Sennacherib 007
| Obverse | ||
| Lacuna | ||
| 1'1' | [...] x (x) [...] | |
| 2'2' | [...] ⸢iš⸣-de-e-⸢šu⸣ [...]1 | |
| 3'3' | [ša MURUB₄ URU u NINA.KI URU] ⸢be⸣-lu-ti-ia šu-⸢bat⸣-[su-nu uš-rab-bi re-ba-ti-šú-un ú-šá-an-dil-ma bi-re-e-ti ù su-qa-a-ni uš-par-di-ma ú-nam-mir GIM u₄-me]2 | (3') [I enlarged] the si[te of the citadel and Nineveh], my [c]apital [city. I broadened their squares and brought light into the alleys and streets, making (them) as bright as day]. |
| 4'4' | [i-na mé-eḫ-ret KÁ.GAL] ⸢MURUB₄⸣ URU i-na a-⸢gúr⸣-[ri NA₄.pi-i-li pe-ṣe-e a-na me-ti-iq GIŠ.GIGIR be-lu-ti-ia ú-še-piš ti-tur-ru]3 | (4') [I had a bridge constructed opposite] the Citadel [Gate] with paving ston[es of white limestone for the passage of my lordly chariot]. |
| 5'5' | [MU.SAR-a ú-še-piš-ma li-i]-tum ù ⸢da⸣-[na-nu ša i-na tukul-ti aš-šur EN GAL EN-ia UGU kul-lat na-ki-ri áš-tak-ka-nu ù mim-ma e-piš-ti ŠU.II-ia ú-šá-áš-ṭir qé-reb-šú]4 | (5') [I had an inscribed object made and had all the mi]ghty victo[ries that I achieved over all of (my) enemies with the support of (the god) Aššur, the great lord, my lord, and all of my (other) achievements inscribed thereon. With inscribed objects of] earl[ier rule]rs, [my ancestors, I deposited (it) for ever after in the citadel wall of Nineveh, my capital city, for the kings, my descendants]. |
| 6'6' | [it-ti MU.SAR-e ša mal]-⸢ki⸣ a-li-kut ⸢maḫ⸣-[ri AD.MEŠ-ia ina BÀD MURUB₄ URU šá NINA.KI URU be-lu-ti-ia a-na LUGAL.MEŠ DUMU.MEŠ-ia e-zib aḫ-ra-taš]5 | |
| 7'7' | [ma-ti-ma ina DUMU].⸢MEŠ⸣-ia ⸢ar⸣-[ku-ti ša daš-šur a-na RE.É.UM-ut KUR ù UN.MEŠ i-nam-bu-u zi-kir-šu e-nu-ma BÀD šá-a-tu i-lab-bi-ru-ma en-na-ḫu an-ḫu-us-su lu-ud-diš]6 | (7') [At any time (in the future), may one of] my [descendants (lit. “future children”), whom the god Aššur names for shepherding the land and people, renovate its dilapidated section(s) when that wall becomes old and dilapidated]. May he find [an inscribed object bearing my name, anoint (it) with oil, make an offering, (and) return (it) to its place. The god Aššur and the goddess Ištar will (then) hear his prayers]. |
| 8'8' | [MU.SAR-a ši-ṭir šu-mi-ia] ⸢li⸣-mur-[ma Ì.GIŠ lip-šu-uš UDU.SISKUR liq-qí a-na áš-ri-šú li-ter daš-šur ù diš-tar ik-ri-bi-šú i-šem-mu-u]7 | |
| Ruling line and date missing |
1See Frahm, Sanherib p. 197 K 2662 lines 3´–5´.
2NINA.KI “Nineveh”: Or URU.NINA. su-qa-a-ni “streets”: Or su-qa-a-ti; see Frahm, Sanherib p. 198 K 2662 line 8´.
3ú-še-piš “I had constructed”: The restoration is based on text no. 8 line 16´ and K 2662 line 10´ (Frahm, Sanherib p. 198). Cf. text no. 4 line 90, which has ú-šak-bi-is “I had constructed (by packing down).”
4The restoration of damaged text is based on text no. 8 line 17´, which is partially restored from text no. 4 lines 91–92 and K 2662 lines 11´–13´ (Frahm, Sanherib p. 198). ú-še-piš-ma “I had made and”: K 2662 line 11´ has ab-ni-ma “I built and.” mim-ma e-piš-ti ŠU.II-ia “all of my (other) achievements”: Text no. 4 line 92 has mim-ma ep-šet e-tep-pu-šu “everything (else) I had been doing.”
5The restoration is based on text no. 8 line 18´, which is partially restored from K 2662 lines 14´–16´ (Frahm, Sanherib p. 198). Cf. text no. 4 line 92.
6ma-ti-ma: Apart from K 2662 line 17´ (Frahm, Sanherib p. 198), matīma “for ever” is used to introduce the concluding formulae only in the Baltimore Inscription line 122 (Grayson, AfO 20 [1963] p. 96) and the Bavian Inscription line 57 (Luckenbill, Senn. p. 84). Cf. text no. 4 line 93, which has a-na ar-kàt u₄-me i-na LUGAL.MEŠ-ni “in the future, may one of the kings.” daš-šur “the god Aššur”: K 2662 line 18´ has AN.ŠÁR “(the god) Aššur.” Frahm (Sanherib p. 199) correctly points out that the writing of the name Aššur as AN.ŠÁR in that text clearly indicates that the tablet is a later copy; this writing of the DN in cylinder and prism inscriptions of Sennacherib from Nineveh appears only in text no. 10. a-na RE.É.UM-ut KUR ù UN.MEŠ “for shepherding the land and people”: The restoration is based on text no. 4 line 93. K 2662 line 18´ has a-na be-⸢lut⸣ KUR u [UN.MEŠ] “for the lordship of the land and [people],” which is otherwise unattested in the concluding formulae of Sennacherib’s inscriptions. The use of ana bēlūt māti u nišē may be a slip on the part of the scribe who copied the inscription, as that expression is commonly used in this context in the inscriptions of Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal; see, for example, Leichty, RINAP 4 p. 26 Esarhaddon 1 vi 66; and Borger, BIWA p. 74 Prism A x 109 and Prism F vi 63. This is further evidence that K 2662 is a later copy (reign of Ashurbanipal or Esarhaddon).
7MU.SAR-a “inscribed object”: Or MU.SAR-u or MU.SAR-e. daš-šur ù diš-tar ik-ri-bi-šú i-šem-mu-u “the god Aššur and the goddess Ištar will (then) hear his prayers”: Or possibly restore daš-šur ik-ri-bi-šu i-šem-me “the god Aššur will (then) hear his prayers.”
Created by A. Kirk Grayson, Jamie Novotny, and the Royal Inscriptions of the Neo-Assyrian Period (RINAP) Project, 2012. Lemmatized by Jamie Novotny, 2011. The annotated edition is released under the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike license 3.0. Please cite this page as http://oracc.org/rinap/Q003481/.