Position in chronology
Ashurbanipal 190
Translation · reference
High confidence(i 1) [Before] my [father] was bor[n] (and) my [birt]h-[mother] was created in [her] moth[er’s] womb, the god Sîn, who created me to be king, named me [to] (re)build Eḫulḫul, (i 5) saying: “Ashurbanipal will (re)build that temple and make me dwell therein upon an eternal dais.” The word of the god Sîn, which he had spoken in distant days, he now revealed to the people of a later generation. He allowed the temple of the god Sîn — which Shalmaneser (III), son of Ashurnasirpal (II), (i 10) [a ki]ng of the past (who had come) before me, had built — to become [ol]d and [he entrus]ted (its…
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/Q007598/
Why it matters
Sîn's prenatal naming of Ashurbanipal as rebuilder of Eḫulḫul — the moon-god's temple at Ḥarrān — grounds a political construction project in divine predestination, illustrating how Sargonid kings legitimised costly building programmes through celestial prophecy.
Transliteration
[a-di a-di-ni a]-⸢bi la im-ma-al-la?⸣-[du] / [um-mì a-lit]-ti ⸢la ba⸣-na-a-ta ina lìb-bi ⸢AMA?⸣-[šá] / [a-na] ⸢e⸣-peš é-ḫúl-ḫúl iz-kur ni-bit MU-⸢ia⸣ / ⸢d⸣30 šá ib-na-an-ni a-na LUGAL-u-ti / um-ma mAN.ŠÁR-DÙ-A É.KUR šú-a-tú ip-pu-uš-ma / qé-reb-šú ú-⸢šar⸣-man-ni pa-rak da-ra-a-ti / ⸢a⸣-mat d30 šá ul-tu u₄-me ru-qu-ti iq-bu-u / e-nen-na ú-kal-lim UN.MEŠ ar-ku-u-ti / ⸢É⸣ d30 šá…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Ashurbanipal or a late Sargonid successor, edited by Jamie Novotny & Joshua Jeffers (RINAP 5, 2018–). ORACC text Q007598.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P394785). 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/Q007598/.
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The earliest historical document in human history.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.