Position in chronology
Esarhaddon 012
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) Esarhaddon, [...] ki[ng, ... king of the world, king of Assyria, governor of Babylon, king of Sumer and Akkad], pious prince, humble, [... who knows how to revere all of the gods and goddesses], of fine intellect, ... [...] who from [his] you[th ...] (5) whom [...] to renew [...] the one who (re)constructed the temple of the god Aššur, [...] respectful king, the one who complet[ed ...]; son of Sennacherib, ki[ng of ...] the images of the gods Sîn, Ninga[l, ...] m[a]de and ... [...] the cella, [which] he did not bui[ld] as their lordly living quarters, [...] — (12) I, Esarhaddon, king of…
Source: Leichty, E. 2011. The Royal Inscriptions of Esarhaddon, King of Assyria (680–669 BC). RINAP 4. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap4/Q003241/
Why it matters
Records Esarhaddon's restoration of the Aššur temple and manufacture of cult statues for Sîn and Ningal, linking his legitimacy directly to cultic reconstruction after his father Sennacherib's reign.
Transliteration
maš-šur-ŠEŠ-SUM.NA ⸢LUGAL⸣ [... LUGAL ŠÚ LUGAL KUR aš-šur.KI GÌR.NÍTA KÁ.DINGIR.RA.KI LUGAL KUR EME.GI₇ u URI.KI]1 / NUN na-aʾ-du áš-ru [... ša pa-laḫ DINGIR.MEŠ u diš-ta-ri ka-la-ma i-du-ú] / lìb-bu rap-šú ma-[...] / ša ul-tu ṣe-[ḫe-ri-šú ...] / ša a-na ud-du-⸢uš⸣ [...] / ba-nu-ú É daš-⸢šur⸣ [...] / LUGAL šaḫ-tu mu-šak-⸢li⸣-[il ...] / DUMU md30-ŠEŠ.MEŠ-SU ⸢LUGAL⸣ [...] / ṣa-lam d30 ⸢d⸣nin-⸢gal⸣…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Esarhaddon, edited by Erle Leichty (RINAP 4, 2011). ORACC text Q003241.
Attribution
Image: BM 122618 (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P422404). source
Translation excerpted from Leichty, E. 2011. The Royal Inscriptions of Esarhaddon, King of Assyria (680–669 BC). RINAP 4. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap4/Q003241/.
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