Position in chronology
Esarhaddon 126
Translation — scholar edition
RINAP 4(1) For the god Asari (Marduk), his lord: Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, (5) king of the world, king of the four quarters, governor of Babylon, (and) king of Sumer (and) Akkad, (re)constructed Etemenanki for the sake of his life. (1A) Copy of (a text from) Babylon; copied and collated. (2A) Tablet of Šamaš-nāṣir, descendant of the Miller.
Royal Inscriptions of the Neo-Assyrian Period, volume 4 — scholar edition (ORACC).
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Why it matters
Attests Esarhaddon's restoration of Etemenanki, the great ziggurat of Babylon, framing reconstruction as personal piety toward Marduk — evidence of an Assyrian king actively courting Babylonian religious legitimacy.
Transliteration
dasar-ri / lugal-a-ni-ir / AN.ŠÁR-ŠEŠ-MU / lugal ma-da aš-šurki-ke₄1 / lugal ki-šár-ra / lugal ub-da límmu-ba / šagina TIN.TIR.KI / lugal ki-in-gi uriki / nam-tìl-bi-šè / é-te-me-en-an-ki / mu-na-dím / GABA.RI TIN.TIR.KI šá-ṭir-ma IGI.KÁR / IM.GÍD.DA mdUTU-PAP A LÚ.a-ri-ri
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Esarhaddon, edited by Erle Leichty (RINAP 4, 2011). ORACC text Q003355.
Attribution
Image: AO 05470 (Louvre Museum, Paris, France) — from Bābili (mod. Babylon) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.earth/artifacts, P450538). 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/Q003355/.
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