wish of my heart, a town
that I called _Dur-Sarkin_[42] to replace Nineveh.[43]
Nisroch,[44] Sin, Samas, Nebo, Bin, Ninip, and their great
spouses, who procreate eternally in the lofty temple of the upper
and the nether world (Aralli) blessed the splendid wonders,
the superb streets in the town of Dur-Sarkin. I reformed
the institutions which were not agreeable to their ideas.
The priests, the _nisi ramki_, the _surmahhi supar_ disputed
at their learned discussions about the pre-eminence of
their divinities, and the efficacy of their sacrifices.

46 I built in the town some palaces covered with the skin of
the sea-calf,[45] and of sandal wood, ebony, the wood of mastic
tree, cedar, cypress, wild pistachio nut tree, a palace of
incomparable splendor, as the seat of my royalty. I
placed their _dunu_ upon tablets of gold, silver, alabaster,
_tilpe_ stones, _parut_ stones, copper, lead, iron, tin, and
_khibisti_ made of earth. I wrote thereupon the glory of the gods.
Above I built a platform of cedar beams. I bordered the
doors of pine and mastic wood with bronze garnitures,
and I calculated their distance. I made a spiral staircase
similar to the one in the great temple of Syria, that is
called in the Phoenician language, _Bethilanni_. Between
the doors I placed 8 double lions whose weight is 1 _ner_ 6
_soss_, 50 talents[46] of first-rate copper, made in honor of
Mylitta ...[47] and their four _kubur_ in materials from
Mount Amanus; I placed them on _nirgalli_.[8] Over them I
sculptured artistically a crown of beast of the fields, a bird
in stone of the mountains. Toward the four celestial regions,
I turned their front. The lintels and the uprights
I made in large gypsum stone that I had taken away with
my own hand, I placed them above. I walled them in
and I drew upon me the admiration of the people of the
countries.

47 From the beginning to the end, I walked worshipping the
god Assur, and following the custom of wise men, I built
palaces, I amassed treasures.

48 In the month of blessing, on the happy day, I invoked,
in the midst of them, Assur, the father of the gods, the
greatest sovereign of the gods and the _Istarat_[49] who inhabit
Assyria. I presented vessels of glass, things in
chased silver, ivory, valuable jewels and immense presents,
in great quantit