---
title: Clay cylinder with the Ehulhul inscription of Nabonidus, king of Babylon, describing work on three temples
url: https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/cylinder-nabonidus-ehulhul-inscription-555bce/
description: A broken clay barrel cylinder closely written in cuneiform, a foundation-deposit type of royal building text.
section: Collection
---

[Collection](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/)

[![Clay cylinder with the Ehulhul inscription of Nabonidus, king of Babylon, describing work on three temples](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/cylinder-nabonidus-ehulhul-inscription-555bce.jpg)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/images/cylinder-nabonidus-ehulhul-inscription-555bce.jpg)

# Clay cylinder with the Ehulhul inscription of Nabonidus, king of Babylon, describing work on three temples

A broken clay barrel cylinder closely written in cuneiform, a foundation-deposit type of royal building text. The king's own account presents his temple work as service to the gods, which is the Babylonian side of the text contrast with the Persian-side Cyrus Cylinder.

## Text on the object

Original (Akkadian (Neo-Babylonian cuneiform)) · read from the image, not independently checked

```
[illegible: the cuneiform on this cylinder was not transcribed in this entry]
```

English translation (machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader)

```
Not translated: the text was not read in this entry.
```

No signs were read from the image; the Met's title is the only identification of the text.

[← Behistun (Bisotun) rock relief and trilingual inscription of Darius I: the king, two attendants and the bound rebel leaders beneath the winged figure of Ahuramazda](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/behistun-relief-darius-and-rebels-521bce/) [Tomb of Darius I at Naqsh-e Rustam: the king in relief beside his inscription DNa, c. 490 BCE →](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/dna-inscription-darius-i-naqsh-e-rustam-490bce/)

## Using the same techniques

- [Fragments of the Abydos king list from Ramesses II's temple, in the British Museum: rows of royal cartouches](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/abydos-king-list-ramesses-ii-temple-british-museum/) (New Kingdom Egypt · 0000 · Card stacking, Transfer)
- [Seated limestone statue of Hatshepsut as king, with feminine royal titles on the throne, reassembled from fragments broken up at Deir el-Bahri](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/hatshepsut-seated-statue-limestone-met-1458bce/) (New Kingdom Egypt · 0000 · Transfer, Testimonial)
- [Glazed-brick panel with a striding lion, from Babylon (reign of Nebuchadnezzar II)](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/ishtar-gate-panel-striding-lion-nebuchadnezzar-ii-604bce/) (Neo Babylonian Empire · 0000 · Transfer)
- [Limestone relief block of Ramesses II wearing the White Crown, a jubilee relief from his temple at Herakleopolis](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/jubilee-relief-ramesses-ii-herakleopolis-met-05-4-256/) (New Kingdom Egypt · 0000 · Transfer)
- [Line drawing of the Great Kadesh battle relief on the walls of the Ramesseum, from Breasted's History of Egypt](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/kadesh-relief-ramesseum-breasted-drawing-1275bce/) (New Kingdom Egypt · 0000 · Card stacking, Transfer). Content note: A drawing of an Egyptian royal battle relief showing Hittite soldiers and horses killed and drowned, as the king's monument presented the battle; it is a one-sided image made by the winning side's own account.
- [Gypsum alabaster slab inscribed in cuneiform, from Nimrud (Kalhu), reign of Ashurnasirpal II](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/nimrud-slab-ashurnasirpal-ii-inscription-883bce/) (Neo Assyrian Empire · 0000 · Transfer, Glittering generalities)
- [Egyptian alabaster jar inscribed with the name of Xerxes the Great in four languages (Old Persian, Elamite, Babylonian, Egyptian), 486 to 466 BCE](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/xerxes-jar-four-languages-486bce/) (Achaemenid Empire · 0000 · Transfer)
- [Bronze sestertius of Gaius (Caligula), reverse S P Q R P P OB CIVES SERVATOS in an oak wreath](https://propagandaarchive.org/collection/sestertius-caligula-ob-cives-servatos-0037/) (Roman Empire · 0037 · Testimonial, Transfer)