Position in chronology
Sîn-šarru-iškun 03
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) [I, Sîn-šarra-iškun, ... king of] the world, king of Assyria, [... of the god Marduk (and) the goddess Zarp]anītu, beloved of the god Nabû (and) the goddess Tašmētu, [...; son of Ashurbanipal, ..., king of Assyria], king of the land of Sumer [and] Akkad; son of Esarhaddon, ... [...; son of Sennacherib, ...; descendant of Sargon (II), ..., governor of B]abylon, king of the land of Sumer and [Akkad]: (5) [...] ... whom they (the gods) made pre-emine[nt, ...] ..., they held [my] for[m] in high esteem [...] ... for king[ship ...]. (8) [...] ... [...] ... [...] ... [...], the sage of the gods,…
Source: Novotny, J. & Jeffers, J. 2018–. The Royal Inscriptions of Ashurbanipal (668–631 BC), Aššur-etel-ilāni (630–627 BC) and Sîn-šarra-iškun (626–612 BC), Kings of Assyria. RINAP 5. University Park, PA: Eisenbrauns. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap5/Q003864/
Why it matters
Attests Sîn-šarru-iškun's full Sargonid titulary — king of Assyria, Sumer, and Akkad — anchoring his legitimacy claim within a dynastic chain stretching back to Sargon II, just years before Assyria's collapse in 612 BCE.
Transliteration
[... LUGAL] ŠÚ LUGAL ⸢KUR⸣ AN.⸢ŠÁR.KI?⸣ [...] / [... dAMAR.UTU dzar]-⸢pa-ni⸣-tum na-ram dAG d⸢taš-me-tum⸣ (traces) [...] / [... LUGAL KUR AN.ŠÁR].⸢KI?⸣ LUGAL ⸢KUR EME.GI₇⸣ [u] ⸢URI.KI DUMU? mAN?.ŠÁR?⸣-(traces) [...] / [... GÌR.NÍTA] ⸢KÁ?.DINGIR?.RA?.KI? LUGAL⸣ KUR ⸢EME.GI₇ u?⸣ [URI.KI] / [...] ⸢ša⸣ x ŠÚ x ⸢ú⸣-še-ṣu-u a-na re-še-⸢e⸣-[ti] / [...] x-niš SAG.DU ú-šá-qí-ru nab-⸢ni⸣-[ti] / [...] x (x)…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Ashurbanipal or a late Sargonid successor, edited by Jamie Novotny & Joshua Jeffers (RINAP 5, 2018–). ORACC text Q003864.
Attribution
Image: BM 122613 (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P422399). source
Translation excerpted from Novotny, J. & Jeffers, J. 2018–. The Royal Inscriptions of Ashurbanipal (668–631 BC), Aššur-etel-ilāni (630–627 BC) and Sîn-šarra-iškun (626–612 BC), Kings of Assyria. RINAP 5. University Park, PA: Eisenbrauns. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap5/Q003864/.
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