Position in chronology
Esarhaddon 001
Translation — scholar edition
RINAP 4(i 1) The palace of Esarhaddon, great king, mighty king, king of the world, king of Assyria, governor of Babylon, king of Sumer and Akkad, king of the four quarters, true shepherd, favorite of the great gods, (i 5) whom from his childhood the gods Aššur, Šamaš, Bēl, and Nabû, Ištar of Nineveh, (and) Ištar of Arbela named for the kingship of Assyria — (i 8) I am my older brothers’ youngest brother (and) by the command of the gods Aššur, Sîn, Šamaš, Bēl, and Nabû, Ištar of Nineveh, (and) Ištar of Arbela, (my) father, who engendered me, elevated me firmly in the assembly of my brothers, saying:…
Royal Inscriptions of the Neo-Assyrian Period, volume 4 — scholar edition (ORACC).
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Why it matters
Esarhaddon justifies his anomalous succession — youngest son elevated over elder brothers — by attributing the choice directly to Aššur, Šamaš, and both Ištars, revealing how Sargonid kings marshalled divine authority to legitimise politically irregular transfers of power.
Transliteration
É.GAL mdaš-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 EME.GI₇ u URI.KI LUGAL kib-rat LÍMMU-ti / re-ʾu-um ke-e-nu mi-gir DINGIR.MEŠ GAL.MEŠ / ša ul-tu ṣe-ḫe-ri-šú daš-šur dUTU dEN u dAG / d15 ša URU.ni-nu-a d15 šá URU.LÍMMU-DINGIR / a-na LUGAL-ti KUR aš-šur.KI ib-bu-ú zi-kir-šú / ša ŠEŠ.MEŠ-ia GAL.MEŠ ŠEŠ-šú-nu ṣe-eḫ-ru…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Esarhaddon, edited by Erle Leichty (RINAP 4, 2011). ORACC text Q003230.
Attribution
Image: OIM A35258 (Oriental Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.earth/artifacts, P392595). 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/Q003230/.
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