Position in chronology
Ashurbanipal 075
Written in modern English
During the night, Aḫšēri's troops made a surprise move and attacked. Ashurbanipal's forces met them, defeated them, and drove them back across three leagues of open steppe, leaving the plain covered with their dead. At the command of twelve named deities — Aššur, Mullissu, Sîn, Šamaš, Adad, Marduk, Nabû, Ištar of Nineveh, Ištar of Arbela, Ninurta, Nergal, and Nusku — who had given him their blessing, he then invaded the land of Mannea and marched through it in victory. In the course of that campaign he took the city of Ayusiaš, a fortified stronghold, and razed and burned it; the tablet breaks off there.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — scholar edition
RINAP 5(1') [During the night, in a crafty maneuver, they (Aḫšēri’s troops) approached to] do [battle, to figh]t with m[y] troops. [My battle troops fo]ug[h]t [with them (and)] brought about their defeat. (Over) an area [(the distance of) three leagues march], they filled the wide steppe with their corpses. (5') [By the command of the gods Aš]šur, Mullissu, Sîn, Šamaš, Adad, Bēl (Marduk), Nabû, [Ištar of Ninev]eh, Ištar of Arbela, Ninurta, [Nergal, (and) Nusku, the great gods], my lords, who had encour[aged me], I entered [the land M]annea and ma[rched about triumphantly. In the cours]e of my campaign, [I conquered, destroyed, demolished, (and) burned with fire] the cities A[yusiaš — a fortress (of his)] —
Royal Inscriptions of the Neo-Assyrian Period, volume 5 — scholar edition (ORACC).
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Why it matters
Names eleven divine sponsors of Ashurbanipal's Mannean campaign and records a night ambush routed across three leagues of steppe — pinning Assyrian theology of divinely mandated conquest to a specific military engagement.
Transliteration
[ina šat mu-ši ina ši-pir ni-kil-ti a-na] e-⸢peš⸣ [MÈ] / [it-bu-u-ni a-na mit-ḫu]-⸢uṣ⸣ ERIM.ḪI.A-⸢ia⸣ / [ERIM.MEŠ MÈ-ia it-ti-šú-un im]-⸢da-ḫa-ṣu⸣ iš-ku-nu BAD₅.BAD₅-šú-un / [ma-lak 3 KASKAL.GÍD] ⸢A.ŠÀ šal-ma⸣-a-te-šú-nu ú-mal-lu-u EDIN rap-šú / [ina qí-bit AN].ŠÁR d⸢NIN⸣.LÍL d30 dUTU dIŠKUR dEN d⸢AG⸣ / [d15 šá] ⸢NINA⸣.KI d15 šá LÍMMU-DINGIR.KI dMAŠ ⸢d⸣[U.GUR dnusku] / [DINGIR.MEŠ GAL].⸢MEŠ⸣…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Ashurbanipal or a late Sargonid successor, edited by Jamie Novotny & Joshua Jeffers (RINAP 5, 2018–). ORACC text Q003774.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.earth/artifacts, P395620). 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/Q003774/.
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