Position in chronology
Ashurbanipal 009
Written in modern English
Ashurbanipal identifies himself as a creature of the god Aššur and the goddess Mullissu, the eldest son raised in the House of Succession, chosen by the moon-god Sîn from before his birth to shepherd Assyria, with Šamaš and Adad confirming through their own firm decrees that the kingship was his to exercise. His father Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, heeded the gods who backed him and who had instructed him to hand rule to Ashurbanipal. In the month of Ayyāru — the second month — the text breaks off, and what followed is lost.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — scholar edition
RINAP 5(i 1) I, Ashurbanipal, the creation of (the god) Aššur and the goddess Mullissu, the senior son of the king of the House of Succession, the one whom the god Sîn nominated in distant days, while (he was) in the womb of his mother, for shepherding Assyria and (the one for whom) the gods Šamaš (and) Adad declared the exercising of its kingship through their firm decision(s) — (i 6) Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, the father who had engendered me, carefully observed the word(s) of the gods who supported him, (and) who instructed him about my exercising the kingship. In the month Ayyāru (II), the…
Royal Inscriptions of the Neo-Assyrian Period, volume 5 — scholar edition (ORACC).
Why it matters
Attests the Sargonid practice of legitimating a crown prince through divine pre-election — Sîn's nomination in the womb — positioning Ashurbanipal's rule as cosmically ordained before Esarhaddon's formal designation.
Transliteration
a-na-ku mAN.ŠÁR-DÙ-A bi-nu-ut AN.ŠÁR u dNIN.LÍL / DUMU LUGAL GAL-u ša É UŠ-ú-ti / ša d30 ul-tu UD.MEŠ SÙ.MEŠ / ina ŠÀ AMA-šú iz-ku-ru-uš a-na SIPA-ut KUR AN.ŠÁR.KI1 / ù dUTU dIŠKUR ina EŠ.BAR-šú-nu ke-e-nu iq-bu-u e-peš LUGAL-ú-ti-šú2 / mAN.ŠÁR-PAP-AŠ MAN KUR AN.ŠÁR.KI AD ba-nu-u-a / a-mat DINGIR.MEŠ ti-ik-le-šú it-ta-ʾi-id / ša iq-bu-u-šú e-peš LUGAL-u-ti-ia / ina ITI.GU₄ ITI dé-a EN…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Ashurbanipal or a late Sargonid successor, edited by Jamie Novotny & Joshua Jeffers (RINAP 5, 2018–). ORACC text Q003708.
Attribution
Image: OIM A07945 (Oriental Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P392169). 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/Q003708/.
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