Ashurbanipal 102

~655 BCE·Neo-Assyrian·Q003801

Translation · reference

High confidence

Two columns likely completely missing (i' 1') I conquered [fourteen fortified cities, his royal residence(s), and small(er) settlements, which were without number, together with twenty] village[s, in the district of t]he city Ḫunnir, [(which is) on] the border [of the city] Ḫidalu. (i´ 5´) I destroyed (and) [demolis]hed [the city B]ašimu and the villages [in] its [e]nvirons. (i' 7'b) As for the people [livi]ng inside them, I [an]nihilated them. I smashed their gods (and thus) placated [the m]ood of the lord of lords. (rev. i 1) [I] carried off to [Assyria] its [god]s, its goddesses, its…

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/Q003801/

Why it matters

Documents Ashurbanipal's campaign against Ḫidalu — including the removal of its gods to Assyria — a concrete instance of the deliberate religious humiliation used to subordinate a conquered people.

Transliteration

[a-di 20.ÀM] ⸢URU⸣.[MEŠ]1 / [ina na-ge-e šá] ⸢URU⸣.ḫu-un-⸢nir⸣ / [ina UGU] mì-iṣ-ri / [šá URU].ḫi-da-lu KUR-ud / [URU].⸢ba⸣-ši-mu ù URU.MEŠ / [šá] ⸢li⸣-me-ti-šú ap-pul / [aq]-⸢qur ša⸣ UN.MEŠ / [a]-⸢šib⸣ lìb-bi-šú-un / [ka]-⸢mar⸣-šú-nu áš-kun / ⸢ú⸣-šab-bir DINGIR.MEŠ-šú-un / ⸢ú⸣-šap-ši-iḫ / ⸢ka⸣-bat-ti EN EN.EN / [DINGIR].⸢MEŠ⸣-šú d15.⸢MEŠ⸣-šú / [NÍG.ŠU]-šú NÍG.[GA-šú] / ⸢UN⸣.MEŠ TUR ⸢u⸣ [GAL] /…

Scholarly note

Royal inscription of Ashurbanipal or a late Sargonid successor, edited by Jamie Novotny & Joshua Jeffers (RINAP 5, 2018–). ORACC text Q003801.

Attribution

Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P394808). 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/Q003801/.

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