Position in chronology
SAA 20 025. Ritual of Tukulti-Ninurta for the Lady-of-the-River (BA 05, 689 + BBR pl. 61)
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) [Tukulti-Ninurta (I), king of Assyria, performed and] insti[tuted the (following) rites for the Lady-of-the-River], his [g]od. (2) [When] you are to perform [the nāṭu-ritual of Tukulti-Ninurta for the Lady-of]-the-River: (3) [......] perform [this ritual before the Lady-of-the-River] (and) his seed will solidify! (4) [You erect a tent, place its opening before Šamaš, and] place a chair at the side of the tent. [You lay clean red wool upon it, (and) place a bowl of sweet oil, aromatics], juniper, and a tuft of red wool on it. (6) [You set up a table before Šamaš, and] place [a censer,…
Source: Parpola, S. 2017. Assyrian Royal Rituals and Cultic Texts. SAA 20. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa20/P397118/
Why it matters
Transliteration
[e-pu-uš-ma mtukul-ti—MAŠ MAN KUR—aš-šur.KI par-ṣi a-na GAŠAN—ÍD] ⸢DINGIR⸣-šú ú-ki-in-[ma SUM-in] / [e-nu-ma na-a-ṭu ša mtukul-ti—dMAŠ a-na GAŠAN]—ÍD a-na e-pe-še-⸢i!-ka!⸣ / [x x x x x x x x dul-lu an-na-a ina IGI GAŠAN—ÍD šal]-⸢lim!⸣ e-pu-uš NUMUN-šú i-ka-⸢ṣar⸣ / [TÚG.maš-ku-nu ina GÚ ÍD SÌG-aṣ KÁ-šú a-na IGI dUTU GAR-an] GIŠ.GU.ZA ina i-di TÚG.maš-ki-ni ŠUB-di / [SÍG.ḪÉ.MED eb-bu ina UGU-ḫi…
Scholarly note
Neo-Assyrian royal ritual or cultic text, edited by Simo Parpola (SAA 20, 2017). ORACC text P397118.
Attribution
Image: BM 098762 + (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P397118). source
Translation excerpted from Parpola, S. 2017. Assyrian Royal Rituals and Cultic Texts. SAA 20. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa20/P397118/.
Related tablets
Related sources
A window into the world's first total state. The Ur III administration tracked every animal, every worker, every shekel — for a population in the millions. The level of paperwork was not exceeded until the modern era.
The single most important literary discovery of the 19th century. It rewired the understanding of the Bible's literary context and proved that the Mesopotamian flood tradition is older. It is the oldest surviving epic poetry in human history.
The literary tradition is no longer anonymous from this point. Authorship — the idea that a specific human voice composes a specific work — enters the historical record with her.