Details
A NEO-BABYLONIAN CUNEIFORM CLAY FOUNDATION CYLINDER
REIGN OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR II, 604-562 B.C.
Barrel-shaped, with approximately 51 lines of Babylonian cuneiform recording Nebuchadnezzar II's restoration of the Ebbabar Temple of Shamash in Larsa reading: "I am Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, the humble one, the submissive, the pious one, the worshipper of the lord of lords, the caretaker of Esagil Temple and the Ezida Temple, the legitimate heir of Nabopolassar, king of Babylon. When Marduk, the great lord, wise among the gods, the noble, gave me the land and the people to tend, at that time the Ebabbar Temple of Shamash in Larsa, which since remote times had turned into a mound of ruins, in whose midst sand had accumulated and whose ground plan could no longer be identified, during my reign the great lord Marduk became reconciled to that temple. He aroused the four winds and removed the sand inside it so that the ground plan could be discovered. He specifically ordered me, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, the servant who worships him, to restore that temple. I surveyed and inspected its old foundation, spread consecrated soil above its old foundations and set up its brickwork. I rebuilt the Ebabbar, the legitimate temple and residence of Shamash, my lord, for Shamash, who dwells in Ebarrar in Larsa, the great lord, my lord. Shamash, great lord, when you enter the Ebabbar, your lordly abode, with joy and celebration, look with benevolence at my good handiwork, and may a long life, a firm throne and an enduring dynasty be set on your lips (for me). May the door-jambs, the locks, the bolts, and the doors of the Ebabbar not cease to proclaim my good deeds before you"
5 ½ in. (14 cm.) long
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