Position in chronology
Esarhaddon 041
Translation — scholar edition
RINAP 4(1') [...] to perform th[at] work [...] their eternal [protec]tion ... [...] evil [year]s, [...] day(s) [... plot]ting murder, not [... (5′) ...] in confusion [...] their ... [...] and they dyed red ... [...] ... gods to ... [... to ex]ercise my kingship [... E]sarhaddon, who trusts him, [...] their exal[ted divinity ...] ... [...]
Royal Inscriptions of the Neo-Assyrian Period, volume 4 — scholar edition (ORACC).
Why it matters
Preserves fragmentary language of divine protection and royal legitimation under Esarhaddon, attesting the theological idiom by which Sargonid kings anchored their authority in the gods' 'exalted divinity.'
Transliteration
[...] ⸢a-na e-peš šip-ri šú-a⸣-[tú ...] / [... GIŠ].⸢MI⸣.MEŠ-šú-nu da-ru-u x [...]1 / [... MU.AN.NA].MEŠ lem-né-e-ti u₄-⸢mu?⸣ [...] / [...] ⸢ka⸣-ṣir ner-ti ⸢la⸣ [...] / [...] i-na ⸢i⸣-ši-ti [...] / [...] x-⸢ta⸣-šú-nu-ma iṣ-ru-pu ú-[...] / [...] x-el DINGIR.MEŠ a-na ⸢e⸣-[...] / [... a-na e]-⸢peš⸣ LUGAL-ú-ti-⸢ia⸣ [...] / [... m]⸢AN.ŠÁR⸣-ŠEŠ-SUM.NA ta-kil-⸢šú⸣ [...] / [... DINGIR]-ti-šú-nu ṣir-[ti ...] / [...] x x x [...]2
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Esarhaddon, edited by Erle Leichty (RINAP 4, 2011). ORACC text Q003270.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P398469). 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/Q003270/.
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