Position in chronology
Ashurbanipal 062
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) T[o the gre]at [lord, ...], powerful, sple[n]di[d, ...], foremost among the Igīgū and Anunnakū gods, lord of [...], unrivalled king, my lord, ... [...]: (5) I, Ashurbanipal, king of [Assyria, ...] ... [... the one who] is assiduous towards [your] place[s (of worship), ...] who day and night ... [...], the one who reveres your gre[at] divinity [...] ... [...] the one who directs gods and hum[anity ...], the one who prolongs (my) days, [...], I, Ashurba[nipal, ...], (rev. 1) son of the king of the gods [...] in his good physical health [...], shepherdship ... [...] (r 4) You (Marduk), be…
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/Q003761/
Why it matters
Transliteration
a-⸢na⸣ [EN] ⸢GAL-i⸣ [...] / gaš-⸢ru šit-ra-ḫu⸣ [...] / a-⸢šá⸣-red d⸢í-gì-gì⸣ u ⸢dGÉŠ.U EN⸣ [...] / ⸢LUGAL⸣ la ⸢šá⸣-na-an EN-⸢ía KU⸣ x [...] / ⸢ana?-ku?⸣ [m]⸢AN⸣.ŠÁR-DÙ-A MAN ⸢KUR⸣ [AN.ŠÁR.KI ...] / x-bu-u-⸢ti⸣ x x [...] / ⸢muš⸣-te-eʾ-u aš-⸢ri⸣-[ka? ...] / ⸢šá?⸣ ur-ru u GI₆ DIŠ IM x [...] / pa-liḫ DINGIR-ti-ka ⸢GAL⸣-[ti ...] / um?-ma-ma DIŠ AN x [...] / a-šir DINGIR.MEŠ u ⸢LÚ?⸣ [...] / mu-rik…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Ashurbanipal or a late Sargonid successor, edited by Jamie Novotny & Joshua Jeffers (RINAP 5, 2018–). ORACC text Q003761.
Attribution
Image: Created by Jamie Novotny and Joshua Jeffers, 2015-18. Lemmatized by Jamie Novotny, 2017, for the Munich Open-access Cuneiform Corpus Initiative (MOCCI), a corpus-building initiative funded by LMU Munich and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (through the establishment of the Alexander von Humboldt Chair for Ancient History of the Near and Middle East) and based 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/rinap/Q003761/..
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/Q003761/.
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.