135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144
A small fragment from the upper right corner of a clay tablet preserves the beginning and end of an inscription of Sennacherib. The text, which was probably copied during the reign of Esarhaddon or Ashurbanipal (as suggested by a few orthographic peculiarities), is very unusual as it appears to name Sargon (II) (name restored) as Sennacherib's father and lists that king's titulary. The original inscription may have been written ca. 699 or later since Sennacherib calls himself "king of the four quarters (of the world)" and, therefore, the terminus post quem is probably Sennacherib's 5th regnal year (700). The title šar kibrāt erbettim appears to have been first used as an epithet of this Assyrian king in text no. 5 (an inscription dated to the eponymy of Bēl-šarrāni; 699) and it is regularly included in his titulary thereafter.
Access Sennacherib 135 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap3/Q003940/]
Source:
On the basis of lines 3–4, R. Borger attributed this text to Sennacherib; those lines contain the very beginning of a report of the first campaign (against Marduk-apla-iddina II and his allies). As E. Frahm (Sanherib p. 195) has already noted, BM 99178 was probably inscribed sometime after the reign of Sennacherib, during the reign of Esarhaddon or Ashurbanipal, since the orthography is not typical of the inscriptions written during Sennacherib's reign. For example, in rev. 3' one expects ŠU.II-ia, not ŠU.II-ía. Because this is a later copy and because Esarhaddon's and Ashurbanipal's scribes did not always faithfully reproduce Sennacherib's inscriptions (see, for example, the on-page notes to text no. 136 rev. i' 18' and text no. 138 rev. ii' 21), it is not impossible that the mention of Sargon II as Sennacherib's father in this text is an interpolation, that is, the scribe added information that was not included on the original he was copying.
A fragment of a large multi-column tablet, possibly from the same tablet as text nos. 137–139, preserves part of an archival copy of an inscription of Sennacherib. The extant text contains parts of the prologue, an account of building at Nineveh, and the concluding formulae. The building report, as far as it is preserved, includes: (1) a report of work on the walls of Nineveh and its citadel; and (2) a passage stating that Sennacherib built a bridge opposite the Citadel Gate. Based on the extant sections of the building report, it is fairly certain that this text would have been inscribed on clay cylinders or clay prisms. The fragment also preserves part of a subscript, which reads "that which is upon the inscribed object that [...]; belonging to Senn[acherib ...]."
Access Sennacherib 136 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap3/Q003941/]
Source:
If K 2662 belongs to the same tablet as K 11718 (text no. 137), K 3752 (text no. 138), and DT 200 (text no. 139), then this text (1) is followed in col. i by text no. 137 after a short lacuna and (2) rev. col. i' follows text no. 138 rev. ii' after a lacuna of ca. 30 lines. According to Frahm (Sanherib p. 196), the fragment comes from the upper portion of col. i and the lower portion of col. vi; see Figure 15 on the previous page. The extant text duplicates (with some variation) several other texts, for example, text no. 4 lines 1–3 and 90–94; text no. 7 lines 2'–8'; text no. 15 i 1–22, vii 29'b–viii 1' and 19''–28''; text no. 16 i 1–23, vii 76b–80, 85–viii 3a, and 64–73; and text no. 22 i 1–16. The restorations are generally based on those texts, especially text no. 7 in rev. col. i'.
A small fragment from the first column of a large three-column tablet, possibly from the same tablet as text nos. 136 and 138–139, preserves part of an archival copy of an inscription of Sennacherib. The extant text contains parts of the prologue and a report of Sennacherib's first campaign (against Marduk-apla-iddina II and his Chaldean and Elamite allies).
Access Sennacherib 137 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap3/Q003942/]
Source:
If K 11718 belongs to the same tablet as K 2662 (text no. 136), K 3752 (text no. 138), and DT 200 (text no. 139), then this text (1) follows text no. 136 i after a short lacuna and (2) is followed by text no. 138 i after a long lacuna. According to E. Frahm (Sanherib pp. 195–199 T 170), the piece comes from the upper portion of col. i; see Figure 15 on p. 171. The extant text duplicates (with some variation), for example, text no. 4 lines 5–6; text no. 16 ii 26–37; and text no. 22 i 19–27. The restorations are generally based on those texts.
A fragment of a multi-column tablet, possibly from the same tablet as text nos. 136–137 and 139, preserves part of an archival copy of an inscription of Sennacherib. The extant text contains parts of reports of Sennacherib's first campaign (against Marduk-apla-iddina II and his Chaldean and Elamite allies) and second campaign (a military expedition against the Kassites and Yasubigallians, and the land Ellipi), a short passage stating that Sennacherib formed a large military contingent of archers and shield bearers from prisoners deported from conquered lands, and an account of building at Nineveh. The building report, as far as it is preserved, includes: (1) an introduction to Sennacherib's building program at Nineveh; (2) a detailed account of the rebuilding of Egalzagdinutukua and the planting of a botanical garden; (3) a report of the creation of a marsh; and (4) an account of the digging of canals for irrigating fields and orchards given to the citizens of Nineveh. Based on the extant sections of the building report, it is fairly certain that this text would have been inscribed on clay cylinders (699; Sennacherib's 6th regnal year) or clay prisms (698; Sennacherib's 7th regnal year).
Access Sennacherib 138 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap3/Q003943/]
Source:
If K 3752 belongs to the same tablet as K 2662 (text no. 136), K 11718 (text no. 137), and DT 200 (text no. 139), then the text (1) follows in col. i text no. 137 after a lacuna and (2) rev. col. ii' is followed by text no. 136 rev. col. i' after a lacuna of ca. 30 lines. According to E. Frahm (Sanherib pp. 195–199 T 170), the piece preserves part of the lower portion of col. i and parts of the upper portions of cols. v and vi; see Figure 15 on p. 171. The extant text duplicates (with orthographic variations and textual omissions) such other texts as text no. 4 lines 12–19, 59–60, 62–63, and 79–88; text no. 8 lines 4'–5'; text no. 15 i 23'–ii 10, v 13–15, 23–27, vi 19, 28–46a, vii 10–13, and viii 8'–19'; text no. 16 i 61–ii 12, v 36–38, 46–50, vi 49–57, vii 17–21, viii 12–23, and 29–39; and text no. 22 i 46–70. The restorations are generally based on those texts.
A small fragment from the second column of a three-column tablet, possibly from the same tablet as text nos. 136–138, preserves part of an archival copy of an inscription of Sennacherib. The extant text contains several lines of a report of Sennacherib's second campaign (a military expedition against the Kassites and Yasubigallians, and the land Ellipi).
Access Sennacherib 139 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap3/Q003944/]
Source:
If DT 200 belongs to the same tablet as K 2662 (text no. 136), K 11718 (text no. 137), and K 3752 (text no. 138), then the text follows text no. 138 col. i after a long lacuna. According to E. Frahm (Sanherib p. 196), the fragment comes from the upper portion of col. ii; see Figure 15 on p. 171. The extant text duplicates (with some variation) other inscriptions of Sennacherib, for example, text no. 4 lines 25–27; text no. 15 ii 7''–17''; text no. 16 ii 43–53; and text no. 22 ii 14–22. The restorations are generally based on those texts.
A fragment of a wide single-column tablet, possibly from the same tablet as text no. 141, preserves part of an archival copy of an inscription of Sennacherib. The extant text contains parts of Sennacherib's second, third, and fourth campaigns; the prologue and the account of the first campaign are completely missing. Since the scribe accurately transmitted the lineation of the original inscription on to the tablet (but not always the orthography), it is certain that this text was originally written on clay cylinders; cf., for example, the lineation of this text with that of text no. 4 lines 19–58. Moreover, based on comparisons with other inscriptions of Sennacherib on clay cylinders, one can surmise that the complete tablet contained ca. 70–72 lines; about seventeen lines are missing from the obverse and thirteen lines from the reverse. Because there is not sufficient room for the inscription's building report and concluding formulae, the second part of the inscription must have been written on another tablet. Thus, this tablet is the first of two. The original inscription, as suggested by the contents of the accounts of the third and fourth campaigns and the use of horizontal ruling lines, was composed in Sennacherib's 6th regnal year (699).
Access Sennacherib 140 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap3/Q003945/]
Source:
Based on the lineation, obv. 1' would have been obv. 18, the first line of the report of the second campaign (a military expedition against the Kassites and Yasubigallians, and the land Ellipi). Obv. 1–4 would have contained the prologue and obv. 5–17 would have had a report of the first campaign (against Marduk-apla-iddina II). Regardless of whether DT 320 (text no. 141) belongs to the same tablet as K 2627+, the lacuna after rev. 23 would have contained an account of the fourth campaign, a longer and different version of events than the one known from several of Sennacherib's Nineveh prisms; see below and compare, for example, text no. 17 iii 82–iv 17 and text no. 22 iii 50–74.
The account of the third campaign duplicates the report known from clay prisms (and other cylinders inscribed in 699), rather than the account included on cylinders inscribed in 700 (Sennacherib's 5th regnal year); see the commentary to text no. 6 and compare obv. 15'–rev. 21 of this text to text no. 4 lines 32–58 and text no. 22 ii 37–iii 49. See the on-page notes for the editorial changes that took place between 700 and 699.
Reports of the fourth campaign (against Bīt-Yakīn) first appear in inscriptions composed during Sennacherib's 6th regnal year (699). Despite the fragmentary nature of the extant inscriptions that were written in 699, it is certain that the earliest versions of that military campaign differ significantly from the so-called "canonical" version that was included in inscriptions composed between 697 and 689 (or later). Rev. 22–23, the first two lines of the report of the fourth campaign, are not duplicated elsewhere in the known Sennacherib corpus. As already pointed out by E. Frahm (Sanherib p. 200), text no. 6 line 15' probably contains the same opening line of this military account as this text (rev. 22); the two texts are not sufficiently preserved to be able to see how their contents relate. The contents of DT 320 (text no. 141), which preserves parts of the final seven lines of a report of the fourth campaign, likewise differ significantly from the "canonical" version. The version of the fourth campaign in DT 320, and probably also in the other texts written in 699, did not end with a statement about Sennacherib placing Aššur-nādin-šumi on the throne of Babylon, but rather with a statement about confining his enemies in the swamps in southern Babylonia. Compare text no. 141 lines 4'–7' to text no. 22 iii 64–74.
There is some evidence that K 2627+ is a later, archival copy, perhaps inscribed in the reign of Ashurbanipal (or Esarhaddon). Apart from several unusual spellings of words (for which see the on-page notes), the scribe frequently uses the ÍA-sign for writing the first person possessive suffix ya (for example, obv. 2', 18', rev. 3, 5, and 12) and uses the ŠÁ-sign almost exclusively for the relative-determinative ša. Apart from the writing of the name Karduniaš (KUR.kár-dun-ía-áš), Sennacherib's scribes do not use the ÍA-sign. The use of the ŠA-sign for the relative-determinative ša is more far common than that of the ŠÁ-sign; in the texts edited in Grayson and Novotny, RINAP 3/1, the relative-determinative ša is written with the ŠÁ-sign only ca. 12 percent of the time.
The extant text duplicates (with some variation) such other inscriptions as text no. 4 lines 19–58; text no. 16 ii 11–iv 37; and text no. 22 i 68–iii 49. The restorations are generally based on text no. 4, but for rev. 19–21 they come from text no. 22.
A small fragment from the reverse side of a wide single-column clay tablet, possibly from the same tablet as text no. 140, preserves parts of the final lines of a report of the fourth campaign (against Bīt-Yakīn), a concluding statement about forming a large military contingent of archers and shield bearers, and probably a scribal note. What is preserved of the report of the fourth campaign deviates significantly from the "canonical" version that was inscribed on prisms (cf., for example, text no. 22 iii 50–74). The complete inscription likely also included accounts of the first, second, and third campaigns, as well as a report of building in Nineveh (see the introduction and commentary to text no. 140). The original text, as suggested by the contents of the account of the fourth campaign, was likely inscribed on clay cylinders during Sennacherib's 6th regnal year (699), just like text nos. 5–8, and this tablet may be inscribed with a later, archival copy of one of those texts or a hitherto unknown inscription.
Access Sennacherib 141 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap3/Q003946/]
Source:
If DT 320 belongs to the same tablet as K 2627+ (text no. 140), then its text probably follows text no. 140 rev. 23 after a gap of ca. 1–4 lines; see Figure 16 on p. 180. Assuming DT 320 and K 2627+ both come from the same object, then it is very unlikely, as E. Frahm (Sanherib p. 201) has already pointed out, that line 10' is the first line of the text's building report, as there is not sufficient room on the tablet (ca. 5 lines); that line may preserve traces of a scribal note ("Abschriftvermerk"). Should DT 320 not belong to the same tablet as K 2627+, then line 10' could contain the first line of a building report. The restorations in line 6' are based on text no. 22 iii 70–71 and those in lines 8'–9' are based on text no. 4 lines 59–60.
A fragment of a single-column tablet preserves a copy of an inscription of Sennacherib that contains part of a report on Sennacherib's third campaign (to the Levant). That report, as far as it is preserved, appears to duplicate the account that was written on clay cylinders during Sennacherib's 5th regnal year (700). The tablet, of which only a small portion is preserved, probably included a copy of an entire inscription of Sennacherib, possibly text no. 4 (or one of the texts written on cylinders in 699, text nos. 5–8). Thus, the complete text likely comprised a short prologue, accounts of Sennacherib's first three campaigns, a short concluding statement about the formation of a large military contingent, an account of building at Nineveh, and concluding formulae.
Access Sennacherib 142 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap3/Q003947/]
Source:
Parts of the final nineteen lines of the obverse and first eight lines of the reverse, as well as part of the left edge of the tablet, are preserved. As E. Frahm (Sanherib p. 202) has already pointed out, the report of the third campaign, as far as it is preserved, is a copy of text no. 4, a text inscribed on clay cylinders during the year 700, or of one of the texts written on clay cylinders in the year 699, text nos. 5–8. The evidence is twofold: (1) each line of those cylinder inscriptions is consistently copied in two lines on this tablet; and (2) rev. 5 begins with ša mḫa-za-qi-ia-⸢ú⸣ "of Hezekiah," instead of ù mḫa-za-qi-ia-⸢ú⸣, "moreover, Hezekiah." With regard to the use of ša before the name of Hezekiah, that word combination in this passage only appears in the earliest accounts of the third campaign, for example, text no. 4 (line 49); in later accounts of the third campaign, in text no. 15 (iv 6) for example, ù replaces ša. With regard to the lineation, it is fairly certain that the scribe had a cylinder in front of him when he was writing out this tablet. Since most lines on cylinders are fairly long, the scribe copied the contents of those lines in two lines; for example, text no. 4 line 38 = obv. 2'–3', line 39 = obv. 4'–5', and line 40 = obv. 6'–7'. However, with regard to shorter lines on the cylinder, those lines were copied in a single line on this tablet; for example, text no. 4 line 49 = rev. 5. Moreover, the beginning of each line of the cylinder is faithfully transferred to the tablet copy; for example, text no. 4 line 47 and rev. 1 of this text both begin with DUMU.MEŠ, and text no. 4 line 48 and rev. 3 of this text both start with mpa-di-i. Based on this evidence, Frahm conjectured that the obverse and reverse each had approximately ninety-two lines of text. Assuming that BM 134496 + BM 134600 contains a copy of text no. 4, Frahm suggests that lines 1–46 of that text were copied on the obverse and that lines 47–94 were copied on the reverse. This may be true, but one cannot be certain that this copy is not of another inscription composed in Sennacherib's 5th (700) or 6th (699) regnal years. However, this tablet, unlike the one inscribed with text nos. 140–141, most likely was inscribed with a complete text. The extant text duplicates text no. 4 lines 37–51 and the restorations are based on that text.
A fragment of a two-column tablet, possibly from the same tablet as text nos. 144 and 145, preserves on its obverse part of a copy of an inscription of Sennacherib summarizing his accomplishments on the battlefield; what little remains of the reverse is probably a copy of an Assyrian royal decree. The extant text contains abbreviated reports of his third, fifth, and sixth campaigns, as well as short accounts of the campaigns that took place in the eponymies of Šulmu-Bēl (696) and Aššur-bēlu-uṣur (695). As far as it is preserved, the inscription is similar to one written on a six-sided clay prism (text no. 26) and two inscriptions written on stone tablets (text nos. 34–35). Thus, this text was probably written around the same time as those texts (ca. 690–687).
Access Sennacherib 143 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap3/Q003948/]
Source:
If K 4507 belongs to the same tablet as Bu 89-4-26,150 (text no. 144) and K 2655 + K 2800 + Sm 318 (text no. 145), then (1) the Sennacherib inscription on the obverse of this fragment is followed by text no. 144 col. i after a sizeable lacuna and (2) col. ii 1'–4' could possibly contain the beginning of text no. 145 i' 8'–11' (= col. ii); see Figure 17 above and Frahm, Sanherib pp. 203–204. The non-physical joins with Bu 89-4-26,150 (text no. 144) and K 2655+ (text no. 145) are principally based on the fact that the text(s) on all three fragments are similar to text nos. 26 and 34–35. The extant text of col. i duplicates (with some variation) text no. 26 i 12'–18', text no. 34 lines 15–26, and text no. 35 lines 1'b–3'a; cf. also text no. 44 lines 20b–32a. The restorations are generally based on those texts. The traces of a text on the reverse (probably rev. col. i' = col. iv), which may be part of a copy of an Assyrian royal decree, are not edited here since they are not part of the Sennacherib corpus. For further details, see Frahm, Sanherib p. 206.
A fragment of a multi-column tablet, possibly from the same tablet as text nos. 143 and 145, preserves on its obverse part of a copy of an inscription of Sennacherib; the reverse, as far as it is preserved, has a copy of an Assyrian royal decree. The extant text contains the end of a report of Sennacherib's seventh campaign (against Elam) and the beginning of a report of his eighth campaign (the battle of Ḫalulê). The description of the events leading up to the battle of Ḫalulê is similar to that in two inscriptions written on stone tablets (text nos. 34–35) and, therefore, this text was probably written around the same time as those texts (ca. 690–689) or slightly later (ca. 688–687).
Access Sennacherib 144 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap3/Q003949/]
Source:
Parts of the obverse, reverse, left edge, and bottom edge are preserved. If Bu 89-4-26,150 belongs to the same tablet as K 4507 (text no. 143) and K 2655 + K 2800 + Sm 318 (text no. 145), then the Sennacherib inscription on the obverse (1) follows text no. 143 col. i after a sizeable lacuna and (2) is immediately followed by text no. 145 col. i' (= col. ii). Col. i of the tablet ends with i 8' of this text and col. ii of the tablet begins with text no. 145 i' 1, thus providing supporting evidence that Bu 89-4-26,150 and K 2655+ could come from one and the same tablet; see Figure 17 on p. 191. Moreover, the script and the length of the lines on both fragments are very similar, as noted already by Frahm. Col. i 1'–2' are presently not duplicated elsewhere in the Sennacherib corpus. Col. i 3'–7'a duplicate (with some variation) text no. 34 lines 44b–47 and text no. 35 lines 40'b–43'a; and col. i 7'b–8' duplicate text no. 22 v 62b–63a. The restorations are generally based on those texts. The royal decree on the reverse (rev. col. i' = col. iv) is not edited here since it is not part of the Sennacherib corpus. For further details, see Frahm, Sanherib p. 206.
A. Kirk Grayson & Jamie Novotny
A. Kirk Grayson & Jamie Novotny, 'Nineveh, Part 12', RINAP 3: Sennacherib, The RINAP 3 sub-project of the RINAP Project, 2019 [http://oracc.org/rinap/rinap3/rinap32textintroductions/nineveh/part12/]