Position in chronology
Ashurbanipal 172
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) [I, Ashurbanipal, king of Assyria, with the suppo]rt of (the god) Aššur and the goddess Iš[tar ...: Tamm]arītu, the king of the land Elam, the (very) image of gallû-demons, [did not inquire about the well-being of (my) lordly majesty], set out [to aid Šamaš-šuma]-ukīn, (my) hostile brother, [(and) hastily sent his weapons] t[o fight with my troops]. By the command of (the god) Aššur and the goddess Ištar, the gods who su[pport me, (5) Indabi]bi, a servant of his, rebelled against him and [sat on his throne. Tammarītu], his [brother]s, his family, the seed of his father’s house, and 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/Q007580/
Why it matters
Records Ashurbanipal's account of the Elamite king Tammarītu's betrayal and his own palace coup — a rare Assyrian royal text naming an internal Elamite dynastic rupture as divine punishment for siding with the rebel Šamaš-šuma-ukīn.
Transliteration
[a-na-ku mAN.ŠÁR-DÙ-A MAN KUR AN.ŠÁR.KI ina] ⸢tukul-ti⸣ AN.ŠÁR u d⸢15⸣ [...] / [... mtam]-⸢ma-ri-tú⸣ MAN ⸢KUR.ELAM⸣.KI tam-šil GAL₅.LÁ.⸢MEŠ?⸣ [la iš-al šu-lum EN-u-ti] / [a-na kit-ri mdGIŠ.NU₁₁-MU]-⸢GI.NA⸣ ŠEŠ nak-ri it-ba-a ⸢a⸣-[na mit-ḫu-ṣu ERIM.ḪI.A-ia]1 / [ur-ri-ḫa GIŠ.TUKUL.MEŠ-šú] ⸢ina qí-bit⸣ AN.ŠÁR u d15 DINGIR.MEŠ ti-[ik-le-ia] / [min-da-bi]-⸢bi ARAD-su EDIN-uš⸣-šú ib-bal-kit-ma ⸢ú⸣-[šib…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Ashurbanipal or a late Sargonid successor, edited by Jamie Novotny & Joshua Jeffers (RINAP 5, 2018–). ORACC text Q007580.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P394804). 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/Q007580/.
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