Position in chronology
Esarhaddon 079
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) [Esarhaddon, great king, mighty king, king of the world], king of Assyria, [governor of Babylon, king of Sumer and] Akkad, [the true shepherd who reorganized the confused people (and) made] light [shine forth for th]em; [to whom the great gods gave as a] gift [(the ability) to create, build, (and) renew; (5) the one who (re)constructed the temple of the god Aššur, (re)built Esagil and Bab]ylon, [completed all of the cult centers, renewed the statues] of the great [go]ds, (and) [who] returned [the plundered gods of the lands to] their (proper) place [from Assyria; who pla]ted…
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/Q003308/
Why it matters
Transliteration
[maš-šur-ŠEŠ-SUM.NA LUGAL GAL-ú LUGAL dan-nu LUGAL kiš-šá-ti] LUGAL KUR aš-šur.KI / [GÌR.NÍTA KÁ.DINGIR.RA.KI LUGAL KUR šu-me-ri ù] URI.KI / [RE.É.UM ki-i-nu ša UN.MEŠ dal-ḫa-a-ti ú-taq-qi-nu ú-še-ṣi-ši]-⸢na⸣-ti nu-u-ru / [ša DINGIR.MEŠ GAL.MEŠ ba-nu-ú e-pe-šú ud-du-šu iš-ru-ku ši]-rik-⸢tuš⸣ / [ba-nu-ú É AN.ŠÁR e-piš é-sag-íl ù KÁ].DINGIR.RA.KI / [mu-šak-lil ma-ḫa-zi ka-li-šú-nu mu-ud-diš ṣa-lam]…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Esarhaddon, edited by Erle Leichty (RINAP 4, 2011). ORACC text Q003308.
Attribution
Image: Created by Erle Leichty, and the Royal Inscriptions of the Neo-Assyrian Period (RINAP) Project, 2011. Lemmatized by Jamie Novotny, 2010. The annotated edition is released under the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike license 3.0. Please cite this page as http://oracc.org/rinap/Q003308/..
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/Q003308/.
Related tablets
Related sources
The earliest historical document in human history. Before this, we have lists, accounts, and dedications. Here, for the first time, a ruler tells us what happened — with names, places, and consequences.
The oldest surviving law code in human history. The principle that the state — not the wronged family — defines and enforces justice begins here.
Not the first law code, but the most complete and the most famous. Inscribed on a black diorite stele over two meters tall, displayed in a public place — law made visible, law made monumental.