Position in chronology
Ashurbanipal 232
Translation · reference
High confidence(i 1) [I, Ashurbanipal, great king, strong king, king of the world, king of Assyria, king of the] four [qua]rters (of the world); [offspring of Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, governor of Babylon, king of the land of Sumer] and Akkad; [descendant of Sennacherib, king of the world, king of As]syria — (i 4) [The great gods in their assembly determined a favorable destiny] as my lot [(and) they granted me a broad mind (and) allowed] my [mi]nd [to learn all of the scribal arts]. They [glorifie]d [the mention of my name (and) made my lordship greater than (those of all other) kings who sit on (royal)…
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/Q008320/
Why it matters
Asserts Ashurbanipal's personal mastery of the scribal arts as a divine gift — one of the clearest royal claims to literacy in the ancient Near East, legitimising his famous library-building programme at Nineveh.
Transliteration
[a-na-ku mAN.ŠÁR-DÙ-A MAN GAL MAN dan-nu MAN ŠÚ MAN KUR AN.ŠÁR.KI MAN] ⸢kib⸣-rat LÍMMU-tim / [È lìb-bi mAN.ŠÁR-PAP-AŠ MAN KUR AN.ŠÁR.KI GÌR.NÍTA KÁ.DINGIR.RA.KI MAN KUR EME.GI₇] ⸢ù? URI⸣.KI / [ŠÀ.BAL.BAL md30-PAP.MEŠ-SU MAN kiš-šá-ti MAN KUR AN].ŠÁR.KI / [DINGIR.MEŠ GAL.MEŠ ina UKKIN-šú-nu ši-mat SIG₅-tim i-šim-mu] ⸢šim⸣-ti / [uz-nu ra-pa-áš-tum iš-ru-ku-u-ni kul-lat ṭup-šar-ru-ti ú-šá-ḫi-zu…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Ashurbanipal or a late Sargonid successor, edited by Jamie Novotny & Joshua Jeffers (RINAP 5, 2018–). ORACC text Q008320.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P424852). 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/Q008320/.
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