Position in chronology
Shalmaneser I 20
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) For the god Aššur, his lord: Shalmaneser (I), appointee of the god Enlil, vice-regent of (the god) Aššur, son of Adad-nārārī (I), vice-regent of (the god) Aššur, (and) son of Arik-dīn-ili, (who was) also vice-regent of (the god) Aššur. (5b) I built the temple of the god Aššur, my lord, in its entirety from its foundations to its crenellations. I made (it) larger than before. (9b) I dedicated (this door socket) to the god Aššur, my lord, for my life, the safe-keeping of my seed, and the well-being of Assyria.
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/Q005808/
Why it matters
Transliteration
a-na daš-šur EN-šú / mdsál-ma-nu-SAG šá-ak-ni dBAD / ŠID aš-šur A dIŠKUR-ERIM.TÁḪ / ŠID aš-šur A GÍD-DI-DINGIR / ŠID aš-šur-ma É da-šur EN-ia / ana si-ḫír-ti-šu iš-tu / uš-še-šu a-di gaba-dib-bi-šu / e-pu-uš el šá pa-na / ú-šèr-bi ana TI-ia šu-lum / NUMUN-ia ù SILIM KUR daš-šur / ana daš-šur EN-ia a-qiš
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 Q005808.
Attribution
Image: Based on A. Kirk Grayson, Assyrian Rulers of the Third and Second Millennia BC (to 1115 BC) (RIMA 1), Toronto, 1987. Adapted by Jamie Novotny (2015-16) and lemmatized and updated by Nathan Morello (2016) for the Munich Open-access Cuneiform Corpus Initiative (MOCCI), a corpus-building initiative funded by LMU Munich and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (through the establishment of the Alexander von Humboldt Chair for Ancient History of the Near and Middle East) and based at the Historisches Seminar - Abteilung Alte Geschichte of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. The annotated edition is released under the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike license 3.0. Please cite this page as http://oracc.org/riao/Q005808/..
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/Q005808/.
Related tablets
Related sources
The earliest historical document in human history. Before this, we have lists, accounts, and dedications. Here, for the first time, a ruler tells us what happened — with names, places, and consequences.
The oldest surviving law code in human history. The principle that the state — not the wronged family — defines and enforces justice begins here.
Not the first law code, but the most complete and the most famous. Inscribed on a black diorite stele over two meters tall, displayed in a public place — law made visible, law made monumental.