van Dijk, VAS 24 87; Edition: none
[Date]

Late Period?
[Language]

Akkadian
[Medium]

clay tablet
[Find Spot]

Babylon?
[]

Edicts and Proclamations
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