911 – 609 BCE
Neo-Assyrian
Empire, library, terror, scholarship.
Assyria builds the largest empire the ancient world has yet seen, ruled with calculated terror. King Ashurbanipal, paradoxically, assembles the first encyclopedic library: tens of thousands of tablets gathered at Nineveh — including the most complete surviving copy of Gilgamesh.
Primary sources
Tablets from this period
29509 tablets dated to Neo-Assyrian — showing 24 below; browse all 29509.
Adad-nerari II 1
(1) Adad-nārārī (II), great king, strong king, king of the world, king of Assyria, king of all the four quarters (of the world), the one selected by (the god) Aššur, attentive ruler, the one who acts with the support of the gods Aššur and Ninurta, the great gods, his lords, and (thereby) has struck down his foes; (5) son of Aššur-dān (II), king of the world, king of Assyria, son of Tiglath-pileser (II), king of the world, king of Assyria, son of Aššur-rēša-iši (II), (who was) also king of the world (and) king of Assyria. (8) In my accession year (and) in my first regnal year, when I sat on…
LawMythologyAdad-nerari II 1002
(1) [Image of Adad-nārārī (II)], strong [king], king of the world, [king of] Assyria, son of Aššur-d[ān (II), king of the world, king of] Assyria, son of Ti[glath-piles]er (II), (who was) also [king of the universe (and) king of] Assyria.
LawMythologyAdad-nerari II 2
(1) [The god Aššur, ...; the god Enlil, ...]; the god [Sîn, king of the lunar disk], lord of brilliance; [the god Šamaš, judge of] heaven and netherworld, commander of all; the god Marduk, sage of the gods, lord of oracles; the god Nin[urta, warrior of] the Igīgū and Anunnakū gods; the god Nergal, perfect one, king of battle; the god Nusku, bearer of the holy scepter, circumspect god; the goddess Mullissu, spouse of the god Enlil, mother of the great gods; (and) the goddess Ištar, foremost in heaven and netherworld, who is consummate in the canons of combat; (5) the great gods who take firm…
LawMythologyAdad-nerari II 3
(r 1') (No translation possible.) (r 11'b) [... and deposited] my [commemorative inscrip]tions. (r 12'b) [May a future ruler restore it (and) return my inscribed name t]o its place. [(The god) Aššur, the great lord, will (then) listen to his prayers]. (r 13'b) [(As for) the one who removes] my [insc]riptions [and my name, may (the god) Aššur overthrow his kingship (and)] make [his name (and) his seed] disappear [from the land]. (r 15') (Date missing)
LawMythologyAdad-nerari II 4
(1') [I am enormously radiant, I am a hero], I am a warrior, [I am a virile] lion, [I am foremost, I am exalted, (and) I am raging]. (2') Adad-nārārī (II), strong king, king of [Assyria, king of the four quarters (of the world), the one who defeats his enemies, am I]. The king capable in battle, overwhelmer [of cities, (and) the one who scorches the mountains of (foreign) lands, am I]. The virile warrior, [the one who controls those opposed to him, (and the one) who is inflamed against the evil] and the wicked, am I. I scorch] like the god Gīra, [I overwhelm like the deluge, ...], (and) I…
LawMythologyAdad-nerari II 6
(1) [(Palace of) Adad-nār]ārī (II), strong king, king of the wor[ld, king of Assyria, son of Aššur-d]ān (II), king of the world, king of Assyria, [son of Tiglath]-pileser (II), (who was) also king of the wor[ld (and) king of Assyria: ...] ... [...]
LawMythologyAdad-nerari II 7
Attests the royal titulary of Adad-nārārī II — 'king of the world, king of Assyria' — and anchors his lineage through Aššur-dān II to Tiglath-pileser II, fixing the dynastic continuity of the early Neo-Assyrian restoration.
LawMythology
Adad-nerari II 8
Standard titulary of Adad-nārārī II anchoring his legitimacy through two generations of royal descent, attesting the formulaic language by which Assyrian kings asserted dynastic continuity around 900 BCE.
LawMythologyTukulti-Ninurta II 02
(1) [(The god) Aššur, king of al]l the [great] gods; [the god Anu, king of] the Igīgū and Anun[nakū gods; lord of the lands, the god Enlil, exalted one], father of the god[s; the god Ea, king of the a]psû, the one who decre[es destinies; the god Sîn, king of the lunar d]isk, lord of [brilliance; the god Adad, the] exceptionally [stron]g, lord of [abundance; the god Šamaš, ju]dge of heaven and netherworld, [commander of all; the god Marduk], sage of the gods (and) [lord of omens; the god Ninurta], warrior of the Igīgū and Anun[nakū gods; god] Nergal, perfect one, [king of battle]; the god…
LawMythologyTukulti-Ninurta II 03
(1) [(the god) Aššur, king of all the great gods; god Anu, king of the Igīgū and Anunnakū gods]; lord of the lands; the god Enlil, exalted one, [father of the gods; the god Ea, king of the apsû, who decrees destinies; the god Sîn, king of the lunar disk, lord of brilliance]; the god Adad, the exceptionally strong, lo[rd of abundance; the god Šamaš, judge of heaven and netherworld, commander of all; the god Marduk, sage of the gods (and) lord of omens]; the god Ninurta, warrior of the Igīgū and [Anunnakū gods; the god Nergal, perfect one, king of battle; the god Nusku, bearer of the holy…
LawMythologyTukulti-Ninurta II 04
(1') [the god Marduk], sage of [the gods (and) lord of omens; the god Nin]urta, warrior of the Igīgū and Anun[nakū gods; the god Nerga]l, perfect one, [king of battle; the god Nus]ku, bearer of the holy scepter, [circumspect god; the goddess Mill]issu, spouse of the god Enlil, mother of the [great] god[s; (and) the goddess Ištar], foremost in heaven and netherworld, [who is consummate] in the canon[s of combat]. (7') the great [gods], who take firm decisions, [who decree destinies, who ...] ... attent[ive] ruler, [...; (the gods) who] faithful[ly noticed me in] my mother’s womb (and) [altered] my [bi]rth to be a lordly birth; [...] ... people [...] holy ... [... they rightly made perfect my fe]atu[res ...] (r 1') No translation possible.
LawMythologyTukulti-Ninurta II 05
(1) I [entered] the mountains of the Naʾiri lands. I crossed Mount Sueia. I changed [direction] (and), on my return march, from the Naʾiri lands [I burned] fire [(...)] the city Ki[...]. I [uprooted] his sons, his daughters, his wives, the property of his palace, (and) his horses [and brought them to my city, Aššur]. (4) With the support of (the god) Aššur, my lord, I overwhelmed the lands, all of them, with my fear. Bi[..., ...].... of Ammi-Ba[ʾal], wrote to me: “With regard to Bialasi, I have sent my forces against him. [They pursued him and] he went from the city Udu to the city…
LawMythologyTukulti-Ninurta II 06
(1) [Palace of Tukultī-Ninurta (II), king of the world, king of Assyria], son of Adad-nārārī (II), king of the world, king of Assyria, son of Aššur-dān (II), (who was) also king of the world (and) king of Assyria; [...] to its full extent. The king who [...] (the territory stretching) from the opposite bank of the Tigris River to the land Ḫatti, [...] the Naʾiri lands to their (text: “its”) full extent, the land Sūḫu, including [the city Rapiqu, [(...); he] captured [... from the passes of] the land Ḫabruri to the land Gilzānu, Apâ, king of the city Ḫubuškia, [... H]e conquered (the territory…
LawMythology
Tukulti-Ninurta II 07
Preserves Tukulti-Ninurta II's own account of a building project — specifying brick-course increments — adding measurable detail to the archaeological record of Assyrian royal construction between Adad-nārārī II and Aššurnasirpal II.
LawMythologyTukulti-Ninurta II 09
(1) Palace of Tukultī-Ninurta (II), king of the world, king of Assyria, son of Adad-nārārī (II), king of the world, king of Assyria, son of Aššur-dān (II), (who was) also king of the world (and) king of Assyria: stone slab belonging to the city Kaḫat.
LawMythologyTukulti-Ninurta II 10
(1) Palace of Tukultī-Ninurta (II), [king of the world, king of Assyria], son of Adad-nārārī (II), king of the world, king of Assyria, son of Aššur-dān (II), (who was) also king of the world (and) king of Assyria: two-thirds mina of a … of a stone ...
LawMythologyTukulti-Ninurta II 1001
(1) Palace of [...], son of Aššur-[dān (II), …] al[l …] to [...] as far as the land [...]
LawMythology
Tukulti-Ninurta II 1002
Fragmentary royal inscription of Tukulti-Ninurta II attesting Assyrian claims over Sūḫu and Dūr-Kurigalzu, tracing the mid-Euphrates frontier his son Aššurnaṣirpal II would later consolidate.
LawMythologyTukulti-Ninurta II 1003
(1) (1 - 3) Palace of [...] king of the world, king of [...], son of Adad-nār[ārī (II), ...]
LawMythologyTukulti-Ninurta II 11
(1) Necklace of Tukultī-Ninurta (II), king of Assyria, son of Adad-nārārī (II), king of Assyria.
LawMythologyTukulti-Ninurta II 12
(1) [ Palace of Tukultī]-Ninurta (II), great king, [strong king, king of the world, king of Assyria, son of Adad-nārārī (II)], great king, [strong king, king of the world, king of Assyria, son of Aššur-dān (II), (who was) also] great king, [strong king, king of the world (and) king of Assyria].
LawMythology
Tukulti-Ninurta II 13
Royal titulary of Tukulti-Ninurta II naming three generations of Assyrian kings, anchoring the dynastic continuity claims that legitimised early Neo-Assyrian imperial expansion before Ashurnasirpal II.
LawMythologyTukulti-Ninurta II 14
(1) Palace of Tukultī-Ninurta (II), king of the world, king of Assyria, son of Adad-nārārī (II), king of Assyria: I/he restored the dilapidated section(s) of the tower(s) of the gate of the god Enpi.
LawMythology
Tukulti-Ninurta II 15
Preserves Tukulti-Ninurta II's three-generation royal genealogy, anchoring his legitimacy to Adad-nārārī II and Aššur-dān II within the standard titulary of early Neo-Assyrian kingship.
LawMythology