<p>~[To the citizenry of Babylon], of protected status, leaders learned<br /> ~And wise, [ ], men of business and commerce, great and small,<br /> ~[thus says Nebuchadnezzar, v] iceroy of Enlil, native of Babylon,<br /> ~The king, your lord, [ ] on a stele: [ ] you should know [that<br /> ~The great lord Marduk, who] was angry at all the holy places for a<br /> ~long time, took [pity] on Babylon. He gave me in his majesty the<br /> ~[sublime] command, [in?] the awe-inspiring sanctuary [Esagila] he<br /> ~ordered me to take the road of march to [the land of] Elam.<br /> ~~I gave reverent heed [to the command of the great lord] Marduk,<br /> ~assembled the army of Enlil, Shamash, and Marduk, and set forth<br /> ~towards [the land of] Elam. On I went, traversing distant [ways],<br /> ~waterless roads, night and d[ay. At the] Ulaya River, the enemy,<br /> ~the vile Elamite, [blocked] the water places in the gr[oves ] the<br /> ~troops [ ] traversed. I could give no water, nor could I relieve their<br /> ~fatigue.<br /> ~~He advanced, hurtling his arrows, weapons [brandished] in<br /> ~battle. Through the might of Enlil, [Shamash, and Marduk, which]<br /> ~has no [equ]al, I overwhelmed(?) the king of Elam, defeating him~<br /> ~…His army scattered, his forces dispersed, [ ] deathly still, he(?)<br /> ~ravaged his (own) land, abandoned his strongholds, and disappeared.<br /> ~~I hastened on [ ] I beheld the [great lord] Marduk, lofty warrior<br /> ~of the gods, and the gods of the land [of Babylonia whom?] he<br /> ~commanded to convene with him. I raised [ ] … and set up a<br /> ~wailing, I brought the great lord [Marduk] in procession and set<br /> ~out on the road to his homeland.<br /> ~~ (Rest fragmentary. The king commands the restoration of Marduk and his treasures to Esagila.)</p> 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 /> Benjamin R. Foster, Before the Muses: An Anthology of Akkadian Literature, 3rd ed., 2005, p. 302 <a href="http://www.cdlpress.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=23&products_id=54" target="_blank">http://www.cdlpress.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=23&products_id=54</a> Text: van Dijk, VAS 24 87; Edition: none Late Period? Akkadian clay tablet Babylon? <a href="/taxonomy/term/10">Edicts and Proclamations</a>