Position in chronology
Esarhaddon 039
Translation · reference
High confidence(1') [...] ... [...] I establish[ed ...] by means of arrow[s, I inflicted] Taharqa [...] five times [with wounds ...] boat-towers [...] Mem[phis ...] ... [...] (r 1') (No translation possible)
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/Q003268/
Why it matters
Preserves Esarhaddon's account of wounding the Kushite pharaoh Taharqa five times and seizing Memphis (~671 BCE): direct Assyrian testimony to the conquest that briefly made Esarhaddon ruler of Egypt.
Transliteration
x x-⸢ik⸣ x [...] / ⸢áš⸣-tak-ka-⸢an⸣ [...] / mtar-qu-u [...] / 5-šú ina mul-⸢mul⸣-[li ...] / LÚ.GÍD.DA.⸢MEŠ⸣ [...] / URU.me-⸢em⸣-[pi ...] / x [...] / x [...] / ⸢si⸣-[...] / x [...] / x [...]
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Esarhaddon, edited by Erle Leichty (RINAP 4, 2011). ORACC text Q003268.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P400428). 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/Q003268/.
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