Position in chronology
Esarhaddon 057
Translation · reference
High confidence(i 1) [Esar]haddon, great king, mighty king, king of the world, king of Assyria, appointed by the god Enlil, priest of the god Aššur; (i 5) son of Sennacherib, great king, mighty king, king of the world, king of Assyria, appointed by the god Enlil, priest of the god Aššur; (i 10) the king who has revered the utterances of the gods Aššur, Šamaš, Bēl, (and) Nabû and has extolled their might ever since his childhood; (i 14) [by] the broad knowledge (and) wide understanding [that] the [sage of] gods gave me, [...] ... (i 1') they (the gods) [named] me [for shepherd]ing the land and people. (i 3')…
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/Q003286/
Why it matters
Esarhaddon frames his rule through divine appointment by Enlil and Aššur across two generations, encoding a father-to-son legitimacy chain that justifies his contested succession after Sennacherib's assassination.
Transliteration
[daš-šur]-ŠEŠ-SUM.NA / LUGAL GAL-ú LUGAL dan-nu / LUGAL kiš-šá-ti LUGAL KUR aš-šur.KI / šá-ak-nu dEN.LÍL SANGA daš-šur / DUMU md30-PAP.MEŠ-SU / LUGAL GAL-ú LUGAL dan-nu / LUGAL kiš-šá-ti LUGAL KUR aš-šur.KI / šá-ak-nu dEN.LÍL / SANGA daš-šur-ma / LUGAL ša ul-tu ṣe-eḫ-ri-šú / zik-ri daš-šur dUTU / dEN dAG pal-ḫu-ma / šit-mu-ru da-na-an-šú-nu / [ina] kar-še rit-pa-[še] / [ḫa]-sis-si pal-ke-[e] /…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Esarhaddon, edited by Erle Leichty (RINAP 4, 2011). ORACC text Q003286.
Attribution
Image: VA 08411 + VA 10130 (+) UM 32-22-005 (Vorderasiatisches Museum, Berlin, Germany; University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA) — from Assur (mod. Qalat Sherqat) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P257223). 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/Q003286/.
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