Chapter 07 · 911 – 609 BCE

Neo-Assyrian

Empire, library, terror, scholarship.

Illustration: Scholars examining clay tablets in an Assyrian archive at Nineveh
An archive at Nineveh, around 650 BCE.

~875 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses

Ashurnasirpal II 045

“(1) Ashurnasirpal (II), strong king, king of the world, king of Assyria, king of all the four quarters (of the world), ruler of all of the lands, son of Tukultī-Ninurta (II), strong king, king of the world, king of Assyria, son of Adad-nārārī (II), (who was) also strong king, king of the world, (and) king of Assyria: (13) (As for) the temple of the goddess [Ištar], my lady, I built (and) completed (it) from its foundation(s) to its crenellations. (20) [May] a future ruler [restore its] dilapidated section(s).”

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/Q004499/

Read the full tablet entry

~875 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses

Ashurnasirpal II 046

“(1) Ashurnasirpal (II), strong king, [..., king of As]syria, chosen of your father — the god Enlil, whose commands [are unalterable — ... He (the king) has trod] difficult paths, mighty mountain chains [...] and he has conquered all those insubmissive to him [...]. (4b - 5) [...] …, the temple of the goddess Ištar, [... its] dilapida[ted section(s) …]”

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/Q004500/

Read the full tablet entry

~875 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses

Ashurnasirpal II 047

Opens with the full Assyrian divine council — Aššur, Enlil, Ea, Adad, Šamaš — granting Ashurnasirpal II his kingship, illustrating how 9th-century Assyrian royal ideology fused theology with conquest legitimacy.

“(1) (The god) Aššur, great lord, king of all of [the great gods, ...]; lord of the lands, the god Enlil, exalted one, [father of the gods, ...]; the god Ea, king of the apsû, lord of wisdom (and) understanding, [...]; the god Adad, the exceptionally strong, lord of abundance, [...]; the god Šamaš, judge of heaven and netherworld, commander of [all]; (5b) [the great gods] who decree the destinies (and) make great the [(...) kingship of] Ashurnasirpal (II), attentive ruler, worshipper of the great gods, [ferocious dragon], conqueror of cities and the mountains, to the[ir] full extent, [king of…”

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/Q004501/

Read the full tablet entry

~875 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses

Ashurnasirpal II 048

Attests Ashurnasirpal II's invocation of the storm-god Adad as divine enforcer of a royal decree, linking Neo-Assyrian kingship ideology to divine sanction for legal or cultic obligations.

“(1) Ashurnasirpal (II), [strong] king, [... son of Tuku]ltī-Ninurta (II), [...] the temple [...] … [...] (r 1') ... [...] the god Adad [...] will erase [...].”

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/Q004502/

Read the full tablet entry

~875 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses

Ashurnasirpal II 049

“(o 1) [Ashur]nasirpal (II), strong king, king [...], unrivalled king of the world, [...], the attentive ruler who [...] heaven (and) netherworld, [...] those insubmissive to him [...], exalted priest, [...] the deities Aššur (and) Adad [...] whose priesthood in [the temples they established forever ...], [(...)] shepherd [...] (r 1') [...] ... [...] may [a future ruler] restore [its dilapidated section(s) (and) restore my] inscribed name [to its place]. The gods Aššur (and) Adad, [the great] lords, [(...) will (then) listen to his prayers]. (r 7') As for the one who erases my inscription [and writes his (own) name, ... may the deities Aššur, Adad, (and)] Ištar, the great gods [...].”

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/Q004503/

Read the full tablet entry

~875 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses

Ashurnasirpal II 050

“(1) Ashurnasirpal (II), great king, strong king, king of the world, king of Assyria, son of Tukultī-Ninurta (II), great king, strong king, king of the world, king of Assyria, son of Adad-nārārī (II), (who was) also great king, strong king, king of the world, king of Assyria; valiant man who acts with the support of (the god) Aššur, his lord, and has no rival among the rulers of the four quarters (of the world), the king who subdued (the territory stretching) from the opposite bank of the Tigris River to Mount Lebanon and the Great Sea, the land Lāqê, in its entirety, (and) the land Sūḫu,…”

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/Q004504/

Read the full tablet entry

~875 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses

Ashurnasirpal II 051

“(1) Ashurnasirpal (II), great king, strong king, king of the world, king of Assyria, son of Tukultī-Ninurta (II), great king, strong king, king of the world, king of Assyria, son of Adad-nārārī (II), (who was) also great king, strong king, king of the world, king of Assyria; valiant man who acts with the support of (the god) Aššur, his lord, and has no rival among the rulers of the four quarters (of the world), marvelous shepherd, fearless in battle, mighty flood-tide which has no opponent, the king who subdues those insubordinate to him, who rules all peoples, the strong male who treads upon…”

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/Q004505/

Read the full tablet entry

~875 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses

Ashurnasirpal II 052

“(1') conqueror [from the passes of land Ḫabr]uri to the land Gilzā[nu]; I [conquered from the source of] the Subnat River to [the land Šubr]ia (and) the interior of the land Nirbu; I subdued the land Lāqê, to its [fu]ll extent, (and) the land Sūḫu, including the city Rapiqu; [I brought] within the boundaries [of my land] (the territory stretching) from the passes of Mount Babi[te] to land Ḫašmar, the land Zamua, in [its] entirety, [from] the opposite bank of the Lower Zab [to] Tīl-Abāri, which is upstream from the land Z[abban, to Tīl-ša]-Abtāni and Tīl-ša-Za[bdāni; the cities Ḫiri]mmu (and)…”

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/Q004506/

Read the full tablet entry