Nabonidus 28, Column I
This inscription gives the Scythian shelf a hard Babylonian witness to the end of Median power. It does not name the Scythians directly. It names Ištumegu, Astyages, as king of the Umman-manda, the old Mesopotamian word for the northern war-host beyond settled order.
The passage belongs here because the Scythian empire in Western Asia cannot be read only from Herodotus. Babylonian royal language preserves a different memory: Marduk raises Cyrus, the young servant from Anshan, against the vast Umman-manda; the Median king is seized and led away.
The translation below is from the Akkadian text of Nabonidus' Ehulhul cylinder, ORACC Nabonidus 28, column i, lines 23-30.
Translation
The Umman-manda had surrounded it, and their forces were spread wide. Then Marduk spoke with me: The Umman-manda of whom you spoke, he himself, his land, and the kings who march at his side shall no longer exist.
When my third year arrived, they caused Cyrus, king of Anshan, his young servant, to rise against him. With his small army Cyrus scattered the broad Umman-manda.
Ištumegu, Astyages, king of the Umman-manda, he seized. He took him captive to his land.
Colophon
This Good Works Translation was prepared for the Scythian shelf by the New Tianmu Anglican Church from the source text printed below. The English is an independent rendering from the source-language transliteration or Greek text, with existing public translations used only as controls for damaged or conventional passages.
Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
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Source Text: Nabonidus 28, Column I
Akkadian source text in romanized transliteration from ORACC. Presented here for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.
Nabonidus 28, column i, lines 23-24: LÚ.ERIM-man-da sa-ḫi-ir-šum-ma pu-ug-gu-lu e-mu-qá-a-šu. dAMAR.UTU-ma i-ta-ma-a it-ti-ia LÚ.ERIM-man-da šá taq-bu-ú.
Nabonidus 28, column i, lines 25-26: ša-a-šu KUR-šu ù LUGAL.MEŠ a-lik i-di-šu ul i-ba-áš-ši. i-na ša-lu-ul-ti MU.AN.NA i-na ka-šá-du.
Nabonidus 28, column i, lines 27-30: ú-šat-bu-niš-šum-ma mku-ra-áš LUGAL KUR.an-za-an ARAD-su ṣa-aḫ-ri. i-na um-ma-ni-šu i-ṣu-tu LÚ.ERIM-man-da rap-šá-a-ti ú-sap-pi-iḫ. miš-tu-me-gu LUGAL LÚ.ERIM-man-da iṣ-bat-ma ka-mu-ut-su a-na KUR-šu il-qé.
Source Colophon
Akkadian source inspected from ORACC/RIBo Babylon 7, Nabonidus 28 (Q005425), column i lines 23-30. ORACC credits Frauke Weiershäuser and Jamie Novotny for the annotated edition of the Neo-Babylonian royal inscriptions and releases the edition under CC BY-SA 3.0. The English rendering above is newly prepared from the Akkadian, with ORACC's translation used only as a control.
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