Chapter 00 · 1400 – 1077 BCE

Middle Assyrian

Aššur's first imperial expansion.

~1300 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses

Tiglath-pileser I 1002

One of the surviving manuscript witnesses to Tiglath-pileser I's royal inscriptions, preserving Assyrian royal ideology and titulary from the height of Middle Assyrian power.

“(1') No translation warranted. (r 1') No translation warranted.”

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/Q005957/

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~1300 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses

Tiglath-pileser I 1007

In plain English

What survives says roughly this: 'I laid down my own foundation records here. I found the old inscriptions of earlier rulers who served as Aššur's vice-regents — among them one whose name ends in Ilu-šumma, and Aššur-dān, likewise vice-regent of Aššur — and I put them back where they belonged. Dated the 18th day of the month Kalmartu, in the year of the eponym official Aššur-kēna-šallim, son of Aššur-išmanni.' The beginning of the text and the ends of several lines are broken away.

AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.

“[... I] deposited my [foundation inscription]s [...] [...] ... Ilu-šumma, vice-regent [of (the god) Aššur ...] [...] Aššur-dān, (who was) also vice-regent of (the god) Aššur — [I restored (them)] to [their place]. Month Kalmartu, eighteenth day, [(...)] eponymy of Aššur-kēna-šallim, [(...)] son of Aššur-išmanni [(...)]”

Source: engine:claude-fable-5 (2026-07-12/v7-evolved) · claude-fable-5 · medium confidence

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~1300 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses

Tiglath-pileser I 1008

In plain English

Only scraps of this text survive, but they say roughly this: a building had grown old and fallen into ruin. During the restoration work, the inscription bearing the name of Shalmaneser, vice-regent of the god Aššur, was found, and the king — Tiglath-pileser — returned it to its proper place and set it firmly in position. The beginnings and ends of all the lines are broken away, so we only catch the middle of each sentence.

AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.

“(Fragmentary; only the middle portions of five lines survive) [...] ... ... [...] [... (when this ...) becomes] old and dilapidated [...] [...] the inscription (lit. 'name') of Shalmaneser, vice-regent of (the god) Aššur, [...] [...] of Aššur, and I indeed returned (it) to its place [...] [...] I firmly established (it) in a strong (place) [...]”

Source: engine:claude-fable-5 (2026-07-12/v7-evolved) · claude-fable-5 · low confidence

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~1300 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses

Tiglath-pileser I 1009

In plain English

Only scraps of this text remain. It once listed the previous kings who had maintained a building in Assur: one line names Ilu-šumma, vice-regent of the god Aššur; the next says that Aššur-dān, likewise vice-regent of Aššur, restored the structure to its former state. The final readable line has the current king declaring that he firmly re-established the building on solid foundations. Everything before, between, and around these phrases is broken away.

AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.

“(Fragmentary; only parts of five lines survive) [...] ... [...] [...] ... [...] [... Ilu]-šumma, vice-regent of (the god) Aššur, [...] [... Aššur-dā]n, (who was) also vice-regent of (the god) Aššur, [restored (it)] to [its] place. [...] ... I firmly [established (it)] on a firm (foundation).”

Source: engine:claude-fable-5 (2026-07-12/v7-evolved) · claude-fable-5 · low confidence

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~1300 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses

Tiglath-pileser I 1010

In plain English

Only fragments of this text survive. The king says he rebuilt the structure completely — from its foundations all the way up to its parapets — and that he placed his own inscribed foundation documents within it. He identifies himself, or a predecessor, as vice-regent of the god Aššur. The final readable line is a request to whoever finds these inscriptions in the future: put them back where they belong. Everything before, between, and after these phrases is lost to breakage.

AI-generated reading paraphrase; compare with the translation below.

“(Break) [... from] its [foundat]ions [to its crenellations ...] [... I] dep[osited my foundation inscriptions ...] [...] vice-regent of the god Aššur [...] [... may he restore (them) to] their [place ...] (Break)”

Source: engine:claude-fable-5 (2026-07-12/v7-evolved) · claude-fable-5 · medium confidence

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~1300 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses

Tiglath-pileser I 1011

“(1') center/interior of the door [...] of the temple of the gods Anu and [Adad, (which)] Adad-nārārī (I), vice-[regent of (the god) Aššur (...)], had built, [(...)]”

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~1300 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses

Tiglath-pileser I 1012

“(1) Tigla[th-pileser (I), …], son of [..., …] made [...].”

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~1300 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses

Tiglath-pileser I 1014

“(1) To the goddess Mullissu, the lady of [...], the great [lady], his lady: [Tiglath-pileser (I)], appointee of the god Enlil, vice-regent of [(the god) Aššur, (...,) dedicated (this ...)]”

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