Position in chronology
Sargon II 091
Translation · reference
High confidence(1') [...] ... [...]. (2') [... to change/remove] his [reign], scepter, (and) [his royal] thr[one ...] ... [...] (3') [... s]hore of the sea [...] did not have [...] (4') [...] … he [made hi]m side with him; he put his [trust ...] (5') [...] their [...] clothed in death and the breast [...] (6') [...] all the evil Chaldeans [...] (7') [...] he extended [...] (8') [...] he strengthened his [fortress]es. He had [...] with (great) difficulty [...] (9') [... who (…)] ruled [evil]ly [(...)] and [...] the lordship of the land and p[eople ...] (10') [...] the roads are very difficult and [...] (11') [...] he fixed [its foundations in the dep]th of the water [...] (12') [... as] the base of a mighty mountain [...] (13') [...] ... soldiers [...]
Source: Frame, G. 2021. The Royal Inscriptions of Sargon II, King of Assyria (721–705 BC). RINAP 2. University Park, PA: Eisenbrauns. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap2/Q006572/
Why it matters
Attests Sargon II's campaigns against the Chaldean tribes of the southern marshes, situating Assyrian royal ideology — conquest legitimized by divine favor — within a rare coastal-frontier context.
Transliteration
[...] x x [...] / [... BALA].MEŠ-šú GIŠ.GIDRU GIŠ.⸢GU⸣.[ZA LUGAL-ti-šu x x] NUMUN UR x [...] / [...] ⸢GÚ⸣ ÍD.mar-ra-ti [x x x x x] la i-šá-[a ...] / [...] ⸢BU?⸣ RI a-na i-di-šú ⸢ú⸣-[ter?-(x)]-⸢šu?⸣ [(x)] it-ta-[kil ...] / [...] x-šú-nu mu-tum ḫi-it-⸢lu-pu⸣-ma i-rat [...] / [...] x gi-mir LÚ.kal-di lem-ni x [...] / [...] x ú-rap-pi-⸢iš⸣ [...] / [... ḫal-ṣa?]-⸢ni⸣-šú ú-dan-nin mar-ṣi-iš ú-šá-x…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Sargon II, edited by Grant Frame (RINAP 2, 2021). ORACC text Q006572.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P395573). source
Translation excerpted from Frame, G. 2021. The Royal Inscriptions of Sargon II, King of Assyria (721–705 BC). RINAP 2. University Park, PA: Eisenbrauns. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap2/Q006572/.
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