Position in chronology
Esarhaddon 1017
Translation · reference
High confidence(1') [...] ... river [...] ... [... the goddess] Ištar ... [...] I plundered ... [...] ... its heart, its lungs ... [...] its ... [...] my messenger ... [...] ... year ... [...] (8') [...] ... I mustered my camp ... [...] my [...] quickly ... [...] ... they prayed ... [...] ... [...]
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/Q003389/
Why it matters
A fragmentary royal inscription of Esarhaddon (~675 BCE) preserving traces of a military muster and invocation of Ištar, adding a damaged but datable witness to Assyrian royal self-presentation.
Transliteration
[...] x ÍD [...] / [...] ⸢ši⸣-mat du?-x [...] / [... d?]⸢15⸣ i-šá-qu um-[...] / [...] ⸢áš⸣-lu-la šá-x [...] / [...]-⸢ag?⸣-gu lìb-ba-šá ḫa-še-e-šá ⸢lu⸣ [...] / [...] x-šú NIMGIR-ia tap-šu-uḫ-tú áš-x [...] / [...]-⸢ti⸣-ik 2-tum MU.AN.NA il-[...] / [...] x ⸢uš⸣-te-eš-še-ra ka-ra-ši ⸢ab⸣-[...] / [...]-⸢ia⸣ lu-u ḫa-mut-ti x [...] / [...] x i-kar-⸢ra-bu?⸣ x [...] / [...] (x) x ŠU x [...]
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Esarhaddon, edited by Erle Leichty (RINAP 4, 2011). ORACC text Q003389.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P399176). 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/Q003389/.
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The earliest historical document in human history.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.