Position in chronology
Ashurbanipal 007
Translation · reference
High confidence(i 1) I, Ashurbanipal, great king, [strong] ki[ng], king of the world, king of Assyria, king of the [four] quarters (of the world), offspring of Esarhaddon, kin[g of Assyria], governor of Babylon, king of the land of Sum[er and Akkad], descendant of Sennacherib, ki[ng of the world, king of Assyria] — (i 6) [The gr]e[at gods] in [their assembly determined a favorable destiny as my lot] (i 1') [I stretch]ed out [its covering over the god Marduk, the great lord], and (thus) [secured its roof]. (i 2') [(As for) the] exalted [chariot, the veh]icle of the god [Marduk], the pre-eminent one among the…
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/Q003706/
Why it matters
Records Ashurbanipal's restoration of Marduk's chariot and shrine roof, linking Assyrian royal piety toward Babylon's chief god to the ideological balancing act of ruling both Assyria and Babylonia simultaneously.
Transliteration
a-na-ku mAN.ŠÁR-DÙ-A LUGAL GAL ⸢LUGAL⸣ [dan-nu]1 / LUGAL ŠÚ LUGAL KUR aš-šur.KI LUGAL kib-rat [LÍMMU-tim] / ṣi-it lìb-bi mAN.ŠÁR-PAP-AŠ ⸢LUGAL⸣ [KUR aš-šur.KI] / GÌR.NÍTA ⸢KÁ⸣.DINGIR.RA.KI LUGAL KUR ⸢EME⸣.[GI₇ u URI.KI] / ⸢ŠÀ.BAL.BAL <m>d30-PAP.MEŠ-SU LUGAL⸣ [ŠÚ LUGAL KUR aš-šur.KI] / [DINGIR.MEŠ] ⸢GAL?⸣.[MEŠ] ina [UKKIN-šú-nu si-mat SIG₅-tim i-šim-mu šim-ti]2 / [at-ru]-⸢uṣ-ma⸣ [ú-kin…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Ashurbanipal or a late Sargonid successor, edited by Jamie Novotny & Joshua Jeffers (RINAP 5, 2018–). ORACC text Q003706.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Kalhu (mod. Nimrud) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P429033). 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/Q003706/.
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