141 



Assyrian Eaipires. Only a few years ago tlie discovery of 

 the Egibi tablets revealed tlie great loan and banking system 

 that was carried on in Babylon. Kecently a valuable historical 

 cylinder of Cyrus the Great showed exactly what was going 

 on in Babylon at the time of the actual capture of the city. 

 This is "perhaps the most interesting cuneiform document 

 that has yet been discovered. ^'^ Other tablets give the reasons 

 and circumstances of the actual capture. Among other things 

 brought home recently were two inscribed cones, one very 

 much rubbed and almost illegible in many places ; the other 

 broken into three pieces, but fortunately containing the text 

 in a fair state of preservation. One inscription is an amplifica- 

 tion of the other, and both relate to Nebuchadnezzar, and are 

 the subject of this paper. They are very interesting, the 

 spelling on them is very curious, and a great deal is said 

 concerning the gods and goddesses of Babylon, They mutely 

 proclaim the glory of the great king, who said : " Is not this 

 great Babylon that I have built for the house of the kingdom by 

 the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty ? ^' f 

 The inscription is written throughout in the peculiar Baby- 

 lonian style, and as far as possible these peculiarities have 

 been reproduced in type. 



The inscription begins with "Nebuchadnezzar, the King of 

 Babylon, the exalted prince, the worshipper of the god 

 Marduk, the prince supreme, the beloved of the god Nebo. 

 I am established, the unfearing one, the restorer of the 

 temple of the ' lofty head ' and the temple of Zida, who to 

 the god Nebo, and the god Marduk, his lords, worship also 

 has performed before them (?). The exalted one, he who 

 causes the ituti to be deep, the messenger of the great gods, 

 the eldest son of Nabopolassar, the king of Babylon I am." 



Nabopolassar is the ^>{- ^^I^f^ ^^^fi<y ^^ - 

 ^ ^ ^I_^TT Nahu-pal-us?lr of the cuneiform inscriptions. 

 Concerning Nabopolassar, it is known that he was a general 

 who was rewarded with the crown of Babylon for satisfactorily 

 quelling a revolt. He made Babylon a tolerably powerful 

 kingdom and this was the more easily accomplished from the 

 fact that the Assyrian power had been utterly overthrown. 

 It is self-evident that he left his reviving power in strong 

 and energetic hands. The name Nebuchadnezzar has been 

 explained in various ways by scholars, possibly because the 

 name has been found written differently in the text of the Bible. 



* Sir H. C. Rawlinson in the Journal B.A.S,, vol. xii. p. 70. 

 + Daniel iv. 30. In the text itself, verse 27. 



