Position in chronology
Esarhaddon 018
Translation · reference
High confidence(1') [...] ope[ned ...; whom [she selected] and rais[ed for kingship; ... king of the four quart]ers, favor[ite of the great gods, ...]; the one who is assiduous towards the sh[rines of their great divinity; ... (5′) ...] ... the god Ea, king of the ap[sû, ...] shrines; who [...; who re]turned [the plundered gods of the lands to their places] and seated [(them) on (their) eternal daises; ...; who (re)confirmed [sattukku- (and) gi]nû-offerings [in them; ...] their [...] the great gods [... (10′) ... made] (them) enter (and) sit [...; who ...] all of the people under my protection, as many as th[ere are; ... without cea]sing; who observ[es the days of the god (and) the eššēšu-festival ...]
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/Q003247/
Why it matters
Attests Esarhaddon's restoration of looted divine statues to their sanctuaries and his reinstatement of regular sattukku- and ginû-offerings — cultic amends that legitimised his reign after Sennacherib's destruction of Babylon.
Transliteration
[...] ⸢ip?-tu?⸣-[u ...] / [... tu-ut]-⸢tu⸣-šú-ma ta-⸢áš⸣-[šú-šú a-na LUGAL-ti ...] / [... LUGAL kib-rat] ⸢LÍMMU⸣-tim mi-[gir DINGIR.MEŠ GAL.MEŠ ...] / [...] muš-te-eʾ-ú ⸢áš⸣-[rat DINGIR-ti-šú-nu GAL-ti ...] / [...]-⸢zi⸣ dé-a LUGAL ZU.[AB ...] / [... eš]-re-⸢e⸣-ti mu-[...] / [(...) ša DINGIR.MEŠ KUR.KUR šal-lu-u-ti a-na áš-ri-šú-nu ú]-⸢ter⸣-ru-ma ú-šar-ma-[a pa-rak da-ra-a-ti ...] / [... SÁ.DUG₄…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Esarhaddon, edited by Erle Leichty (RINAP 4, 2011). ORACC text Q003247.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) ? — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P393949). 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/Q003247/.
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