Position in chronology
Ashurbanipal 011
Written in modern English
Ashurbanipal opens by naming himself as a being fashioned by the god Aššur and the goddess Mullissu — the eldest son raised in the House of Succession, chosen by Aššur and by Sîn, lord of the lunar crown, long before his birth to rule as king, and shaped in his mother's womb specifically to shepherd Assyria. The gods Šamaš, Adad, and Ištar confirmed that kingship was his through their binding decrees. His father Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, heeded the commands of Aššur and Mullissu carefully — and here the text breaks off.
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) Aššur and the god Sîn — the lord of the (lunar) crown — nominated in distant days to be king (i 5) and created in the womb of his mother for shepherding Assyria, (and the one for whom) the deities Šamaš, Adad, and Ištar declared my exercising the kingship through their firm decision(s) — (i 8) Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, the father who had engendered me, carefully observed the word(s) of (the god) Aššur and the goddess Mullissu, the…
Royal Inscriptions of the Neo-Assyrian Period, volume 5 — scholar edition (ORACC).
Why it matters
Declares Ashurbanipal's kingship divinely foreordained from the womb by Aššur, Sîn, Šamaš, Adad, and Ištar — anchoring Sargonid legitimacy theology in a chain of gods stretching from conception to coronation.
Transliteration
a-na-ku mAN.ŠÁR-DÙ-A bi-nu-tu AN.ŠÁR u dNIN.LÍL / DUMU LUGAL GAL-ú ša É ri-du-u-ti / ša AN.ŠÁR u d30 EN AGA ul-tu UD.MEŠ SÙ.MEŠ / ni-bit MU-šú iz-ku-ru a-na LUGAL-u-ti / ù ina ŠÀ AMA-šú ib-nu-šú a-na SIPA-ut KUR AN.ŠÁR.KI / dUTU dIŠKUR u d15 ina EŠ.BAR-šú-nu ke-e-ni / iq-bu-ú e-peš LUGAL-ti-ia / mAN.ŠÁR-PAP-SUM.NA MAN KUR AN.ŠÁR.KI AD ba-nu-u-a / a-mat AN.ŠÁR u dNIN.LÍL DINGIR.MEŠ ti-ik-le-e-šú…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Ashurbanipal or a late Sargonid successor, edited by Jamie Novotny & Joshua Jeffers (RINAP 5, 2018–). ORACC text Q003710.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P384981). 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/Q003710/.
Related tablets
Related sources
The earliest historical document in human history. Before this, we have lists, accounts, and dedications. Here, for the first time, a ruler tells us what happened — with names, places, and consequences.
The oldest surviving law code in human history. The principle that the state — not the wronged family — defines and enforces justice begins here.
Not the first law code, but the most complete and the most famous. Inscribed on a black diorite stele over two meters tall, displayed in a public place — law made visible, law made monumental.