Position in chronology
Ashurbanipal 219
Translation · reference
High confidence(1') [...] ... [...] ... [...] ... the stars (lit. “writing”) of the firmament ... [...] I clad its (the canopy’s) perimeter with [thirty-four ta]lents (and) twenty mi[nas of] reddish [g]old (and thereby) reinforced [its] b[onds. (5´) Through the cr]aft of the god Kusiba[n]d[a], I made their [ap]pearance shine. Like the structure of heaven, I [...] (and) I stretched out its covering over the dwelling of the god [Marduk], the great lord, and (thus) secured [its] ro[of]. (7') [(As for) the throne]-dais, the inner sanctum of his (Marduk’s) exalted divinity, which is placed over the massive body…
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/Q007627/
Why it matters
Records Ashurbanipal's gold-clad renovation of Marduk's canopy and throne-dais in Babylon, documenting Assyrian investment in Babylonian cult as a deliberate tool of imperial legitimation.
Transliteration
[...] (traces of about 5 signs) DA [...] / [...] (traces of about 8 signs) DÙG.GA [...] / [...] x x-ti? ⸢ši?-ṭir?⸣ bu-ru-um-me? (traces of about 4 signs) [...] / [34] ⸢GUN⸣ 20 MA.[NA] ⸢KÙ⸣.GI ru-uš-šú-u kip-pat-su ú-šal-biš ú-dan-ni-⸢na rik?⸣-[se-šú] / [ina ši]-⸢pir⸣ dkù-si₂₂-⸢bàn-da ni?⸣-ṭi-il-šú-un ú-nam-mir GIM ši-kin AN-e uš?-x [x x (x)] / [e]-⸢li⸣ šu-bat ⸢d⸣[AMAR.UTU] EN GAL-e ṣu-lul-šú…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Ashurbanipal or a late Sargonid successor, edited by Jamie Novotny & Joshua Jeffers (RINAP 5, 2018–). ORACC text Q007627.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P452139). 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/Q007627/.
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