Position in chronology
Sennacherib 140
Translation · reference
High confidence(1') [...] ... [...] ... [... In the high mountains, difficult terrain, I rode on horseback and had my personal chariot carried on (men’s) necks. In very rugged terrain] I roamed about on foot li[ke a wild bull]. I surrounded (and) conquered [the cities Bīt-Kilamzaḫ, Ḫardišpu, (and) Bīt-Kubatti, their for]tified [walled cities]. I brought out from them peop[le, horses, mules, donkeys, oxen, and sh]eep and goats, and I counted (them) as booty. [Moreover, I destroyed, devastated, (and) turn]ed into ruins [their small(er) settlements, which were without number. I bur]ned [with fire] pavilions…
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/Q003945/
Why it matters
Attests Sennacherib's mountainous campaign against Kassite-region strongholds — Bīt-Kilamzaḫ, Ḫardišpu, Bīt-Kubatti — preserving the royal rhetoric of brutal, methodical conquest in terrain too rugged even for chariots.
Transliteration
[...] x x [...] x (x) x [...] / [qé-reb ḫur-šá-a-ni zaq-ru-ti A.ŠÀ nam-ra-ṣi i-na ANŠE.KUR.RA ar-kab-ma GIŠ.GIGIR GÌR.II-ia i-na ti-ik-ka-ti ú-šá-áš-ši áš-ru šup-šu-qu] i-na GÌR.II-ía ⸢ri⸣-[ma-niš] at-⸢tag⸣-giš / [URU.É-mki-lam-za-aḫ URU.ḫa-ar-diš-pi URU.É-mku-bat-ti URU.MEŠ-ni-šú-nu É BÀD.MEŠ dan]-⸢nu⸣-ti al-me KUR-ud ⸢UN⸣.[MEŠ ANŠE.KUR.RA.MEŠ ANŠE.KUNGA.MEŠ ANŠE.MEŠ GU₄.MEŠ ù US₅].⸢UDU⸣.ḪI.A…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Sennacherib, edited by A. Kirk Grayson & Jamie Novotny (RINAP 3, 2012–2014). ORACC text Q003945.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P394559). 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/Q003945/.
Related tablets
Related sources
The earliest historical document in human history. Before this, we have lists, accounts, and dedications. Here, for the first time, a ruler tells us what happened — with names, places, and consequences.
The oldest surviving law code in human history. The principle that the state — not the wronged family — defines and enforces justice begins here.
Not the first law code, but the most complete and the most famous. Inscribed on a black diorite stele over two meters tall, displayed in a public place — law made visible, law made monumental.