Position in chronology
Ashurbanipal 216
Translation — scholar edition
RINAP 5(1) [...] ... [...] ... [... cannot be underst]ood nor know[n, ... (5) ..., whose command cannot be c]hanged (and) (who)se word(s) [..., who pacifies the heart of] god and goddess, who knows [...], b[y w]ho[m] destruction and creation are brought about, [... without whom] no [judge]ment is given (and) no consultat[ion] is made. (9) [...] who creates fertility (lit. “the womb”), who expands the sheepfold [... at whose appearance re]newal is present, makes sign(s) appear, (and) establishes the mood of the people [..., who] meets [wit]h the god Šamaš and secures the throne, makes a reign firm…
Royal Inscriptions of the Neo-Assyrian Period, volume 5 — scholar edition (ORACC).
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Why it matters
Hymnic praise of a Sargonid king as cosmic mediator — one whose word cannot be changed and without whom no judgement is rendered — fusing royal ideology with the judicial authority of Šamaš.
Transliteration
[...] x [...] / [...] ⸢SAR EL⸣ [...] / [...] ⸢nam?⸣-riš li-x [...] / [... la? il-lam?]-⸢ma?⸣-du la ú-ta-ad-⸢du?⸣-[u ...]1 / [... šá qí-bit-su la ut]-tak-ka-ru a-mat-⸢su⸣ [...] / [... mu-ni-iḫ lìb-bi] ⸢DINGIR⸣ u diš-tar mu-ud-de [...]2 / [...] ⸢ša⸣ a-ba-tu u ba-nu-u šub-šu-u ⸢it?⸣-[ti-šú?] / [... ša e-la šá-a-šú] ⸢šip⸣-ṭu la SUM-nu la iš-šak-ka-nu mit-lu-⸢uk⸣-[tu] / [...] x ba-nu-u ŠÀ.TÙR…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Ashurbanipal or a late Sargonid successor, edited by Jamie Novotny & Joshua Jeffers (RINAP 5, 2018–). ORACC text Q007624.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.earth/artifacts, P425533). 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/Q007624/.
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