Position in chronology
Esarhaddon 139
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) For the goddess [Ištar] of Uruk, lady of Eanna, lady of the lands, [his] lady: Esarhaddon, king of the world, king of Assyr[ia], governor of Babylon, (5) king of the land of Sumer and Ak[kad], son of Sennacher[ib, king of the world, king of] Assyr[ia, descendant of Sargon (II)], king of the world, king of Assyria, [renovated Ean]na, (10) [the temple of high]est rank, [and] made (it) [shine] like [daylig]ht.
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/Q003368/
Why it matters
Transliteration
⸢ana⸣ d[INANNA] UNUG.⸢KI⸣1 / ⸢GAŠAN⸣ é-⸢an-na GAŠAN⸣ KUR.KUR GAŠAN-[šú] / mdAN.ŠÁR-⸢PAP⸣-AŠ MAN ⸢ŠÚ⸣ MAN KUR aš-⸢šur⸣.KI / GÌR.NÍTA TIN.⸢TIR⸣.[KI] / MAN KUR EME.GI₇ u ⸢ak⸣-[ka-di-i] / ⸢A⸣ md30-PAP.ME-⸢SU⸣ [MAN ŠÚ] / [MAN] ⸢KUR⸣ aš-⸢šur⸣.KI / [A mMAN-GIN] MAN ŠÚ MAN KUR aš-šur.KI / [é-an]-na / [É da]-nù-u-ti / ⸢ú⸣-[ud-diš-ma] ⸢ki-ma⸣ [u₄]-⸢me ZÁLAG-ir⸣
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Esarhaddon, edited by Erle Leichty (RINAP 4, 2011). ORACC text Q003368.
Attribution
Image: Created by Erle Leichty, Grant Frame, and the Royal Inscriptions of the Neo-Assyrian Period (RINAP) Project, 2011. Lemmatized by Jamie Novotny, 2010. The annotated edition is released under the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike license 3.0. Please cite this page as http://oracc.org/rinap/Q003368/..
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/Q003368/.
Related tablets
Related sources
The earliest historical document in human history. Before this, we have lists, accounts, and dedications. Here, for the first time, a ruler tells us what happened — with names, places, and consequences.
The oldest surviving law code in human history. The principle that the state — not the wronged family — defines and enforces justice begins here.
Not the first law code, but the most complete and the most famous. Inscribed on a black diorite stele over two meters tall, displayed in a public place — law made visible, law made monumental.