Esarhaddon 052

~675 BCE·Neo-Assyrian·Q003281

Translation — scholar edition

RINAP 4

High confidence

(1') [...] ... [...] the gods of Sumer and Akkad [took] the roa[d to Babylon]. Like tired foals which ... [...] together in their assembly ... [...] (5′) splendid [...]. As for me, Esarhaddon, the one who renewed the [great] god[s], they decreed [my fate (and) I made them enter] Ba[bylon] in joy and rejoicing. I doc[ked Maumuša (“Boat of Command”)] at the quay of Babylon. (10′) [They entered] the orchards, groves, canals (and) g[ardens] of Ekarzagina, [a pure place] (where) the craft of the exorcist, “the washing of the mouth,” (and) “[the opening of] the mouth” (are recited) before the stars of heaven: the gods E[a, ...]

Royal Inscriptions of the Neo-Assyrian Period, volume 4 — scholar edition (ORACC).

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Why it matters

Records Esarhaddon's restoration of the Babylonian gods and their cult statues to Babylon ca. 675 BCE, detailing the ritual 'washing of the mouth' and 'opening of the mouth' ceremonies performed to reactivate the divine images.

Transliteration

x-⸢tum?⸣ x (x) [...] / DINGIR.MEŠ KUR EME.⸢GI₇⸣ u URI.KI ḫar-⸢ra⸣-[an KÁ.DINGIR.RA.KI iṣ-ba-tu] / GIM mu-re-e an-ḫu-ti šá ⸢URU⸣ [...] / ina ukkin-ni-šú-nu iš-te-niš ⸢ʾ⸣-[...]1 / šit-ra-ḫu [...] / ia-a-ti maš-šur-PAP.MEŠ-AŠ mu-diš ⸢DINGIR⸣.[MEŠ GAL.MEŠ] / i-ši-mu [šim-ti] / ina ul-ṣi u ri-šá-a-ti a-na ⸢KÁ⸣.[DINGIR.RA.KI ú-še-rib-šú-nu-ti] / ina KAR KÁ.DINGIR.RA.KI e-mì-[id má-umuš-a] / ina ṣip-pat…

Scholarly note

Royal inscription of Esarhaddon, edited by Erle Leichty (RINAP 4, 2011). ORACC text Q003281.

Attribution

Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.earth/artifacts, P425736). 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/Q003281/.

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