Inscription of Tiglath-Pileser I

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Inscription of Tiglath-Pileser I

The text below is only the introductory section of the 1st column. The majority of Assyrian inscriptions in this manner are typically summaries of their past exploits. This portion is preserved due to its mythological nature and identification of certain deities.

Translated by A. H. Sayce, [1888]

Hymn to the Gods

1. Asur the great lord, the director of the hosts of the gods,
2. the giver of the sceptre and the crown, the establisher of the kingdom;
3. Bel, the lord (bilu), the king of all the spirits of the earth,
4. the father of the gods, the lord of the world;
5. Sin (the Moon-god), the sentient one, the lord of the crown,
6. the exalted one, the god of the storm;
7. Samas (the Sun-god), the judge of heaven and earth, who beholds
8. the plots of the enemy, who feeds the flock;
9. Rimmon (the Air-god), the prince, the inundator of hostile shores,
10. of countries (and) houses;
11. Uras, the hero, the destroyer of evil men and foes,
12. who discloses all that is in the heart;
13. Ishtar, the eldest of the gods, the lady of girdles,
14. the strengthener of battles.
15. Ye great gods, guiders of heaven (and) earth,
16. whose onset (is) opposition and combat,
17. who have magnified the kingdom
18. of Tiglath-Pileser, the prince, the chosen
19. of the desire of your hearts, the exalted shepherd,
20. whom you have conjured in the steadfastness of your hearts,
21. with a crown supreme you have clothed him; to rule
22. over the land of Bel mightily you have established him;
23. priority of birth, supremacy (and) heroism
24. have you given him; the destiny of his lordship
25. for his increase and supremacy,
26. to inhabit Bit-kharsag-kurkurra
27. for ever have you summoned.
28. Tiglath-Pileser, the powerful king,
29. the king of hosts who has no rival, the king of the four zones,
30. the king of all kinglets, the lord of lords, the shepherd-prince, the king of kings,
31. the exalted prophet, to whom by the proclamation of Samas
32. the illustrious sceptre has been given as a gift, so that the men
33. who are subject to Bel he has ruled
34. in (their) entirety; the faithful shepherd,
35. proclaimed (lord) over kinglets,
36. the supreme governor whose weapons Asur
37. has predestined, and for the government of the four zones
38. has proclaimed his name for ever; the capturer
39. of the distant divisions of the frontiers
40. above and below; the illustrious prince
41. whose glory has overwhelmed (all) regions;
42. the mighty destroyer, who like the rush
43. of a flood is made strong against the hostile land;
44. by the proclamation of Bel he has no rival;
45. he has destroyed the foeman of Asur.