Position in chronology
Ashurbanipal 154
Translation — scholar edition
RINAP 5(1') [I conquered ... together with twenty villages, in the distr]ict of the city Ḫ[unnir, (which is) on the border of the city Ḫidalu]. (2') [I placated the mood of the lord of lo]rds. [I carried off to Assyria] its gods, its goddesses, [its possessions, (and) its property]. I devastate[d] an area of sixty [leagues] inside the land Elam [(and) scattered salt (and) cress over them]. (4') (As for) the goddess Nanāya, who 1,535 year[s (ago) became angry and went] to live in the land Ela[m, a place not befitting her], then, at that time (when) she nominated me for ruling over the lands, [she…
Royal Inscriptions of the Neo-Assyrian Period, volume 5 — scholar edition (ORACC).
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Why it matters
Records Ashurbanipal's claim that the goddess Nanāya had dwelt in Elam for exactly 1,535 years before choosing him as her liberator — yoking precise dynastic chronology to divine mandate for the Elamite campaigns.
Transliteration
[a-di 20.ÀM URU.MEŠ ina na]-⸢ge-e ša⸣ URU.⸢ḫu?⸣-[un-nir ina UGU mì-iṣ-ri ša URU.ḫi-da-lu ak-šu-ud]1 / [ú-šap-ši-iḫ ka-bat-ti EN EN].⸢EN⸣ DINGIR.MEŠ-šú d15.MEŠ-⸢šú⸣ [NÍG.ŠU-šú NÍG.GA-šú áš-lu-la a-na KUR AN.ŠÁR.KI]2 / ⸢60⸣ [KASKAL.GÍD] ⸢qaq-qa-ru⸣ qé-reb KUR.e-lam-ti ú-šaḫ-⸢rib⸣ [MUN Ú.ZAG.ḪI.LI.SAR ú-sap-pi-ḫa EDIN-uš-šú-un] / dna-na-a ša 1 LIM 5 ME 30.ÀM 5 MU.AN.⸢NA⸣.[MEŠ ta-as-bu-su-ma…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Ashurbanipal or a late Sargonid successor, edited by Jamie Novotny & Joshua Jeffers (RINAP 5, 2018–). ORACC text Q007562.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.earth/artifacts, P394560). 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/Q007562/.
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