Position in chronology
Ashurbanipal 169
Translation · reference
High confidence(1') [...] to pacify the h[eart of ...] those [Ela]mites [...] they inflicted [a heav]y [defeat on him]. The head of Teu[mman ... (5´) ...], the leader of the troop[s of ...]-Aššur, the cavalryman, to pra[ise ...] ... [...]. (8') [...]s I made his weapons greater [...], mules, equipment of wa[r, ...] ... of my battle troops without [...]. (11') [... the city Ša-p]ī-Bēl, a city upon which [he] relie[d, ...] I burned (it) [with fi]re, whose location [...]. (13') [...] by the command of (the god) Aššur, my lord, I c[onquered ... the bo]nes of Bēl-iqīša [... (15´) ... sons of Nabû-šuma-ēreš, the š]andabakku (governor of Nippur), who the se[a]coast [...] with Aplāya [... Samgunu, the] second [brother of Dunān]u, with [...]
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/Q007577/
Why it matters
Chronicles Ashurbanipal's Elamite campaign — including the defeat of Teumman and the burning of Ša-pī-Bēl — while naming provincial officials like the šandabakku of Nippur, anchoring Assyrian imperial reach into Babylonia.
Transliteration
[...] x [...] / [...] a-na nu-⸢uḫ-ḫi lìb?⸣-[bi ...] / [... KUR].⸢ELAM⸣.MA.KI-a-a šú-nu-⸢ti⸣ [...] / [... di-ik-ta-šú? ma-(aʾ)-as]-⸢su?⸣ i-du-ku SAG.⸢DU⸣ m⸢te-um⸣-[man ...] / [...] x a-⸢lik⸣ IGI ERIM.[MEŠ ...] / [...] x-aš-šur LÚ.šá pét-ḫal ⸢a-na da-la⸣-[li? ...] / [...] ⸢ṬU KI⸣ [...] / [...] x.MEŠ ú-šar-bu-u GIŠ.⸢TUKUL⸣.MEŠ-šú [...] / [...] x ANŠE.KUNGA.MEŠ GIŠ.til-⸢li MÈ⸣ [...] / [...] x…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Ashurbanipal or a late Sargonid successor, edited by Jamie Novotny & Joshua Jeffers (RINAP 5, 2018–). ORACC text Q007577.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P395617). 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/Q007577/.
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