Position in chronology
Sennacherib 027
Translation · reference
High confidence(i 1) [Senn]acherib, [great] king, strong [king, king of] the world, (i 5) [king of] Assyria, [king of] the [fou]r quarters (of the world), [cap]able [she]pherd, (i 10) [favo]rite of the [great] gods, [guardian of] truth [who love]s [justi]ce, (i 15) [renders assistance, goes to the aid of the wea]k, (i 20) (and) [st]rives after [goo]d deeds, [perfect] man, [virile] war[rior], fo[remost of] all rul[ers], (ii 1) the bri[dle] that con[trols] the insub[missive], (and) the one who strikes enem[ies with lightning]: (ii 6) The god Aššur, the [great] mountain, granted [to me] unrival[led]…
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/Q003501/
Why it matters
Preserves Sennacherib's self-presentation as divinely ordained enforcer of justice and protector of the weak — the ideological scaffolding that legitimised Assyrian imperial rule around 695 BCE.
Transliteration
[mdEN].⸢ZU-ŠEŠ⸣.[MEŠ]-SU* / [LUGAL] GAL-ú / [LUGAL] ⸢dan-nu⸣ / [LUGAL] ⸢kiš-šá-ti⸣ / [LUGAL KUR] ⸢aš-šur.KI⸣ / [LUGAL] ⸢kib⸣-rat / [LÍMMU]-ti / [RE].⸢É⸣.UM / [it]-⸢pe⸣-šu / [mi]-⸢gir 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-ti / ⸢eṭ⸣-lum / [gít-ma-lum] / [zi-ka-ru] / ⸢qar⸣-[du]…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Sennacherib, edited by A. Kirk Grayson & Jamie Novotny (RINAP 3, 2012–2014). ORACC text Q003501.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P418995). 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/Q003501/.
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