Ashur (and) the great gods, the guardians of my kingdom, who gave
government and laws to my dominions, and ordered an enlarged frontier to
their territory, having committed to (my) hand their valiant and warlike
servants, I have subdued the lands and the peoples and the strong places,
and the Kings who were hostile to Ashur; and I have reduced all that was
contained in them. With a host[1] of kings I have fought ...[2] and have
imposed on them the bond of _servitude_. There is not to me a second in
war, nor an equal in battle. I have added territory to Assyria and peoples
to her people. I have enlarged the frontier of my territories, and subdued
all the lands contained in them.[3]
[Footnote 1: The preamble concludes here.]
[Footnote 2: Lacuna.]
[Footnote 3: Literally, "a sixty."]
V
In the beginning of my reign 20,000 of the _Muskayans_[1] and their 5
kings, who for 50 years had held the countries of Alza and Perukhuz,
without paying tribute and offerings to Ashur my Lord, and whom a King of
Assyria had never ventured to meet in battle betook themselves to their
strength, and went and seized the country of Comukha. In the service of
Ashur my Lord my chariots and warriors I assembled after me ...[2] the
country of _Kasiyaia_[3] a difficult country, I passed through. With their
20,000 fighting men and their 5 kings in the country of Comukha I engaged.
I defeated them. The ranks of their warriors in fighting the battle were
beaten down as if by the tempest. Their carcasses covered the valleys and
the tops of the mountains. I cut off their heads. The battlements of their
cities I made heaps of, like mounds of _earth_, their movables, their
wealth, and their valuables I plundered to a countless amount. 6,000 of
their common soldiers who fled before my servants and accepted my yoke, I
took them, and gave them over to the men of my own territory.[4]
[Footnote 1: Sirki citizens. (Fox Talbot.)]
[Footnote 2: Lacuna.]
[Footnote 3: Mount Kasiyaia. (Dr. Hincks.)]
[Footnote 4: As slaves.]