Position in chronology
Ashurbanipal 012
Written in modern English
The inscription records gifts made to the god Marduk, who is said to love the king's reign: a bed of ebony — described as durable wood — clad in reddish gold, along with another bed laden with sexual charm whose placement is only partially preserved. Six fierce wild bulls cast in silver, guardians of the royal path, were installed at three named gates — the Luguduene Gate, the Gate of the Rising Sun, and the Lamma-RA.BI Gate — all entrances to Ezida, the temple complex inside Borsippa. Finally, the king had Kizalaga, the seat of the god Nūru, cast from eighty-three talents of gleaming zaḫalû-metal and fitted with appurtenances meant to make it blaze like a brazier, though the account breaks off before the work is fully described.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — scholar edition
RINAP 5(i 1') I placed (the bed) [...] ... [... which] is laden [with sexual charm]. (i 2'b) I presented the god Marduk, the one who loves my reign, with [a b]ed of ebony, a dur[able] wood, (and) which is clad with reddish gold. (i 4') I stationed six fierce wild bulls of silver, protectors of my royal path, in the Luguduene Gate, the Gate of the Rising Sun, and the Lamma-RA.BI Gate, in the gateway(s) of Ezida, which is inside Borsippa. (i 7') I cast Kizalaga, the seat of the god Nūru, with eighty-three talents of shiny zaḫalû-metal and, to make (it) shine (like) a brazier, I had the appurtenance(s)…
Royal Inscriptions of the Neo-Assyrian Period, volume 5 — scholar edition (ORACC).
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Why it matters
Records Ashurbanipal's lavish furnishing of Ezida at Borsippa — an ebony bed for Marduk, silver wild-bull guardians, and 83 talents of zaḫalû-metal — documenting Assyrian royal patronage of the great Babylonian sanctuaries.
Transliteration
[...] x x x [...]1 / sa-al-ḫu ad-di [GIŠ].⸢NÁ⸣ GIŠ.ESI iṣ-ṣi ⸢dà⸣-[re-e]2 / šá KÙ.GI ḪUŠ.A lit-bu-šat a-na dAMAR.UTU ra-aʾ-im BALA-ia a-qiš3 / 6 AM.MEŠ KÙ.BABBAR ek-du-ti na-ṣi-ru ki-bi-is LUGAL-ti-ia4 / ina KÁ lú-gú-dù-e-ne KÁ ṣi-it dUTU-ši u KÁ dLAMMA-RA.BI / ina KÁ é-zi-da šá qé-reb bár-sipa.<KI> ul-ziz / ki-zálag-ga šu-bat dIZI.GAR 83 GUN za-ḫa-lu-ú eb-bu ap-tiq-ma5 / a-na nu-um-mur KI.NE…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Ashurbanipal or a late Sargonid successor, edited by Jamie Novotny & Joshua Jeffers (RINAP 5, 2018–). ORACC text Q003711.
Attribution
Image: OIM A08105 (Oriental Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.earth/artifacts, P392331). 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/Q003711/.
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