Position in chronology
Sennacherib 031
Translation · reference
High confidence(i 1') [...] ... [... who lo]ves justice, [renders as]sistance, [goes to the aid of the w]eak, (i 5´) (and) [strives after] good deeds, [perfect man, viri]le warrior, [foremost of all rul]ers, [the bridle that controls the in]submissive, (and) [the one who strikes en]emies [with lightning]: (i 10') [The god Aššur, the great mountain, granted to] me [unriv]alled sovereig[nty] and [...] ... [...] (ii 1') [I surrounded (and) conquered ... their] for[tified] wa[lled cities. I brought] out of th[em] people, hor[ses, mules], donkeys, ox[en, and sheep and goats, and I counted (them) as booty]. (ii…
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/Q003505/
Why it matters
Composite royal inscription of Sennacherib (~695 BCE) that pairs the king's epithets as champion of justice and helper of the weak with concrete tallies of captives and livestock — revealing how Assyrian ideology fused divine mandate with systematic plunder.
Transliteration
[...] x [x (x)] / [... 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⸣ / [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 šá]-⸢na-an⸣ / [ú-šat-li-ma-an]-⸢ni-ma⸣ / [...] x [...] / É [BÀD.MEŠ-ni dan-nu-ti al-me KUR-ud] /…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Sennacherib, edited by A. Kirk Grayson & Jamie Novotny (RINAP 3, 2012–2014). ORACC text Q003505.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P450378). 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/Q003505/.
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