Position in chronology
Esarhaddon 117
Translation — scholar edition
RINAP 4Lacuna? (1') [...] ... [... p]ious [ruler], beloved of the goddess [Zarpanītu, ..., rever]ent [king] who is at[tentive to] their rule, [..., p]ious [slave], humbl[e, ...] — (5') [You (are the one) who entrusted to h]im [with ... renovating] the destroyed [s]hrines ... [... to or]ganize well the [forgotten] rites [... to app]ease the heart of [your] great divinity [...]. (8'b) In the reign of a king who preceded [me, ...]. (9'b) [The people of a]ll of the cult centers, al[l of ...] who dwell within [it ...] ... no one [...] ... [...]
Royal Inscriptions of the Neo-Assyrian Period, volume 4 — scholar edition (ORACC).
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Why it matters
Attests Esarhaddon's claim to have restored neglected shrines and forgotten rites — part of his systematic effort to legitimate rule after his father Sennacherib's sack of Babylon.
Transliteration
[...] (x) x [...]1 / [... ma-al-ku? na]-⸢a⸣-du na-ram ⸢d⸣[zar-pa-ni-tum ...]2 / [... LUGAL šaḫ]-⸢tu⸣ šá be-lut-su-nu ⸢pu⸣-[tuq-qu-ma ...] / [... re-e-šu] ⸢mut⸣-nen-nu-ú áš-⸢ru⸣ [...] / [... a-na ud-du-uš] ⸢eš⸣-re-e-ti ab-ta-a-⸢ti⸣ [...]3 / [... a-na šu]-te-šur (erasure) pel-lu-⸢de⸣-[e ma-šu-ú-ti ...] / [... a-na nu]-⸢uḫ-ḫu⸣ lìb-bi DINGIR-ti-ka GAL-[ti ...] / [(...) tu-ma-al-lu-ú qa-tu]-uš-šú i-na…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Esarhaddon, edited by Erle Leichty (RINAP 4, 2011). ORACC text Q003346.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.earth/artifacts, P450510). 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/Q003346/.
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