Position in chronology
Esarhaddon 109
Translation · reference
High confidence(i 1') [true] shep[herd], favorite of the lord of lord[s], pious ruler, the one who is loved by the goddess Zarpanītu — the queen, (i 5′) goddess of the entire universe — reverent king who was attentive to their rule and praised their valor, pious slave, humble, submissive, the one who reveres their great divinity — (i 13') You (are the one) who entrusted him with renovating the des[tro]yed shrines, (i 15′) making the cult centers shine, and shepherding all of the people; elevated him to the kingship to organize well the forgotten rites and (i 20′) to avenge the land of Akkad; (and) to…
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/Q003338/
Why it matters
Esarhaddon legitimises his reign by casting himself as the gods' chosen restorer of Babylonian shrines and avenger of Akkad — direct ideological response to his father Sennacherib's destruction of Babylon in 689 BCE.
Transliteration
⸢SIPA⸣ [ke-e-nu] / mi-gir EN EN.[EN] / ma-al-ku na-aʾ-du / ša ÁG dzar-pa-ni-tum šar-ra-tu / i-lat ka-la gim-ri / LUGAL šaḫ-tu / ša be-lut-su-<nu> / pu-tuq-qu-ma / qu-ru-us-su-nu da-al-lu / re-e-šu mut-nen-nu-ú / áš-ru kan-šu / pa-liḫ DINGIR-ti-šú-nu GAL-ti / ša a-na ud-du-uš / eš-re-e-ti ⸢ab-ta⸣-a-ti1 / nu-um-mur ma-[ḫa]-zi / re-ʾu-ú-tu kul-lat UN.MEŠ / tu-ma-al-lu-ú qa-tuš-šu / a-na šu-te-šu-ri…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Esarhaddon, edited by Erle Leichty (RINAP 4, 2011). ORACC text Q003338.
Attribution
Image: BM 122617 + BM 127846 (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P422403). 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/Q003338/.
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