Position in chronology
Ashurbanipal 215
Translation · reference
High confidence(i 1') [I enl]a[rged it]. (i 2') [I had a canopy, which] rivals the heave[ns], made [from m]usukkannu-[wood], a d[urable] wood. (i 5´) I [then] c[lad] its [peri]meter [with thirty-four ta]lents (and) twenty minas of [reddish] gold (and thereby) [rei]nforced [its] bonds. I stretched out its [cov]ering [ove]r the god Marduk, the great lord, [and (thus)] secured [its] roof. (i 11') [(As for) the] exalted [chariot], the vehicle of the god Mard[uk, the pre-emin]ent one among the gods, the lord of lor[d]s, I c[omple]ted [its] feature(s) [with gol]d, silver, (and) precio[us] stones. (i 15´) [I gave…
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/Q007623/
Why it matters
Records Ashurbanipal's gilding of Marduk's canopy and chariot with thirty-four talents of gold — concrete evidence of Assyrian royal investment in Babylonian cult as a tool of political legitimation.
Transliteration
[ú]-⸢rab⸣-[ba-a EDIN-uš-šú] / [ú]-še-piš-[ma GIŠ.er-me a-nu] / [GIŠ].⸢MES⸣.MÁ.KAN.⸢NA iṣ-ṣi da⸣-[re-e] / [šá] šit-nu-nu šá-ma-[me-eš] / [34] ⸢GUN⸣ 20 MA.NA KÙ.⸢GI⸣ [ḪUŠ.A] / [kip]-pat-su ú-⸢šal⸣-[biš] / [ú]-⸢dan⸣-ni-na rik-se-⸢e⸣-[šú] / [e]-⸢li⸣ dAMAR.UTU EN GAL-[e] / [ṣu]-lul-šú at-ru-uṣ-[ma] / [ú]-kin ta-ra-an-[šú] / [GIŠ.GIGIR] ṣir-tu ru-kub dAMAR.⸢UTU⸣ / [e]-⸢tel⸣-li DINGIR.MEŠ EN EN.⸢EN⸣ /…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Ashurbanipal or a late Sargonid successor, edited by Jamie Novotny & Joshua Jeffers (RINAP 5, 2018–). ORACC text Q007623.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P394587). 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/Q007623/.
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