Position in chronology
Tiglath-pileser I 1001
Translation · reference
High confidence(1') No translation warranted.
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/Q005956/
Why it matters
Transliteration
É [...] / i-na KÁ x [...] / É.GAL.MEŠ šu-[bat LUGAL-te ...] / ar-ṣi-ip [...] / GIŠ.APIN.MEŠ i-na ši-di [KUR-ia ...] / GIŠ.GIGIR.MEŠ ṣi-im-⸢da⸣-[at ni-ri ...] / su-gul-la-a-at x [...] / ša a-pe-lu-ši-[na-ti ...] / GIŠ.e-re-na GIŠ.ḫa-⸢šu?⸣-[ri? ...] / ša i-na KUR-ti-⸢ia⸣ [...] / GIŠ.MEŠ ša-tu-[nu ...] / dnin-urta dIGI.DU [...] / šu-tu-ru-te ⸢šu⸣-[ut? qar-ni? ...] / a-duk 16 mu-⸢ri⸣ [bal-ṭu-te ša ri-ma-ni? ...] / [x x x].MEŠ x [...]
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 Q005956.
Attribution
Image: Based on A. Kirk Grayson, Assyrian Rulers of the Early First Millennium BC I (1114-859 BC) (RIMA 2), Toronto, 1991. Adapted by Jamie Novotny (2015-16) and lemmatized and updated by Nathan Morello (2016-17) for the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation-funded OIMEA Project 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/Q005956/..
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/Q005956/.
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The earliest historical document in human history.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.