Ashurbanipal 160

~655 BCE·Neo-Assyrian·Q007568

Translation · reference

High confidence

Obverse edited as text no. 159 (r 1) [For the goddess Bēlet-parṣē] who resides in the House of Succession [that is inside Nineveh, the great lady, my lady] — (r 2b) I, Ashurbanipal, king of the world, king of Assyria [...] made his kin[gship] great [... grand]son of Sennacherib, ki[ng of Assyria, (rev. 5) ...] to preserve [m]y l[ife, ..., to make] the foundation(s) of [m]y royal throne [firm, ...] I restored. (r 7b) (As for) the one who [erase]s my [inscribed] name (or) [the name of] my [fathe]r (or) my grandfather (and) [writes] his (own) name, [may] the goddess Bēlet-parṣē, the great lady, [make his name (and) see]d [disappear] from the land. (r 10) That which is (written) upon the ... [...].

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/Q007568/

Why it matters

Dedicates a restored shrine to Bēlet-parṣē within Nineveh's House of Succession, then invokes her curse on any ruler who erases Ashurbanipal's dynastic name — a rare attestation of this goddess as guardian of Sargonid legitimacy.

Transliteration

[ana? dGAŠAN-GARZA?] a-ši-⸢bat⸣ É UŠ-u-ti / [šá? qé-reb? NINA.KI? GAŠAN? GAL-tú? GAŠAN-ia? a]-⸢na?-ku?⸣ mAN.ŠÁR-DÙ-A LUGAL ŠÚ LUGAL ⸢KUR⸣ [AN].ŠÁR.KI / [...] x ú-šar-bu-u ⸢LUGAL-us⸣-su / [... DUMU] DUMU md30-PAP.MEŠ-SU ⸢LUGAL⸣ [KUR AN.ŠÁR].KI / [...] x a-na TI.LA ⸢ZI?⸣-[tì]-⸢ia⸣ / [... kun-ni] ⸢SUḪUŠ GIŠ.GU⸣.ZA LUGAL-[ti]-⸢ia⸣ / [...] ⸢GIBIL?⸣-ìš ša šu-mì [šaṭ-ru] / [MU] ⸢AD-ia AD⸣ AD-ia…

Scholarly note

Royal inscription of Ashurbanipal or a late Sargonid successor, edited by Jamie Novotny & Joshua Jeffers (RINAP 5, 2018–). ORACC text Q007568.

Attribution

Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P394828). 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/Q007568/.

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