Position in chronology
Ashurbanipal 141
Translation · reference
High confidence(1') [...] my weapons over [my] f[oes ...] ... [...] the presumptuous Elamite [who did] not [...] (and) destroyed the land Akkad [...]. (5') Moreover, she, the goddess Nanāya, the daughter of the god [Sîn, who ...] had spoken angrily (and) had dest[royed ...], her heart was [...]. Dream(s and) message(s) from [ecstati]cs th[at ...] she nominated me an[d ...]. (10') I, Ashurbanipal, [...] who for 1,53[5 years ...] after auspicious egirrû-oracles [...]. During the night, [my] lamassu [...] ... [...]
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/Q007549/
Why it matters
Records Nanāya's 1,535-year 'exile' from Babylonia and her divine nomination of Ashurbanipal as restorer of her cult — linking Sargonid royal legitimacy directly to the goddess's prophetic dreams and ecstatic oracles.
Transliteration
[...] ⸢GIŠ.TUKUL.MEŠ-ia⸣ UGU ⸢ga⸣-[re-ia ...] / [...]-e x [...] / [LÚ].⸢e-la⸣-mu-ú muš-tar-ḫu la [...] / ⸢ú-šal⸣-pi*-tu KUR URI.KI [...]1 / ù ši-i dna-na-a DUMU.MUNUS ⸢d⸣[30 ...] / ag-giš taq-bu-u tu-šal-⸢pi⸣-[tu ...] / ib-ši lìb-ba-šá [...] / MÁŠ.GI₆ ši-pir maḫ-ḫe-e ⸢šá⸣ [...] / ni-bit MU-ia taz-kur-⸢ma⸣ [...] / ⸢a⸣-na-ku m⸢AN⸣.ŠÁR-DÙ-A [...] / ša ina 1 ⸢LIM⸣ 5 ME 30.ÀM [5? MU.AN.NA.MEŠ ...] / ul-tu e-ger-re-e SIG₅-tim x [...] / ina šat mu-ši la-mas-⸢si⸣ [...] / (traces) [...]
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Ashurbanipal or a late Sargonid successor, edited by Jamie Novotny & Joshua Jeffers (RINAP 5, 2018–). ORACC text Q007549.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P394568). 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/Q007549/.
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