Position in chronology
Esarhaddon 078
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) Esarhaddon, great king, mighty king, king of the world, king of Assyria, governor of Babylon, king of Sumer and Akkad, the true shepherd who reorganized the confused people (and) made light shine forth for them; to whom the great gods gave as a gift (the ability) to create, build, (and) renew; (5) the one who (re)constructed the temple of the god Aššur, (re)built Esagil and Babylon, completed all of the cult centers, renewed [the sta]tues of the great gods, (and) who returned the plundered gods of the lands to their (proper) place from Assyria; who plat[ed] Egašankalama, the temple of the…
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/Q003307/
Why it matters
Claims Esarhaddon restored Esagil and returned gods exiled to Assyria — key royal-propaganda evidence for his deliberate reversal of Sennacherib's destruction of Babylon.
Transliteration
mdaš-šur-ŠEŠ-SUM.NA LUGAL GAL-[ú] LUGAL dan-nu LUGAL kiš-šá-ti LUGAL KUR aš-šur.KI / GÌR.NÍTA KÁ.DINGIR.RA.KI LUGAL KUR šu-me-ri ù URI.KI / SIPA ki-i-nu šá UN.MEŠ dal-ḫa-a-te ú-taq-qi-nu ú-še-ṣi-ši-na-ti nu-u-ru1 / ša DINGIR.MEŠ GAL.MEŠ ba-nu-u e-pe-šú ud-du-šu iš-ru-ku ši-rik-tuš / ba-nu-ú É AN.ŠÁR e-piš é-sag-íl ù KÁ.DINGIR.RA.KI / mu-šak-lil ma-ḫa-zi ka-li-šú-nu mu-ud-diš [ṣa]-⸢lam⸣ DINGIR.MEŠ…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Esarhaddon, edited by Erle Leichty (RINAP 4, 2011). ORACC text Q003307.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P393947). 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/Q003307/.
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