Position in chronology
RINAP 3/1 Sennacherib 029, ex. 001
Translation — curated editorial
EditorialEditorial entry — translation cited from: CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P426226.
Transliteration
[... _dingir-mesz] e2# ad#_-szu2 sza2-a-szu2 _dam#_-[su _dumu-mesz_-szu2] [_dumu-munus-mesz_-szu2 _szesz]-mesz_-szu2 _numun e2 ad_-szu2 as-su#-[ha-ma] [a-na _kur_ asz-szur u2]-ra#-asz2-szu2 lugal-lu-da3-ri _dumu_ [ru-kib-ti] [_lugal_-szu2]-nu# mah-ru-u2 _ugu un-mesz_ is-qa#-[al-lu-na] [asz2]-kun#-ma na-dan _gun_ kad3-re-e be-lu-[ti-ia] [e-mid-su]-u2-ma i-sza2-a-at, ab-sza2-a#-[ni] [i-na me-ti-iq] ger#-ri-ia e2-da-gan-na# [ia-ap-pu]-u2# ba-na-a-a-bar-qa# [a-zu-ru _iri-mesz_-ni] sza# s,i-id-qa-a# [sza a-na _giri3-min_-ia ar2-hisz la ik]-nu#-szu2# al-me _kur_-ud [asz2-lu-la szal-la-su-un _szagina-mesz_] _nun#-mesz#_ [...]
Scholarly note
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Neo-Assyrian (ca. 911-612 BC)) — RINAP 3/1 Sennacherib 029, ex. 001. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Attribution
Image: British Museum, London, UK (P426226) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. source
Translation excerpted from CDLI raw catalogue, no published translation. P-number P426226..
Related tablets
Related sources
One of the earliest specimens of human writing. Not literature, not law — accounting. The need to keep track of grain in a temple bureaucracy is what pushed marks-on-clay into a system that could one day carry epics.
Marks the boundary between proto-writing and writing. We can see signs being used systematically — but not yet phonetically. The leap to recording speech itself comes a few centuries later.
The earliest historical document in human history.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.