Position in chronology
Ashurbanipal 131
Translation · reference
High confidence(1') [...] (the god) Aššur and the goddess Ištar [...] favorable [...] brothers [... (5´) ... eight]y-five nobles [...] fled to me an[d ...] (the god) Aššur (and) the goddess [Ištar ...]
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/Q007539/
Why it matters
Attests Aššurbanipal invoking Aššur and Ištar to legitimize the defection of eighty-five named nobles — a concrete glimpse of how Sargonid kings framed elite realignment as divine favor.
Transliteration
[...] x [...] / [...] AN.ŠÁR u d15 [...] / [...] SIG₅-tim [...] / [...] x KI ŠEŠ.<<PAP>>.MEŠ-[...]1 / [...] ⸢85⸣ NUN.MEŠ [...] / [...] ⸢in⸣-nab-tú-nim-⸢ma⸣ [...] / [...] x ⸢AN⸣.ŠÁR ⸢d⸣[15 ...]
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Ashurbanipal or a late Sargonid successor, edited by Jamie Novotny & Joshua Jeffers (RINAP 5, 2018–). ORACC text Q007539.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P400423). 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/Q007539/.
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