Position in chronology
Ashurbanipal 222
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) [For the god Marduk, ...] ..., my lord — (2) [I, Ashurbanipal, great king, strong king, king of the world, king of Assyria], king of the four quarters (of the world); [offspring of Esarhaddon, king of Assyria; descendant of Sennac]herib, king of Assyria: (4) I completed [Eḫursaggalkurkurra, the temple of (the god) Aššur, king of the gods], my [lor]d. [I clad its walls with reddish gold (and) made (them) s]h[i]ne like daylight. [I made (the god) Aššur, (the great lord,) enter into Eḫursaggula (“House, Big Mountain”) (and) made (him) dwell (on his)] eternal [dai]s. (7) [(At that time), 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/Q007630/
Why it matters
Records Ashurbanipal's completion and gilding of Eḫursaggalkurkurra at Aššur, anchoring the temple's mid-7th-century renovation to a named Sargonid king and his building piety toward Marduk and Aššur alike.
Transliteration
[a-na dAMAR.UTU? ...] x x x ⸢EN⸣-ia1 / [a-na-ku mAN.ŠÁR-DÙ-A MAN GAL MAN dan-nu MAN ŠÚ MAN KUR aš-šur.KI] ⸢MAN kib⸣-rat LÍMMU-tim2 / [ṣi-it lìb-bi mAN.ŠÁR-PAP-AŠ MAN KUR aš-šur.KI ŠÀ.BAL.BAL md30]-⸢PAP?.MEŠ?-SU?⸣ MAN KUR aš-šur.KI3 / [é-ḫur-sag-gal-kur-kur-ra É AN.ŠÁR LUGAL DINGIR.MEŠ] ⸢EN?-ia? ú⸣-šak-lil / [É.GAR₈.MEŠ-šú KÙ.GI ḫu-uš-šu-ú ú-šal-bi-iš ú]-⸢nam-mir⸣ ki-ma u₄-me / [AN.ŠÁR (EN GAL-ú)…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Ashurbanipal or a late Sargonid successor, edited by Jamie Novotny & Joshua Jeffers (RINAP 5, 2018–). ORACC text Q007630.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P394098). 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/Q007630/.
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