Position in chronology
Ashurbanipal 184
Translation · reference
High confidence(1') (No translation possible) (2') (PN) [...] (3') Sixteen thousand bow(s) [...] (my) enemy ... [...]. (5') In order to exact re[venge ...] (the god) Aššur roused Ashurbanipal, the favor[ite of ...] mighty ones into his hand(s) [...]. (8') (PN), the envoy of Tammarīt[u, ...] made an appeal to my lordly majesty, saying, “O king, ... [...” (...)]. (10') The rest, who did not submit to my yoke, [...] I made (him) enter (and) sit on the throne of the land Elam. At the mentio[n of my name ... I marched f]rom the Upper Sea to the Low[er] Sea, [where the kings, my ancestors, had regularly…
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/Q007592/
Why it matters
Records Aššur's divine mandate empowering Ashurbanipal to install Tammarītu's envoy on the Elamite throne — direct evidence of Assyrian ideological justification for installing client kings in Elam, c. 655 BCE.
Transliteration
⸢m⸣x x x [...] / m(blank) [...] / 16 LIM GIŠ.PAN x [...] / na-ki-ri ka-KID?/É?-x [...] / a-na tu-ur-ri gi-[mil-li ...] / ⸢ú-šat-bi AN.ŠÁR mAN.ŠÁR⸣-DÙ-A mi-⸢gir?⸣ [...] / dan-nu-ti qa-tuš-šú [...] / m(blank) LÚ.MAḪ šá mtam-ma-ri-⸢tú⸣ [...] / ú-ṣal-la-a EN-u-ti um-⸢ma LUGAL⸣ x ⸢a-na IGI?⸣ [...] / si-it-tu-ti šá la ik-nu-šú a-na GIŠ.⸢ŠUDUN-ia⸣ x [...] / ú-še-rib ú-še-šib ina GIŠ.GU.ZA KUR.ELAM.MA.KI…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Ashurbanipal or a late Sargonid successor, edited by Jamie Novotny & Joshua Jeffers (RINAP 5, 2018–). ORACC text Q007592.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P397212). 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/Q007592/.
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The earliest historical document in human history.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.