A poorly preserved three-line epigraph inscribed on the upper register of a relief depicting a garden scene (North Palace, Room S¹, garden scene slab A) above a line of men leading two Elamite kings carrying items for the king's banquet records the presentation of a meal to the Assyrian king. The captive Elamites are presumably two of the following three men: Ummanaldašu (Ḫumban-ḫaltaš III), Tammarītu, and Paʾê. All three Elamite rulers had been taken captive sometime after the composition of text no. 9 (Prism F; 645) and before that of text no. 11 (Prism A; 644, 643, or 642). Ummanaldašu, Tammarītu, and Paʾê may all have been mentioned by name in the epigraph (see the on-page note to line 2).
Access the composite text [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap5/Q003749/] of Ashurbanipal 50.
A small fragment of a wall relief is inscribed with a six-line epigraph recording the conquest and plundering of the city Bīt-Luppi. The current whereabouts of the fragment is unknown, but it was in a private collection when F.M.T Böhl (AfO 6 [1930–31] p. 107) examined it. The text is also known from an unpublished copy of W.K. Loftus (Notebook A). Contrary to P. Gerardi's statement in JCS 40 (1988), this object is probably not a plaque affixed to a relief.
Access the composite text [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap5/Q003750/] of Ashurbanipal 51.
A badly damaged four-line epigraph records some details of a battle with troops of an unknown country — possibly Arabs — that had become hostile towards Assyria. The text is known only from an unpublished copy by W.K. Loftus (Notebook B). Nothing about the slab is known apart from Loftus' notation accompanying the epigraph: "from a fragment of sculpture; battle scene North Palace. Koyounjik."
Access the composite text [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap5/Q003751/] of Ashurbanipal 52.
The use of the Š stem of the verb nakāru ("become different") is not common in the inscriptions of Ashurbanipal. For example, in this volume, it appears four other times: text no. 7 (Prism Kh) vii 42, text no. 11 (Prism A) iii 105 and vii 102, and text no. 23 (IIT) line 109. This sense of the verb ("cause hostility between") is used in connection with Šamaš-šuma-ukīn, who incited the people of Akkad, Chaldea, and Aram to side with him, and with Uaiteʾ (an Arabian king), who encouraged Arab tribes to rebel. Given the lack of relevant information, it is not possible to determine which enemy of Assyria's defeat is recorded here.
The framing of the copy of W.K. Loftus seems to indicate that hardly anything is missing from the ends of the lines, and nothing at the end of line 1. Following R.D. Barnett, the edition here assumes that the epigraph was written over the surface of two slabs and that more text to the right of what was copied is now missing.
The final signs of an at least three-line epigraph are preserved on a fragment of a wall slab now housed in the Civico Museo Archeologico Paolo Giovio in Como, Italy. Too little of the text is preserved to be able to properly assess what information it would have contained.
Access the composite text [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap5/Q003752/] of Ashurbanipal 53.
A badly damaged eight-line epigraph that was inscribed on the middle register of a slab that once lined a wall of Room S¹ (hunting scenes slabs A–B) of Ashurbanipal's Palace at Nineveh (North Palace) records that the Assyrian king killed a pride of lions that was terrorizing the countryside. Ummanappa, a son of the Elamite king Urtaku who had fled to Assyria after Teumman had seized power, participated in the hunt. The text states that Ummanappa was attacked by one of the lions and that he begged Ashurbanipal to help him.
Access the composite text [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap5/Q003753/] of Ashurbanipal 54.
Because the slab carrying this epigraph was lost in the Tigris in May 1855, the present edition principally relies on the copies of W. Boutcher (Or. Dr. 5 no. 3), W.K. Loftus (in Barnett, Sculptures from the North Palace pl. LVI [top]), and E. Norris (1 R pl. 7 no. IX E), as well as the partial edition of E. Weissert (in Parpola and Whiting, Assyria 1995 p. 341 n. 7 and pp. 344–345 fig. 1).
A four-line epigraph known from a mid-nineteenth century drawing now housed in the British Museum (Or. Dr. 5 no. 4) records that Ashurbanipal slew an angry lion as it sprung forth from its cage; the king claims to have killed it with a dagger after wounding it with several arrows. This epigraph originally appeared on the upper register of a slab that lined the walls of Room S¹ (hunting scenes slab C) of the North Palace at Nineveh — the same slab (AO 19903) that bears text no. 56 — but most of the upper register of that slab (including the inscription) is no longer preserved.
Access the composite text [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap5/Q003754/] of Ashurbanipal 55.
A fragment of a wall slab that once lined one of the walls of Room S¹ (hunting scenes slab C, middle register) of the North Palace at Nineveh, contains a three-line epigraph. The text, which is written across the top of the register, and relief record that Ashurbanipal killed a lion with a spear during a ritual lion hunt held at Nineveh.
Access the composite text [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap5/Q003755/] of Ashurbanipal 56.
A four-line epigraph similar to text no. 56 is inscribed above an image of Ashurbanipal on another relief from the same room of the North Palace (Room S¹, hunting scenes slab D, middle register). The relief and text both record that the Assyrian killed a lion with his mace during a staged hunt at Nineveh.
Access the composite text [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap5/Q003756/] of Ashurbanipal 57.
The lower register of a relief series commemorating a successful staged lion hunt at Nineveh (North Palace, Room S¹, hunting scenes slab D) contains a three-line epigraph stating that Ashurbanipal presented the lions that he had killed as an offering and that he poured out a libation over them. The text appears to the left of the image of the king.
Access the composite text [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap5/Q003757/] of Ashurbanipal 58.
Jamie Novotny & Joshua Jeffers
Jamie Novotny & Joshua Jeffers, 'Epigraphs, Part 4 (text nos. 50-58)', RINAP 5: The Royal Inscriptions of Ashurbanipal, Aššur-etel-ilāni, and Sîn-šarra-iškun, The RINAP/RINAP 5 Project, a sub-project of MOCCI, 2022 [http://oracc.org/rinap/rinap5/rinap51textintroductions/epigraphspart4texts5058/]