Ashurbanipal 228

~655 BCE·Neo-Assyrian·Q007636

Translation — scholar edition

RINAP 5

High confidence

(1') [... For 1],63[5 years, the Elamite destruction ..., the gods Aššur], Bēl (Marduk), Nabû, [... in the di]vine assembly place [... (5´) they (the gods) commissioned m]e, Ashurbanipal, the rule[r who reveres them, to scatter the land Elam ... The] great [god]s in heave[n and netherworld ... The god Ša]maš, through his firm “yes,” commanded [me ... They told (me)] to exe[cute faithfully the comma]nd of the deities Aššur, Ištar, and Nergal [...]. (9') [I tru]sted in the command of (the god) Aššur (and) the god Nergal, who had enco[uraged me, ...] I did [no]t ... at the command of the goddess…

Royal Inscriptions of the Neo-Assyrian Period, volume 5 — scholar edition (ORACC).

Why it matters

Invokes a 1,635-year span of Elamite destruction to justify Ashurbanipal's campaign, showing how Neo-Assyrian royal ideology wove deep historical grievance into divine mandate for war.

Transliteration

[...] x [...] / [a-na GÉŠ.U] ⸢GÉŠ.U⸣ 7 UŠ [15 MU.AN.NA.MEŠ šal-pú-tim LÚ.e-la-me-e ...] / [AN.ŠÁR] dEN dAG ⸢d⸣[...] / [ina] ⸢ub⸣-šu-ukkin-na-ki x [...] / [ia]-⸢a⸣-ti mAN.ŠÁR-DÙ-A ⸢NUN⸣ [pa-liḫ-šú-un a-na sa-pa-aḫ KUR.ELAM.MA.KI ...] / [DINGIR].⸢MEŠ⸣ GAL.MEŠ ina šá-ma-⸢mi⸣ [u qaq-qa-ri ...] / [d]⸢UTU⸣ ina an-ni-šú ke-e-ni iq-⸢ba⸣-[a ...] / [a]-⸢mat⸣ AN.ŠÁR d15 u dU.GUR su-[ud-du-ra i-ta-mu-u ...]…

Scholarly note

Royal inscription of Ashurbanipal or a late Sargonid successor, edited by Jamie Novotny & Joshua Jeffers (RINAP 5, 2018–). ORACC text Q007636.

Attribution

Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P394580). 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/Q007636/.

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