Position in chronology
Sîn-šarru-iškun 19
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) I, [Sîn-šarr]a-iškun, great king, strong king, king of the world, [king of A]ssyria, favor[ed by (the god) A]ššur (and) the goddess Mullissu, beloved of the god Marduk (and) the goddess Zarpanītu, the desire of the h[earts of the god Sîn] (and) the goddess Ningal, chosen by the steadfast hearts of the gods Nabû and Marduk, the favori[te of the gods o]f heaven (and) netherworld; the one whom the deities Aššur, Mullissu, Bēl (Marduk), Nabû, Sîn, Ningal, Ištar of Nineveh, Ištar o[f Arbela], Nergal, and Nusku (5) steadfastly looked upon a[mo]ng his brothers and se[lected fo]r kingship; whom…
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/Q003880/
Why it matters
Preserves the titulary of Sîn-šarru-iškun — Assyria's penultimate king — attesting the full Sargonid divine-election formula invoked even as Nineveh stood fewer than a decade from its fall in 612 BCE.
Transliteration
⸢a*⸣-[na-ku md30]-⸢LUGAL⸣-GAR-un LUGAL GAL LUGAL dan-nu LUGAL ŠÚ [LUGAL KUR] ⸢AN⸣.ŠÁR.⸢KI⸣1 / ni-⸢iš⸣ [IGI.II] ⸢AN⸣.ŠÁR dNIN.LÍL na-ram dAMAR.UTU dzar-pa-ni-tum bi-bil ⸢lìb⸣-[bi d30] ⸢dNIN.GAL⸣ / i-tu-⸢ut⸣ ku-un lìb-bi dAG u dAMAR.UTU mi-⸢gir⸣ [DINGIR.MEŠ] ⸢šu⸣-ut AN KI / šá AN.ŠÁR dNIN.LÍL dEN dAG d30 dNIN.GAL d15 šá NINA.KI d15 ⸢šá⸣ [LÍMMU-DINGIR.KI] ⸢d⸣U.GUR u dnusku / i-na ⸢bi-rit⸣ maš-ši-šú…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Ashurbanipal or a late Sargonid successor, edited by Jamie Novotny & Joshua Jeffers (RINAP 5, 2018–). ORACC text Q003880.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Kalhu (mod. Nimrud) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P393955). 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/Q003880/.
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