Position in chronology
Sargon II 017
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) O god Ninšiku (Ea), the lord of wisdom who fashions absolutely everything, make your springs open up for Sargon (II), king of the world, king of Assyria, governor of Babylon, king of the land of Sumer and Akkad, the one who constructed your cella. (5) Send forth (water from) his wells (and) provide water in great abundance for his meadowland(s). Determine as his fate wide intelligence (and) broad understanding. Bring his undertaking(s) to completion so that he might attain his desire.
Source: Frame, G. 2021. The Royal Inscriptions of Sargon II, King of Assyria (721–705 BC). RINAP 2. University Park, PA: Eisenbrauns. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap2/Q006498/
Why it matters
Transliteration
dnin-ši-kù EN né-me-qí pa-ti-qu / kal gim-ri a-na mMAN-GIN MAN ŠÚ MAN KUR aš-šur.KI / GÌR.NÍTA KÁ.DINGIR.RA.KI MAN KUR EME.GI₇ u URI.KI / ba-nu-u ku-me-ka nag-bi-ka šu-up-ta-a / šu-bi-la kùp-pi-šú ma-a-mi ḫi-iṣ-bi u ṭuḫ-di1 / šum-ki-ra ta-mir-tuš uz-nu DAGAL-tú ḫa-si-su / pal-ka-a ši-i-mi ši-ma-tuš / e-piš-tuš šul-li-ma lik-šu-da ni-iz-mat-su
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Sargon II, edited by Grant Frame (RINAP 2, 2021). ORACC text Q006498.
Attribution
Image: Created by Grant Frame and the Royal Inscriptions of the Neo-Assyrian Period (RINAP) Project, 2019. Adapted for RINAP Online by Joshua Jeffers and Jamie Novotny and lemmatized by Giulia Lentini, Nathan Morello, and Jamie Novotny, 2019, for the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation-funded OIMEA Project at the Historisches Seminar - Abteilung Alte Geschichte of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. The annotated edition is released under the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike license 3.0..
Translation excerpted from Frame, G. 2021. The Royal Inscriptions of Sargon II, King of Assyria (721–705 BC). RINAP 2. University Park, PA: Eisenbrauns. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap2/Q006498/.
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The earliest historical document in human history.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.