Position in chronology
Sîn-šarru-iškun 07
Translation · reference
High confidenceLacuna of 3 or 4 lines (i 1') [I, Sîn-šarra-iškun, great king, strong king, king of the world, king of Assyria; the one whom the deities Aššur, Mullissu, Marduk, Zarpanītu], Nabû, (and) [Tašmētu] steadfastly looked [upon] with [their benevolent] glance [and] selected for [kingship]; whom the light of he[aven, the god Sîn, cr]owned with the cro[wn of lordship] (i 5´) to make the foundation of [the land] firm, to direct the peop[le], t<o> put in o[rder] what is confused, (and) to repair [what is de]stroyed; [whose hand] the god N[abû, overseer of the world], made gra[sp (i 10´) a just scepter…
Source: Novotny, J. & Jeffers, J. 2018–. The Royal Inscriptions of Ashurbanipal (668–631 BC), Aššur-etel-ilāni (630–627 BC) and Sîn-šarra-iškun (626–612 BC), Kings of Assyria. RINAP 5. University Park, PA: Eisenbrauns. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap5/Q003868/
Why it matters
Royal titulary of Sîn-šarru-iškun, one of Assyria's last kings before Nineveh fell in 612 BCE, attesting the Sargonid court's continued investment in divine-legitimation rhetoric even as the empire was collapsing.
Transliteration
d⸢AG d⸣[taš-me-tum]1 / ina ni-iš IGI.II.⸢MEŠ⸣-[šú-nu SIG₅.MEŠ] / ke-niš ip-pal-⸢su⸣-[šú-ma] / is-su-qu-šú a-na [LUGAL-u-ti] / a-na kun-ni (erasure) SUḪUŠ [KUR] / šu-te-šur ba-ʾu-la*(over erasure)-[a-ti] / ⸢dal⸣-ḫa-a-ti a-<na> tu-⸢qu⸣-[ni] / [ab]-⸢ta⸣-a-ti a-na ke-še₂₀-ri a-⸢ge⸣-[e] / [be-lu-ti i]-⸢pi-ru⸣-uš na-an-nàr ⸢AN⸣-[e d30] / [GIŠ.GIDRU i-šar-tú] uš-⸢pa⸣-ru ke-[e-nu] / a-na ⸢re⸣-[ʾu-u-ti…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Ashurbanipal or a late Sargonid successor, edited by Jamie Novotny & Joshua Jeffers (RINAP 5, 2018–). ORACC text Q003868.
Attribution
Image: SE 155 (Couvent Saint-Étienne, Jerusalem) — from Assur (mod. Qalat Sherqat) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P431408). source
Translation excerpted from Novotny, J. & Jeffers, J. 2018–. The Royal Inscriptions of Ashurbanipal (668–631 BC), Aššur-etel-ilāni (630–627 BC) and Sîn-šarra-iškun (626–612 BC), Kings of Assyria. RINAP 5. University Park, PA: Eisenbrauns. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap5/Q003868/.
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