RINBE 2, Neriglissar 03, ex. 07

About this tablet

A fragment of a royal building inscription of Neriglissar, king of Babylon (reigned 560–556 BCE), one of the short-lived successors of Nebuchadnezzar II. In its standard opening titulary the king presents himself as the pious renovator of Esagil and Ezida, the great temples of Marduk in Babylon and of Nabû in Borsippa, chosen by the great gods and by Marduk himself for kingship over the lands. This is one of several duplicate copies of the same official text, showing how Babylonian kings mass-produced their claims to divine legitimacy on clay.

Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.

Written in modern English

This is the opening of a royal proclamation: 'I am Neriglissar, king of Babylon, the man who restored the temples Esagil and Ezida, a doer of good works. The great gods themselves decided that I should reign; Marduk, foremost among the gods, the one who fixes destinies, granted me dominion over all the lands and the shepherding of the black-headed people' — that is, of humankind. The following lines, praising the king's faithfulness and might, are too broken to read, and the rest of the inscription is lost on this copy.

A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.

Translation — our engine

Our engine

Medium confidence

Neriglissar, king of Babylon [(...)], the renovator of Esagil and E[zida], the one who does good [deeds], whom, in order to exercise his kingship, [...] the great gods established [...] their [counsel(?) ...]; [whom(?)] Marduk, foremost of the gods, the one who de[crees destinies(?) ...], [... with(?)] dominion over (all) the lands [...], [... the shep]herdship of the black-[headed people ...], [...] true/faithful [...], [...] ... [...], [... m]ighty(?) [...], [...] ... [...]. (The remainder of the tablet is broken.)

Indicative reading — translated without a photograph. Generated from the transliteration alone, without examining the original. Read it as an accessible first taste, not as a verified catalogue entry.

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

nergal-lugal-u2-s,u-ur2 _lugal_ babila2#[ x]
mu-ud-di-isz e2-sag-il2 u3 e2-[x x]
e-pi2-isz da-am-qa2#-[x x]
sza a-na e-pe-szu _lugal_-u2-ti-szu [...]
_dingir gal-gal_ isz-ku-nu mi-[...]
[x] _amar#-utu_ a-sza-re-du _dingir-dingir_ mu-szi#-[...]
[x x] ki#-isz-szu-ti _ma-da-ma-da#_ [...]
[...]-e2#-u2-ti s,a-al#-[...]
[...] ki-i-nim [...]
[...]-ri# ni#-[...]
[...]-ga#-pu2#-ru# [...]
[...]-um#-isz#-[...]

Scholarly note

Catalogue entry from CDLI (Neo-Babylonian (ca. 626-539 BC)) — RINBE 2, Neriglissar 03, ex. 07. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).

Attribution

Image: B 0017 — from Bābili (mod. Babylon) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.earth/artifacts, P518478). source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-fable-5 (2026-07-12/v7-evolved).

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