Going up the valley of Sharbeen (also spelt Charbine)
above Hermel to the north-west, at one of the sources
of the Orontes one comes to the village of Brissa.
Then going south at the bottom of the gorge one finds
two opposing rock faces, and on either side, three
meters or so high and two wide, there remains visible
a cuneiform inscription which has been much damaged
and quite recently barred with streaks of blue whitewash,
a tragic case of vandalism.
This inscription, which in 1905 was still legible
but is now decipherable only in parts, was translated
by Weissbach, a German. Inscribed in the Akkadian
language, it relates the deeds of Nabuchodonosor,
king of Babylon, who came to Lebanon to procure cedar
wood in order to worthily embellish his palace and
the temple of the god Mardok, protector of his city
and his kingdom, between the years 604 and 562 B.C..
It was during the time of this king that the Great
Exile of the Jews occurred, in 587 B.C., but the stele
of Brissa seems somewhat older, for the king represents
himself as restoring the situation and as being in
fact the adversary of the Pharoah Nekao, who had recently
defeated the Assyrian Empire and extended his power
over the “Mashraq”, the Levant – what is now Syria,
Palestine and Lebanon. Nabuchodonosor in fact had
set about regaining these regions:
“Trusting in the power of our gods Nabu and Mardok,
I mobilized an army and launched an expedition ...
I cleansed Lebanon of its enemies and brought back
there its scattered children. Then I did something
that no one before me had done, making roads across
the steep mountains, cleaving the rocks and opening
the ways, leaving routes for the transport of the
cedars, mighty giant trees, with beautiful wood of
excellent deep color, which grow in Lebanon like reeds
in a river. I crossed deep valleys and opened for
my army passages through the rocks. I reached the
mountains of the cedar trees with their enchanting
scent that no other god had breathed in and which
no other king had cut down, meaning to use them for
our palaces and for the temples of our gods Nabu and
Mardok. And I ensured for Lebanon peace and security,
and to teach a lesson to those who lusted after this
land I raised this stele where I proclaim myself king
of this country whose reign is without end (Greetings
to him who is ready to listen!)”
Joseph
Matar
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Cuneiform
Inscription at Wadi Brissa: >> View
Movie << (2009-06-01) - Cuneiform
Inscription at Wadi Brissa 2: >> View
Movie << (2009-06-01)
