Position in chronology
Ashurbanipal 059
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) For the god Nabû, the exalted lord who dwells in Ezida — which is inside Nineveh — his lord: (2b) Ashurbanipal, king of Assyria, the one requested (and) required by his (Nabû’s) great divinity, who, at the issuing of his directive and the giving of his stern order, cut off the head of Teumman, the king of the land Elam, in the clash of battle. (6b) Moreover, by his great command, I defeated Ummanigaš (Ḫumban-nikaš II), Tammarītu, Paʾê, (and) Ummanaldašu (Ḫumban-ḫaltaš III), who had exercised kingship over the land Elam after Teumman, and (then) harnessed them to a processional carriage,…
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/Q003758/
Why it matters
Credits Nabû's divine command for Ashurbanipal's defeat of four successive Elamite kings — including Teumman's beheading at the Battle of Til-Tuba — and their humiliation as carriage-pullers, linking Assyrian military conquest explicitly to scribal-god patronage.
Transliteration
a-na dAG EN MAḪ a-šib é-zi-da / šá ŠÀ NINA.KI EN-šú mAN.ŠÁR-DÙ-A MAN KUR AŠ1 / i-riš-ti ḫi-šiḫ-ti DINGIR-ti-šú GAL-ti / šá ina šá-kan UMUŠ-šú u SUM ur-ti-šú DUGUD-ti / ina mit-ḫu-ṣi BAD₅.BAD₅ KUD-su SAG.DU mte-um-man / MAN KUR.ELAM.MA.KI u mum-man-i-gaš mtam-ma-ri-tú2 / mpa-ʾe-e mum-man-al-daš šá EGIR mte-um-man / DÙ-šú MAN-ut KUR.ELAM.KI ina qí-bi-ti-šú GAL-ti / qa-ti KUR-su-nu-ti-ma ina GIŠ.šá…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Ashurbanipal or a late Sargonid successor, edited by Jamie Novotny & Joshua Jeffers (RINAP 5, 2018–). ORACC text Q003758.
Attribution
Image: MS 2180 (Schøyen Collection, Oslo, Norway) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P250840). 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/Q003758/.
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