Ashurbanipal 213

~655 BCE·Neo-Assyrian·Q007621

Translation — scholar edition

RINAP 5

High confidence

(1') [who provides str]ewn offerings, who quick[ly dispatches] the meal-offer[ing(s) for the great gods]; (2') supreme [hei]r of Ekur, who renders decision(s) for cities l[ike the divine light (Sîn)] (and) proclai[ms truth], who carries out the cultic rite(s) of the office of supreme power, who ke[eps secret(s)], (5´) without whom no [deliberation] is hel[d] in Ekur, who watches over the command of everything, who constantly brings [instructions] before the god Sîn, the d[ivine light]; (8') righteous judge, who sees the mind of [the people], who purifies the just and [the wicked] like the…

Royal Inscriptions of the Neo-Assyrian Period, volume 5 — scholar edition (ORACC).

Why it matters

Hymns Ashurbanipal as supreme heir of Ekur and judge who discerns the just from the wicked, yoking royal legitimacy directly to the moon-god Sîn's cosmic authority over law and truth.

Transliteration

[na-din sur]-qin-ni mu-⸢šaḫ⸣-[miṭ] ⸢tak-li⸣-[me šá DINGIR.MEŠ GAL.MEŠ]1 / ⸢IBILA⸣ é-kur šur-bu-⸢ú šá ki⸣-[ma dŠEŠ.KI-ri] / EŠ.BAR URU.URU i-par-ra-su ú-šá-⸢pu⸣-[u ki-na-a-ti] / mut-tab-bil GARZA dEN.LÍL-ú-ti ⸢na⸣-[ṣir pi-riš-ti] / šá e-la šá-a-šú ina é-kur la iš-šak-⸢ka⸣-[nu ši-tul-tú] / ḫa-a-a-iṭ ur-ti gim-ri mu-še-rib [te-re-e-ti] / kak-dà-a ma-ḫar d30 d⸢ŠEŠ⸣.[KI-ri] / da-a-a-an kit-ti ba-ru-u…

Scholarly note

Royal inscription of Ashurbanipal or a late Sargonid successor, edited by Jamie Novotny & Joshua Jeffers (RINAP 5, 2018–). ORACC text Q007621.

Attribution

Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P397934). 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/Q007621/.

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