Position in chronology
Ashurbanipal 164
Translation · reference
High confidence(1') [...] sons [...]. (2') Teumman, the king of the la[nd Elam who had been struck during my mighty battle], fl[ed] in order to sav[e] (his) life [and slipped into the forest. The a]xle of the wagon, [the v]ehicle of his royal majesty, br[oke and it overturned upon him]. (5') Teumman, <who>, during a los[s of (all) r]eason, [said] to hi[s] son: “[Shoot the bow]!” (6') Teum[man, the king of] the land Elam, whom (his) [wagon had cast down and whom Tammarītu], his son, had helped up, [grasping his hands]. (8') [Teumman, the king of the lan]d Elam who [had been struck] during a [mighty] battl[e…
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/Q007572/
Why it matters
Narrates the death of the Elamite king Teumman at the Battle of the Ulaya River (653 BCE): one of the few royal inscriptions to preserve a verbatim last command attributed to a defeated enemy king.
Transliteration
[(x)] ⸢DUMU.MEŠ⸣ [...] / mte-⸢um⸣-man MAN ⸢KUR⸣.[ELAM.MA.KI ša ina MÈ-ia dan-ni muḫ-ḫu-ṣu] / ⸢a⸣-na šu-zu-⸢ub ZI-tim in-nab⸣-[tú-ma iḫ-lu-up qé-reb GIŠ.TIR] / [bu]-⸢bu-ut⸣ GIŠ.ṣu-um-bi ⸢ru⸣-kub MAN-ti-šú iš-⸢še⸣-[bir-ma ip-pal-síḫ EDIN-uš-šú] / mte-⸢um⸣-man <ša> ina mi-⸢qit ṭè⸣-e-me a-na DUMU-⸢šú⸣ [iq-bu-u šu-le-e GIŠ.PAN] / mte-⸢um⸣-[man MAN] ⸢KUR⸣.ELAM.MA.KI ša GIŠ.[ṣu-um-bu id-du-šú-ma] /…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Ashurbanipal or a late Sargonid successor, edited by Jamie Novotny & Joshua Jeffers (RINAP 5, 2018–). ORACC text Q007572.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P395615). 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/Q007572/.
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