Position in chronology
Ashurbanipal 017
Written in modern English
The terror of Ashurbanipal's royal majesty — a quality the gods Aššur, Bēl (Marduk), and Nabû had granted him — swept over Elam, and in the aftermath the Elamites turned against their own king Indabibi and cut him down with the sword. They then placed Ummanaldašu (Ḫumban-ḫaltaš III), son of Atta-metu, on the throne in his place. The inscription next mentions Duku, the sacred place where destinies are fixed and the seat of the god Lugaldimmerankia, along with other exalted gods and the fixing of fates, but the surface breaks off and the remaining lines are too damaged to read.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — scholar edition
RINAP 5(i' 1') [Fea]r of my royal majesty — [with which] the gods [Aššur], Bēl (Marduk), and Nabû [had endowed me — overwhelmed] the land Elam [and (then) the peopl]e of the land Elam [reb]elled again[st Indabibi] and [killed him with the sword. They placed Um]manaldašu (Ḫumban-ḫaltaš III), son of Att[a-metu, on his (Indabibi’s) throne]. (i' 6') [At] that [tim]e, Duku, where destiny is d[etermined, the sea]t of the god Lugaldimmera[nki, ...] the exa[lted] gods [...] fates [...]
Royal Inscriptions of the Neo-Assyrian Period, volume 5 — scholar edition (ORACC).
Why it matters
Records Elamite court violence — the killing of Indabibi and enthronement of Ḫumban-ḫaltaš III — framed as divinely ordained Assyrian dominance, linking Sargonid royal ideology directly to datable Elamite dynastic upheaval c. 655 BCE.
Transliteration
[pu-luḫ]-⸢ti LUGAL-ú-ti-ia⸣ [šá ú-za-ʾi-nu-in-ni] / [AN.ŠÁR] dEN u dAG KUR.ELAM.⸢MA⸣.[KI is-ḫu-up-ma]1 / [UN].⸢MEŠ⸣ KUR.ELAM.MA.KI ṣe-e-⸢er?⸣ [min-da-bi-bi] / [ib]-⸢bal⸣-ki-tu-ma ⸢i?⸣-[na-ru-uš i-na GIŠ.TUKUL.MEŠ] / [mum]-man-al-ta-áš DUMU mat-⸢ta⸣-[me-tu ú-še-ši-bu ina GIŠ.GU.ZA-šú] / [ina u₄]-⸢me⸣-šú DU₆.KÙ ⸢KI⸣.NAM.⸢TAR⸣.[TAR.(RE).E.NE] / [šu]-⸢bat⸣ dlugal-dìm-me-er-⸢an⸣-[ki ...] / [...] x ⸢DINGIR⸣.MEŠ ⸢ṣi-ir?⸣-[...] / [...] ⸢NAM.MEŠ⸣ [...]
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Ashurbanipal or a late Sargonid successor, edited by Jamie Novotny & Joshua Jeffers (RINAP 5, 2018–). ORACC text Q003716.
Attribution
Image: BM 127994 (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P237493). 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/Q003716/.
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