Position in chronology
Ashurbanipal 139
Translation · reference
High confidence(1') (and the gods) made me stand [ov]er m[y] foes in mighty victor[ies]. (3') [I ente]red the land Elam, [brought about] their (the Elamites’) [de]feat countless (times), (and) [ma]rched about triumphant[ly]. (5´) Ummanaldašu (Ḫumban-haltaš III) became frightened by the assault of [my might]y battle array, fl[ed] naked, [and too]k to the mountain(s). (7') [I co]nquered [fourteen] fortifie[d] cities, his [roy]al [residence(s)], and small(er) [se]ttlements, [which] were [without number, together with twenty villages, in the district of the city] Ḫunnir, [(which is) on the border of the city Ḫidalu. I destroy]ed (and) demolished [the city Bašimu and the villages in its environs].
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/Q007547/
Why it matters
Attests Ashurbanipal's campaign against Ḫumban-haltaš III of Elam — the routed king's flight 'naked' into the mountains marking one of Assyria's deepest penetrations into Elamite territory before Susa's sack.
Transliteration
ina ⸢li-i⸣-[ti] ⸢ù⸣ da-na-ni / ⸢ú⸣-šá-⸢zi⸣-zu-⸢in-ni EDIN ga⸣-re-⸢ia⸣ / ⸢qé-reb⸣ KUR.ELAM.MA.⸢KI⸣ [e-ru]-ub / ⸢BAD₅⸣.BAD₅-šú-nu ina la mì-ni [áš-kun at]-tal-lak šal-⸢ṭiš⸣ / [m]um-man-al-da-si ti-ib ⸢MÈ⸣-[ia dan]-⸢nu⸣ e-dur-ma / ⸢mi⸣-ra-nu-uš-šú in-⸢na⸣-[bit-ma iṣ-ba]-⸢ta⸣ šá-da-a / [14] URU.MEŠ dan-nu-⸢ti⸣ [mu-šab LUGAL]-ú-ti-šú / ⸢ù URU⸣.MEŠ ⸢TUR⸣.[MEŠ šá ni-i-ba la] i-šú-u / [a-di 20.ÀM URU.MEŠ…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Ashurbanipal or a late Sargonid successor, edited by Jamie Novotny & Joshua Jeffers (RINAP 5, 2018–). ORACC text Q007547.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P394805). 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/Q007547/.
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