Position in chronology
Esarhaddon 100
Translation · reference
High confidence(1') [... before] he (comes) it is a city, [when he leaves it is a tell. The assault] of his fierce battle [is a blazing flame], a [rest]less fire. (4') [Son of] Sennacherib, great king, mighty king, [king of the world, king of Assyria, descendant of] Sargon (II), great king, mighty king, [king of the world, king of Assyria, gover]nor of Babylon, king of Sumer and [Akkad; royal descendant of] the eternal line of Bēl-[bāni, son of Adasi, founder of the kingship] of Assyria, [whose] place [of ultimate origin is Baltil (Aššur)] —
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/Q003329/
Why it matters
Esarhaddon's royal titulature anchors his reign within a legitimating genealogy stretching from Adasi through Sargon II to Sennacherib, while the blazing-flame simile shows the martial rhetoric woven into Assyrian monumental self-presentation ca. 675 BCE.
Transliteration
[... pa-nu]-⸢uš-šú⸣ URU-um-[ma ar-ke-e-šú] / [ti-lu qit]-⸢ru-ub ta⸣-ḫa-zi-šu ⸢dan⸣-[nu nab-lu] / [muš-taḫ-mì-ṭu d]GIŠ.BAR la [a-ni-ḫu] / [DUMU] ⸢m⸣d30-PAP.MEŠ-SU MAN GAL ⸢MAN dan⸣-[nu MAN ŠÚ MAN KUR aš-šur.KI] / [DUMU] ⸢m⸣LUGAL-GI.NA MAN GAL MAN ⸢dan⸣-[nu MAN ŠÚ MAN KUR aš-šur.KI] / [GÌR].⸢NÍTA⸣ KÁ.DINGIR.RA.<KI> MAN KUR šu-me-⸢ri ù?⸣ [URI.KI] / [NUMUN LUGAL-u-ti] ⸢da⸣-ru-ú ša mEN-[ba-ni DUMU ma-da-si] / [mu-kin LUGAL-u-ti KUR] ⸢aš⸣-šur.KI šá ⸢du⸣-[ru-ug-šú bal-til.KI]
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Esarhaddon, edited by Erle Leichty (RINAP 4, 2011). ORACC text Q003329.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P400399). 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/Q003329/.
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