Position in chronology
Ashurbanipal 2010
Translation — scholar edition
RINAP 5(1) (For) the god Nanna, king of the Enlil (circle of) gods, his lord: Sîn-balāssu-iqbi, governor of Ur, (5) who provides for Eridu, built Eušumgalana, the station of the goddess Ninkasi.
Royal Inscriptions of the Neo-Assyrian Period, volume 5 — scholar edition (ORACC).
Why it matters
Records Sîn-balāssu-iqbi, governor of Ur, constructing a cult station for Ninkasi — goddess of brewing — at Eridu, attesting Assyrian-period investment in southern Babylonian sacred infrastructure.
Transliteration
dnanna lugal den-líl-e-ne1 / lugal-a-ni / mdEN.ZU-TI.LA.BI-DU₁₁.GA / šagina úri.KI-ma / ú-a eridu.KI-ga / é-ušumgal-an-na / ⸢ki⸣-gub dnin-ka-si-ke₄2 / mu-na-dù
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Ashurbanipal or a late Sargonid successor, edited by Jamie Novotny & Joshua Jeffers (RINAP 5, 2018–). ORACC text Q003849.
Attribution
Image: BM 119277 (British Museum, London, UK) — from Ur (mod. Tell Muqayyar) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.earth/artifacts, P428470). 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/Q003849/.
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The earliest historical document in human history. Before this, we have lists, accounts, and dedications. Here, for the first time, a ruler tells us what happened — with names, places, and consequences.