Position in chronology
Sennacherib 020
Translation · reference
High confidence(i' 1) [...] I ordered [the] march against them [to the land Nagītu. I settled in Nineveh the people of the land Ḫatti plu]ndered by my bows [and th]ey skillfully built magnif[ic]ent ships, (i´ 5´) [a product characteristic to their land(s). I gave] orders [to sailors of] the cities Ty[r]e (and) [Sidon, (and) the land Io]nia, [whom I had captured. They (my troops) let (them) sail down the Tigris River with] them [downstream to the city] Opis. (i' 11b) [Then, from the city Opis, they lifted th]em (the boats) [up onto] dry land and [dragged them on rollers to Sip]par.
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/Q003494/
Why it matters
Describes Sennacherib forcing Phoenician and Ionian captives to build Mediterranean-style ships on the Tigris, then portaging them overland to the Euphrates — a rare record of naval logistics adapted for landlocked riverine warfare against Chaldean Babylonia.
Transliteration
[...] ⸢ṣe-ru⸣-uš-⸢šú-un⸣ / [a-na KUR.na-gi-ti a]-la-ku aq-bi / [LÚ.ERIM.MEŠ KUR.ḫa-at-ti ḫu]-⸢bu⸣-ut GIŠ.PAN.MEŠ-⸢ia⸣ / [i-na NINA.KI ú-še-šib-ma] ⸢GIŠ⸣.MÁ.MEŠ ṣi-⸢ra⸣-[a]-⸢te⸣ / [e-piš-ti KUR-šu-un ib]-nu-ú ⸢nak⸣-liš / [LÚ.MÁ.LAḪ₅.MEŠ] ⸢URU.ṣur⸣-[ra]-⸢a⸣-a / [URU.ṣi-du-un-na-a-a KUR.ia-am?]-⸢na⸣-a-a1 / [ki-šit-ti ŠU.II-ia ú-šá-ḫi-su-nu]-⸢ti⸣ ur-tu / [qé-reb ÍD.IDIGNA it-ti] ši-na-ti / [a-na…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Sennacherib, edited by A. Kirk Grayson & Jamie Novotny (RINAP 3, 2012–2014). ORACC text Q003494.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P426268). 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/Q003494/.
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