Position in chronology
Ashurbanipal 233
Translation · reference
High confidence(1') [two tall obelisks cast with] s[hiny zaḫal]û-metal, [whose weight was 2,500 talents (and which) stood at a temple gate, I r]ippe[d (them) from where they were erected and took (them) to Assyria]. (3') [On my return march, ... the peopl]e from the midst of the sea [...] deed[s ...] these [...]. At a distance of one month (and) twenty days (journey) into the mi[dst of the se]a and on dry land, [I added] territo[ry to that of the kings, my ancestors, and ruled (it)]. (6') [By the command of] the deities Aššur, Sîn, Šamaš, Bēl (Marduk), Nabû, Ištar of Nineveh, Ištar of Arbela, Ninurta, [...…
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/Q008321/
Why it matters
Claims Assyrian sovereignty over territory reached by a journey of 'one month and twenty days into the midst of the sea' — among the most expansive geographical boasts in the surviving Sargonid royal corpus.
Transliteration
[2 GIŠ.tim-me MAḪ.MEŠ pi-tiq za-ḫa]-⸢le-e eb⸣-[bi ša 2 LIM 5 ME GUN KI.LÁ-šú-nu man-za-az KÁ É.KUR] / [ul-tu man-zal-ti-šú-nu] ⸢as-suḫ⸣-[ma al-qa-a a-na KUR AN.ŠÁR.KI] / [i-na ta-a-a-ar-ti-ia ...] x x [... UN].MEŠ MURUB₄ tam-⸢tim A?⸣ [...] / [...] x ep-še-⸢ti⸣ [x x] x an-na-a-⸢ti e⸣-[...] / [...] ⸢ma⸣-lak ITI 20 u₄-me ina ⸢MURUB₄⸣ [tam]-⸢tim⸣ u na-ba-li mi-iṣ-⸢ru⸣ [e-li ša LUGAL.MEŠ AD.MEŠ-ia…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Ashurbanipal or a late Sargonid successor, edited by Jamie Novotny & Joshua Jeffers (RINAP 5, 2018–). ORACC text Q008321.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P395610). 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/Q008321/.
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