[First line destroyed]
Accession year (556 BCE): ... he lifted. The king
brought their [lacuna] to Babylon.
First year (555): They did [unintelligible]
and he did not lift his [lacuna]. All their families [lacuna]. The
king called up his army and [marched?] against the country Hume. [lacuna]
Second year (554): In the month Tebitu in the
country of Hamath [lacuna]
Third year (553): In the month of Abu, to the
Amananus [in Cilicia], the mountains of [many?] fruit trees. All kinds of
fruits he sent to Babylon.
The king fell sick, but he recovered. In the month Kislimu,
the king called up his army and [joined forces with king?] Nabu[lacuna] of
Amurru and marched to [lacuna]. Against the town Adummu they pitched camp
[lacuna] the town Shindini [lacuna] he killed him.
Fourth year (552): [lacuna]
Fifth year (551): [lacuna]
Sixth year (550): King Astyages
[litt: Ištumegu]
called up his troops and marched against Cyrus
[Kuraš],
king of Anšan [i.e., Persia], in order to
meet him in battle. The army of Astyages revolted against him and in fetters
they delivered him to Cyrus. Cyrus marched against the country Agamtanu [the
Median capital Ecbatana,
modern Hamadan]; the royal residence he seized;
silver, gold, other valuables of the country Agamtanu he took as booty and
brought to Anšan. The valuables of [lacuna]
Seventh year (549): The king stayed in Temâ; the
crown prince, his officials and his army were in Akkad. The king did not come to
Babylon for the [New Year's] ceremonies of the month of Nisanu; the image
of the god Nabu did not come to Babylon, the image of the god Bêl [= Marduk]
did not go out of Esagila
in procession, the festival of the New Year was omitted. But the offerings
within the temples Esagila and Ezida were given according to the complete
ritual; the urigallu-priest made
the libation and asperged the temple.
Eighth year (548): [lacuna]
Ninth year (547): Nabonidus, the
king stayed in Temâ; the crown prince, his officials and his army were in
Akkad. The king did not come to Babylon for the ceremony of the month of Nisanu;
the god Nabu did not come to Babylon, the god Bêl did not go out of Esagila in
procession, the festival of the New Year was omitted. But the offerings within
the temples Esagila and Ezida for the gods of Babylon and Borsippa were given
according to the complete ritual.
In the month of Nisanu the fifth day, the mother of the
king died in the Walled Camp, which is on the banks of the Euphrates, above
Sippar. The crown prince and his army were in deep mourning for three days, an
official weeping was performed. In Akkad, an official weeping on behalf of the
mother of the king was performed in the month of Simanu.
In the month of Nisanu, Cyrus, king of Persia, called up
his army and crossed the Tigris below the town of Arbela.
In the month of Aiaru he marched against the country Ly[lacuna; probably
Lydia], killed its king, took his possessions, put there a garrison of his
own. Afterwards, his garrison as well as the king remained there.
Tenth year (546): The king stayed in Temâ; the
crown prince, his officials and his army were in Akkad. The king did not come to
Babylon for the ceremonies of the month of Nisanu; Nabu did not come to Babylon,
Bêl did not go out of Esagila in procession, the festival of the New Year was
omitted. But the offerings within the temples Esagila and Ezida for the gods of
Babylon and Borsippa were given according to the complete ritual.
In the month Simanu, the twenty-first day [lacuna]
of the country of the Elamites in Akkad [lacuna] The governor of
Uruk [lacuna]
Eleventh year (545): The king stayed in Temâ; the
crown prince, his officials and his army were in Akkad. The king did not come to
Babylon for the ceremonies of the month of Nisanu; Nabu did not come to Babylon,
Bêl did not go out of Esagila in procession, the festival of the New Year was
omitted. But the offerings within the temples Esagila and Ezida for the gods of
Babylon and Borsippa were given according to the complete ritual.
[large lacuna, containing years #12, #13, #14, #15]
... Tigris. In the month of Addaru the image of Ištar
of Uruk [lacuna] The army of the Persians made an attack.
Seventeenth year (539): Nabu went
from Borsippa for the procession of Bêl [lacuna] The king entered the
temple of Eturkalamma; in the temple he [lacuna]. The Sea Country made a
short invasion. Bêl went out in procession. They performed the festival of the
New Year according to the complete ritual [April, 4].
In the month of [Abu?] Lugal-Marada and the other gods of
the town Marad, Zabada and the other gods of Kish, the goddess Ninlil and the
other gods of Hursagkalama visited Babylon. Till the end of the month Ululu all
the gods of Akkad -those from above and those from below- entered Babylon. The
gods of Borsippa, Kutha, and Sippar did not enter.
In the month of Tashritu, when Cyrus attacked the army of
Akkad in Opis[i.e.,
Baghdad] on the Tigris, the inhabitants of Akkad revolted, but he [Cyrus
or Nabonidus?] massacred the confused inhabitants. The fifteenth day [October
12], Sippar was seized without battle. Nabonidus fled. The sixteenth day, Gobryas
[litt: Ugbaru], the governor
of Gutium, and the army of Cyrus entered Babylon without battle. Afterwards,
Nabonidus was arrested in Babylon when he returned there. Till the end of the
month, the shield carrying Gutians were staying within Esagila but nobody
carried arms in Esagila and its buildings. The correct time for a ceremony was
not missed.
In the month of Arahshamnu, the third day [October 29],
Cyrus entered Babylon, green twigs were spread in front of him - the state of
peace was imposed upon the city. Cyrus sent greetings to all Babylon. Gobryas,
his governor, installed subgovernors in Babylon.
From the month of Kislimu to the month of Addaru, the gods
of Akkad which Nabonidus had made come down to Babylon, were returned to their
sacred cities.
In the month of Arashamnu, on the night of the eleventh, Gobryas
died [November 6].
In the month of Adarru, the [lacuna] day, the wife
of the king died. From the twenty-seventh day of Adarru till the third day of
Nisanu [March 20-26], an official weeping was performed in Akkad. All the
people went around with their hair disheveled. When, the fourth day [March
27] Cambyses,
son of Cyrus, went to the temple of [unintelligible], the epa-priest
of Nabu who [lacuna] the bull [lacuna] They came and made the
weaving by means of the handles and when he led the image of Nabu [lacuna]
spears and leather quivers, from [lacuna] Nabu returned to Esagila, sheep
offerings in front of Bêl and the god Mârbîti.
(This translation was made by A. Leo Oppenheim and is copied from James B. Pritchard's Ancient Near Eastern texts relating to the Old Testament, 1950 Princeton. Some minor changes have been made.)