Position in chronology
Sennacherib 042
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) Palace of Sennacherib, great king, strong king, king of the world, king of [Assyria, king of the four quarters (of the world), (and) favorite of the great gods]: (2b) [The god Aš]šur, father of the gods, looked steadfastly upon me among all of the rulers [and he made my weapons greater than (those of) all who sit on (royal) daises]. (3b) [I]n a pitched battled in the plain of Kish, I repulsed Mar[duk-apla-iddina (II) (Merodach-baladan), the king of Karduniaš (Babylonia), (and) took away his rulership. I killed with the sword] all of the Chaldeans, together with the massed body of Elamite…
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/Q003516/
Why it matters
Records Sennacherib's account of defeating Marduk-apla-iddina II at the Battle of Kish (~703 BCE), one of the few Assyrian royal texts to name the Chaldean-Elamite coalition that twice seized the Babylonian throne.
Transliteration
É.GAL dEN.ZU-ŠEŠ.MEŠ-eri-ba LUGAL GAL LUGAL dan-nu LUGAL ŠÚ LUGAL [KUR aš-šur.KI] / [LUGAL kib-rat LÍMMU-tim mi-gir DINGIR.MEŠ GAL.MEŠ daš]-šur AD DINGIR.MEŠ i-na kul-lat ma-li-ki ke-niš IGI.BAR-ni-ma [UGU gi-mir] / [a-šib pa-rak-ki ú-šar-ba-a GIŠ.TUKUL.MEŠ-ia i]-na ta-ḫa-az EDIN i-na ta-mir-ti kiš.KI as-kip mdAMAR.[UTU-IBILA-SUM.NA LUGAL KUR.kár-dun-ía-àš] / [e-ki-ma be-lut-su] gim-ri KUR…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Sennacherib, edited by A. Kirk Grayson & Jamie Novotny (RINAP 3, 2012–2014). ORACC text Q003516.
Attribution
Image: TLC 2 (Toppan Rare Books Library, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P416121). 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/Q003516/.
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