Position in chronology
Tiglath-pileser I 24
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) Palace of Tiglath-pileser (I), strong king, king of the world, king of Assyria, son of Aššur-rēša-iši (I), strong king, king of the world, king of Assyria, son of Mutakkil-Nusku, (who was) also strong king, king of the world, king of Assyria: (brick) belonging to the facing of (the quay wall) of the [Ḫusur] River.
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/Q005949/
Why it matters
Brick inscription stamping Tiglath-pileser I's ownership of a Ḫusur River quay wall — evidence that Assyrian royal building programmes extended to urban hydraulic infrastructure, not only temples and palaces.
Transliteration
É.GAL mGIŠ.tukul-ti-A-é-šár-ra / MAN KAL MAN KIŠ MAN KUR aš-šur / A aš-šur-SAG-i-ši / MAN KAL MAN KIŠ MAN KUR aš-šur / A mu-ták-kil-dnusku / MAN KAL MAN KIŠ MAN KUR aš-šur-ma / ša ki-[sir-te] / ša ÍD.[ḫu-si-ir]
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 Q005949.
Attribution
Image: BM 137489 (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P428620). 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/Q005949/.
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The earliest historical document in human history.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.