Position in chronology
Ashurbanipal 014
Translation · reference
High confidence(i' 1') [...] ... [... for] the admiration of [the people of my land, ... for pl]easu[re ... I went o]ut. In the stepp[e, a widespread place be]fore me, hug[e lions, a fer]ocious [mountain breed, attacked] cat[tlepen(s). With a single] team harnessed to the vehicle of [my] lordly ma[jesty, forty min]utes after daw[n], I pierced the throats of the ragi[ng] lions with (only) a single arrow each. (i' 11') The month Addaru (XII) — the month of the akī[t]u-festival of the queen of the goddesses, when the gods, [her] parents, assemble before [her] to take counsel and make de[cisions] — arrived and…
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/Q003713/
Why it matters
Fuses two registers of Sargonid kingship in a single text: the lone-archer lion hunt staged as cosmic spectacle, and the Addaru akītu-festival linking royal legitimacy to the queen of the gods.
Transliteration
[...] x x x [...]1 / [a-na?] ta-mar-ti [UN.MEŠ KUR-ia? ...] / [ki-i] ⸢mul⸣-ta-ʾu-⸢ú⸣-[ti A SAL NAP ...] / [ú]-⸢ṣi⸣ ina ⸢EDIN⸣ [áš-ri rap-ši] / [el-la]-⸢mu⸣-ú-a šur-bu-⸢te⸣ [la-ab-bi i-lit-ti ḫur-šá-a-ni] / [ez]-⸢zu⸣-ú-te tar-[ba-ṣu iš-ḫi-ṭu] / [ina 1-et] ú-re-ia ṣi-mit-ti ru-kub ⸢EN⸣-[ti-ia] / [10] ⸢UŠ⸣ u₄-mu ina a-la-[ki] / ⸢ša ur⸣-maḫ-ḫi na-ad-ru-[ti] / ina 1.⸢TA⸣.ÀM GIŠ.šil-ta-ḫi…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Ashurbanipal or a late Sargonid successor, edited by Jamie Novotny & Joshua Jeffers (RINAP 5, 2018–). ORACC text Q003713.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P452592). 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/Q003713/.
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