[697] 1. There was the Assyrian king Sennacherib, the son of Esarhaddon. He had a minister called Ahiqar, who was very wise, intelligent, and educated. 2. He was sixty years old and had no children. He had sixty wives, sixty wives and no children. 3. He knelt before his god; he was an idolater. This was around the year 704 before the birth of ⟨Christ⟩, it was about 704 before the birth of ⟨Christ⟩. 4. He knelt down before his idol and said, "O my god, give me a son [and] I will give you three tons of gold!" Then he stood up. 5. A while passed, but he received nothing from him. 6. ⟨Then⟩ he thought and said, "This earth and this heaven have surely a Lord. 7. ⟨Then⟩ he knelt before God and said, "O Creator of heaven and earth, I beg you, give me a son; I will give you two tons of gold". 8. God sent an angel to him and said: "Ahiqar, you have not known me until now, and even now, ⟨after you have come to know me,⟩ you will not have children. But go and bring Nadan, the son of your sister-his name is Nadan-and make him your son. Then he went and took Nadan, his sister's son. 9. The king said to him: "My dear Ahiqar, who will teach me if you die tomorrow? Who will guide me, who will solve my problems? 10. He replied: "O my king, may you live forever, we say: "May you live forever," which means ⟨(in Arabic)⟩ "may you live forever," and I said: "My king, I have brought the son of..., my son, my sister's son, Nadan, and I will teach him all that I know. ‘11. He said: “O child of ... son of my sister, dear Nadan, do not go, do not make friends with everyone. Keep company with men, with adults, with the intelligent, with the wise, and the educated.’ ‘12. If you want to marry, do not marry just any girl, but marry a smart, decent a wise, decent, beautiful, and kind woman. And if you have children, discipline them with the rod, for children do not die from the rod.’ ‘13. If you do not guide [a child] in your way, to your imagination, in his childhood, you will not be able to bring him into your way when he grows up. Thus, he taught him.’ 14. What did Nadan, his nephew, do (after some) time? He wrote a letter in Ahiqar's name to Persia, (saying:) 15. O King of Persia, come to the border; we will bring Sennacherib [and] kill him, we will kill him, come and you shall take his land—you shall take his land. 16. He wrote another letter—there is an officer in Zakho: Dear officer so-and-so, gather your army; we will bring Sennacherib and kill him. 17. He wrote another letter to the Pharaoh of Egypt, saying: Dear King Pharaoh, come to the border, ask Sennacherib ⟨to come as well,⟩ and we will seize him there and kill him—and you shall take his land. 18. He wrote these three letters, took them, and placed them before Sennacherib the king, saying: "Take the letters from your friend!" Then the king began to read. ⟨He was so afraid that⟩ his knees, his knees went weak. 19. Then he called him and said, "Ahiqar! Yes! Come, take your letters! But he said: O my king! you may live for ever; they are not mine, But without them... Then the king gave orders to the executioner: Cut off his head! 20. And he said: "My king, if thou wilt cut off my head, I will not say that thou shalt not behead me, but bring me to my door, but bring me to my door and behead me there, so that my relatives may not forget me, so that they may remember me, cut off my head there.

[698] 21. A hundred soldiers, along with the executioner, brought him to his own door to cut off his head. 22. He had a wife named Ešvġína. He sent [her] ⟨a message⟩ to Ešvġína and said: "Dear Ešvġína, I ask you to slaughter twenty-five goats and to gather forty girls. forty girls. Prepare a meal so that the soldiers can come and sit at the table. 23. Ešvġína brought twenty-five goats from her flock and from others and slaughtered them. She called forty women to cook, prepare, and serve the food. 24. When the soldiers and the executioner arrived, the meal was ready, and they sat down to eat. 25. Earlier, the king had once wanted to execute the executioner, but Ahiqar did not allow it, he saved him, he saved him. 26. Ahiqar said: "O executioner, do you remember the day when the king wanted to execute you, and I prevented it?" He said: Yes. 27. He said: Come, return the good I did for you today. We will bring a goat, a goat, and slaughter it, and you will dip my clothes in the blood, dip them in the blood. 28. Then they dug a cave for him, four metres long, two and a half to three metres wide, and two and a half metres high—a cellar under the earth. 29. There he hid him and dipped his clothes in the blood. The soldiers did not care about Ahiqar; they ate and drank and ⟨they enjoyed themselves with⟩ the girls, the drink and the food. 30. When the executioner had finished this work and prepared the place for Ahiqar, he made him climb into the cellar and completed his task. Then he said to the soldiers: "Come, I have finished my work." 31. His clothes were covered in blood. Then they left and came. He came and prostrated himself before the king. (The king asked: "Did you kill him?" He answered: "Yes." 32. Some time passed, and then Pharaoh heard that Ahiqar had been killed. He knew that the king could not go in and out without Ahiqar. 33. Pharaoh wrote a letter to Sennacherib and said to him, "I beg you, send me one who can answer all my questions and build me a palace in the sky. And I ask you for the taxes of seven years; if you do not (pay), then you must ⟨expect war⟩. 34. Sennacherib heard (this) and was paralysed; his knees trembled. Except Ahiqar, who is able to do ⟨such⟩ things? 35. Then he said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever tells me that Ahiqar is alive, half of my kingdom is his. 36. The executioner took his sword and ran, he went and said: "O my king! cut off my head!" Yes, why? He said: Ahiqar is alive! ⟨The king said:⟩ Really? He said: Yes. Then ⟨the king said:⟩ Get up, you are free! 37. He sent for him and had Ahiqar brought to him. His beard had grown, and his hair was long, and his skin was pale, that is, he had become completely different. He sent for him and said to him: "Dear Ahiqar, go home and stay there for four days. Eat, enjoy and rest, and come back. 38. Ahiqar went home, stayed there four days, ate, enjoyed himself and came back. and came. (The king) said to him: "Take the letter from Pharaoh and read it! So he began, and then he said: "O my king, may you live forever, I will take ⟨this task⟩. 39. He sent to his wife Ešvġína and said I pray you, instruct the hunters, to bring back two falcon chicks. Give them a leather bag of meat a day to eat. 40. And bring two babies, ⟨two babies⟩ who cannot yet speak. You shall say to them only: Come, stones and mortar, the builders are without work! Come, stones and mortar, the builder is without work! Speak only this to them; teach them this! Tell the weavers to make two ropes ⟨of this thickness,⟩ each a thousand metres long. 41. His wife Ešvġína sent for the hunters and they brought her two young falcons. She also brought two children and said to them Come, stones and mortar, the builders are without work! Come, stones and mortar, the builders have no work! She sent for the weavers, who made her a rope, two ropes, ⟨...⟩each a thousand metres long.

[699] 42. She made the falcons fly a hundred metres a day until they were strong. She put the children on her back and made them fly a hundred metres a day while the children cried: "Come, stones and mortar, the builders are without work! Come, stones and mortar, the builders are out of work! 43. Every day a hundred, the next day two hundred, three hundred, four hundred, until they reached the limit of a thousand metres; they learned it, they trained it. 44. She did her job, and the children learned. She sent [a message] to Ahiqar and said I have finished my work. 45. Ahiqar said to the king, [and] the king said to him: "Send to the king of Egypt and tell him: I will send you one who will answer all your questions. 46. I will send you one who will build you a house in heaven and send you... I am sending these to you — prepare a place for them to stay. 47. He put the eagles and the children in cages and placed them on the chariots. The chariots, a hundred soldiers, and Ahiqar set off. 48. They went — we do not want to prolong the story — and arrived in Egypt. They reached Egypt and settled in the place that had been prepared for them — it was an inn or something — they went there and got down. 49. Early in the morning, Ahiqar went to the king: "Greetings, O my king." He saluted back and asked: "Who are you?" Ahiqar replied: "I am one of my king's ants." 50. The king wondered: I wanted to know... who he is, and he says he is an ant. He replied: Truly, I am an ant. - Do you know what an ant is? An ant. 51. "Tell me your name!" He said: "My name is Sihar." He did not say Ahiqar, but my name is Sihar. Then the king said: "Go and come tomorrow!" 52. He put on something fine, black, and went in the morning and was asked: "Sihar!" He replied: "Please." Then the king replied: "Who do they look like?" Look like, that is, I look like - ⟨Ahiqar⟩ said: "You are like an idol, an idol, and these, your ministers, are your servants. Then he said: "Tomorrow, go and come!" 53. In the morning he put on something white like this, and his ministers wore something red. He went and asked: "How do I look like?" ⟨He replied:⟩ "My king, you look like the moon." ⟨He asked:⟩ "And the ministers?" ⟨Ahiqar answered:⟩ "The ministers are like the stars around you." like the stars. Then he said: "Go and come tomorrow!" 54. He put on something red, and his ministers all wore glittering clothes. glittering clothes. He went and asked: "O Sihar, how do I look like to you?" He said: "O my king, you are like the sun, and these are your rays; they shine, they are your rays." Then the king said: "Go, and come [back] tomorrow!" 55. The next day he dressed in something noble, and the ministers dressed in red, white, green, and various other colours. They went and ⟨asked the king⟩: "Dear Sihar, how do I look like to you?" He replied: "My king, you are like the month of April." He said: "And these?" ⟨He replied:⟩ "These are your fruits, your flowers." 56. The king said: "Well, I look like the month of April, but what does your king look like?" He said: "O my king, it is not proper for you to sit down and ask about my king. You must first stand up and then ask about him." Then ⟨the king⟩ said: "What? Is the name of your king so exalted?" ⟨He replied:⟩ "Yes, of course. When you are sitting, it is not proper to ask about my king; you must rise first!" 57. Then he stood up and said: "I look like the month of April—and your king?" He said: "My king, O my lord, my king is like the god of gods; he is like the month of May. May, when May comes, brings hail, rain, and cold—something that destroys all the edible plants of April." Again he said to him: "Go and come tomorrow!" 58. He went and said: "Dear Sihar, in the night I saw a big tree with twelve branches coming out of it—twelve.." "You are right, my king," he said, "the great tree is the year, and its branches are the twelve months." He said: "Go and come tomorrow!"

[700] 59. He went away. In the morning, he came and said: "Dear Sihar, during the night I saw a large tree bearing six clusters of grapes, thirty white and thirty black." He said: "That is true, my king. The black ones are for the night, and the white ones are for the day." He said: "Go, and come [back] tomorrow!" 60. He went and came [back] in the morning and said: "Dear Sihar, I want you to build me a castle in the sky." He said: "Gladly." 61. Night came. He tied the children to the backs of the falcons, and they flew away. ⟨He said:⟩ "Now fly a thousand metres!" – They shouted constantly: "Let's go! ⟨Bring us⟩ stones and mortar, the builders are out of work! Stones and mortar! Let's go! The builders are out of work!" The whole city heard them and woke up. 62. ⟨Ahiqar⟩ said: "Come! Bring them ⟨what they want,⟩ they work for money; do the builders work for me for free?" They are asking for it; bring them ⟨what they want,⟩ bring them stones and mortar!" But who could bring it? Then the king said: "Go, and come [back] tomorrow!" 63. He came in the morning and said: "Dear Sihar, last night your king's horse died in your king's horse in Baghdad, and here all our horses have lost their foals." He replied: "That is true, my king." 64. That night he went out and caught three cats, three cats, grabbed them, and beat them and beat them so loudly that they screamed. The whole neighbourhood heard it. They went to the king and said: "During the night he caught cats and beat them severely, but we do not know why." 65. Early in the morning he went to him[, who] said: "My dear Ahiqar, what have the cats done to you?" He said: "O my king, the cats have done great harm to my king." ⟨The king asked:⟩ "He had a rooster, a rooster, and during the night they went and killed it and returned." 66. He said: "What? In one night they went all the way to Baghdad, killed the rooster, and came back?" He said: "Yes, if my master's horse neighs there and your horses lose their foals here, why should not the cats go ⟨to Baghdad⟩ in one night, kill ⟨the rooster,⟩ and return?" Then the king said: "Go and come [back] tomorrow!" 67. In the morning he came and said: "I ask you to make me two ropes of dust." He agreed. Then he came and drilled the wall—three holes. In each hole he put a handful of dust, and the sun[light] always shone through. He scattered the dust, and the sun shone through—it was nothing but dust that shone through ⟨the hole⟩. 68. They went; he had made it; they went ⟨and saw it;⟩ it was a rope, a long rope. They wanted to grab it, but it could not be grabbed. They wanted to grab it, but it could not be grabbed. They went [back] and said to the king: "He truly made a rope, but we tried everything and could not grasp it with our hands. Then he said: "Go and come [back] tomorrow!" 69. In the morning he went and brought a millstone, a broken millstone, from the mill and said: "Truly, the stone, the millstone from our mill is broken; sew it [back] together, ⟨otherwise⟩ we will be left without flour!" 70. And he said: "My king, when I came, I had no thread—that is, no thread for sewing, [no] needle and [no] awl. Get me a needle and an awl; ⟨if⟩ I have ⟨them, then I⟩ will sew it up, it is no problem." He said: "Go and come [back] tomorrow!" 71. In the morning he went and said: "I ask you to let me hear a word that neither I nor the people of Egypt have heard." 72. Ahiqar came and thought and wrote a letter in the name of Pharaoh: "My brother Sennacherib, kings always need each other; my treasury is empty, so I ask you to send me nine tons of gold and seven years' taxes. I will return them to you as soon as I am able to stand on my feet." This he wrote in the name of Pharaoh. 73. He wrote it to the end, took it, and gave it to ⟨Pharaoh⟩. When he read it, he was shocked. Who had heard such a word? Neither he nor the people of Egypt had ⟨ever⟩ heard such a word. Then he asked: "Who are you?" He replied: "I am Ahiqar." He said: "But it was said that Ahiqar was dead?" He replied: "No, you heard it wrong. I am Ahiqar." 74. He took nine tons of gold and seven years' tax revenue and returned. 75. King Sennacherib said to him: "Dear Ahiqar, ask ⟨what you want.⟩ You have saved me and made me rich."

[701] 76. He said: "I want nothing from you; I ask you to give me my sister's son, Nadan." He replied: "Ask! ⟨You have brought me⟩ nine tons of gold and the tax revenue of seven years." He replied: "I have ⟨everything,⟩ I ask nothing of you." ‘77. To his sister's son Nadan he said: "Dear Nadan, my sister's son, you have become like the cat who was told: 'Come, we will clothe you with gold and make you a queen!' But she said, 'I have not forgotten my father's line. I am a cat, I will not become a [queen].'" This made Nadan angry.’ ‘78. He said: "Dear Nadan son of my sister, you have become like the head of a donkey, which was brought in and put on the table, but it rolled away and went to the threshing floor."’ ‘79. He said: "Dear Nadan, you have become like an axe, where it is said: the axe said , it said to the forest, 'I attack you!' The forest replied: 'If your handle had not been made of me, you would not have rebelled against me.'–The handle of the axe is indeed made of wood. At this, he became angry.’ ‘80. He said: "Dear Nadan, son of my sister, you have become like a trap. The trap had put a grain of wheat in its mouth. A bird came and asked: 'Dear uncle, what is this trap for?' The trap replied: 'I have put this grain of wheat for the hungry and the poor.' It, the bird, replied: 'Indeed, I am hungry.' Then the trap said: 'Come and eat! I have laid it out for people like you!' So the bird came and ate. But the trap caught it and beheaded it. ⟨The bird⟩ said: 'May God not accept your sacrifices.'’ 81. His sister's son fell ill and died.