Position in chronology
Ashurbanipal 089
Written in modern English
On his eighth campaign, Ashurbanipal marched against Dunānu, son of Bēl-iqīša, in the land of Gambulu — a territory that had placed its trust in the king of Elam and refused to submit. His battle force swept over all of Gambulu like a fog, and he took Ša-pī-Bēl, Dunānu's fortified city, which stood between two rivers. He pulled Dunānu and his brothers out of the city alive, then led out Dunānu's wife, sons, daughters, palace women, and male and female singers — the text breaks off before recording what was done with them.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — scholar edition
RINAP 5(i 1) [On my eighth campaign], I marched [agai]nst Dunānu, [son of Bēl-iqīša, to the land Gambulu, which h]ad put its trust [in the king of the land Elam (and) had not bowed down to my yoke]. With my mighty [bat]tle array, (i 5) I covered [the land Gambulu in its entirety] like a fog. I conquered [the city Ša-pī-Bēl], his fortified [cit]y, [who]se location is [s]ituated [between rivers]. (i 8) I brought [Dunānu (and) his brothers] out of that city [alive. I brought out his wife, his sons], his [daughter]s, [his (palace) women, male singers, (and) female sing]ers [and] I [count]ed (them) [as…
Royal Inscriptions of the Neo-Assyrian Period, volume 5 — scholar edition (ORACC).
Why it matters
Records Ashurbanipal's eighth campaign against Gambulu and the capture of Dunānu alive — one of the few royal inscriptions detailing punitive operations against a tribe that defected to Elam during the Assyro-Elamite wars.
Transliteration
[ina 8-e ger-ri-ia] ⸢UGU⸣ mdu-na-ni / [DUMU mdEN-BA-šá a-na KUR.gam-bu-li] ⸢lu⸣ al-lik / [ša a-na MAN KUR.ELAM.MA.KI] ⸢it⸣-tak-lu / [la ik-nu-šú ana GIŠ.ŠUDUN-ia ta]-ḫa-zi dan-nu / [KUR.gam-bu-lu a-na si-ḫir-ti-šú] ki-ma MURU₉ ak-tùm / [URU.šá-pi-i-dEN] ⸢URU dan⸣-nu-ti-šú / [ša qé-reb ÍD.MEŠ] ⸢na⸣-da-at šu-bat-su ak-šu-ud / [mdu-na-nu ŠEŠ.MEŠ-šú] ⸢ul-tu⸣ qé-⸢reb⸣ URU šú-a-tú / [bal-ṭu-us-su-un]…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Ashurbanipal or a late Sargonid successor, edited by Jamie Novotny & Joshua Jeffers (RINAP 5, 2018–). ORACC text Q003788.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P394811). 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/Q003788/.
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