Sumerian·Book

Position in chronology

Sennacherib 032

~695 BCE·Neo-Assyrian·Q003506

Translation · reference

High confidence
(i' 1') [...] ... [I took ... as ... and a fortress for] th[at] district, then I chan[ged] its former name [and (i´ 5´) ca]lled it Kār-Sennache[rib]. I [settled] therein the people of [the lands that] I [had co]nquered. I pla[ced (it) under the authori]ty of a eu[nuch of mine], the gover[nor of] the city Ḫarḫar, [and (thus) en]larged [my] la[nd]. (i' 9') On my return march, I received a substantial [payment] from the distant Medes, of whose land [no]ne [of] the kings, my ancestors, had heard mention. (ii' 1') [I fou]ght [with them] and [defeated them]. I[n the thick of battle, I captured]…

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/Q003506/

Why it matters

Records Sennacherib's founding of Kār-Sennacherib and his receipt of tribute from Medes 'of whose land no king, my ancestors, had heard mention' — pushing Assyrian imperial reach into previously undocumented Iranian territory.

Transliteration

[...] x [...] / [... ù dan-na-at] na-ge-⸢e šu⸣-[a-tu] / [aṣ-bat-ma] ⸢MU⸣-šú maḫ-ra-a ú-⸢nak⸣-[kir-ma] / [URU].⸢kar⸣-md30-PAP.MEŠ-⸢e⸣-[ri-ba] / [at]-⸢ta⸣-bi ni-bit-su UN.⸢MEŠ⸣ [KUR.KUR] / [ki]-⸢šit⸣-ti ŠU.II-⸢ia⸣ i-na lìb-bi ⸢ú⸣-[še-šib] / [i-na ŠU].II LÚ.šu-[ut SAG-ia] LÚ.EN.[NAM] / ⸢URU⸣.ḫar-ḫar ⸢am⸣-[nu-ma ú]-⸢rap⸣-piš ma-[a-ti] / ⸢i⸣-na ta-⸢a-a-ar⸣-ti-⸢ia⸣ / ⸢ša⸣ KUR.ma-da-a-a ⸢ru⸣-qu-ti / [ša…

Scholarly note

Royal inscription of Sennacherib, edited by A. Kirk Grayson & Jamie Novotny (RINAP 3, 2012–2014). ORACC text Q003506.

Attribution

Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P424938). 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/Q003506/.

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