Position in chronology
Ashurbanipal 116
Translation · reference
High confidence(i 1') [I made (the god) Aššur, (the great lord,) e]nter [into Eḫursaggula (“House, Big Mountain”)] (and) made (him) dwell (on his) eterna[l] dais. (i 2') [(At that time), the god Marduk, ..., the king of] the gods, required my priestly services (and) [..., I] strove to restore every type of divine object of his. (i 5´) [I skillfully made a bed of musukkannu-wood, a] durable [woo]d, (as) a pleasure bed. [(As for) the canopy, ...], which is stretched out (and) which is resplendent (as) the sun, [I ... (As for) the chariot, (...), which a king of] the past (who had come) before me had made,…
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/Q003815/
Why it matters
Records Ashurbanipal's restoration of Marduk's cult furniture — bed, canopy, and chariot — in Babylon, anchoring the Assyrian king's claim to legitimate rule over the south through priestly service to the Babylonian god.
Transliteration
[AN.ŠÁR (EN GAL-ú) ina é-ḫur-sag-gu-la ú-še]-⸢rib ú-šar-me pa-rak da-ra-a-ti⸣ / [... dAMAR.UTU ... LUGAL?] DINGIR.MEŠ iḫ-šu-ḫa-an-ni a-na LÚ.SANGA-ti1 / [... áš]-⸢te⸣-ʾa-a ud-du-šú mim-ma ši-pir DINGIR-ti-šú / [GIŠ.NÁ GIŠ.MES.MÁ.KAN.NA iṣ]-⸢ṣi⸣ da-re-e ma-a-a-al tak-né-e2 / [nak-liš e-pu-uš ...] x šu-ut-ru-ṣu šu-pu-u dUTU-šu3 / [... ša LUGAL] ⸢pa⸣-ni maḫ-ri-ia e-pu-šú4 / [... i]-⸢ʾa⸣-bit-ma…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Ashurbanipal or a late Sargonid successor, edited by Jamie Novotny & Joshua Jeffers (RINAP 5, 2018–). ORACC text Q003815.
Attribution
Image: BM 134557 (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P423256). 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/Q003815/.
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