Chapter 07 · 911 – 609 BCE
Neo-Assyrian
Empire, library, terror, scholarship.
~850 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses
Shalmaneser III 106
A royal titulary inscription of Shalmaneser III, anchoring his legitimacy through three generations of Assyrian kings and the ideology of world-kingship that drove ninth-century Assyrian imperial expansion.
“(1) Palace of Shalmaneser (III), king of the world, king of Assyria, son of Ashurnasirpal (II), king of the world, king of Assyria, son of Tukultī-Ninurta (II), (who was) also king of the world (and) king of Assyria.”
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/Q004711/
Read the full tablet entry~850 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses
Shalmaneser III 107
Royal titulary of Shalmaneser III anchoring his legitimacy in patrilineal descent from Ashurnasirpal II — the standard opening formula through which Assyrian kings projected dynastic continuity in stone and clay.
“(1) Palace of Shalmaneser (III), king [of the world, king of] Assyria, son of Ashurnasirpal (II), king of the world (and) king of Assyria.”
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/Q004712/
Read the full tablet entry~850 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses
Shalmaneser III 108
“(1) Shalmaneser (III), appointee of (the god) Enlil, vice-regent of (the god) Aššur, son of Ashurnasirpal (II), vice-regent of (the god) Aššur, son of Tukultī-Ninurta (II), (who was) also vice-regent of (the god) Aššur.”
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/Q004713/
Read the full tablet entry~850 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses
Shalmaneser III 109
Anchors Shalmaneser III's legitimacy in a three-generation paternal line — Tukultī-Ninurta II, Ashurnasirpal II, himself — the dynastic formula Assyrian kings used to assert continuity of divine kingship.
“(1) Palace of Shalmaneser (III), king of Assyria, son of Ashurnasirpal (II), king of Assyria, son of Tukultī-Ninurta (II), (who was) also king of Assyria.”
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/Q004714/
Read the full tablet entry~850 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses
Shalmaneser III 110
“(1) Palace of Shalmaneser (III), king of the world, king of Assyria, son of Ashurnasirpal (II), king of the world, king of Assyria.”
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/Q004715/
Read the full tablet entry~850 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses
Shalmaneser III 111
Records Shalmaneser III's construction of the ziggurat at Kalḫu (Nimrud), anchoring the monumental building programme that transformed his capital into the administrative heart of the expanding Assyrian empire.
“(1) Shalmaneser, great king, strong king, king of the world, king of Assyria, son of Ashurnasirpal (II), great king, strong king, king of the world, king of Assyria, son of Tukultī-Ninurta (II), (who was) also king of the world (and) king of Assyria: construction of the ziggurat of the city Kalḫu.”
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/Q004716/
Read the full tablet entry~850 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses
Shalmaneser III 113
“(1) [Palace of] Shalmaneser (III), king of Assyria, son of] Ashurnasirpal (II), king of Assyria, [son of Tukultī-Ninurta (II)], (who was) also [king of] Assyria: [...] eating, ... [...].”
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/Q004718/
Read the full tablet entry~850 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses
Shalmaneser III 114
“(1) Palace of Shalmaneser (III), great king, strong king, king of the world, king of Assyria, son of Ashurnasirpal (II), great king, strong king, king of the world, king of Assyria, son of Tukultī-Ninurta (II), (who was) also great king, strong king, king of the world, (and) king of Assyria.”
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/Q004719/
Read the full tablet entry