Position in chronology
Ashurbanipal 123
Translation · reference
High confidence(1') [...] ... [... With the support of ..., Išta]r of Ar[bela, ...], they (my troops) [brought ab]out [his defeat in a widespread pitched battle] (and) scatt[ered his forces. Tanutamon fled alone] and entered [the city Thebes, his royal city. They went after him on a march of (one) month (and) ten days, (on) narrow roads, (5´) as far a]s the city Thebes, [his] fo[rtified] city. [... he f]led to [...]. They [c]onquered [that city in its entirety] (and) fl[attened (it) like the Deluge. They brought out of it (Thebes), without number (and) in abundance, silver, gold, ore from its mountain, precious stones, any precious object, the treasure]s of [his] palace, [...]
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/Q003822/
Why it matters
Narrates Ashurbanipal's sack of Thebes (663 BCE) — the deepest Egyptian penetration by an Assyrian army — and catalogues the city's looted treasures, corroborating the biblical lament in Nahum 3:8–10.
Transliteration
[...] x x [...] / [... d]⸢15?⸣ šá? URU?.⸢LÍMMU?⸣-[DINGIR? ...] / [... iš-ku]-nu ú-par-⸢ri⸣-[ru ...] / [... ip-par-šid]-⸢ma⸣ e-ru-⸢ub a⸣-[na ...] / [... a-di qé]-⸢reb⸣ URU.ni-iʾ URU ⸢dan⸣-[nu-ti-šú ...] / [... in]-⸢na-bit a-na⸣ [...] / [...] ⸢ik-šu⸣-du ⸢is⸣-[pu-nu ...] / [... ni-ṣir]-⸢ti⸣ É.GAL-[šú ...] / [...] x [...]
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Ashurbanipal or a late Sargonid successor, edited by Jamie Novotny & Joshua Jeffers (RINAP 5, 2018–). ORACC text Q003822.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P404446). 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/Q003822/.
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