Position in chronology
Esarhaddon 116
Translation · reference
High confidence(1') [...] ... [... the slave girl] did not list[en to] her mistress. [They led their gods away, neglected their goddesses], abandoned [their rites], and embraced quite different (rites); [...] they were inciting [criminal ac]ts (and) infringing on a taboo; (5′) [...] they discontinued [sattuk]ku offerings. They fomented a conspiracy. They (Babylon’s citizens) put their hands on [the possessions of Esagil and the citizens of Babylon] and they plundered its goods, [gold, silver, (and) stones fr]om inside the temple (and) sold (them) at market value to the land Elam. (8') [The god] Enlil saw…
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/Q003345/
Why it matters
Esarhaddon's justification for Sennacherib's sack of Babylon: the Babylonians themselves broke divine law — selling Esagil's treasures to Elam — so the gods, not Assyria, destroyed the city.
Transliteration
[...] (traces) [...]1 / [... a]-⸢na?⸣ be-el-ti-šá ul i-šem-[me] / [DINGIR.MEŠ-ši-na i-bu-ka-ma i-me-šá diš-tar-šin par-ṣi]-⸢ši⸣-na ú-maš-ši-ra-ma šá-na-tim-ma ir-ka-⸢ba⸣ / [... ḫi]-⸢ṭi⸣-tu šur-šu-ú a-sak-ku ak-lu / [... sat-tuk]-⸢ku⸣ ú-šab-ṭa-lu ú-šab-šu-ú ri-kil-tú / [a-na NÍG.ŠU é-sag-gíl u DUMU E.KI] ⸢ŠU.II⸣-su-nu ú-bi-lu-u-ma im-šu-ʾu NÍG.ŠU.MEŠ-šú / [KÙ.GI KÙ.BABBAR NA₄.MEŠ? ša qé]-⸢reb⸣…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Esarhaddon, edited by Erle Leichty (RINAP 4, 2011). ORACC text Q003345.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P393783). 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/Q003345/.
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