Position in chronology
Ashurbanipal 115
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) [I, Ashurbanipal, gre]at [king], stro[ng] king, king of the world, king of Assyria, king of the f[o]u[r] quarters (of the world); [offspring of Esarhaddon, king of A]ssyria; descendant of Sennacherib, king of Assyria — (3) [The great gods in their assembly] determined a favorable destiny as my lot [when] I [was a ch]ild (and) granted [...] as a gift to me, [(...)] the one who is assiduous towards their places (of worship). (5) [...] I completed [Eḫursaggalkur]kurra, the temple of (the god) Aššur, king of the gods, my lord. I clad [its walls with reddish gold] (and) made (them) shine like…
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/Q003814/
Why it matters
Records Ashurbanipal's completion and gold-cladding of Eḫursaggalkurkurra, Aššur's chief temple, linking royal construction piety to divinely ordained kingship in the Sargonid tradition.
Transliteration
[a-na-ku mAN.ŠÁR-DÙ-A MAN] ⸢GAL⸣ MAN dan-[nu] MAN ŠÚ MAN KUR aš-šur.KI MAN ⸢kib⸣-rat ⸢LÍMMU-tim⸣ / [ṣi-it lìb-bi mAN.ŠÁR-PAP-AŠ MAN KUR] ⸢aš⸣-šur.KI ŠÀ.BAL.BAL md30-PAP.MEŠ-SU MAN KUR aš-⸢šur.KI⸣ / [DINGIR.MEŠ GAL.MEŠ ina UKKIN-šú-nu ina? ṣe?]-⸢eḫ?-ri⸣-ia ši-mat da-mì-iq-ti i-ši-mu ši-im-⸢ti⸣ / [...] ⸢muš⸣-te-eʾ-ú ⸢áš⸣-ri-šú-un iš-ru-ku ši-rik-⸢ti⸣ / [... é-ḫur-sag-gal-kur]-⸢kur⸣-ra É AN.ŠÁR…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Ashurbanipal or a late Sargonid successor, edited by Jamie Novotny & Joshua Jeffers (RINAP 5, 2018–). ORACC text Q003814.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P395606). 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/Q003814/.
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