Position in chronology
Esarhaddon 030
Translation · reference
High confidence(1') [...] ... [...] when they were coming [to] Nineveh [...] when they were clothing him in [linen (and) garments with multicolored trim, putting] gold rings [on his hands (and) ...] his [...], (then) he (no longer) said ‘woe!’ and (no longer) utter[ed cries of mourning]. (5') He (Nabû-zēr-kitti-līšir) trusted [in his own strength] and [mustered] his army (and) camp, besieged [Ningal-iddin, a servant who] was loyal to me, and cut off [his escape route. I mustered] my [army] and took the direct r[oute] to the Sealand. [Nabû-zēr-kitti-līšir, son of] Marduk-apla-iddina (II) (Merodach-baladan),…
Source: Leichty, E. 2011. The Royal Inscriptions of Esarhaddon, King of Assyria (680–669 BC). RINAP 4. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap4/Q003259/
Why it matters
Records Esarhaddon's military campaign into the Sealand against Nabû-zēr-kitti-līšir, son of the famed Merodach-baladan II — linking dynastic Chaldean resistance to Assyrian rule across two generations.
Transliteration
[...] x x x [...]1 / [... a-na] ⸢NINA⸣.KI il-⸢lak-ú⸣-[ma ...] / [lu-bul-ti GÙN GADA] ⸢ú⸣-lab-ba-šú-uš ḪAR KÙ.⸢GI ú⸣-[rak-ka-su rit-ti-šú] / [...]-šú u₈-a ul iq-bi-ma ul iṣ-⸢ru-uḫ⸣ [si-pit-tu?]2 / [a-na e-muq ra-ma-ni-šú it]-⸢ta⸣-kil-ma um-man-šú KARAŠ-su ⸢id⸣-[ke-e-ma] / [a-na mdnin-gal-SUM.NA ARAD da]-⸢gíl⸣ pa-ni-ia ni-i-tu il-me-šú-ma iṣ-ba-ta [mu-ṣa-a-šú] / [ad-ke-e-ma ERIM.ḪI].⸢A⸣-ia…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Esarhaddon, edited by Erle Leichty (RINAP 4, 2011). ORACC text Q003259.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P394592). source
Translation excerpted from Leichty, E. 2011. The Royal Inscriptions of Esarhaddon, King of Assyria (680–669 BC). RINAP 4. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap4/Q003259/.
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