with the various titles of Nebuchadnezzar. It
then contains prayers and invocations to the Gods, Merodach and Nebo.
The extent of N.'s power is spoken of--it reaches from one sea to the
other.

An account is then given of the wonders of Babylon, viz.:

1. The great temple of Merodach. (The mound of Babil is the tower or
ziggurat of this.)

2. The Borsippa temple (or Birs).

3. Various other temples in Babylon and Borsippa.

The subjoined description of the city follows: "The double inclosure
which Nabopolassar my father had made but not completed, I finished.
Nabopolassar made its ditch. With two long embankments of brick and
mortar he bound its bed. He made the embankment of the Arahha. He lined
the other side of the Euphrates with brick. He made a bridge (?) over
the Euphrates, but did not finish its buttresses (?). From... (the name
of a place) he made with bricks burnt as hard as stones, by the help
of the great Lord Merodach, a way (for) a branch of the Shimat to the
waters of the Yapur-Shapu, the great reservoir of Babylon, opposite to
the gate of Nin.

"The _Ingur-Bel_ and the _Nimiti-Bel_--the great double wall of
Babylon--I finished. With two long embankments of brick and mortar I
built the sides of its ditch. I joined it on with that which my father
had made. I strengthened the city. Across the river to the west I
built the wall of Babylon with brick. The Yapur-Shapu-the reservoir of
Babylon--by the grace of Merodach I filled completely full of water.
With bricks burnt as hard as stones, and with bricks in huge masses like
mountains (?), the Yapur-Shapu, from the gate of Mula as far as Nana,
who is the protectress of her votaries, by the grace of his godship
(i.e. Merodach) I strengthened. With that which my father had made I
joined it. I made the way of Nana, the protectress of her votaries.
The great gates of the Ingur-Bel and the Nimiti-Bel-the reservoir of
Babylon, at the time of the flood (lit. of fulness), inundated them.
These gates I raised. Against the waters their foundations with brick
and mortar I built. [Here follows a description of the gates, with
various architectural details, an account of the decorations, hangings,
etc.] For the delight of mankind I filled the reservoir. Behold! besides
the Ingur-Bel, the impregnable fortification of Babylon. I constructed
inside Babylon on the eastern side of the river a fortification such
as no king had ever made before me, viz., a long rampart, 400