Position in chronology
Ashurbanipal 004
Translation · reference
High confidence(i 1) I, Ashurbani[pal], great [king], strong king, king of the world, king of Assyria, [king of the fou]r [quarters (of the world)], offspring of Esarh[addon, king of Assyria], governor of Babylon, ki[ng of the land of Sumer and Akkad], descendant of Sennacher[ib, king of the world, king of Assyria] — (i 6) The great gods in their assembly [determined] a favo[rable] destiny [as my lot] (and) they granted me a broad mind (and) [allowed] my mind [to learn] all of the scr[ibal arts. They glorified] the mention of [my] na[me] in the assembly of princes (lit. “stags”) (and) made my kingship…
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/Q003703/
Why it matters
Claims divine sanction not just for Ashurbanipal's military power but for his scribal learning — one of the clearest royal assertions that literacy itself was a gift of the gods and a mark of legitimate kingship.
Transliteration
a-na-ku m⸢AN.ŠÁR-DÙ⸣-[A LUGAL] ⸢GAL LUGAL dan-nu⸣1 / LUGAL ŠÚ LUGAL ⸢KUR AN⸣.ŠÁR.⸢KI⸣ [LUGAL kib-rat LÍMMU]-⸢tim⸣ / ⸢ṣi-it⸣ lìb-bi mAN.ŠÁR-⸢PAP⸣-[AŠ LUGAL KUR aš-šur.KI] / GÌR.NÍTA KÁ.DINGIR.RA.KI ⸢LUGAL⸣ [KUR EME.GI₇ u URI.KI] / ŠÀ.BAL.BAL md30-PAP.MEŠ-⸢SU⸣ [LUGAL ŠÚ LUGAL KUR aš-šur.KI] / DINGIR.MEŠ GAL.MEŠ ina UKKIN-šú-nu ši-mat ⸢SIG₅⸣-[tim i-šim-mu šim-ti] / uz-nu ra-pa-áš-tú iš-ru-ku-u-ni…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Ashurbanipal or a late Sargonid successor, edited by Jamie Novotny & Joshua Jeffers (RINAP 5, 2018–). ORACC text Q003703.
Attribution
Image: OIM A07937 (Oriental Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P392161). 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/Q003703/.
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