Sennacherib 1022

~695 BCE·Neo-Assyrian·Q004078

Translation · reference

High confidence

(i' 1') [...] and [... paym]ent [...] his [...] (i' 4') [...] ... (ii' 1') [...] upon h[im ...]. Moreover, he, [...] the (very) image of a gallû-dem[on, ...] ... troops [...]

Source: Grayson, A.K. & Novotny, J. 2012–2014. The Royal Inscriptions of Sennacherib, King of Assyria (704–681 BC). RINAP 3. University Park, PA: Eisenbrauns. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap3/Q004078/

Why it matters

Survives too fragmentarily to yield a complete reading, but preserves Sennacherib's own scribes likening an enemy — or possibly a rebel — to a gallû-demon, grounding Assyrian royal rhetoric in the underworld mythology of the period.

Transliteration

[...]-⸢ma?⸣1 / [... man?]-⸢da?⸣-ti / [...] x-šú / [...]-⸢a⸣-a2 / [x] x [...]3 / [x].⸢MEŠ?⸣ [...] / ṣe-ru-⸢uš?⸣-[šú? ...] / ù šu-u m⸢d⸣[...]4 / ḫi-ri-iṣ GAL₅.[LÁ ...] / x x ⸢ERIM⸣.ḪI.A x [...] / [...] x [...]

Scholarly note

Royal inscription of Sennacherib, edited by A. Kirk Grayson & Jamie Novotny (RINAP 3, 2012–2014). ORACC text Q004078.

Attribution

Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P426222). source
Translation excerpted from Grayson, A.K. & Novotny, J. 2012–2014. The Royal Inscriptions of Sennacherib, King of Assyria (704–681 BC). RINAP 3. University Park, PA: Eisenbrauns. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap3/Q004078/.

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