Position in chronology
Sennacherib 008
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) [Sennacherib, great king, strong king, king of the world, king of Assyria, unrivalled king], pious [shep]herd who reveres the great gods, [guardian of truth who loves justice, renders assistance, goes to the aid of the wea]k, (and) strives after good deeds, [perfect man, virile warrior, foremost of all rulers, the bridle that con]trols the insubmissive, (and) the one who strikes enemies with lightning: (4) [The god Aššur, the great mountain, granted to me unrivalled sovereignty and] made my weapons greater [than (those of) all who sit on (royal) da]ises. (5) [On my first campaign], I…
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/Q003482/
Why it matters
One of Sennacherib's royal campaign inscriptions, recording the ideological formula — pious shepherd, champion of the weak, warrior of Aššur — through which Neo-Assyrian kings legitimised conquest as divine mandate.
Transliteration
[mdEN.ZU-ŠEŠ.MEŠ-eri-ba LUGAL GAL-ú LUGAL dan-nu LUGAL kiš-šá-ti LUGAL KUR aš-šur.KI LUGAL la šá-na-an RE].É.UM ⸢mut-nen⸣-nu-ú pa-liḫ DINGIR.MEŠ GAL.MEŠ / [na-ṣir kit-ti ra-ʾi-im mi-šá-ri e-piš ú-sa-a-ti a-lik tap-pu-ut a-ki]-⸢i⸣ sa-ḫi-ru dam-qa-a-ti1 / [eṭ-lu gít-ma-lum zi-ka-ru qar-du a-šá-red kal ma-al-ki rap-pu la-ʾi]-⸢iṭ⸣ la ma-gi-ri mu-šab-ri-qu za-ma-a-ni / [daš-šur KUR-ú GAL-ú LUGAL-ut la…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Sennacherib, edited by A. Kirk Grayson & Jamie Novotny (RINAP 3, 2012–2014). ORACC text Q003482.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P450332). 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/Q003482/.
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