Position in chronology
Ashurbanipal 110
Translation · reference
High confidence(1') [...] ... [...] the goddess Mulli[ssu ... s]ubstantial [...] and [... he brough]t to me and kis[sed my feet]. (6') [(As for) Ištar-dūrī (Sarduri III), the king of the land Urarṭu, whose kings, his ancestors], used to regularly send [(messages of) brotherly relations to] my [an]cestors, [...] ... who heard [...]. Moreover, he, accord[ing to this wording, ...] was (now) always sendi[ng his sub]stantial [audience gift(s) before me]. (10') [...] the land Bīt-Ḫumbê, which ... [...] that [...] him alive [...] I carried off [to Assyria ...] ... [...]
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/Q003809/
Why it matters
Records Urarṭian king Sarduri III's submission of audience gifts and renewed diplomatic ties to Ashurbanipal — rare cuneiform evidence of the northern kingdom's shift from rival to tributary in the late 7th century BCE.
Transliteration
[...] x [...] / [...] x NU x [...] / [...] dNIN.⸢LÍL?⸣ [...] / [...] ⸢ka⸣-bit-ti ⸢ù⸣ x [...] / [... ú-bi]-⸢la⸣-am-⸢ma⸣ ú-na-áš-[ši-qa GÌR.II-ia] / [m15-BÀD LUGAL KUR.ur-ar-ṭi ša LUGAL.MEŠ AD.MEŠ-šú a-na] ⸢AD.MEŠ⸣-ia iš-ta-nap-pa-⸢ru⸣-[u-ni ŠEŠ-ú-tú] / [...] x KID ša iš?-mu-u [...] / [...] ù šu-ú ki-i pi-[i an-nim-ma] / [... ta-mar-ta-šú] ⸢ka-bit⸣-tu uš-te-né-eb-⸢ba⸣-[la a-di maḫ-ri-ia] / [...] x…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Ashurbanipal or a late Sargonid successor, edited by Jamie Novotny & Joshua Jeffers (RINAP 5, 2018–). ORACC text Q003809.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P400400). 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/Q003809/.
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