Sargon II 095

~715 BCE·Neo-Assyrian·Q006576

Translation — scholar edition

RINAP 2

High confidence

(1) Sargon (II), appointee of the god Enlil, nešakku-priest of (the god) Aššur, governor (appointed) by the gods Nabû and Marduk, built the temple of the gods Nabû and Marduk, his lords, from its foundations to its crenellations for the sake of his life, the well-being of his offspring, the overthrow of this enemies, the success of the harvest of Assyria, (and) the well-being of Assyria.

Royal Inscriptions of the Neo-Assyrian Period, volume 2 — scholar edition (ORACC).

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Why it matters

Sargon II dedicates a temple to Nabû and Marduk — Babylonian gods — listing five explicit royal goals, evidence that Assyrian kings cultivated Babylonian divine patronage to legitimize rule over the south.

Transliteration

mLUGAL-GI.NA šá-ak-ni dBAD / NU.ÈŠ aš-šur GÌR.NÍTA dAG u dAMAR.UTU / É dAG u dAMAR.UTU EN.MEŠ-šú1 / ul-tu UŠ₈-šú a-di gaba-dib-bi-šú / a-na TI.LA-šú šùl-mu NUMUN-šú / sà-kap LÚ.KÚR.MEŠ-šú SI.SÁ BURU₁₄ šá KUR aš-šur.KI / šá-lam KUR aš-šur.KI DÙ-uš

Scholarly note

Royal inscription of Sargon II, edited by Grant Frame (RINAP 2, 2021). ORACC text Q006576.

Attribution

Image: BM 090243 (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.earth/artifacts, P427871). 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/Q006576/.

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