Esarhaddon 1007

~675 BCE·Neo-Assyrian·Q003379

Translation · reference

High confidence

(1') [...] ... [... I tore out the roots of Kush from] Eg[ypt ...] ... [... kings], gover[nors ... (5′) ...] I [re]appoint[ed ... the god Aš]šur and the [great] go[ds ... I set for] all [times ...]

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/Q003379/

Why it matters

Preserves Esarhaddon's claim to have uprooted Kushite power from Egypt (~671 BCE) and reset the region under Assyrian-appointed rulers — direct royal testimony to the conquest that briefly made Assyria an African as well as Asian empire.

Transliteration

[...] x [...] / [... TA] ⸢KUR.mu⸣-[ṣur as-suḫ-ma ...] / [...]-⸢ḫu-ma⸣ [...] / [... LUGAL.MEŠ] LÚ.⸢NAM⸣.[MEŠ ...] / [... ana eš-šu-ti] ⸢ap?-qí?⸣-[id ...]1 / [... AN].ŠÁR u ⸢DINGIR⸣.[MEŠ GAL.MEŠ ...] / [... ú-kin] ⸢da-ri?⸣-[šam ...]2

Scholarly note

Royal inscription of Esarhaddon, edited by Erle Leichty (RINAP 4, 2011). ORACC text Q003379.

Attribution

Image: IMJ 71.074.0221 (The Israel Museum, Jerusalem) — from uncertain (mod. Ben Shemen, Israel) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P429995). 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/Q003379/.

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