127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139
A cylinder fragment in the British Museum preserves part of an Akkadian inscription that may be assigned to Esarhaddon. The inscription appears to commemorate work on the temple of the goddess Gula at Borsippa and to mention the king's victorious campaign against the Chaldean tribe of Bīt-Dakkūri and its leader Šamaš-ibni. This text is commonly referred to as Borsippa A (Brs. A).
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The fragment comes from Rassam's excavations in Babylonia and is part of a shipment of pieces which were mostly found at Babylon and Borsippa in 1880 (see Reade in Leichty, Sippar 1 p. xxx). Since the inscription describes a project of restoration at Borsippa, it seems likely that the piece came from that city. The fragment is the right end of an apparently solid cylinder and measures 9.2×6.5×4.3 cm. If the cylinder was completely inscribed, portions of not quite half of the total number of lines are preserved. The inscription is written in contemporary Babylonian script.
The inscription was ascribed to Shalmaneser V by Luckenbill, but Meissner has shown that it must belong to Esarhaddon. The matter described in the historical section of the text appears to be the campaign directed against the Bīt-Dakkūri and their leader Šamaš-ibni, who had seized land belonging to the inhabitants of Babylon and Borsippa. On this action, see Frame, Babylonia pp. 79–81.
Inscriptions of Nebuchadnezzar II refer to the temple(s) of the goddess Gula at Borsippa by several names: é-gu-la, é-ti-la, é-zi-ba-ti-la. See George, House Most High nos. 424, 1095, and 1234.
This Akkadian inscription of Esarhaddon is found on numerous cylinders from Nippur. It describes the king's renovation of the Ebaradurgara ("House, Dais of the Throne") temple for the goddess "Queen-of-Nippur" (dUN.GAL NIBRU.KI). This text is commonly referred to as Nippur A (Npr. A).
Access the composite text [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap4/Q003357/] or the score [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/scores/Q003357/score] of Esarhaddon 128
Sources [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/scores/Q003357/sources]:
| (1) A 31310 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/sources/P450539/] (6N-T1046) | (2) IM 061711 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/sources/P450540/] (6N-T1045) | (3) IM 066885 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/sources/P223806/] (8N-T0002a–e) | (4) IM 061715 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/sources/P450541/] (6N-T1043) |
| (5) IM 059721 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/sources/P450542/] (5N-T0476) | (6) A 32262 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/sources/P450543/] (8N-T0003) | (7) A 33619 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/sources/P450544/] (4N-T0076) | (8) UM L-29–634 = PMA F29–06–387c [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/sources/P450545/] |
| (9) A 33618 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/sources/P450546/] (4N-T0075) | (10) NBC 11323 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/sources/P301920/] (5N-T0564) | (11) 1N-T0142 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/sources/P450547/] | (12) UM L-29–637= PMA F29–06–387f [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/sources/PP450548/] |
| (13) NBC 10653 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/sources/P301563/] (6N-T1044) | (14) UM L-29–635 = PMA F29–06–387d [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/sources/P450549/] | (15) IM 070310 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/sources/P226077/] (9N-T0009) |
Unpublished information on provenances and current museum numbers was provided by McG. Gibson. Exs. 2–5 and 15 were collated from casts in the Oriental Institute, Chicago. The casts of exs. 2–5 are not always clear and sometimes show a little more or less at the edges and adjacent to breaks than do the copies made by Goetze. In the latter circumstances, the transliteration in the score follows the copies by Goetze. The present location of ex. 11 is not known. It is not impossible that exs. 14–15 should be taken as exemplars of text no. 129 rather than of this inscription.
The inscription is written in both contemporary Babylonian script (exs. 1–7 and 9–14) and contemporary Assyrian script (exs. 8 and 15). The master line is a conflation of the various exemplars, but mainly relies upon exs. 1 and 2.
A number of tiny fragments are stored with ex. 1 in the Oriental Institute. A few have traces of signs, but none were used in Goetze's copy. The largest of these fragments joins the main piece and adds parts of lines 10–13. This fragment is included in the score for ex. 1, but the remaining fragments are not because it is not absolutely certain that they do indeed come from ex. 1 and because it is uncertain where some of them would fit in the score. One in particular, however, may have parts of lines 1–3:
A lengthy hymn to the goddess "Queen-of-Nippur" has been published by W.G. Lambert, Studies Kraus pp. 173–218. Her exact character and identification are not clear. Lambert describes her as a "form of Ištar" (ibid., p. 173) which would seem likely since many of the exemplars were found on the site of the earlier temple of Inanna. Level 1 of the Inanna temple has been identified as Esarhaddon's restoration. For information on that level, see Zettler, Inanna Temple pp. 49–50.
An Akkadian inscription found on four cylinder fragments records the restoration of the Ekur temple at Nippur by Esarhaddon. This text is commonly referred to as Nippur B (Npr. B).
Access the composite text [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap4/Q003358/] or the score [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/scores/Q003358/score] of Esarhaddon 129
Sources [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/scores/Q003358/sources]:
Exs. 1 and 3 were found at Nippur on April 10, 1889 and in 1973 respectively. Ex. 2 is part of the Frau Professor Hilprecht collection at the Friedrich-Schiller-Universität (Jena) and thus likely comes from the work of H.V. Hilprecht at Nippur. Ex. 2 was collated by J. Oelsner. Ex. 3 was collated from a cast of the piece in the Oriental Institute, Chicago, with additional collations from a new cast and mold provided by J.A. Brinkman. Information on ex. 4 comes from the publication of J.A. Brinkman. Ex. 4 is broken immediately before its first line (our line 1). Thus it is not impossible that that was not the first line of the inscription and that this exemplar had a different inscription than the others. Exs. 1 and 2 cannot be parts of the same cylinder as has sometimes been suggested. It is possible that exs. 3 and 4 are parts of the same cylinder.
The inscription is written in contemporary Babylonian script on all exemplars. Line rulings frequently indicate that two of our lines might have been considered one line by the ancient scribes; however, since the beginnings of the lines are not preserved it is not possible to determine whether or not the "second halves" of these lines were indented.
The line arrangement follows ex. 4 for lines 1–22, ex. 1 for lines 23–31, ex. 2 for lines 32–37, and ex. 3 for lines 38–41. The master line is based upon ex. 4 for lines 5–20, ex. 1 for lines 21 and 23–25, ex. 2 for lines 32–35, and ex. 3 for lines 39–41. The remaining lines are a conflation of various exemplars. Restorations in lines 7–39 are based upon text no. 128 lines 4–20 and text no. 133 lines 8–40; where text no. 128 and text no. 133 diverge, preference is given to text no. 128. Restorations in lines 40–41 are based upon text no. 134 lines 24–25 and text no. 135 lines 24–25.
A large fragment of a clay cylinder, now in a private collection in Berlin, has an Akkadian inscription dedicated to the god Enlil.
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The script is contemporary Babylonian. The long list of Esarhaddon's titles and epithets (lines 4–16) are attested in text no. 128 (Nippur A). The damaged sections of this cylinder, which probably describes work on Enlil's temple (Ekur) in Nippur (building report not preserved), are restored from lines 4–10 of that text. Construction on Ekur is known from text no. 129 (Nippur B), text no. 131 (Nippur C), and text no. 132 (Nippur D).
This Akkadian brick inscription states that Esarhaddon had renovated the Ekur temple at Nippur for the god Enlil. This text is commonly referred to as Nippur C (Npr. C).
Access Esarhaddon 131 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap4/Q003360/]
Sources [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/sources/P264848,P450554]:
According to Legrain (PBS 15 p. 50) the original of ex. 1 is in Istanbul. It was not possible to locate it for collation, but a cast of it in the University Museum, Philadelphia, was examined. The edition of ex. 2 is based upon the excavation photograph of the piece and on a preliminary copy prepared by A. Goetze. The inscription of both exemplars is stamped in contemporary Babylonian script; that of ex. 1 appears on the face of the brick. There are no known variants to the inscription, and no score for this brick inscription is presented on the CD-ROM.
Two bricks from Nippur bear an Akkadian inscription recording the fact that Esarhaddon used baked bricks to enlarge the well Pukudadaga ("Pure, Shining Well") in the courtyard of the god Enlil. This text is commonly referred to as Nippur D (Npr. D).
Access Esarhaddon 132 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap4/Q003361/]
Sources [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/sources/P263443,P257443]:
Exs. 1–2 are both inscribed, not stamped. Ex. 1 is found on the face of the brick; ex. 2 is a well-head brick, with the inscription on the edge. The inscription is in contemporary Babylonian script. The master line is based upon ex. 1. The inscription of ex. 2 is on three lines, with the lines splitting after KÁ.DINGIR.RA.K[I] (line 3 of ex. 1) and a-gur-ru (end of line 5 of ex. 1).
According to Peters, the brick depicted on plate I of his work (Nippur 2) was found "in later débris on the Temple Hill." The inscription on the brick is not completely clear from the photograph but may well match that of ex. 1. If ex. 1 is the brick depicted there, the piece would have been broken since the photograph was made since its shape does not match that of the brick on the photograph. Thus, a third exemplar of this inscription may be depicted in Peters' work.
Several clay cylinders have an inscription written in Akkadian which describes the restoration of the Eanna temple at Uruk by Esarhaddon for the goddess Ištar. This text is commonly referred to as Uruk A.
Access the composite text [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap4/Q003362/] or the score [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/scores/Q003362/score] of Esarhaddon 133
Sources [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/scores/Q003362/sources]:
| (1) BM 045793 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/sources/P450555/] (1881–07–06, 0210) | (2) K 06386 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/sources/P238636/] | (3) NBC 02510 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/sources/P297261/] | (4) NBC 06055 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/sources/P298274/] |
| (5) W 18419 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/sources/P450556/] | (6) IM - [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/sources/P450557/] (W 23852) | (7) HSM 1916.02.001 (= HSM 08350) [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/sources/P407926/] |
Ex. 1 was erroneously referred to as 81–6–7,209 by Winckler and later scholars; it is in fact 81–7–6,210. It was acquired by the British Museum in 1878, and its provenance is not known. A section of ex. 4 appears to have become detached from the main body of the cylinder in recent times. The piece was attached when the cylinder was studied by Stephens (YOS 9 no. 137), and he notes three variants in lines 8 and 41 that can no longer be confirmed. The score gives what is now preserved of the exemplar, but the additional variants are included in the notes, where they are attributed to Stephens. Ex. 5 is reported to be in Heidelberg, but it cannot be located at present. The first three lines and the last line preserved on this exemplar (lines 6–8 and 25 of the inscription) are not readable on the excavation photographs and are not included in the score. The inscription is written in contemporary Babylonian script.
The number of lines and line arrangement differ markedly among the various exemplars. The arrangement used for the master line follows that used by Borger, which goes back to the copies of ex. 1 made by Strong and Meissner-Rost. It should be noted, however, that these copies do not indicate indented lines and are inconsistent with regard to the manner in which they number them. The copy by Pinches indicates the indented lines and line rulings found on ex. 1. The master line follows ex. 1, with help from ex. 3 in lines 22, 30, 32, and 37.
A cast of an exemplar of this inscription with "a large number of variant readings" was once owned by the Haskell Museum, Chicago (Luckenbill, ARAB 2 p. 279 n. 1), but the piece cannot at present be located in the Oriental Institute. Borger saw an uncorrected carbon-copy of a manuscript of Luckenbill's which gave the variants (without diacritics) for this piece and noted them in his edition of the inscription. These variants are included with the variants from the other texts — being noted as ex. 8 and "(Luckenbill-Borger)" — but are not included in the score.
In his edition of this inscription, Borger listed variants from an inscription of Esarhaddon from Nippur (our text no. 128) for purposes of comparison; thus, a number of the variants listed in his edition are not found here.
A second cylinder inscription commemorates the renovation of Enirgalana, a cella located within the Eanna temple at Uruk, by Esarhaddon for the goddess Ištar. The inscription is written in Akkadian. This text is commonly referred to as Uruk B.
Access the composite text [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap4/Q003363/] or the score [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/scores/Q003363/score] of Esarhaddon 134
Sources [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/sources/P304565,P297260,P450597]:
Ex. 1 is reported to have been found at Uruk (Clay, YOS 1 p. 56). Where the photos of ex. 3 are not readable, the transliteration of that exemplar follows the published copy. Ex. 1 is written in Assyrian script while exs. 2–3 are in contemporary Babylonian script. The line arrangement and master line follow ex. 1.
Parallels to many sections of the inscription can be found in other inscriptions of Esarhaddon, in particular text nos. 135–136. In his edition of this inscription, Borger listed variants from these two inscriptions for purposes of comparison; thus, a number of the variants listed in his edition are not found here. As R. Borger (BiOr 55 [1998] p. 847) points out, the exemplars of text no. 134 and text no. 135 written in Assyrian script (exs. 1 and 2 respectively) write šáḫ-ṭu in line 7, whereas the exemplars written in Babylonian script use šaḫ-ṭu.
This Akkadian inscription is found upon three clay cylinders and records Esarhaddon's renovation of the cella Eḫiliana for the goddess Nanāya. This cella was located within the Eanna temple complex at Uruk. This text is commonly referred to as Uruk C.
Access Esarhaddon 135 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap4/Q003364/]
Sources [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/sources/P450558,P345496,P450559]:
According to Thureau-Dangin (RA 11 [1914] p. 96), ex. 1 was found at Uruk. Ex. 2 was purchased by the British Museum from I.E. Gejou (Paris) and thus its provenance is not known. Exs. 1 and 3 are written in Babylonian script and ex. 2 in Assyrian script. Where the photo of ex. 3 is not legible (in particular, for lines 1–2 and 18–19), the transliteration of that exemplar follows the published copy. The line arrangement follows ex. 1; the master line follows ex. 1, with help from ex. 2 in lines 2, 4, 6, 8–10, and 18.
Parallels to many sections of the inscription can be found in other inscriptions of Esarhaddon from Nippur and Uruk, in particular text no. 134 from Uruk.
A second clay cylinder inscription of Esarhaddon describes the restoration of Eḫiliana, the cella of the goddess Nanāya at Uruk. This inscription, also written in Akkadian, mentions that Nazi-Maruttaš, a Kassite king of Babylonia (1307–1282 BC), had originally built the structure and that it had later been restored by Erība-Marduk. This text is commonly referred to as Uruk D.
Access Esarhaddon 136 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap4/Q003365/]
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An Akkadian inscription stamped on several bricks from Uruk records the restoration of the Eanna temple by Esarhaddon for the goddess Ištar of Uruk. The inscription is similar to two other brick inscriptions commemorating the same action (text nos. 138–139). This text is commonly referred to as Uruk E.
Access Esarhaddon 137 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap4/Q003366/]
Sources [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/sources/P450560,P450561,P450562,P450563]:
The inscription is stamped on the face of the brick. The stamped area on ex. 1 measures 16.2×8 cm. The excavation photographs are not always clear, and it is not possible to confirm the reading of many signs on exs. 1–3 from them. In particular, the inscription on ex. 2 is so faint as to be basically illegible on the photo. The edition is based upon the published edition of ex. 1 by J. Marzahn (with additional collations kindly supplied by Marzahn), with some help from the photograph for ex. 3 in lines 4–7. No score for this brick inscription is provided on the CD-ROM.
Schott (UVB 1 p. 57 n. 1 to no. 21) states that W. von Soden informed him of an additional piece with this inscription. It is not known to which piece he refers since he notes the same thing for the next text (our text no. 138). IM 43036, a brick in the Iraq Museum, may have either this inscription, text no. 138 or text no. 139. According to Basmachi (Treasures p. 206 no. 17), it was found at Uruk, belongs to Esarhaddon, and has an inscription describing the reconstruction of the "Inanna Temple at Warka."
This partially preserved Akkadian inscription is similar to text nos. 137 and 139. It is stamped on a brick from Uruk and appears to describe the restoration of the Eanna temple by Esarhaddon for the goddess Ištar. This text is commonly referred to as Uruk F.
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The excavation photograph of the piece (Warka ph 825) shows an inscription so faint as to be illegible, except for perhaps half a dozen signs. The present location of the brick is not known, and the inscription is edited from the copy by Schott.
Schott proposed to read in line 3 only an uncertain é-an-na É before da-nù-u-ti; however, a note in his work stated that according to von Soden a new exemplar of the inscription had "ana balāṭi-šú" before é-an-na. Since the same comment is credited to von Soden for text no. 137, it is uncertain if he had actually found two bricks or one, and if only one, whether it had the inscription of text no. 137 or text no. 138.
An Akkadian brick inscription from Uruk records the restoration of the Eanna temple by Esarhaddon for the goddess Ištar of Uruk. This text is commonly referred to as Uruk G.
Access Esarhaddon 139 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap4/Q003368/]
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The brick, which was discovered during the 1935/36 excavations at Uruk, was unbaked, and the inscription was inscribed, not stamped. An examination of the excavation photographs of the 1935/36 season did not locate any photograph of a brick with this inscription. The inscription was not collated, and the present edition is based on the published copy.
Erle Leichty
Erle Leichty, 'Borsippa, Nippur, and Uruk', RINAP 4: Esarhaddon, The RINAP 4 sub-project of the RINAP Project, 2019 [http://oracc.org/rinap/rinap4/rinap4textintroductions/borsippanippuranduruk/]