Position in chronology
Šamši-Adad IV 2
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) [Šamšī]-Adad (IV), strong king, [king of the world, king of Assyria ...], chosen of the gods Aššur and [Šamaš, ...] beloved of the gods, [...], his [lords]; son of Tiglath-pileser (I) [...]. (5) [The ... of the goddess Išta]r of Nineveh, my lady, which [... had previously restored] had again become dilapidated and [... rebuilt it and again] it had become dilapidated. Now its terrace [...] I built anew (and) finished (it) [...] ... [...]
Source: Royal Inscriptions of Assyria online (RIAo), Munich Open-access Cuneiform Corpus Initiative (MOCCI), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München; in association with the RINAP Project, University of Pennsylvania. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/riao/Q006002/
Why it matters
Transliteration
[mšam-ši-d]IŠKUR MAN KAL [MAN KIŠ MAN KUR aš-šur?] / [...] ni-šit ⸢aš⸣-šur ⸢ù⸣ [dUTU? ...] / [...] x-nu ÁGA-am d[...] / [...].⸢MEŠ⸣-šu DUMU GISKIM-A-é-šár-[ra ...] / [... diš₈]-⸢tár⸣ URU.ni-nu-a NIN-ia ša m[...] / [...] x-ú? i-túr e-na-aḫ-⸢ma⸣ [...] / [...] x e-na-aḫ-ma ù tam-la-šu x [...] / [... a-na eš]-⸢šu⸣-ut-te ar-ṣip ú-⸢šék⸣-lil ⸢UGU⸣ [...] / [...] ŠÀM 3-at ra ka ni ša ut x [...] / [...] x x x x x ⸢ia? al?⸣ [...]
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of an Assyrian king, published in the Royal Inscriptions of Assyria online project (RIAo). Translation reproduced from the ORACC edition. ORACC text Q006002.
Attribution
Image: Based on A. Kirk Grayson, Assyrian Rulers of the Early First Millennium BC I (1114-859 BC) (RIMA 2), Toronto, 1991. Adapted by Jamie Novotny (2015-16) and lemmatized and updated by Nathan Morello (2016-17) for the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation-funded OIMEA Project at the Historisches Seminar - Abteilung Alte Geschichte of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. The annotated edition is released under the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike license 3.0. Please cite this page as http://oracc.org/riao/Q006002/..
Translation excerpted from Royal Inscriptions of Assyria online (RIAo), Munich Open-access Cuneiform Corpus Initiative (MOCCI), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München; in association with the RINAP Project, University of Pennsylvania. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/riao/Q006002/.
Related tablets
Related sources
The earliest historical document in human history. Before this, we have lists, accounts, and dedications. Here, for the first time, a ruler tells us what happened — with names, places, and consequences.
The oldest surviving law code in human history. The principle that the state — not the wronged family — defines and enforces justice begins here.
Not the first law code, but the most complete and the most famous. Inscribed on a black diorite stele over two meters tall, displayed in a public place — law made visible, law made monumental.