One of them is an annalistic account of the reign ef Nabonidos, the last king of Babylonia, and of the conquest of his kingdom by Cyrus. It is generally known to Assyriologists as the " Annalistic Tablet." The other document is an edict issued by Cyrus not long after his occupation of Babylonia, justifying his conquest of the country, and declaring that he had been called to the work by Bel Merodach, the god of Babylon, himself. As the in- scriptions render a commentary needless we give them here in full. The Annalistic Tablet is as follows, the lacunae in it being marked by dotted lines " ... in the month Tebet (December) in the country of Hamath he remained in the month Ab (July) the mountain of Amanus, a mountain [of the West, he ascended].
Reeds as many as exist [and cedars] to the midst of Babylon [he brought. The mountain] he left and survived. In the month Kisleu (November) king (Nabonidos) [collected] his army [and marched to] the sea; and Nebo-makhrib-akhi . . . [from] the sea of the country of Syria to Istuvegu (A sty- ages) gathered [his forces] together and marched against Cyrus king of Ansan, and . . . The army of Istuvegu revolted against him and seized [him] with the hands; to Cyrus they delivered [him]. Cyrus [marched] against the country of Ekbatana, the royal city. Silver, gold, goods and chattels, [the spoil] of the country of Ekbatana, they carried away, and he brought them to the land of Ansan. The goods and chattels were deposited in [Ansan]. The seventh year (B.C. 549) king (Nabonidos) was in Teva (the western quarter of Babylon); the king's son, the nobles, and his soldiers were in the country of Akkad (Northern Babylonia). [The king in the month Nisan] did not go to Babylon.
Nebo did not go to Babylon ; Bel came not forth ; the [new year's] festival [took place] : they offered sacrifices in the temples of E-Saggil and E-Zida to the gods of Babylon and Borsippa as [peace-offerings]. The priest inspected the painted work of the temple. The eighth year (nothing took place). The ninth year (B.C. 547) Nabonidos the king was in Teva. The king's son, the nobles, and the soldiers were in the country of Akkad. The king in the month Nisan did not go to Babylon. Nebo did not go to Babylon ; Bel came not forth ; the new year's festival took place. They offered sacrifices in E-Saggil and E-Zida to the gods of Babylon and Borsippa as peace-offerings. The fifth day of Nisan the mother of the king, who was in the fortress of the camp on the Euphrates above Sippara, died. The king's son and his soldiers mourned for three days. There was lamentation. In the month Sivan (May) there was lamentation in the country of Akkad over the mother of tha king. In the month Nisan, Cyrus king of Persia collected his army and crossed the Tigris below the city of Arbela, and in the month lyyar (April) [he marched] against the country of the Sute (nomad Arabs). Its king he slew ; his goods he took. He ascended the country. [He departed again] after his ascent, and a king existed there again.
The tenth year (B.C. 546) the King was in Teva; the king's son, the nobles, and his soldiers were in the country of Akkad ; the king in the month [Nisan did not go to Babylon]. Nebo did not go to Babylon ; Bel came not forth. The new year's festival took place. They offered sacrifices in E-[Saggil and E-Zida] to the gods of Babylon and Borsippa as peaceofferings. On the twenty-first day of the month Sivan ... of the country of Elam, in the land of Akkad ... a governor in the city of Erech .... The eleventh year (B.C. 545) the king was in Teva ; the king's son, the nobles, and his soldiers were in the country of Akkad. [In the month Nisan the king did not go to Babylon. In the month] Elul (August) the king did not come forth to Bel. The new year's festival took place. They offered sacrifices [in E-Saggil and E-Zida as peace-offerings to the gods] of Babylon [and Borsippa In the seventeenth year and the month] Tebet the king entered E-tur- Kalama . . . and the lower sea (the Persian Gulf) revolted . . . Bel came forth ; the new year's festival as a peace-offering was kept ; in the month . . . [Luga'.-banda and] the other gods of the city of Marad, Zamama and the other gods of Kis, Beltis and the other gods of Kharsak-Kalama entered Babylon ; at the end of the month Elul the gods of the country of Akkad, which are above the sky and bslow the sky, entered Babylon ; but the gods of Borsippa, Kutha, and Sippara did not enter.
In the month Tammuz (June) when Cyrus had delivered battle against the soldiers of Akkad in the city of Rutu on the banks of the river Nizallat, (and) when the men of Akkad had delivered (battle), the men of Akkad raised a revolt : some persons were slain. On the fourteenth day of the month Sippara was taken without fighting ; Nabonidos fled. On the sixteenth day Gobryas, the governor of the country of Gutium (Kurdistan), and the soldiers of Cyrus entered Babylon without fighting. Afterwards Nabonidos was captured when he had been caught in Babylon. At the end of the month Tammuz the javelin-throwers of the country of Gulium guarded the gates of E-Saggil : there was no cessation of the services in E-S.iggil and the other temples, but no special festival was observed. On the third day of the month Marchesvan (October) Cyrus entered Babylon. Dissensions before him were allayed. Peace to the city did Cyrus establish; peace to all the province of Babylon did Gobryas his governor proclaim.
Governors in Babylon he appointed. From the month Chisleu (November) to the month Adar (February) the gods of the country of Akkad whom Nabonidos had transferred to Babylon returned to their own cities. The eleventh day of the month Marchesvan during the night Gobryas was on the bank of the . . . The wife of the king (Nabonidos) died. From the twenty-seventh day of Adar to the third day of Nisan there was lamentation in the country of Akkad. All the people smote their heads. The fourth day Cambyses, the son of Cyrus, conducted the burial at the temple of the Sceptre of the World. The priest of the temple of the Sceptre of Nebo, who upbears the sceptre [of the god in the temple of the god] in an Elamite robe took the hands of Nebo . . . The son of the king offered free-will offerings in full to ten times [the usual amount]. He confined [the image] of Nebo to E-Saggil. Victims before Bel to ten times [the usual amount he sacrificed]. ..."
Ancient Persian and the Consolidation of the Parthian Kingdom
