interior
7 skilfully I constructed:
8,9,10 tall cedars for their porticos I arranged,
11 _ikki_ wood, cedar wood,
12 with coverings of copper,
13 on domes and arches:
14,15 work in bronze I overlaid substantially on its gates,
16,17 bulls of strong bronze and molten images
18 for their thresholds, strongly.
19 Those large gates
20 for the admiration of multitudes of men
21 with wreathed work I filled:
22 the abode of Imzu-Bel
23 the invincible castle of Babylon,
24 which no previous King had effected,
25 4,000 cubits complete,
26 the walls of Babylon
27 whose banner is invincible,
28 as a high fortress by the ford of the rising sun,
29 I carried round Babylon.
30 Its fosse I dug and its mass
31 with cement and brick
32,33 I reared up and a tall tower at its side
34 like a mountain I built.
35,36 The great gates whose walls I constructed
37 with _ikki_ and pine woods and coverings of copper
38 I overlaid them,
39 to keep off enemies from the front
40 of the wall of unconquered Babylon.
41,42 Great waters like the might of the sea
43 I brought near in abundance
44 and their passing by
45 was like the passing by of the great billows
46 of the Western ocean:
47,48 passages through them were none,
49,50 but heaps of earth I heaped up,
51 and embankments of brickwork
52 I caused to be constructed.
53,54 The fortresses I skilfully strengthened
55 and the city of Babylon
56 I fitted to be a treasure-city.
57 The handsome pile
58,59 the fort of Borsippa I made anew:
60,61 its fosse I dug out and in cement and brick
62 I reared up its mass
63 Nebuchadnezzar

_(Continued on Column VII._)

COLUMN VII

1 King of Babylon
2 whom Merodach, the Sun, the great Lord,
3 for the holy places of his city
4 Babylon hath called, am I:
5 and Bit-Saggatu and Bit-Zida
6 like the radiance of the Sun I restored:
7 the fanes of the great gods
8 I completely brightened.
9 At former dates from the days of old
10 to the days ...[1]
11 of Nabopolassar King of Babylon
12 the exalted father who begat me,
13 many a Prince who preceded me
14,15 whose names El had proclaimed for royalty
16 for the city, my city, the festivals of these gods
17 in the perfected places
18 a princely temple, a large temple did they make
19 and erected it as their dwelling-places.
20,21 Their spoils in the midst they accumulated,
22 they heaped up, and their treasures