Read Chronology Themes Tablets Engine About

Read
Chronology
Themes
Tablets
Engine
About

Sumerian · Book

Reading the tablets…

A curated narrative reconstruction of humanity's first great civilization, sourced from the tablets themselves. Open scholarship, beautifully accessible.

The site

About the project The engine Dossiers FAQ Methodology Sources & licensing Provenance & ethics Contact & support

Legal

Independent scholarship · No academic affiliation · No institutional funding · Tablet imagery attributed per item via CDLI, ETCSL, ORACC, Wikimedia, and public museum collections.

Home
All tablets

The corpus

All tablets.

Every tablet in the corpus — sortable by date, title or period; filterable by theme and period. Use the controls below or change the URL parameters directly.

Sort

Oldest first Newest first Title (A–Z)By period

Theme

Religion & Myth Law Economy Astronomy & Mathematics Daily Life Writing & Literature

Period

Ubaid Uruk Period Early Dynastic Akkadian Empire Ur III · Neo-Sumerian Old Babylonian Old Assyrian Middle Babylonian Middle Assyrian Neo-Assyrian Neo-Babylonian Achaemenid Persian

Source

Editorial Sumerian literature Sumerian royal Assyrian royal Assyrian archives

1,788 of 102,257 tablets · 4 filters activeClear filters

1751–1788 of 1788

Page 36 / 36

~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-Assyrian

RINAP 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

~620 BCE·Neo-AssyrianRINAP 5

Sîn-šarru-iškun 2001

(1) [Belonging to Ana-Taš]mētu-taklāk, queen of [..., (...,) king of Assyria].

Law·Religion & Myth

~620 BCE·Neo-AssyrianRINAP 5

Sîn-šarru-iškun 21

(1) Palace of Sîn-šarra-iškun, [great] king, [...], (who was) also king of Assyria.

Law·Religion & Myth

~580 BCE·Neo-BabylonianOur engine

RINBE 1, Nebuchadnezzar II nn, ex. nn

[Nebuchadnezzar,] [king of Ba]bylon, [the one who provides for] Esagil [and Ezi]da, [foremost] heir [of Nab]opol[assar,] [king of Babylon, am I.]

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~580 BCE·Neo-BabylonianOur engine

RINBE 1, Nebuchadnezzar II nn, ex. nn

[Nebuchadnezzar (Nabû-kudurrī-u]ṣur), king of Babylon, [provider of] [Esagil] and Ezida, [foremost] heir [of Nabopolassar (Nabû-apla-uṣur)], king of Babylon.

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~580 BCE·Neo-BabylonianOur engine

RINBE 2, Neriglissar 03, ex. 03

(obverse? — only line-ends preserved) [...] ... his mouth (i.e., his [command/utterance]) [...] I stretched (beams) across [... O ...], resplendent lord, the god, light of the gods, his fathers [... his] exalted [command(?)] which cannot be altered, [...] may I be sated with its/his [...] [...] may I attain [...] ... [... wherever(?)] the sun rises

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~580 BCE·Neo-BabylonianOur engine

RINBE 2, Neriglissar 03, ex. 04

(obverse, fragmentary) In [...] (which) no (former king) had [erected(?) ...] (but) me, the humble, [submissive one ...] I fashioned, and eight [mušḫuššu-dragons of copper ...] which upon the wicked and [the enemy spray venom of death ...] with a plating of si[lver ...] in the gate(s) of [...] on the platform(s) (kisû) [...] (remainder broken)

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~580 BCE·Neo-BabylonianOur engine

RINBE 2, Neriglissar 03, ex. 05

(beginning broken) [...] ... lordship(?) ... [...] [... of a] former [king(?)] ... he cast/fashioned in silver [...] [...] shining ..., with ornament and awe-inspiring radiance I clothed it. [...] the Euphrates, the river of abundance, which from its creation [... flowed] straight past Esagil — its massive waters, [... in the days(?)] of a former king, its waters from the border of Esagil [...] had receded (too far) for the drawing of water. [...] I sought out its ancient site, and [...] its waters as of old [... to the bor]der of Esagil I directed [straight]. The [...] which a former king had…

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~580 BCE·Neo-BabylonianOur engine

RINBE 2, Neriglissar 03, ex. 07

Neriglissar, king of Babylon [(...)], the renovator of Esagil and E[zida], the one who does good [deeds], whom, in order to exercise his kingship, [...] the great gods established [...] their [counsel(?) ...]; [whom(?)] Marduk, foremost of the gods, the one who de[crees destinies(?) ...], [... with(?)] dominion over (all) the lands [...], [... the shep]herdship of the black-[headed people ...], [...] true/faithful [...], [...] ... [...], [... m]ighty(?) [...], [...] ... [...]. (The remainder of the tablet is broken.)

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~580 BCE·Neo-BabylonianOur engine

RINBE 2, Neriglissar 03, ex. 08

(obverse, all lines broken at the right edge) [Ne]riglissar, king of Babylon, [...] [the one who reno]vates(?) Esagil and [Ezida ...] with [...] like the (original) appurtenances [...] I set up [...]. The Dais of Destinies, which is inside [...], upon which at the New Year (zammukku), the beginning [of the year], during the akītu-festival, (at) the setting-out of the Enlil of the g[ods, Marduk], Nabû, the true heir, processes t[o ...] Šuanna [...], (on) the 5th day (and) the 11th day, in going and retu[rning ...] (remainder of this exemplar broken)

Writing & Literature·Religion & Myth

~430 BCE·Achaemenid PersianOur engine

CUSAS 15, 067

3 shekels, less its fourth (part), of silver, belonging to Tatte-Eduru, son of Talīmu, (is a claim) against Aradiya, son of Mudû. In the month Simānu (III) the silver — the silver, 3 shekels less its fourth (part) — in the city Qatibe he shall pay. Witnesses: Tabnēa, son of Enlil-bāni; Mašê, son of Šamaš-zēr-ibni; Šamaš-šu(?), son of Balāṭu; and the priest (šangû) Rīmūt-Maš, son of Ḫanšâ-Eduru. City Qatibe. Month Addaru (XII), day 29, year 7 of Cambyses, king of Babylon, [king] of the lands.

Law·Economy

~430 BCE·Achaemenid PersianOur engine

CUSAS 15, 184

6 gur, 1 PI of barley, belonging to Tattannu, son of Talīmu, is a debt against Balāṭu, son of Ina-gissu-lugal. In the month of Addaru (itiŠE), he shall pay, in addition, 5 gur, 1 PI. Witnesses: Tattannu, son of Enlil-šum-iddin; Niqūdu, son of Mu-gub; Iškur-mu-ki-il, son of Iškur-ad-gub; Kussari. Scribe: Ba, son of A. Qatibat. Month Nisannu (Bāru), day 5, year 7, (of) Cambyses, king of Babylon, king of the lands.

Economy·Law

← Previous

1…35 36