Verse Account of Nabonidus
The question what Nabonidus was doing in Tayma will probably remain unsolved for ever. From the following text, known as the Verse Account of Nabonidus, we may deduce that during his life time, there were strong rumors that the king suffered from a mental illness and proposed a religious reform (preferring the Moon god Sin to all other gods). These rumors were used by the author of the Verse Account of Nabonidus to explain Nabonidus' stay abroad: being mad, he ignored the supreme god Marduk and went away.
Nabonidus' devotion to the Moon is a historical fact, proven by an inscription found in Harran (in 1956). That he blasphemed against Marduk, however, must be an exaggeration.
The translation below was made by A. Leo Oppenheim and is copied from James B. Pritchard's Ancient Near Eastern texts relating to the Old Testament, 1950 Princeton. Some minor changes have been made.
Column v |
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[v.1] ... the praise of the Lord of Lords and the names of the countries which Cyrus has not conquered he wrote upon this stela, |
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[v.2] while Cyrus is the king of the world whose triumphs are true and whose yoke the kings of all the countries are pulling. Nabonidus has written upon his stone tablets: "I have made him bow to my feet, I personally have conquered his countries, his possessions I took to my residence." |
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[v.3] It was he who once stood up in the assembly to praise himself, saying: "I am wise, I know, I have seen what is hidden. Even if I do not know how to write with the stylus, yet I have seen secret things. The god Ilte'ri has made me see a vision, he has shown me everything. I am aware of a wisdom which greatly surpasses even that of the series of insights which Adapa has composed!" |
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[v.4] Yet he continues to mix up the rites, he confuses the hepatoscopic oracles. To the most important ritual observances, he orders an end; as to the sacred representations in Esagila - representations which Eamumma himself had fashioned - he looks at the representations and utters blasphemies. |
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[v.5] When he saw the usar-symbol! of Esagila, he makes an [insulting?] gesture. He assembled the priestly scholars, he expounded to them as follows: "Is not this the sign of ownership indicating for whom the temple was built? If it belongs really to Bêl, it would have been marked with the spade. Therefore the Moon himself has marked already his own temple with the usar-symbol!" |
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[v.6] And Zeriya, the šatammu who used to crouch as his secretary in front of him, and Rimut, the bookkeeper who used to have his court position near to him, do confirm the royal dictum, stand by his words, they even bare their heads to pronounce under oath: "Now only we understand this situation, after the king has explained about it!" |
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[v.7] In the month of Nisannu, the eleventh day, till the god was present on his seat [lacuna] |
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