Position in chronology
Ashurbanipal 005
Written in modern English
Ashurbanipal declares himself great king, strong king, king of the world, king of Assyria, king of the four quarters, son of Esarhaddon, governor of Babylon, king of Sumer and Akkad, and descendant of Sennacherib. The great gods, meeting in assembly, assigned him a favorable destiny, gave him a broad and receptive mind, and allowed him to master the full scribal arts. They made his name celebrated and raised his kingship above all others — though the text breaks off before that comparison is completed.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — scholar edition
RINAP 5(i 1) [I, Ashurbanipal, great king, strong king, king of the world, king of Assyria, king of the four quarters (of the world), off]spring [of Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, gov]ernor of B[abylon, kin]g of the land of Sumer and [Akkad, desce]ndant of Sennac[herib, kin]g of the world, king of A[ssyria] — (i 8) The great [go]ds in [their] as[sembly] determined a favorable [de]stiny [as my lot (and)] th[ey] gra[nted me a] broad [m]ind (and) allowed [my] mi[nd] to learn [a]ll of the scribal [arts]. They [glorified the] mention of my name (and) [made my] lord[ship greater] than (those of all other)…
Royal Inscriptions of the Neo-Assyrian Period, volume 5 — scholar edition (ORACC).
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Why it matters
Claims divine sanction for Ashurbanipal's legendary scribal literacy — a rare royal boast that a king personally mastered cuneiform learning, framing intellectual mastery as a god-given mark of legitimate rule.
Transliteration
[a-na-ku mAN.ŠÁR-DÙ-A LUGAL GAL-u LUGAL dan-nu] / [LUGAL ŠÚ LUGAL KUR AN.ŠÁR.KI LUGAL kib-rat LÍMMU-tim] / [È] ⸢lìb-bi⸣ [mAN.ŠÁR-PAP-AŠ MAN KUR AN.ŠÁR.KI] / [GÌR].⸢NÍTA KÁ⸣.[DINGIR.RA.KI] / ⸢LUGAL⸣ KUR EME.GI₇ ù [URI.KI] / [ŠÀ].⸢BAL⸣.BAL md30-PAP.⸢MEŠ⸣-[SU] / ⸢LUGAL⸣ kiš-šá-ti LUGAL ⸢KUR⸣ [AN.ŠÁR.KI] / ⸢DINGIR.MEŠ GAL⸣.MEŠ ina ⸢UKKIN⸣-[šú-nu] / ⸢ši⸣-mat SIG₅-⸢tim i-ši⸣-mu [šim-ti] / ⸢uz⸣-nu…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Ashurbanipal or a late Sargonid successor, edited by Jamie Novotny & Joshua Jeffers (RINAP 5, 2018–). ORACC text Q003704.
Attribution
Image: OIM A08112 (Oriental Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.earth/artifacts, P392338). 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/Q003704/.
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