King
and Thompson.
Messrs. King and Thompson are preparing a new edition of
this inscription.
The main facts of the history of Assyria under her later kings and of
Babylonia during the Neo-Babylonian and Persian periods were many years
ago correctly ascertained, and recent excavation and research have done
little to add to our knowledge of the history of these periods. It was
hoped that the excavations conducted by Dr. Koldewey at Babylon would
result in the recovery of a wealth of inscriptions and records referring
to the later history of the country, but unfortunately comparatively
few tablets or inscriptions have been found, and those that have been
recovered consist mainly of building-inscriptions and votive texts. One
such building-inscription contains an interesting historical reference.
It occurs on a barrel-cylinder of clay inscribed with a text of
Nabopolassar, and it was found in the temple of Ninib and records the
completion and restoration of the temple by the king. In addition to
recording the building operations he had carried out in the temple,
Nabopolassar boasts of his opposition to the Assyrians. He says: "As for
the Assyrians who had ruled all peoples from distant days and had set
the people of the land under a heavy yoke, I, the weak and humble man
who worshippeth the Lord of Lords (i.
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