Position in chronology
Sennacherib 150
Translation — scholar edition
RINAP 3(1) Se[nnacherib, ...]. (2) Marduk-apla-iddina (II) (Merodach-baladan) [...] became frightened by his (Sennacherib’s) battle array; [...] he quickly de[parted from] Babylon [(...)]. (5) Sennacherib, king of the world, king of [Assyria, ...] in joy and happ[iness ...] into Babylon, into the pal[ace ...] fine oil (fit) for anointing a kin[g ...]. The list of names is not edited here
Royal Inscriptions of the Neo-Assyrian Period, volume 3 — scholar edition (ORACC).
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Why it matters
Records Merodach-baladan's flight from Babylon before Sennacherib's advance, corroborating the Biblical account (2 Kings 20) while framing the conquest as a joyful royal entry — Assyrian propaganda at its most pointed.
Transliteration
md⸢EN?⸣.[ZU-ŠEŠ.MEŠ-eri-ba? ...] / mdAMAR.UTU-IBILA-SUM.⸢NA⸣ [...]1 / ti-ib ta-ḫa-zi-šu e-du-⸢ur⸣-[ma ... TA] / KÁ.DINGIR.MIN.KI ur-ru-ḫi-iš ⸢ú⸣-[ṣi (...)]2 / md30-PAP.MEŠ-eri-ba MAN ŠÚ MAN [aš-šur.KI ...]3 / i-na ul-ṣi ù ri-šá-[a-ti ...] / i-na qé-reb KÁ.DINGIR.MIN.KI a-na ⸢É?⸣.[GAL? ...] / Ì.GIŠ.MEŠ DÙG.GA pi-šat LUGAL-u-⸢ti⸣ [...]
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Sennacherib, edited by A. Kirk Grayson & Jamie Novotny (RINAP 3, 2012–2014). ORACC text Q003955.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.earth/artifacts, P396356). 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/Q003955/.
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