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A large number of Ashurbanipal's royal inscriptions come from or mention Babylonia and these texts record that this Assyrian king carried out work at Babylon on the city wall (241 [= Babylonian Inscription 1]), Ekarzagina, the shrine of the god Ea (246 [= Babylonian Inscription 6] and likely 242 [= Babylonian Inscription 2]), Eturkalama, the temple of the goddess Ištar of Babylon (243 [= Babylonian Inscription 3]), Emaḫ, the temple of the goddess Ninmaḫ (244 [= Babylonian Inscription 4]), Esagil, the temple of the god Marduk (245 and 247 [= Babylonian Inscriptions 5 and 7]), and Etemenanki, the ziggurat (247–251 [= Babylonian Inscriptions 7–11]). At Sippar he restored Ebabbar, the temple of the god Šamaš (254 [= Babylonian Inscription 14]) and at Borsippa he did work on the city wall (252 [= Babylonian Inscription 12]) and on Ezida, the temple of the god Nabû (253 [= Babylonian Inscription 13]). Work was carried out at Nippur on the ziggurat (256 and 258 [ =Babylonian Inscriptions 16 and 18]), Ekur, the temple of the god Enlil (257 [= Babylonian Inscription 17]), and another structure (259 [= Babylonian Inscription 19]). Eanna, the temple of the goddess Ištar at Uruk, was also restored (255 [= Babylonian Inscription 15]). A cylinder fragment mentioning the goddess Ištar of Akkad and the temple of the goddess Ištar can probably be assigned to Ashurbanipal (260 [= Babylonian Inscription 20]); it likely describes work on the temple of the goddess Ištar of Akkad either at the city of Akkad or at Babylon. A brick found in the ziggurat at Dūr-Kurigalzu and several from Ešaḫula, the temple of the god Nergal at Sirara (Mê-Turran), attest to work at these two sites (261 and 262 [=Babylonian Inscriptions 21 and 22] respectively). A poorly preserved copy of a further dedicatory inscription of Ashurbanipal is also attested (263 [= Babylonian Inscription 23]).
Exactly when in his reign the various building programs carried out in his name took place is unknown. The following inscriptions, however, mention his brother Šamaš-šuma-ukīn in a friendly manner and thus must date before the beginning of the latter's rebellion in 652 BC: 241 [= Babylonian Inscription 1] (city wall of Babylon), 246 [= Babylonian Inscription 6] (Ekarzagina), 242 [= Babylonian Inscription 2] (probably a structure at Babylon associated with the god Ea), 243 [= Babylonian Inscription 3] (Eturkalama), 244 [= Babylonian Inscription 4] (Emaḫ), 245 [= Babylonian Inscription 5] (Esagil), 254 [= Babylonian Inscription 14] (Ebabbar), 252 [= Babylonian Inscription 12] (city wall of Borsippa), 253 [= Babylonian Inscription 13] (Ezida), and 255 [= Babylonian Inscription 15] (Eanna). 249 and 257–259 [= Babylonian Inscriptions 9 and 17–19] are written in Sumerian; the remainder are written in Akkadian. Two of the inscriptions are on stone steles (246 and 253 [=Babylonian Inscriptions 6 and 13]), ten upon clay cylinders (241–245, 252, 254–256, and 260 [= Babylonian Inscriptions 1–5, 12, 14–16, and 20]), ten upon bricks (247–251, 257–259, and 261–262 [= Babylonian Inscriptions 7–11, 17–19, and 21–22]), and one upon a clay tablet (263 = [Babylonian Inscription 23]).
For further information of the individual Babylonian inscriptions, including texts written by Sîn-balāssu-iqbi (the governor of Ur), click on the "Part 1 [/rinap/rinap5/ashurbanipal/babylonianinscriptions/part1/index.html]," "Part 2 [/rinap/rinap5/ashurbanipal/babylonianinscriptions/part2/index.html]," or "Part 3 [/rinap/rinap5/ashurbanipal/babylonianinscriptions/part3/index.html]" links to the left or the links embedding in this paragraph.
Jamie Novotny
Jamie Novotny, 'Babylonian Inscriptions', RINAP 5: The Royal Inscriptions of Ashurbanipal, Aššur-etel-ilāni, and Sîn-šarra-iškun, The RINAP/RINAP 5 Project, a sub-project of MOCCI, 2021 [http://oracc.org/rinap/rinap5/rinap52and53/ashurbanipal/babylonianinscriptions/]