23 for the festival Lilmuku
24 of the good Lord, Merodach god of gods
25 they transferred into the midst of Babylon;
26,27 when at length Merodach who made me for royalty
28 and the god Nero his mighty son,
29 committed his people to me
30 as precious lives.
31 Highly have I exalted their cities;
32 (but) above Babylon and Borsippa
33 I have not added a city
34 in the realm of Babylonia
35 as a city of my lofty foundation.

36 A great temple, a house of admiration for men,
37,38 a vast construction, a lofty pile,
39,40 a palace of My Royalty for the land of Babylon,
41 in the midst of the city of Babylon
42,43 from Imgur Bel to Libit-higal
44 the ford of the Sun-rise,
45 from the bank of the Euphrates
46 as far as Aibur-sabu
47 which Nabopolassar
48 King of Babylon the father who begat me
49,50 made in brick and raised up in its midst,
51 but whose foundation was damaged
52 by waters and floods
53,54 at Bit-Imli near Babylon,
55,56 and the gates of that palace were thrown down,
57,58 of this the structure with brickwork I repaired
59 with its foundation and boundary wall,
60 and a depth of waters I collected:
61,62 then opposite the waters I laid its foundation
63 and with cement and brick

_(Continued on Column VIII_.)

[Footnote 1: Lacuna.]

COLUMN VIII

1,2 I skilfully surrounded it;
3,4 tall cedars for its porticos I fitted;
5,6 _ikki_ and cedar woods with layers of copper,
7 on domes and arches
8,9 and with bronze work, I strongly overlaid its gates
10 with silver, gold, precious stones,
11,12 whatsoever they call them, in heaps;
13 I valiantly collected spoils;
14 as an adornment of the house were they arranged,
15 and were collected within it;
16,17 trophies, abundance, royal treasures,
18 I accumulated and gathered together.
19 As to the moving of My Royalty
20 to any other city,
21 there has not arisen a desire:
22 among any other people
23 no royal palace have I built:
24 the merchandise and treasures of my kingdom
25,26,27 I did not deposit within the provinces of Babylon:
28 a pile for my residence
29,30 to grace My Royalty was not found:
31 Therefore with reverence for Merodach my Lord,
32,33 the exterior and interior in Babylon
34 as his treasure city
35,36 and for the elevation of the abode of My Royalty
37 his shrine I neglected not:
38 its weak parts which were not completed,
39 its compartments that were