Position in chronology
Ashurbanipal 072
Written in modern English
The inscription records how Esarhaddon conquered Egypt and Kush, carrying off plunder too vast to count. He brought the whole of that territory under Assyrian control, renamed its cities, and installed his own servants there as kings, governors, and officials, requiring them to pay annual tribute. Earlier in the text, in a passage now badly broken, someone — most likely Ashurbanipal — describes restoring a shrine called Egašanḫilkuga and returning the goddess Šarrat-Kidmuri to her eternal dais, but the opening lines are too damaged to read in full.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — scholar edition
RINAP 5(i 1') [... I made (it) shine li]ke daylight [... in Egašanḫil]ikuga [... (and) I made (Šarrat-Kidmuri) dwell on (her) ete]rnal [dais]. (i 4') [...] his [...] (ii 1') [(wherein) he (Esarhaddon) conquered] Egypt (and) Ku[sh and (then) carried off its booty without number. He ruled over] that land in [its] ent[irety and made (it) part of the territory of Assyria. He changed] the forme[r] names of the cities [and gave them new names. He appointed] his servants [therein] as king(s), go[vernor(s), (and) official(s). He imposed upon them annual] tribute payment (in recognition) of [his]…
Royal Inscriptions of the Neo-Assyrian Period, volume 5 — scholar edition (ORACC).
Why it matters
Attests Esarhaddon's conquest of Egypt and Kush as refracted through Ashurbanipal's own royal ideology: the renaming of cities and installation of vassal kings recorded here illuminates how Assyria consolidated its briefest, most audacious imperial overreach.
Transliteration
[... ú-nam-mir? ki]-⸢ma u₄-me⸣ / [... ina é-gašan-ḫi]-⸢li⸣-kù-ga / [... pa-rak da]-⸢ra⸣-a-ti / [...].⸢MEŠ⸣-šú / [...].⸢MEŠ⸣ / [...] x / [...] x / KUR.mu-⸢ṣur KUR.ku⸣-[ú-su ik-šu-du-ma ina la mi-ni iš-lu-la šal-la-as-su] / KUR šu-a-tu a-na ⸢si-ḫir⸣-[ti-šá i-be-el-ma a-na mi-ṣir KUR aš-šur.KI ú-ter] / MU.MEŠ URU.MEŠ maḫ-ru-⸢ti⸣ [ú-nak-kir-ma a-na eš-šu-ú-te iš-ku-na ni-bi-is-su-un] / ⸢ARAD⸣.MEŠ-šú…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Ashurbanipal or a late Sargonid successor, edited by Jamie Novotny & Joshua Jeffers (RINAP 5, 2018–). ORACC text Q003771.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P394797). 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/Q003771/.
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.