Position in chronology
Esarhaddon 077
Translation — scholar edition
RINAP 4(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 them; 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 Babylon, completed all of the cult centers, renewed the statues of the great gods, (and) who returned the plundered gods of the lands to their (proper) place from Assyria; who plated Egašankalama, the temple of the…
Royal Inscriptions of the Neo-Assyrian Period, volume 4 — scholar edition (ORACC).
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Why it matters
Claims Esarhaddon restored Esagil and returned gods exiled to Assyria — royal propaganda justifying his Babylonian kingship by casting conquest as pious reconstruction.
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-ú-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 DINGIR.MEŠ…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Esarhaddon, edited by Erle Leichty (RINAP 4, 2011). ORACC text Q003306.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Kalhu (mod. Nimrud) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.earth/artifacts, P393940). 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/Q003306/.
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