Position in chronology
Ashurbanipal 150
Translation · reference
High confidence(1') [... a]nd the goddess Iš[tar ...] whee[l(s) ... the land] Elam [... (5´) ...] Tammar[ītu ... him]self [...] ... I/he took the d[irect road ...] m[y] troops [... dust storm]s were whirling abou[t ... (10´) ...] I slaught[ered] his [warrior]s [... l]ike grain, which [... a c]ommon (soldier), who [...] ..., the city Ar[... I] flattened an[d ... (15´) ...]s, as man[y as ...]
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/Q007558/
Why it matters
Chronicles Ashurbanipal's Elamite campaign alongside the rebel king Tammarītu, placing Ištar's intervention at the heart of Assyrian royal ideology in the wars that destroyed Elam in the 650s BCE.
Transliteration
[...] x [...] / [...] ⸢ù⸣ d⸢15⸣ [...] / [...] x ma-gar-⸢ri⸣ [...] / [... KUR].⸢e⸣-lam-ti ⸢ú⸣-[...] / [...] x mtam-ma-⸢ri⸣-[tú ...] / [...] ⸢AḪ⸣ ra-man-[šú? ...] / [...] x-nu uš-te-⸢eš⸣-[še-ra ḫar-ra-nu? ...] / [...] ⸢DA?⸣ ERIM.ḪI.A-⸢ia⸣ [...] / [... a-šam-šá]-⸢ti⸣ iṣ-ṣa-nun-⸢da⸣ [...] / [... qu-ra?]-⸢di⸣-šú ú-pal-⸢li⸣-[iq ...] / [...] ⸢ki⸣-ma ŠE.IM šá x [...] / [...] ⸢a?⸣-ḫu-ru-u ⸢šá⸣ x [...] / [...] x.KI URU.ar-x [...] / [...] ⸢as⸣-pu-un-⸢ma?⸣ [...] / [...].⸢MEŠ⸣ ma-⸢la?⸣ [...] / [...] x [...]
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Ashurbanipal or a late Sargonid successor, edited by Jamie Novotny & Joshua Jeffers (RINAP 5, 2018–). ORACC text Q007558.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P396491). 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/Q007558/.
Related tablets
Related sources
The earliest historical document in human history. Before this, we have lists, accounts, and dedications. Here, for the first time, a ruler tells us what happened — with names, places, and consequences.
The oldest surviving law code in human history. The principle that the state — not the wronged family — defines and enforces justice begins here.
Not the first law code, but the most complete and the most famous. Inscribed on a black diorite stele over two meters tall, displayed in a public place — law made visible, law made monumental.