King of Elam. He had excited
all the nomadic tribes of the desert against me. He prepared
himself for battle, and advanced. During twelve
years,[29] against the will of the gods of Babylon, the town
of Bel which judges the gods, he had excited the country
of the Sumers and Accads, and had sent ambassadors to
them. In honor of the god Assur, the father of the gods,
and of the great and august Lord Merodach, I roused my
courage, I prepared my ranks for battle. I decreed an
expedition against the Chaldeans, an impious and riotous
people. Merodach-Baladan heard of the approach of my
expedition, dreading the terror of his own warriors, he fled
before it, and flew in the night time like an owl, falling back
from Babylon, to the town of Ikbibel. He assembled together
the towns possessing oracles, and the gods living
in these towns he brought to save them to Dur-Iakin, fortifying
its walls. He summoned the tribes of Gambul,
Pukud, Tamun, Ruhua, and Khindar, put them in this place,
and prepared for battle. He calculated the extent of a
plethrum[30] in front of the great wall. He constructed a
ditch 200 spans[31] wide, and deep one fathom and a half.[32]
The conduits of water, coming from the Euphrates, flowed
out into this ditch; he had cut off the course of the river,
and divided it into canals, he had surrounded the town,
the place of his revolt, with a dam, he had filled it with
water, and cut off the conduits. Merodach-Baladan, with
his allies and his soldiers had the insignia of his royalty
kept as in an island on the banks of the river; he arranged
his plan of battle. I stretched my combatants all along
the river dividing them into bands; they conquered the
enemies. By the blood of the rebels the waters of these
canals reddened like dyed wool. The nomadic tribes
were terrified by this disaster which surprised him and fled;
I completely separated his allies and the men of Marsan
from him; I filled the ranks of the insurgents with mortal
terror. He left in his tent the insignia of his royalty, the
golden ...[33] the golden throne, the golden parasol,
the golden sceptre, the silver chariot, the golden ornaments,
and other effects of considerable weight; he fled
alone, and disappeared like the ruined battlements of his
fortress, and I entered into his retreat. I besi