Position in chronology
Shalmaneser III 009
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) [Shalmaneser (III), great king], strong king, king of the world, [unrivalled king], dragon, the weapon the destroys [all (four) quarters (of the world), commander of] rulers everywhere, [...] valiant [man], appointee of the god Enlil, vice-regent of (the god) Ašš[ur, ... the one who] has smashed all of his enemies [like a pot, the strong] male, [the merciless (and)] unsparing one in battle, [the one who] slew [... in the] mountains [... with] mighty weapons, annihilated (them) [like a flood], and the corpses of his enemies [...] extensive, strong king, [...], ruler of [all of the lands,…
Source: Royal Inscriptions of Assyria online (RIAo), Munich Open-access Cuneiform Corpus Initiative (MOCCI), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München; in association with the RINAP Project, University of Pennsylvania. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/riao/Q004614/
Why it matters
Preserves Shalmaneser III's titulary in full ceremonial register — dragon, vice-regent of Aššur, appointee of Enlil — documenting how mid-ninth-century Assyrian kings constructed divine authority in monumental self-presentation.
Transliteration
[dsál-ma-nu-SAG LUGAL] ⸢GAL?⸣-ú MAN dan-nu MAN ⸢KIŠ⸣ / [LUGAL la ša-na-an ú]-⸢šúm⸣-gal-lu ka-šu-⸢uš⸣ / [kal kib-ra-te ša-pi-ir] ⸢mal⸣-ki.MEŠ šá kúl-la-⸢te⸣ / [... eṭ-lu? qar]-⸢du⸣ šá É.KUR ÉNSI aš-⸢šur?⸣ / [... ša] kúl-lat na-ki-ri-šú / [GIM ḫa-aṣ-ba-te] ú-da-qi-qu ⸢NÍTA⸣ / [dan-nu la pa-du-ú la] ga-mil tu-qu-un-[te] / [x x x x x x x]-⸢u?⸣ GIŠ.TUKUL.MEŠ-šú dan-nu-te / [x x x x x x] ⸢šá⸣-de-e…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of an Assyrian king, published in the Royal Inscriptions of Assyria online project (RIAo). Translation reproduced from the ORACC edition. ORACC text Q004614.
Attribution
Image: WAM 41.0162 (Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, Maryland, USA) — from uncertain (mod. uncertain) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P272834). source
Translation excerpted from Royal Inscriptions of Assyria online (RIAo), Munich Open-access Cuneiform Corpus Initiative (MOCCI), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München; in association with the RINAP Project, University of Pennsylvania. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/riao/Q004614/.
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