Position in chronology
Sennacherib 007
Translation · reference
High confidence(1') [...] ... [...] its foundations [...]. (3') [I enlarged] the si[te of the citadel and Nineveh], my [c]apital [city. I broadened their squares and brought light into the alleys and streets, making (them) as bright as day]. (4') [I had a bridge constructed opposite] the Citadel [Gate] with paving ston[es of white limestone for the passage of my lordly chariot]. (5') [I had an inscribed object made and had all the mi]ghty victo[ries that I achieved over all of (my) enemies with the support of (the god) Aššur, the great lord, my lord, and all of my (other) achievements inscribed thereon.…
Source: Grayson, A.K. & Novotny, J. 2012–2014. The Royal Inscriptions of Sennacherib, King of Assyria (704–681 BC). RINAP 3. University Park, PA: Eisenbrauns. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap3/Q003481/
Why it matters
Documents Sennacherib's physical remaking of Nineveh — widened streets, a limestone-paved chariot bridge — grounding his self-glorifying inscriptions in datable urban-infrastructure works ca. 695 BCE.
Transliteration
[...] x (x) [...] / [...] ⸢iš⸣-de-e-⸢šu⸣ [...]1 / [ša MURUB₄ URU u NINA.KI URU] ⸢be⸣-lu-ti-ia šu-⸢bat⸣-[su-nu uš-rab-bi re-ba-ti-šú-un ú-šá-an-dil-ma bi-re-e-ti ù su-qa-a-ni uš-par-di-ma ú-nam-mir GIM u₄-me]2 / [i-na mé-eḫ-ret KÁ.GAL] ⸢MURUB₄⸣ URU i-na a-⸢gúr⸣-[ri NA₄.pi-i-li pe-ṣe-e a-na me-ti-iq GIŠ.GIGIR be-lu-ti-ia ú-še-piš ti-tur-ru]3 / [MU.SAR-a ú-še-piš-ma li-i]-tum ù ⸢da⸣-[na-nu ša i-na…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Sennacherib, edited by A. Kirk Grayson & Jamie Novotny (RINAP 3, 2012–2014). ORACC text Q003481.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P450331). source
Translation excerpted from Grayson, A.K. & Novotny, J. 2012–2014. The Royal Inscriptions of Sennacherib, King of Assyria (704–681 BC). RINAP 3. University Park, PA: Eisenbrauns. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap3/Q003481/.
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