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NM Ant 2088 :: cylinder

Object description: Clay cylinder with Neo-Babylonian building inscription from the temple of the sun god Shamash at Sippar, dedicated by King Nebuchadnezzar II. A duplicate of the Nebuchadrezzar cylinder VAB 4, No. 23. The clay cylinder is inscribed with an inscription of Nebuchadnezzar II, the second and most well known king of the Neo-Babylonian or Chaldean Empire (604-562 BC.). P-R Berger lists 26 clay cylinders (among them ours) with the same text. Among those in other collections beside ours, 17 are reported to have been excavated in Sippar (modern Abu Habba), the remaining are without recorded provenance. The inscription describes how Nebuchadnezzar II, king of Babylonia, rebuilt the temple of the sun god Shamash in the city Sippar. The cuneiform script on our clay cylinder, like the script on three of the duplicates, is archaised, written like an Old Babylonian inscription. All the clay cylinders with this inscription were probably once placed inside the walls of this temple in Sippar. Translation: “I, Nebuchadnezzar (II), king of Babylon, provider for Esagil and Ezida, son of Nabopolassar, king of Babylon, rebuilt Ebabbar, the temple of the god Shamash in Sippar, for the god Shamash, my lord, who prolongs my days. God Shamash, great lord, look with pleasure upon my pious works, grant me a life of many days, the satisfaction of growing very old, a firm throne and an enduring reign. Accept my prayer favourably, at your august command which is not to be countermanded, may my work, my ritual act, endure forever, may my descendants flourish as kings (and) remain in the country. Wherever I pray to you, my lord god Shamash, may you god Shamash be the one who opens my way for slaying my enemies. May your fierce weapons, which cannot be confronted, accompany me to defeat my enemies. Even as the bricks of (the temple) Ebabbar are established forever, so may my years be long-lasting for everlasting days.”

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NM Ant 2088 :: cylinder

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