Position in chronology
Ashurbanipal 100
Written in modern English
The gods granted him power, virility, and outstanding strength, placing lands that had not submitted to him under his control and allowing him to achieve his heart's desire. He marched from the Upper Sea to the Lower Sea, the route his royal ancestors had regularly traveled. He then conquered territory in the district of Ḫunnir, on the border of Ḫidalu, destroyed and demolished the city Bašimu along with the villages in its surrounding area, and annihilated the people living there. Their gods were smashed — the text breaks off here, and the rest of that line and a few more are too damaged to read before the entire reverse of the tablet is lost.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — scholar edition
RINAP 5(i' 1') [granted m]e [power, virility, (and) outstanding strength]. They [place]d [lands that had not bowed down to] me [into my hands (and) allowed] me [to achieve] (i´ 5´) my [he]art’s [desire]. I marched [from the] Upper [Se]a [to the] Lower [S]ea, [where the k]ings, my ancestors, had regularly [tr]aveled. (ii' 1') [I conquered ...] in the di[strict of the city Ḫunnir], (which is) on [the border] of the city Ḫid[alu]. (ii´ 5´) I destr[oyed] (and) demolished the city Bašimu and [the villages] in its environs. (ii' 6'b) As for the people living inside them, I annihilat[ed] them. I smashed thei[r] gods [...] ... [...] Reverse completely missing
Royal Inscriptions of the Neo-Assyrian Period, volume 5 — scholar edition (ORACC).
Why it matters
Places an Assyrian campaign against the district of Ḫunnir and destruction of Bašimu on the Hidalian border, adding localized geographic and military detail to the fragmentary record of Ashurbanipal's eastern operations.
Transliteration
[ú-šat-li-mu-in]-⸢ni⸣1 / [KUR.KUR la ma-gi-re]-ia / [ina ŠU.II-ia im]-⸢nu⸣-u / [ú-šam-ṣu]-⸢in⸣-ni / [ma-la] ⸢lìb⸣-bi-ia / [ul-tu tam]-tim e-⸢li⸣-ti / [a-di] ⸢tam⸣-tim šap-li-ti / [ša] ⸢LUGAL⸣.MEŠ AD.MEŠ-ia / [ir]-te-ed-du-ú / [a-na-ku lu]-⸢u ar-de⸣ / ina ⸢na⸣-[ge-e šá URU.ḫu-un-nir] / ina ⸢UGU⸣ [mi-iṣ-ri] / ša URU.ḫi-⸢da⸣-[lu ak-šu-ud] / URU.ba-ši-mu ⸢ù⸣ [URU.MEŠ] / ša li-me-ti-šú ap-⸢pul⸣ / ⸢aq⸣-qur ša UN.MEŠ / a-⸢šib⸣ lìb-bi-šú-un / ka-mar-šú-nu áš-⸢kun⸣ / ú-šab-bir DINGIR.MEŠ-šú-⸢un⸣ / [...] x x [...]
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Ashurbanipal or a late Sargonid successor, edited by Jamie Novotny & Joshua Jeffers (RINAP 5, 2018–). ORACC text Q003799.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P395609). 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/Q003799/.
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