An Inscription of Nebuchadnezzar (ca. early 6th century B.C.E.)
Nebuchadnezzar (c.630-562) of Babylon was the virtual creator of Babylon as a great city. Although it had earlier had been overshadowed by Nineveh, Babylon but now held the position of the leading city of the Ancient Near East, and retained its dignity down to the rise of Alexandria, after which it rapidly decayed.
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, the prince exalted, the favorite of Marduk, the pontiff supreme, the beloved of Nabu, the serene, the possessor of wisdom, who the way of their godhead regardeth, who feareth their lordship, the servant unwearied, . . . the wise, the prayerful, the maintainer of Esagilla and Ezida, the chiefest son of Nabupalassar, king of Babylon, am I.
[The king goes on to state how from his youth he worshiped Marduk, the guardian god of Babylon, and devoted himself to his service.]
The prince Marduk, the leader glorious, the open-eyed [chieftain?] of the gods, heard my supplication, and received my prayers. Yea, he made gracious his supreme lordship, the fear of his godhead he implanted in my heart . . . I worshiped his lordship. In his high trust, to far-off lands, to distant hills, from the Upper Sea to the Lower Sea, by immense journeys, through blocked ways, a place where the path is broken, where feet go not, a road of hardships, a journey of straits, I pursued, and the unyielding I reduced, and I fettered the rebels. The land I ordered aright, and the people I made to thrive. Bad and good among the people I removed.
Silver, gold, the glitter of precious stones, copper, valuable (?) wood, cedar, whatsoever thing is precious, in a large abundance, the produce of mountains, the fullness of seas, a rich present, a splendid gift to my city of Babylon into [Marduk’s] presence I brought. The cell of the lord of the gods, Marduk, I made to glisten like suns, even the wall thereof. With gold and precious stones and alabaster, the habitations of the house [of the god] I overlaid.
[The king goes on to tell at length how he built or beautified temples to all the great gods.]
Imgur-bel and Nimitti-bel the great ramparts of Babylon, Nabupolassar, king of Babylon, the father that begat me, had made but had not finished the work of them. The moat he had dug, and the two strong walls with bitumen and burnt brick had constructed along its bank: the dikes . . . he had made and a fence of burnt brick on the other side of the Euphrates: but he had not finished the rest. . . . As for me, his eldest son, the beloved of his heart, I finished these great ramparts of Babylon. Beside the scarp of its moat the two strong walls with bitumen and burnt brick I built, and with the wall which my father had constructed I joined them, and the city, for cover, I carried them round. . . .
Through the raising [of the walls] the portals on both sides of the gates had become low. These portals I pulled down, and over against the water, their foundation with bitumen and burnt brick I firmly laid: and with burnt brick and gleaming . . . stone, whereof bulls and dreadful serpents were made . . . cunningly I constructed. Strong cedar beams for the roofing of them I laid on. Doors of cedar with plating of bronze, lintels and hinges, and copperwork, in its gates I set up. Strong bulls of copper, and dreadful serpents standing upright, on their thresholds I erected. Those portals [also] with carven work for the gazings of the multitude of the people I caused to be filled.
[The king now speaks of the splendid palace he built in Babylon for his residence.]
I reared it high as the wooded hills. Stout cedars for the roofing of it I laid on. Doors of cedar with a plating of bronze, sills and hinges of copperwork, in its gates I set up. Silver, gold, precious stones, everything that is prized, or is magnificent; substance, wealth, the ornaments of majesty, I heaped up within it. Strength, splendor, and [my] royal treasure, I hoarded within it.
[The inscription concludes with an invocation to Marduk.]
At thy behest, O most merciful Marduk, may the house that I have made [in Babylon] endure: and with the fullness of it may I be satisfied, and within it may hoar age reach me! May I be satisfied with offspring! Of the kings of the world, and of all men, within this house may I receive their heavy tribute ! . . . My posterity within it, forevermore may they rule over the Black-heads.