Position in chronology
Ashurbanipal 161
Translation — scholar edition
RINAP 5(i 1) The troops of Ashurbanipal, king of Assyria, that I sent to conquer the land Elam with Ummanigaš (Ḫumban-nikaš II), the son of Urtaku — the king of the land Elam — the fugitive who grasped the feet of my royal majesty. (i 4) Simburu, the herald of the land Elam, heard about the advance of my troops and became frightened at the mention of my name. He then came before my messenger and kissed my feet. (i 6) Umbakidinu, the herald of the land Ḫidalu, who is carrying the (decapitated) head Ištar-Nandi (Šutur-Naḫūndi), the king of the land Ḫidalu. Zinēni, his palace supervisor, is likewise…
Royal Inscriptions of the Neo-Assyrian Period, volume 5 — scholar edition (ORACC).
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Why it matters
Records Elamite heralds submitting to Assyrian envoys and a decapitated rival king's head being carried as tribute — concrete evidence of how Ashurbanipal projected terror to dissolve Elamite resistance without pitched battle.
Transliteration
⸢um⸣-ma-<na>-a-ti mAN.ŠÁR-DÙ-A MAN KUR aš-šur.KI1 / ⸢ša⸣ it-ti mum-man-i-gaš DUMU mur-ta-ki MAN KUR.ELAM.MA.KI / mun-nab-tu ša iṣ-ba-tu GÌR.II LUGAL-ti-ia áš-pu-ru a-na ka-šad KUR.ELAM.KI / msi-im-bu-ru LÚ.NÍMGIR ša KUR.ELAM.MA.KI ma-lak ERIM.ḪI.<A>-ia iš-me-ma2 / zi-kir MU-ia ip-làḫ-ma ina IGI LÚ.A KIN-ia il-lik-am-ma ú-na-šiq GÌR.II-ía / mum-ba-ki-den-ni LÚ.NÍMGIR ša KUR.ḫi-da-li / šá SAG.DU šá…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Ashurbanipal or a late Sargonid successor, edited by Jamie Novotny & Joshua Jeffers (RINAP 5, 2018–). ORACC text Q007569.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.earth/artifacts, P394595). 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/Q007569/.
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