Position in chronology
Ashurbanipal 005
Translation · reference
High confidence(i 1) [I, Ashurbanipal, great king, strong king, king of the world, king of Assyria, king of the four quarters (of the world), off]spring [of Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, gov]ernor of B[abylon, kin]g of the land of Sumer and [Akkad, desce]ndant of Sennac[herib, kin]g of the world, king of A[ssyria] — (i 8) The great [go]ds in [their] as[sembly] determined a favorable [de]stiny [as my lot (and)] th[ey] gra[nted me a] broad [m]ind (and) allowed [my] mi[nd] to learn [a]ll of the scribal [arts]. They [glorified the] mention of my name (and) [made my] lord[ship greater] than (those of all other)…
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/Q003704/
Why it matters
Claims divine sanction for Ashurbanipal's legendary scribal literacy — a rare royal boast that a king personally mastered cuneiform learning, framing intellectual mastery as a god-given mark of legitimate rule.
Transliteration
[a-na-ku mAN.ŠÁR-DÙ-A LUGAL GAL-u LUGAL dan-nu] / [LUGAL ŠÚ LUGAL KUR AN.ŠÁR.KI LUGAL kib-rat LÍMMU-tim] / [È] ⸢lìb-bi⸣ [mAN.ŠÁR-PAP-AŠ MAN KUR AN.ŠÁR.KI] / [GÌR].⸢NÍTA KÁ⸣.[DINGIR.RA.KI] / ⸢LUGAL⸣ KUR EME.GI₇ ù [URI.KI] / [ŠÀ].⸢BAL⸣.BAL md30-PAP.⸢MEŠ⸣-[SU] / ⸢LUGAL⸣ kiš-šá-ti LUGAL ⸢KUR⸣ [AN.ŠÁR.KI] / ⸢DINGIR.MEŠ GAL⸣.MEŠ ina ⸢UKKIN⸣-[šú-nu] / ⸢ši⸣-mat SIG₅-⸢tim i-ši⸣-mu [šim-ti] / ⸢uz⸣-nu…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Ashurbanipal or a late Sargonid successor, edited by Jamie Novotny & Joshua Jeffers (RINAP 5, 2018–). ORACC text Q003704.
Attribution
Image: OIM A08112 (Oriental Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P392338). 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/Q003704/.
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