Position in chronology
RINBE 1, Nebuchadnezzar II nn, ex. nn
About this tablet
A standard brick inscription of Nebuchadnezzar II, king of Babylon (605–562 BCE), probably from Borsippa near Babylon. Millions of bricks stamped or inscribed with this short royal formula went into the king's massive building projects, including the temples Esagil (Marduk's sanctuary in Babylon) and Ezida (Nabû's sanctuary in Borsippa). The text names the king, his role as provider for the great temples, and his descent from his father Nabopolassar, founder of the Neo-Babylonian dynasty. This particular brick traveled far: it now sits in a rare books library in Wyoming.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
The brick reads, in the king's own voice: 'I am Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, the one who maintains the temples Esagil and Ezida, foremost heir of Nabopolassar, king of Babylon.' That is the whole text — a short, formulaic signature stamped into a building brick, identifying the king who commissioned the construction, naming the two great temples he sustained, and asserting his legitimate descent from his father. Much of the surface is damaged, but the wording is a stock formula and can be restored with certainty.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engine[Nebuchadnezzar,] [king of Ba]bylon, [the one who provides for] Esagil [and Ezi]da, [foremost] heir [of Nab]opol[assar,] [king of Babylon, am I.]
Our translation engine — Fable 5. Reads the photo, translates the cuneiform, and writes a plain-language interpretation. See methodology for limits.
Spotted an error? Suggest a correction — confirmed corrections feed the engine's knowledge base.
Transliteration
[na3-ku-du-ri-uri3] [_lugal_ ba]-bi#-lu#[] [za-ni-nu] e2#-sag-il2# [u3 e2-zi]-da _ibila#_ [_sag-kal_ sza2 na3]-ibila#-[uri3] [_lugal_ ba-bi-lu ana-ku]
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Neo-Babylonian (ca. 626-539 BC) ?) — RINBE 1, Nebuchadnezzar II nn, ex. nn. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: TLC 4 (Toppan Rare Books Library, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA) — from Borsippa (mod. Birs Nimrud) ? — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.earth/artifacts, P416123). source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-fable-5 (2026-07-12/v7-evolved).
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One of the earliest specimens of human writing. Not literature, not law — accounting. The need to keep track of grain in a temple bureaucracy is what pushed marks-on-clay into a system that could one day carry epics.
Marks the boundary between proto-writing and writing. We can see signs being used systematically — but not yet phonetically. The leap to recording speech itself comes a few centuries later.
The earliest historical document in human history. Before this, we have lists, accounts, and dedications. Here, for the first time, a ruler tells us what happened — with names, places, and consequences.