Position in chronology
Esarhaddon 034
Translation — scholar edition
RINAP 4(1') [...] ... [...] I [divided] that [land] in two, [and placed two of my officials over them as governors. I settled [in i]t [... I placed] Bi-ilu [in the city Uppumu ... (and)] Bēl-iddina in the city Kullimeri. I restored (it) to Assyrian territory (and) [reorganized that province. I imposed the tribute (and)] payment of my lordship [yearly, without ceasing upon them]. (7') In my tenth campaign, the god Aš[šur ...] had me take [... (and) made me set out] to [Magan and Meluḫḫa, which are called] Kush and Egypt in (their) native tongue. I mustered the vast troops of the god Aššur, who are in…
Royal Inscriptions of the Neo-Assyrian Period, volume 4 — scholar edition (ORACC).
Why it matters
Records Esarhaddon's tenth campaign toward Kush and Egypt — the Assyrian conquest of Egypt in 671 BCE — and his administrative reorganization of a divided province, attesting the empire's dual reach into Africa and the Near East.
Transliteration
[...] x x [...]1 / [ma-a-tu] ⸢šú-a-tú a⸣-di 2-šú ⸢a⸣-[zu-uz-ma 2 LÚ.šu-ut SAG-ia a-na LÚ.NAM-ú-te UGU-šú-nu áš-kun ...]2 / [ina? lìb?]-⸢bi?⸣ ú-še-šib mbi-ʾi-⸢lu⸣ [i-na URU.up-pu-me ...]3 / m⸢EN⸣-AŠ i-na URU.kul-li-im-me-ri [...]4 / a-na mi-ṣir KUR aš-šur.KI ú-⸢ter⸣ [na-gu-ú? šu-a-tú? a-na? eš-šu-te? aṣ-bat? GUN]5 / man-da-at-ti EN-ti-ia [šat-ti-šam? la? na-par-ka-a? e-mid-su-nu-ti?]6 / ina 10-e…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Esarhaddon, edited by Erle Leichty (RINAP 4, 2011). ORACC text Q003263.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.earth/artifacts, P394796). 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/Q003263/.
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One of the earliest specimens of human writing. Not literature, not law — accounting. The need to keep track of grain in a temple bureaucracy is what pushed marks-on-clay into a system that could one day carry epics.
Marks the boundary between proto-writing and writing. We can see signs being used systematically — but not yet phonetically. The leap to recording speech itself comes a few centuries later.
The earliest historical document in human history.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.