Position in chronology
Ashurbanipal 079
Translation · reference
High confidence(i 1) On my sixth campaign, I marched against Urtaku, the king of the land Elam who did not remember the kindness of the father who had engendered me (nor) did he respect my friendship. After famine occurred in the land Elam (and) hunge[r] had set in, (i 5) I sent to him grain, (which) sustains the live(s) of [people], and (thus) held [him by the hand]. (As for) his [peopl]e, who [had fled] on account of the famine [and sett]led in [Assyria until it r]aine[d] (again) in his land (and) [harvests grew — (i 10) I sent t]hose [people] wh[o] had st[ayed alive in m]y [land (back) to him. But (as…
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/Q003778/
Why it matters
Records Assyria's grain relief to famine-struck Elam and the repatriation of Elamite refugees — then frames Urtaku's subsequent aggression as ingratitude, revealing how Sargonid kings cast humanitarian acts as instruments of political obligation.
Transliteration
ina 6-ši ger-ri-⸢ia⸣ / UGU mur-ta-ki MAN KUR.ELAM.MA.KI lu-u al-lik / ⸢ša⸣ MUN AD ba-ni-ia la ⸢ḫa⸣-as-su la iṣ-ṣu-⸢ru ib-ru-ti⸣ / ⸢ul⸣-tu ina KUR.ELAM.MA.KI su-un-⸢qu⸣ iš-ku-nu ib-ba-šu-u ⸢né-eb-re-tú⸣ / ⸢d⸣nisaba ba-laṭ ZI-tim [UN.MEŠ] / ⸢ú?-še⸣-bil-šu-ma ⸢aṣ⸣-bat [ŠU.II-su] / [UN].⸢MEŠ-šú ša la-pa⸣-an su-⸢un⸣-qí [in-nab-tu-nim-ma] / [ú-ši]-⸢bu⸣ qé-reb [KUR aš-šur.KI] / [a-di zu]-⸢un⸣-nu ina…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Ashurbanipal or a late Sargonid successor, edited by Jamie Novotny & Joshua Jeffers (RINAP 5, 2018–). ORACC text Q003778.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P394771). 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/Q003778/.
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