Position in chronology
Sargon II 123
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) For the god Marduk, great lord, compassionate god who dwells in Esagila, lord of Babylon, his lord: (4) Sargon (II), strong king, king of Assyria, king of the world, governor of Babylon, king of the land of Sumer and Akkad, the one who provides for Esagila and Ezida, thought of (re)building the (city) wall Imgur-Enlil. (11b) He then had bricks made and constructed a quay-wall of baked bricks from a (ritually) pure kiln, (laid) in (both) refined and crude bitumen, along the bank of the Euphrates River, (15) in deep water. He then made the (city) wall Imgur-Enlil and the (city) wall…
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/Q006603/
Why it matters
Records Sargon II's restoration of Imgur-Enlil, Babylon's great circuit wall, casting an Assyrian conqueror as pious benefactor of Marduk's city — a calculated legitimation strategy after his seizure of Babylonia in 710 BCE.
Transliteration
ana dAMAR.UTU EN GAL-i / DINGIR reme-ni-i / a-šib é-sag-gíl EN TIN.TIR.KI UMUN-šú / LUGAL-GIN LUGAL dan-nu / LUGAL KUR aš-šur.KI LUGAL ŠÚ / GÌR.NÍTA TIN.TIR.KI / LUGAL KUR šu-me-ru u URI.KI / za-nin é-sag-íl / ù é-zi-da / ana DÙ-eš BÀD im-gur-dEN.LÍL / GEŠTU-šú GÁL-ma ú-šal-bi-in-ma / a-gur-ru ki-ru KÙ-tim / ina kup-ru ù ESIR / ina GÚ ÍD.pu-rat-ti1 / ina qé-reb an-za-nun-ze-e / KAR ib-ni-ma / BÀD…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Sargon II, edited by Grant Frame (RINAP 2, 2021). ORACC text Q006603.
Attribution
Image: BM 090599 + BM 090629 (British Museum, London, UK) — from Bābili (mod. Babylon) ? — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P428191). 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/Q006603/.
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