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Page 190 / 190

~655 BCE·Neo-Assyrian

RINAP 5

Ashurbanipal 2004

(1) For the god Sîn of heaven, lion of the gods (and) king of the Enlil (circle of) gods, his lord: (5) Sîn-balāssu-iqbi, governor of Ur, son of Ningal-iddin, (10) (who was also) governor of Ur, built anew Etemennigurru, his beloved temple.

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~655 BCE·Neo-AssyrianRINAP 5

Ashurbanipal 2005

(1) For the goddess Ningal, queen of Ekišnugal, divine Ninmenna (“Lady-of-the-Crown”), beloved of Ur, his lady: (5) Sîn-balāssu-iqbi, governor of Ur, built anew the Gipāru, the house of the supreme goddess, beloved wife of the god Sîn. After he constructed a statue, a (re-)creation of the goddess Ningal, (and) brought it into the house of the wise god, she took up residence in Enun, (which was) built (to be) her lordly abode.

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~655 BCE·Neo-AssyrianRINAP 5

Ashurbanipal 2006

(1) For the goddess Ningal, exalted lady, queen of the goddesses, (most) valiant of the great gods: (4) In order to ensure the good health of Ashurbanipal, king of Assyria, strong king, (and) king of the world, his lord, Sîn-balāssu-iqbi, son of Ningal-iddin, governor of Ur, Eridu and the Gurasimmu (tribe), (10) opened up (its) emplacement, built (the well named) Puḫilituma, and established (it) for all time. He made inexhaustible spring water appear in it. (14) With regard to any (future) ruler who (re)opens this well, may his days be long (and) his offspring extensive!

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~655 BCE·Neo-AssyrianRINAP 5

Ashurbanipal 2007

(Lines 1-28 [= col. i–iii], which contain an inscription of Amar-Suen, are not edited here.) Col. iv (29) Copy from a baked brick from the debris of Ur, the work of Amar-Suen, the king of Ur, (which) Sîn-balāssu-iqbi, the governor of Ur, had discovered while looking for the ground plan of Ekišnugal. Nabû-šuma-iddin, son of Iddin-Papsukkal, the lamentation-priest of the god Sîn, saw (it) and wrote (it) down for display. Top (39) (No translation possible)

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~655 BCE·Neo-AssyrianRINAP 5

Ashurbanipal 2008

(1) (For) the god Nanna, king of heaven (and) netherworld: in order to ensure the good health of Ashurbanipal, king of kings, his lord, (5) Sîn-balāssu-iqbi, governor of Ur (and) Eridu, who provides for Ekišnugal, the shining shrine of the Watery Abyss (apsû), built anew (10) Elugalgalgasisa, his beloved temple.

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~655 BCE·Neo-AssyrianRINAP 5

Ashurbanipal 2009

(1) [(For) the god Nanna], his [lo]rd, [... of As]hurbanipal, [king] of the world, [Sî]n-balāssu-iqbi, (5) governor of Ur (and) Eridu, for the sake of his life (re)built Elugalgalgasisa [an]ew.

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~655 BCE·Neo-AssyrianRINAP 5

Ashurbanipal 2013

(1) (For) the god Nanna, king of the Enlil (circle of) gods, his lord: Sîn-balāssu-iqbi, governor of Ur, (5) who provides for Eridu, built Eadgigi, the abode of the god Nusku.

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~655 BCE·Neo-AssyrianRINAP 5

Ashurbanipal 2014

(1) (For) the god Nanna, king of the Enlil (circle of) gods, his lord: Sîn-balāssu-iqbi, governor of Ur, (5) who provides for Eridu, built Ekišibgalekura, the abode of the god Ninimma.

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~655 BCE·Neo-AssyrianRINAP 5

Ashurbanipal 2016

(1) (For) the god Nanna, king of the Enlil (circle of) gods, his lord: Sîn-balāssu-iqbi, governor of Ur, (5) who provides for Eridu, built Eanšar, his royal abode.

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~655 BCE·Neo-AssyrianRINAP 5

Ashurbanipal 209

(1) [For the goddess Ni]ngal, who makes life pleasant, goddess worthy of pra[ise], mother of the gods, the hero[ic one, the] gracious [wil]d cow, who(se) face is ra[diant, who(se)] featu[res] always shine brightly [l]ike daylight, (5) wi[f]e of the divine light (Sîn) — foremost lord, resplendent one, light of the distan[t] heavens — who bore the god Šamaš — the one who lights up the four quarters (of the world), who(se) judgement and decision are final ... — who intercedes for the light of the gods, her beloved, the god S[în], who gives counsel (and) says favorable thing(s) to the god Šamaš,…

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~655 BCE·Neo-AssyrianRINAP 5

Ashurbanipal 220

Lacuna of about 5 or 6 lines (i 1') [governor of B]abylon, king of [the land of Sumer and Akkad; grands]on of Sennacherib, [great] kin[g, strong king, king of the world, king of Assyria; de]scen[da]nt of Sargon (II), gre[at] king, [strong king, king of the world, king of Assyri]a, [governo]r of Babylon, king of the land of S[umer and Akkad] — (i 5') [(The god) Aššur], the father of the gods, [determined] a roya[l] destiny [as my lot] (while I was) in my mother’s womb; [the goddess Mul]lissu, the great mother, nominate[d me] for ruling over the land and people; [the god] Ea (and) (the goddess)…

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~655 BCE·Neo-AssyrianRINAP 5

Ashurbanipal 223

Columns i and ii are not edited here iii 1´–35´ The inscription of Sennacherib and measurements and descriptions of Zarpanītu’s bed and Marduk’s throne are not edited here (iii 36') Wording (of the inscription) that was erased from the bed (and) the throne of the god Bēl (Marduk), which were deposited in the temple of (the god) Aššur, (and that of the inscription) written upon (them) in the name of Ashurbanipal. Simānu (III), the twenty-seventh day, eponymy of Awiānu (655) , th[ey were returned t]o Ba[byl]on [(...)]. (iv 1') [...] ... [...] ... [..., O l]ord, being furious (and) relenting,…

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~655 BCE·Neo-AssyrianRINAP 5

Ashurbanipal 247

(1) For the god Marduk, his lord: Ashurbanipal, king of the world (and) king of Assyria, in order to ensure his good health (5) had baked bricks made anew for Esagil and Etemenanki.

Religion & Myth·Writing & Literature

~655 BCE·Neo-AssyrianRINAP 5

Ashurbanipal 248

(1) For the god Marduk, his lord: Ashurbanipal, king of the world (and) king of Assyria, son of Esarhaddon, (5) king of the world, king of Assyria, (and) king of Babylon, had baked bricks made anew for Etemenanki.

Religion & Myth·Writing & Literature

~655 BCE·Neo-AssyrianRINAP 5

Ashurbanipal 249

(1) For the god Marduk, his lord: Ashurbanipal, king of the world (and) king of Assyria, for the sake of his life had baked bricks made anew for Etemenanki.

Religion & Myth·Writing & Literature

~655 BCE·Neo-AssyrianRINAP 5

Ashurbanipal 251

(1) For the god Asari, great lord, his lord: Ashurbanipal, king of the world (and) king of Assyria, son of Esarhaddon, king of the world, king of Assyria, (and) king of Babylon, for the sake of his life had constructed Etemenanki anew.

Religion & Myth·Writing & Literature

~655 BCE·Neo-AssyrianRINAP 5

Ashurbanipal 252

(1') this [work] falls into dis[repair ...], question skilled [craftsmen! ... Rebuild (...)], the temple of the goddess Ištar according to [its ancient] specifi[cations! (...) The goddess Ištar (of Agade)] will (then) listen to [your prayers. Look at my] inscribed object, [anoint (it) with oil, offer a sacrifice, (and)] s[et] (my inscribed object) with your (own) inscribed object! (5'b) [(But) as for the one who erases my inscribed name by some crafty device], (or) does not write [my name] with his name, (or) [destroys my inscribed object], (or) does not set [my inscribed object with his (own)…

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~655 BCE·Neo-AssyrianRINAP 5

Ashurbanipal 260

(1) For the god Enlil, king of the gods, sovereign of heaven (and) netherworld, prince (who decides) the fates, (5) his lord: Ashurbanipal, his obedient shepherd, mighty king, king of the world, (re)built Egigunû with baked bricks.

Religion & Myth·Writing & Literature

~650 BCE·Neo-AssyrianEditorial

Epic of Gilgamesh, Tablet XI (the Flood)

The single most important literary discovery of the 19th century. It rewired the understanding of the Bible's literary context and proved that the Mesopotamian flood tradition is older. It is the oldest surviving epic poetry in human history.

Religion & Myth·Writing & Literature

~648 BCE·Neo-AssyrianRINAP 5

Ashurbanipal 176

Records Ashurbanipal's confiscation of his rebel brother Šamaš-šuma-ukīn's household after the Babylonian civil war (652–648 BCE): palace women, eunuchs, chariotry, and named officials catalogued as war spoils of fratricide.

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~627 BCE·Neo-AssyrianRINAP 5

Aššur-etel-ilāni 01

Aššur-etel-ilāni's dedication of baked bricks for Ezida at Kalḫu — framed as a life-preservation rite — attests royal temple-building ideology persisting into the final turbulent years of the Assyrian Empire.

Religion & Myth·Writing & Literature

~627 BCE·Neo-AssyrianRINAP 5

Aššur-etel-ilāni 02

Addresses Marduk as 'Enlil of the gods' and supreme arbiter of both Igīgū and Anunnakū — attesting the late Assyrian theological strategy of absorbing Babylonian divine supremacy into royal piety.

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~627 BCE·Neo-AssyrianRINAP 5

Aššur-etel-ilāni 03

(1) For the god Marduk, supreme lord, exalted hero, lord of lords, exalted, wh(ose) figure is splendid (and who) is vastly superior to all of the (other) gods, bearer of the awe-inspiring, terrible radiance, clothed in splendor, (5) who drove [off] the god Kingu, defeated the angry sea, (and) overcame the evil ones, who dwells in Eešerke — which is inside Sippar-Aruru — great lord, his lord: (8) Aššur-etel-ilāni, king of the world (and) king of Assyria, son of Ashurbanipal, king of the world (and) king of Assyria, (10) had a scepter of red gold made which was (then) presented for his…

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~627 BCE·Neo-AssyrianRINAP 5

Aššur-etel-ilāni 04

(1a) For the god Uraš, exalted lord, foremost of the great gods of E-ibbi-Anum — the shrine (which is) worthy of honor — great lord, his lord: (2b) Aššur-etel-ilāni, king of Assyria, who renovated the shrine(s) of the great gods, son of Ashurbanipal, king of Assyria, shepherd of the black-headed, renovated E-ibbi-Anum, the holy place which is inside Dilbat, the abode of the god Uraš and the goddess Ninegal. He built (it) anew with baked bricks, the craft of the god Baḫar and, with regard to the foundation of the well, he (re-)established its position just as (it had been) in ancient times.…

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~627 BCE·Neo-AssyrianRINAP 5

Aššur-etel-ilāni 05

(1) For [the god Enlil, lord of the la]nds, his [lord: Aššu]r-etel-ilāni, (5) his obedient [shephe]rd, who provides for Nippur, supporter of Ekur, mighty king, king of the four quarters (of the world), (re)built (10) Ekur, his beloved temple with baked bricks.

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~627 BCE·Neo-AssyrianRINAP 5

Aššur-etel-ilāni 06

(1) The tomb of Šamaš-ibni, the Dakkurian, upon whom Aššur-etel-ilāni, king of Assyria, had pity, brought from Assyria to Bīt-Dakkūri, his (own) country, and laid to rest in a tomb inside his home of Dūru-ša-Ladīni (“Fortress of Ladīnu”). (4) Whoever you are, whether governor or commander or judge or prince, who is appointed in the land, do not harm this tomb or (its) bone(s)! (But rather) look after its position (and) extend (your) good protection over it! For (doing) this, may the god Marduk, the great lord, lengthen your reign, establish his good protection over you, (and) bless your name,…

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~620 BCE·Neo-AssyrianRINAP 5

Sîn-šarru-iškun 01

Royal titulary of Sîn-šarru-iškun invokes ten deities across the Assyrian and Babylonian pantheons, documenting the deliberate theological diplomacy of the last generation of Sargonid kings before Nineveh fell in 612 BCE.

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~620 BCE·Neo-AssyrianRINAP 5

Sîn-šarru-iškun 02

Preserves the legitimating titulary of a late Sargonid king — likely Sîn-šarru-iškun — showing Sîn, Marduk, and Ea each conferring distinct attributes of rule within decades of Assyria's fall.

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~620 BCE·Neo-AssyrianRINAP 5

Sîn-šarru-iškun 03

Attests Sîn-šarru-iškun's full Sargonid titulary — king of Assyria, Sumer, and Akkad — anchoring his legitimacy claim within a dynastic chain stretching back to Sargon II, just years before Assyria's collapse in 612 BCE.

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~620 BCE·Neo-AssyrianRINAP 5

Sîn-šarru-iškun 04

Attests Sîn-šarru-iškun's building activity along the Tigris in the final decade of the Assyrian Empire, adding fragmentary but direct epigraphic evidence to a reign otherwise poorly documented in royal inscriptions.

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~620 BCE·Neo-AssyrianRINAP 5

Sîn-šarru-iškun 05

Attests late Sargonid royal building rhetoric — the formulaic 'foundation to crenellation' restoration topos — applied to an Assyrian cultic or palatial structure in the empire's final decades before Nineveh's fall in 612 BCE.

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~620 BCE·Neo-AssyrianRINAP 5

Sîn-šarru-iškun 07

Royal titulary of Sîn-šarru-iškun, one of Assyria's last kings before Nineveh fell in 612 BCE, attesting the Sargonid court's continued investment in divine-legitimation rhetoric even as the empire was collapsing.

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~620 BCE·Neo-AssyrianRINAP 5

Sîn-šarru-iškun 13

Names four generations of Sargonid kings in a single titulary chain, offering a fixed synchronic anchor for the dynasty's self-legitimating genealogy in the final decade before Assyria's collapse.

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~620 BCE·Neo-AssyrianRINAP 5

Sîn-šarru-iškun 19

Preserves the titulary of Sîn-šarru-iškun — Assyria's penultimate king — attesting the full Sargonid divine-election formula invoked even as Nineveh stood fewer than a decade from its fall in 612 BCE.

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~620 BCE·Neo-AssyrianRINAP 5

Sîn-šarru-iškun 06

(1) [I, Sîn-šar]ra-iškun, great king, strong king, king of the world, k[ing of Assyria, favored by the deities Aššur], Enlil, (and) Mullissu; pious governor, [... of Ešarra, humble ruler; chos]en by the steadfast hearts of the deities Sîn, Ningal, Šamaš, and Aya; beloved of [the deities Marduk, Zarpanītu, Nabû, (and) Tašmētu; the one chosen by the goddess Ištar who res]ides in Nineveh (and) the goddess Ištar who resides in Arbela, favorit[e of the gods Nergal and Nusku; (5) the one whom (the god) Aššur, the goddess Mulliss]u, and the great gods, my lords, steadfastly l[ooked upon] among my…

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~620 BCE·Neo-AssyrianRINAP 5

Sîn-šarru-iškun 08

(i' 1') [conceiv]ed [in] my [heart to (re)buil]d [t]hat [temple] and [want]ed (to carry it out). [According to] its [original pla]n, [on] its [form]er [sit]e, [in a favorable month, (on) an au]spicious [day, according to the craft of the incantation pri]est, [... I fille]d in its [foundat]ion [with limesto]ne and [made (it) as high] as [a mount]ain. [I built (and) complet]ed (it) [from] its [foundation(s) to] its [crenellations. ...] (ii' 1') [I] offered [prime quality prize bulls (and) f]atten[ed fat-t]ai[led sheep] as pu[re] food offe[rings] befo[re] the god Nabû (and) the goddess [Tašmētu,…

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~620 BCE·Neo-AssyrianRINAP 5

Sîn-šarru-iškun 09

(i 1') As[syria]; the one who[m (the god) Aššur], the king [of the gods], with [his] benevol[ent] g[lance], looked [with] ple[asure upon and] selecte[d] for king[ship; to] ma[ke firm] (ii 1) [...] ... [to make the foundation of] the land [f]irm, [to dir]ect [the peo]ple of [As]syria, [...] ... (iii 1) governor of Babylon, king of the land of Sum[er] and Akk[ad]; (5) son of Sennac[herib], grea[t] king, stro[ng] king, king of [the world], (iv 1) they (the gods) [guided me and] ... [...] (vi 1') [May they (the gods) make his name, his seed], (and) his offspring [disa]ppear [from the land]. (vi 3'…

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~620 BCE·Neo-AssyrianRINAP 5

Sîn-šarru-iškun 10

(1) I, [Sîn-šarra-i]škun, great king, strong king, king of the world, king of Assyria; the one whom the deities Aššur, [Mullissu, M]arduk, Zarpanītu, Nabû, (and) Tašmētu steadfastly looked upon with their benevolent glance and selected for kingship; whom the light of heaven, the god Sîn, crowned with the crown of lordship to make the foundation of the land firm, to direct the people, to put in order what is confused, (5) (and) to repair what is destroyed; whose hand the god Nabû, overseer of the world, made grasp a just scepter (and) a true staff for shepherding a widespread population;…

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~620 BCE·Neo-AssyrianRINAP 5

Sîn-šarru-iškun 11

(1) I, Sîn-šarra-iškun, great king, strong king, king of the world, king of Assyria; son of Ashurbanipal, great king, strong king, king of the world, king of Assyria, king of the land of Sumer and Akkad; son of Esarhaddon, great king, strong king, king of the world, king of Assyria, governor of Babylon, king of the land of Sumer and Akkad; son of Sennacherib, great king, strong king, king of the world, king of Assyria, ruler who has no rival; descendant of Sargon (II), great king, strong king, king of the world, king of Assyria, governor of Babylon, king of the land of Sumer and Akkad: (2b)…

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~620 BCE·Neo-AssyrianRINAP 5

Sîn-šarru-iškun 12

(1) I, Sîn-šarra-iškun, great king, strong king, king of the world, king of Assyria; son of Ashurbanipal, king of the world, king of Assyri[a]; son of Esarhaddon, king of the world, king of Ass[yria]; (5) son of Sennacherib, king of the world, king of Assyria; [de]s[cenda]nt of Sargon (II), king of the world, king of Assyria, [governor of B]abylon, king of the land of Sumer and Akkad: (8) At [the beginning of] my [king]ship, when the deities Aššur, Bēl (Marduk), Nabû, (and) [Ištar] gladly placed me (10) on the th[rone of the fa]ther who had engendered me, in place of an empty lot I built…

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~620 BCE·Neo-AssyrianRINAP 5

Sîn-šarru-iškun 14

(1) [Palac]e of Sîn-šarra-iškun, great king, [strong] king, [king of the world, king of Assyria; son of As]hurbanipal, great king, strong king, king of the world, king of [Assyria; son of Es]arhaddon, great king, strong king, k[ing of the world, king of Assyria; son of Senn]acherib, great king, s[trong] king, [king of the world, king of Assyria; (5) descendan]t of Sargon (II), [great] k[ing, strong king, king of the world, king of Assyria, ...]

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~620 BCE·Neo-AssyrianRINAP 5

Sîn-šarru-iškun 15

(1) [For the god Nabû, lord of ingenio]us things, the splendid one, s[on of] the ruler (Marduk), the nob[le one, the one who contr]ols the Igīgū (and) Anunnakū gods, the one who directs everything there is, the one who knows [the fate of the land, the merc]iful (and) compassionate one, the one who resides in Baltil (Aššur), the great lord, [his lord]: (4) Sîn-šarra-iškun, great king, strong king, king of the world, king of [Assyria]; (5) son of Ashurbanipal, great king, strong king, king of the world, king of [Assyria]; son of Esarhaddon, great king, strong king, king of the world, king of…

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~620 BCE·Neo-AssyrianRINAP 5

Sîn-šarru-iškun 16

(1) For the goddess Tašmētu, the goddess of acceptance and reconciliation, heroic one of the gods, sublime one of [goddesses], wife of the god Nabû — the firstborn son — who is endowed with sexual charm (and) filled with awe-insp[iring brilliance], the one who controls the Igīgū (and) Anunnakū gods, the one who directs everything there is, the one who accepts sup[plications, the one who] saves the ruler who reveres [her divinity] from the midst of combat and battle, (5) supreme [go]ddess, the one who resides in Baltil (Aššur), the great lady, [his] lady: (6) Sîn-šarra-iškun, great king,…

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~620 BCE·Neo-AssyrianRINAP 5

Sîn-šarru-iškun 17

(1) For (the goddess) Antu, lady of the go[ds, ...], the one who created everything there i[s, ...], who resides in the city Aššur, the grea[t] lady, [his lady]: (3b) [S]în-[šarra-iškun, king of Assyria]; son of Ashurbanipal, king of Assyria; son of Esar[haddon, king of] Assyria; son of [Sennacherib, king of Assyria]; had a table made of musukkannu-wood, a durable wood, and clad (it) with shining eš[marû-metal], and (then) had (it) firmly placed before her (Antu) to set out pure meal(s) befitting [her] di[vinity] so that [her] great divin[ity] may constantly (and) unceasingly receive (meals)…

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~620 BCE·Neo-AssyrianRINAP 5

Sîn-šarru-iškun 18

(1) [For the goddess Šala], supreme [lad]y, wife of the god Adad — the majestic, the runner, the roaring one — [...] the great gods who determine the <fat>es of flood water, the one who creates everything, [who ...] grain and abundance, who supports life for the people, who keeps everything alive, [who exterminates] all of the wicked, who rips out all enemies, who marches at the side of the king — [he]r favorite — [...] might[y] victories, who inte[rce]des on (his) behalf, who speaks favorable thing(s) (about him), [who resides i]n Baltil (Aššur), the great lady, [his lady]: (7b)…

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~620 BCE·Neo-AssyrianRINAP 5

Sîn-šarru-iškun 20

(1) Palace of Sîn-šarra-iškun.

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

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