Position in chronology
Ashurbanipal 081
Translation · reference
High confidence(1') [They overthrew his kingship] (and) took away [his] dynasty. They made somebo[dy else] assume [dominion over the land Elam]. (3') [Afterwards, Teumman, the (very) i]mage of ev[il] gallû-demons, [sat on the th]rone of Urtak[u. (5´) He constantly sought out ev]il (ways) [to kill the childre]n of [U]rtaku (and) [the children of Ummanald]ašu (Ḫumban-ḫaltaš II), [the brother of Urtaku].
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/Q003780/
Why it matters
Records Ashurbanipal's justification for invading Elam: Teumman's persecution of the royal Elamite refugees gave the Assyrian king a dynastic-legitimacy pretext rather than a naked conquest.
Transliteration
[LUGAL-us-su iš-ki-pu] ⸢e-ki-mu BALA⸣-[šú] / [be-lut KUR.ELAM.MA.KI] ú-šal-qu-u šá-⸢nam⸣-[ma] / [ar-ka mte-um-man] ⸢ḫi⸣-ri-iṣ GAL₅.LÁ.MEŠ lem-[nu-ti] / [ú-šib ina GIŠ].⸢GU⸣.ZA mur-ta-⸢ki⸣ / [a-na da-a-ki DUMU].⸢MEŠ⸣ [m]⸢ur⸣-ta-ki / [DUMU.MEŠ mum-man-al-da]-⸢a⸣-si / [ŠEŠ mur-ta-ki iš-ta-né-ʾi le]-⸢mut?-tu?⸣
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Ashurbanipal or a late Sargonid successor, edited by Jamie Novotny & Joshua Jeffers (RINAP 5, 2018–). ORACC text Q003780.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P400299). 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/Q003780/.
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