Position in chronology
Sargon II 083
Translation · reference
High confidence(i' 1) Not sufficiently preserved to allow translation. (ii' 1) Fear of the brilliance of the gods Aššur, Nabû, (and) Marduk, my lords, overwhelmed him (the king of Meluḫḫa) and he put iron fetters on his (Iāmānī’s) hands and feet. (ii´ 5) He then had him brought in bondage to Assyria, into my presence. I reorganized (the administration of) those cities. I settled there people from the lands in the eastern mountains that I had conquered. (ii´ 10) I set a eunuch of mine as provincial governor over them and imposed the yoke of my lordship upon them. (ii' 12) Marduk-apla-iddina (II)…
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/Q006564/
Why it matters
Records the king of Meluḫḫa (Kush/Egypt) surrendering the fugitive Iāmānī in chains — the sole cuneiform witness to Assyrian diplomatic reach touching the Nile Valley in the 8th century BCE.
Transliteration
[...] x UB / [...] x-šú-nu / [...]-⸢li?⸣-šú / [...] x x / ⸢pu-ul⸣-ḫi me-⸢lam⸣-me ša ⸢AN⸣.ŠÁR / dAG dAMAR.UTU EN.MEŠ-ia is-ḫu-⸢pu⸣-šú-ma / ŠU.II u GÌR.II bi-re-⸢tú⸣ AN.BAR id-di-šú-ma / a-na qé-reb KUR aš-šur.KI a-di maḫ-ri-ia / ú-še-bi-la-áš-šú ka-meš / URU.MEŠ šá-a-šú-nu a-na eš-šú-ti aṣ-bat1 / UN.MEŠ KUR.⸢KUR⸣ ki-šit-ti qa-ti-ia / ša qé-reb ⸢KUR⸣-i ṣi-it dUTU-ši / i-na lìb-bi ú-še-šib /…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Sargon II, edited by Grant Frame (RINAP 2, 2021). ORACC text Q006564.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P452465). source
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/Q006564/.
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