Position in chronology
Ashurbanipal 012
Translation · reference
High confidence(i 1') I placed (the bed) [...] ... [... which] is laden [with sexual charm]. (i 2'b) I presented the god Marduk, the one who loves my reign, with [a b]ed of ebony, a dur[able] wood, (and) which is clad with reddish gold. (i 4') I stationed six fierce wild bulls of silver, protectors of my royal path, in the Luguduene Gate, the Gate of the Rising Sun, and the Lamma-RA.BI Gate, in the gateway(s) of Ezida, which is inside Borsippa. (i 7') I cast Kizalaga, the seat of the god Nūru, with eighty-three talents of shiny zaḫalû-metal and, to make (it) shine (like) a brazier, I had the appurtenance(s)…
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/Q003711/
Why it matters
Records Ashurbanipal's lavish furnishing of Ezida at Borsippa — an ebony bed for Marduk, silver wild-bull guardians, and 83 talents of zaḫalû-metal — documenting Assyrian royal patronage of the great Babylonian sanctuaries.
Transliteration
[...] x x x [...]1 / sa-al-ḫu ad-di [GIŠ].⸢NÁ⸣ GIŠ.ESI iṣ-ṣi ⸢dà⸣-[re-e]2 / šá KÙ.GI ḪUŠ.A lit-bu-šat a-na dAMAR.UTU ra-aʾ-im BALA-ia a-qiš3 / 6 AM.MEŠ KÙ.BABBAR ek-du-ti na-ṣi-ru ki-bi-is LUGAL-ti-ia4 / ina KÁ lú-gú-dù-e-ne KÁ ṣi-it dUTU-ši u KÁ dLAMMA-RA.BI / ina KÁ é-zi-da šá qé-reb bár-sipa.<KI> ul-ziz / ki-zálag-ga šu-bat dIZI.GAR 83 GUN za-ḫa-lu-ú eb-bu ap-tiq-ma5 / a-na nu-um-mur KI.NE…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Ashurbanipal or a late Sargonid successor, edited by Jamie Novotny & Joshua Jeffers (RINAP 5, 2018–). ORACC text Q003711.
Attribution
Image: OIM A08105 (Oriental Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P392331). 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/Q003711/.
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