NEBUCHADNEZZAR, INSCRIPTION OF.
The famous inscription of Nebuchadnezzar which was recovered from the ruins of Babylon is now in the India House in London.
(1) Carved Upon Stone. This long record of his triumphs has been written upon ten stone columns and it contains in all five hundred and eight lines. It was graven apparently by the king's orders, and it is a wonderful exemplification of his boast, "Is not this great Babylon that I have built?" Wc have here an authentic relic of the times of this king, and of the period of the fall of the Jewish monarchy.
It gives us a wonderful picture of Nebuchad nezzar with all his pride of position and power, his passionate devotion to his gods, and his un tiring labors in the building of his beautiful capi tal. We now have a corroboration of the state ments of Jeremiah and Daniel concerning the gods he worshiped and the city he built, but it is like the records of Sennacherib and other kings, in that it omits the story of royal humiliation, and gives no hint of that severe lesson in which Nebu chadnezzar was taught that : "The Most High ruleth in the kingdoms of men and giveth them to whomsoever Ile will." (2) Contents. We have here only the asser tion of his greatness and the wonder of his achievements. The following extract will give a general idea of the whole inscription: "Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, the prince exalted, the favorite of Merodach, the pontiff su preme, the beloved of Nebo .. . . the chiefest son of Nabopolassar, king of Babylon, am I. . . . When Merodach, the great lord, lifted up thc head of my majesty, and Nebo, the overseer of the mul titude of heaven and earth, a righteous scepter placed in my hands; himself, the leader gloricHN, the open eycs of the gods, the prince Mcrodach, my supplications heard and received my prayers.
"I worshiped his lordship. In his high trust, to far-off lands, a road of hardships I pursued, and the unyielding I reduced, I fettered the rebels.
The land I ordered aright, and the people I made to thrive, bad and good among the people I re moved (or deported).
Silver, gold, precious stones, whatsoever things are precious, a large abundance, a rich present to my city of Babylon, into his presence I brought.
In E-sagilla (the temple of Bel-Merodach) the palace of his lordship, I wrought repairs. Ekua, the cell of the lord of the gods, Merodach, I made to glisten like suns the walls thereof. . . . The great ramparts of Babylon I finished; beside the scarp of its moat, the two strong walls with bitumen and burnt brick I built, and with the wall which my father had constructed I joined them and the city. I carried them round ... I beautified the road of Ishtar (Scc Asiironrii), that hurleth down them that assail her.. . . . Strong bulls of copper, and dreadful serpents, standing upright on their thresholds. I erected. Those portals for the gazing of the people, with carven work I caused to be filled. As an outwork, the wall of Babylon, unapproachable, a mighty rampart, at the ford of the sun rising, Babylon I threw around." There arc many glowing descriptions of the work which he did in beautifying his capital city and rebuilding thc temples of the gods.
"The cedar of the roofing of the cells of Nebo with gold I overlaid. The silver of the roofing of the gate of Nana, I overlaid with shining silver. The bulls, the leaves of the gate of the cell, with silver I made bright. . . . The house I made gloriously bright, and with carved work I had it filled. The temples of Borsippa I made and filled." (Ball's Translation.) (See Records of the Past vol. iii, pp. to2-i23.)