Position in chronology
Adad-nerari III 13
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) Palace of Šamšī-Adad (V), great king, strong king, king of [the world, king of Assyria], son of Shalmaneser (III), king of the four quarters (of the world), son of Ashurnasirpal (II), [king of Assyria]. (3) At that time, (as for) this palace, which Šamšī-Adad (V), king of Assyria, had built, but not completed, I, Adad-nārārī (III), king of Assyria, his son, completed (it).
Source: Royal Inscriptions of Assyria online (RIAo), Munich Open-access Cuneiform Corpus Initiative (MOCCI), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München; in association with the RINAP Project, University of Pennsylvania. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/riao/Q004761/
Why it matters
Records Adad-nārārī III completing a palace left unfinished by his father Šamšī-Adad V, attesting the dynastic continuity rhetoric Assyrian kings used to legitimise building projects inherited across reigns.
Transliteration
É.GAL mdšam-ši-10 MAN GAL-u MAN dan-nu MAN [ŠÚ MAN KUR AŠ] / A mdsál-ma-nu-MAŠ MAN kib-rat LÍMMU-ti A mAŠ-PAP-⸢A⸣ [MAN KUR AŠ] / ina u₄-me-šú-ma É.GAL ši-i šá mdšam-ši-10 MAN KUR AŠ / DÙ-uš-ma la ú-šak-li-lu u ana-ku m10-ERIM.TÁḪ MAN KUR AŠ DUMU-šú ú-šak-lil
Scholarly note
Royal inscription of an Assyrian king, published in the Royal Inscriptions of Assyria online project (RIAo). Translation reproduced from the ORACC edition. ORACC text Q004761.
Attribution
Image: BM 137493 (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P428624). source
Translation excerpted from Royal Inscriptions of Assyria online (RIAo), Munich Open-access Cuneiform Corpus Initiative (MOCCI), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München; in association with the RINAP Project, University of Pennsylvania. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/riao/Q004761/.
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The earliest historical document in human history.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.