Position in chronology
Ashurbanipal 073
Written in modern English
On his first campaign, Ashurbanipal marched against Egypt and Ethiopia. Taharqa, king of Egypt and Kush — already defeated by Esarhaddon, the father who had begotten Ashurbanipal — had forgotten the might of Ashur, Ishtar, and the great gods, and placed his trust in something the inscription no longer records; one or two full columns are lost at this point. When the text picks up again, Ashurbanipal has achieved victory and returned safely to Nineveh, his capital city. The final lines on the reverse are too damaged to translate.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — scholar edition
RINAP 5(i 1) On [my] fir[st campaign, I marched] to Maka[n] (Egypt) and Melu[ḫḫa (Ethiopia)]. Taharqa, the king of Egyp[t and Kush], (i 5) whose defeat Esarhaddon — king of A[ssyria, the father who had engendered me] — had brought about (and) [whose land he ruled over, forgot] the might of (the god) <Aš>š[ur, the goddess Ištar, and the great gods, my lords, and] trus[ted ...] ... [...] One or two columns completely missing One or two columns completely missing (r i' 1') [(thus) I achieved] vi[ctory. With] full [h]and(s), I returned [safel]y to Nineveh, my capital [city]. (r i' 5') (No translation possible)
Royal Inscriptions of the Neo-Assyrian Period, volume 5 — scholar edition (ORACC).
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Why it matters
Chronicles Ashurbanipal's first campaign against Taharqa of Egypt and Kush, picking up directly from Esarhaddon's earlier conquest and documenting Assyria's sustained military pressure on the Twenty-Fifth Dynasty.
Transliteration
ina maḫ-⸢re⸣-[e ger-ri-ia] / a-na KUR.má-⸢kan u KUR.me-luḫ⸣-[ḫa lu al-lik] / mtar-qu-u MAN KUR.mu-⸢ṣur⸣ [u KUR.ku-u-si] / ša mAN.ŠÁR-PAP-AŠ MAN KUR ⸢AN⸣.[ŠÁR.KI AD DÙ-u-a] / BAD₅.BAD₅-šú iš-⸢ku-nu?⸣ [i-be-lu KUR-su]1 / da-na-an <AN>.⸢ŠÁR⸣ [d15 u DINGIR.MEŠ GAL.MEŠ EN.MEŠ-ia im-ši-ma]2 / ⸢it⸣-ta-[kil ...] / x x [...] / [áš-ta-kan] ⸢li⸣-[i-tu] / [it-ti] ⸢qa⸣-ti ma-li-⸢ti⸣ / [šal]-⸢meš⸣ a-tu-ra a-na NINA.⸢KI⸣ / [URU] EN-ti-ia / [x x] (traces)
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Ashurbanipal or a late Sargonid successor, edited by Jamie Novotny & Joshua Jeffers (RINAP 5, 2018–). ORACC text Q003772.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.earth/artifacts, P394844). 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/Q003772/.
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