Position in chronology
Tiglath-pileser III 50
Translation · reference
High confidence(1') [I conquered the land Unqi to its full extent (and) I brought to Assyria twenty talents of gold, ...], property, [... I annexed to Assyria the land Unqi (and) placed] a eunuch [of mine as provincial governor over them]. (r 1) [I annexed the city Ḫatarikka, as far as Mount Saue, the city] Kašpūna, which is on the shore of the Upper (text: “Lower”) Sea, (and) [the cities Ṣimirra (and) Arqâ to Assyria (and) I placed] two eunuchs of mine as provincial governor[s over them]. (r 3) I annexed [to Assyria the extensive land of Bīt-Ḫazā-il (Damascus) in its entirety, from Mount Leb]anon as far as…
Source: Tadmor, H. & Yamada, S. 2011. The Royal Inscriptions of Tiglath-pileser III (744–727 BC) and Shalmaneser V (726–722 BC), Kings of Assyria. RINAP 1. University Park, PA: Eisenbrauns. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap1/Q003463/
Why it matters
Records Tiglath-pileser III's annexation of Unqi, Ḫatarikka, and Damascus into directly governed Assyrian provinces — the administrative mechanism behind the destruction of the Aramaean states attested in 2 Kings 15–16.
Transliteration
[KUR.un-qi a-na paṭ gim-ri-šá ak-šud 20 GUN KÙ.GI ...] NÍG.GA [... a-na KUR aš-šur.KI ú-ra-a] / [KUR.un-qi a-na mi-ṣir KUR aš-šur.KI ú-ter-ra] LÚ.šu-ut ⸢SAG⸣-[ia LÚ.EN.NAM UGU-šú-nu áš-kun] / [URU.ḫa-ta-rik-ka a-di KUR.sa-ú-e KUR-i URU].⸢ka⸣-áš-pu-ú-na ša a-aḫ tam-tim e*-li-ti [URU.ṣi-mir-ra URU.ar-qa-a]1 / [a-na mi-ṣir KUR aš-šur.KI ú-ter-ra] 2 LÚ.šu-ut SAG-ia LÚ.EN.⸢NAM⸣.[MEŠ UGU-šú-nu áš-kun]…
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of Tiglath-pileser III or Shalmaneser V, edited by Hayim Tadmor & Shigeo Yamada (RINAP 1, 2011). ORACC text Q003463.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Kalhu (mod. Nimrud) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P394576). source
Translation excerpted from Tadmor, H. & Yamada, S. 2011. The Royal Inscriptions of Tiglath-pileser III (744–727 BC) and Shalmaneser V (726–722 BC), Kings of Assyria. RINAP 1. University Park, PA: Eisenbrauns. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap1/Q003463/.
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