Position in chronology
Ashurbanipal 124
Translation · reference
High confidence(1') [...] he saw and ... [...] and in order to destroy ... [...] his boat(s), which from bef[ore ...] of the city Tyre, their ... [... (5´) ... fo]r their food (and) water for [their] dri[nk ...] I made (them) scarc[e] for their mouths [...] ... [...]
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/Q003823/
Why it matters
Records Ashurbanipal's naval blockade of Tyre — cutting off food and water to the island city — one of the few cuneiform accounts of Assyrian siege warfare at sea.
Transliteration
[...] x ⸢e-mur⸣-ma KI x [...] / [...] x-ma a-na ḫa-la-qí na-bu-x [...] / [...] ⸢šap⸣-pi-na-ti-šú šá ul-tu pa-[an ...] / [...]-⸢ti⸣ URU.ṣur-ri PA-li-šin ú-x [...] / [...] ⸢ana⸣ ma-ka-li-šú-nu A.MEŠ ana maš-⸢ti⸣-[ti-šú-nu ...] / [...] x a-na pi-i-šú-un ú-šá-⸢qir⸣ [...] / [...] x x x x x x (x) [...]
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Ashurbanipal or a late Sargonid successor, edited by Jamie Novotny & Joshua Jeffers (RINAP 5, 2018–). ORACC text Q003823.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P400408). 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/Q003823/.
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