Sennacherib 010

1MAN kiš-šá-ti “king of the world”: Text no. 4, copies of which are dated to 700, is the earliest text of Sennacherib from Nineveh in which this title appears.

2[MAN kib-rat LÍMMU]-⸢tim⸣ “[king of the fou]r [quarters] (of the world)”: Text no. 5, which is dated to 699, is the earliest text of Sennacherib from Nineveh in which this title appears. The inclusion of šar kiššati “king of the world” and šar kibrāt erbetti “king of the four quarters (of the world)” among Sennacherib’s titles suggests that this text was probably not composed prior to 699. mut-tar-ru-ú UN.MEŠ DAGAL.⸢MEŠ⸣ “leader of a widespread population”: At Nineveh, this epithet also appears in several texts inscribed on bull colossi stationed in gateways of the “Palace Without a Rival” (the South-West Palace) and the so-called “Eastern Building,” as well as in an inscription written on a stone tablet. For example, see text no. 34 line 3; Layard, ICC pl. 38 line 2; and King, Notebook p. 1 nos. 1–2 and p. 3 nos. 1–2 line 3. Note that those texts are all written ca. 693–689 and thus the use of muttarrû nišī rapšāte “leader of a widespread population” in this text may suggest that the inscription was written around the same time.

3For the missing text, see text no. 11 lines 4–7, text no. 12 lines 4–7, text no. 13 lines 3–7, and Schroeder, KAH 2 no. 124 (VA 8254) lines 3–6.

4See CAD N/2 p. 228 sub nikkassu A 1k.

5Ex. 2 has [...] x ^dIŠKUR x [...] “[...] ... the god Adad ... [...].” As pointed out by E. Frahm (Sanherib p. 111), this passage may refer to Sennacherib seeking guidance from Šamaš and Adad through divination; cf. Schroeder, KAH 2 no. 124 (VA 8254) lines 13b–15a. ^dḫa-ìa “the god Ḫaya”: This deity is also mentioned in inscriptions written on stone blocks recording the construction of the akītu-house at Aššur; for example, Schroeder, KAH 2 no. 119 line 5.

6Meissner and Rost’s copy (BiS pl. 15) has lines 17-18 wrongly aligned on the two joined fragments. Ex. 2 has [...] x-uš É-su x [...] “[...] ... his temple ... [...].”

7Ex. 2 has [...].⸢DUB⸣.SAR.MEŠ ú-⸢šar⸣-[...] “[...] scribes, I set[tled ...].” The appearance on A 16931 (ex. 2) of the title [ilu ša] ṭupšarrī “[the god of] scribes” indicates that it is probably a duplicate of K 1635 (ex. 1), or at the very least another text recording work on the Ḫaya shrine.

8AN.ŠÁR ù DINGIR.MEŠ GAL.MEŠ “(the god) Aššur and the great gods”: Schroeder, KAH 2 no. 124 (VA 8254) line 31 has DINGIR-šú “his god.” AN.[ŠÁR^?] “(the god) Aš[šur]”: Or possibly restore ^d[ḫa-ìa^?] “the god [Ḫaya].”

9Schroeder, KAH 2 no. 124 (VA 8254) line 32 adds ⸢it⸣-ti bal-til.KI u é-šár-ra liš-te-li-pu “may they flourish together with Baltil and Ešarra” after qí-bi “speak.” The absence of the mention of Baltil and Ešarra may lend further support to the proposal that the shrine of Ḫaya was located at Nineveh, and not at Aššur. DUMU.MEŠ-šú DUMU DUMU.MEŠ-šú “his sons (and) his grandsons”: Schroeder, KAH 2 no. 124 (VA 8254) line 32 adds NUNUZ.MEŠ-šú “his offspring” before DUMU.MEŠ-šú “his sons.”

10SIPA-ut “shepherding”: Schroeder, KAH 2 no. 124 (VA 8254) line 33 also has SIPA-ut. The writing of rēʾût “shepherdship” in other cylinder inscriptions from Nineveh, however, is always RE.É.UM-ut; see, for example, text no. 4 line 93.

11ina áš-ri-šú liš-kun “may he put (it back) in its place”: The same expression appears in Schroeder, KAH 2 no. 124 (VA 8254) line 35. Other cylinder inscriptions from Nineveh have a-na áš-ri-šú li-ter “may he return (it) to its place” (e.g., text no. 4 line 94). aš-šur ù ^diš-tar “(the god) Aššur and the goddess Ištar”: The pairing of Aššur and Ištar in the concluding formulae first occurs in text no. 5, an inscription written in 699. The invocation of both of these deities suggests that this text was probably not written prior to 699. Schroeder, KAH 2 no. 124 (VA 8254) line 35 mentions only Aššur.

12Apart from text no. 12 (and probably also text nos. 11 and 13), an admonition against the removal of a royal inscription does not appear in cylinder inscriptions from Nineveh. Such advice appears in only one prism inscription from Nineveh: text no. 22 vi 80b–83.