About the Project

This long term open-access project intends to present up-to-date editions of all of the known Akkadian and Sumerian royal inscriptions of the rulers of Babylonia from 1157 BC to 64 BC. In addition, it plans to carry on with the work started by the now-defunct Toronto-based Royal Inscriptions of Mesopotamia (RIM) Project and to collaborate with the still-active Philadelphia-based Royal Inscriptions of the Neo-Assyrian Period (RINAP) Project [/rinap/].

The contents of some of its sub-projects (see below) have been adapted from or are based on the following scholarly publications in particular:

The corpus of ca. 400 Babylonian royal inscriptions written in Akkadian and/or Sumerian included on RIBo is divided into several sub-projects, generally by dynasty or period. The "dynastic" numbering follows that of the RIMB (Royal Inscriptions of Mesopotamia, Babylonian Periods) publications of the now-defunct RIM Project. These are:

• "Babylon 2" [/ribo/babylon2/index.html]: This sub-project will include the known Akkadian and Sumerian inscriptions of the eleven kings of the "Second Dynasty of Isin" (1157-1026 BC), especially its most famous ruler Nebuchadnezzar I. The contents of "Babylon 2" are based on Frame, RIMB 2 [https://utppublishing.com/doi/book/10.3138/9781442623743], pp. 5-69.
• "Babylon 3" [/ribo/babylon3/index.html]: This small sub-project will include the few surviving Akkadian inscriptions of the three kings of the "Second Dynasty of the Sealand" (1025-1005 BC). The contents of "Babylon 3" are based on Frame, RIMB 2 [https://utppublishing.com/doi/book/10.3138/9781442623743], pp. 70-77.
• "Babylon 4" [/ribo/babylon4/index.html]: This small sub-project will include the handful of royally commissioned texts of the three kings of the "Bazi Dynasty" (1004-985 BC). The contents of "Babylon 4" are based on Frame, RIMB 2 [https://utppublishing.com/doi/book/10.3138/9781442623743], pp. 78-86.
• "Babylon 5" [/ribo/babylon5/index.html]: This small sub-project will include the one known inscription of the sole ruler of the "Elamite Dynasty" (984-979 BC). The contents of "Babylon 5" are based on Frame, RIMB 2 [https://utppublishing.com/doi/book/10.3138/9781442623743], pp. 87-89.
• "Babylon 6" [/ribo/babylon6/index.html]: This sub-project will include the known inscriptions of the "Uncertain Dynasties" (978-626 BC), including the Babylonian inscriptions of the eighth- and seventh-century Assyrian kings who held dominion over the land of Sumer and Akkad. The contents of "Babylon 6" are based on Frame, RIMB 2 [https://utppublishing.com/doi/book/10.3138/9781442623743], pp. 90-274, and E. Leichty, The Royal Inscriptions of Esarhaddon, King of Assyria (680-669 BC) [/rinap/rinap4/] (RINAP 4 [https://www.eisenbrauns.org/books/titles/978-1-57506-209-9.html]), Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 2011, pp. 193–281.
• "Babylon 7" [/ribo/babylon7/index.html]: This sub-project is intended to present up-to-date editions of the officially commissioned texts of the six kings of the Neo-Babylonian Dynasty (625-539 BC). "Babylon 7," or "The Royal Inscriptions of Nabopolassar, Nebuchadnezzar II, and Their Successors," carries on where the RIMB (Royal Inscriptions of Mesopotamia, Babylonian Periods) publications of the now-defunct Toronto-based Royal Inscriptions of Mesopotamia (RIM) Project ended. The annotated editions included here will also appear in the publication series Royal Inscriptions of the Neo-Babylonian Empire (RINBE) [https://www.en.ag.geschichte.uni-muenchen.de/chairs/chair_radner/research_radner/rinbe/index.html], which is led by Karen Radner (Chair for the Ancient History of the Near and Middle East at LMU Munich) and Grant Frame (University of Pennsylvania) and which will be published by Eisenbrauns [ https://www.eisenbrauns.org], an imprint of Penn State University Press. For further information about the scope and duration of this sub-project, see the Babylon 7 About the Project [/ribo/babylon7/abouttheproject/index.html] page.
• "Babylon 8" [/ribo/babylon8/index.html]: This sub-project includes the few Akkadian inscriptions of the Persian Period (538-330 BC), especially the now-famous "Cyrus Cylinder." This material would have appeared in the planned RIMB 5 volume (Achaemenid to Seleucid Dynasties [538 BC-end]) of the RIM Project.
• "Babylon 9": This sub-project is reserved for Akkadian or Sumerian inscriptions of the Macedonian rulers Alexander (III) the Great, Philip Arrhidaeus, and Alexander IV, should any be discovered.
• "Babylon 10" [/ribo/babylon10/index.html]: This sub-project includes the sole presently known Seleucid era (305-64 BC) official inscription written in Akkadian: the "Antiochus (Borsippa) Cylinder." This text would have been published by the RIM Project in its scheduled RIMB 5 volume (Achaemenid to Seleucid Dynasties [538 BC-end]).

In addition, there will be at least a further three sub-projects on RIBo:

• RIBo Sources [/ribo/sources/index.html]: This sub-project contains transliterations for all of the available objects that bear an official inscription of a ruler of Babylon written in the Akkadian or Sumerian language from the Second Dynasty of Isin to the Seleucid Dynasty. It is also intended to supplement material given in the full editions (lemmatized transliterations and English translations) and score transliterations of composite inscriptions presented on other RIBo sub-projects. At present, only object transliterations of three kings of the Neo-Babylonian Dynasty are available.
• "Babylon 6" Scores: This sub-project contains score transliterations of the royal inscriptions of the "Uncertain Dynasties" (978-626 BC), including the Babylonian inscriptions of the eighth- and seventh-century Assyrian kings who held dominion over the land of Sumer and Akkad. The contents are based on Frame, RIMB 2 [https://utppublishing.com/doi/book/10.3138/9781442623743], microfiche, and E. Leichty, The Royal Inscriptions of Esarhaddon, King of Assyria (680-669 BC) [/rinap/rinap4/] (RINAP 4 [https://www.eisenbrauns.org/books/titles/978-1-57506-209-9.html]), Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 2011, CD-ROM, pp. 244–363.
• "Babylon 7" Scores [/ribo/bab7scores/index.html]: This sub-project contains score transliterations of the royal inscriptions of the Neo-Babylonian Dynasty.

In addition, it is possible that RIBo may eventually include some inscriptions of earlier Mesopotamian rulers. These would be:

• "Agade": This sub-project would potentially include the Akkadian royal inscriptions of the Sargonic kings of Agade (2334-2113 BC), texts edited by D. Frayne in Sargonic and Gutian Periods (2334-2113 BC) (The Royal Inscriptions of Mesopotamia - Early Periods 1; henceforth RIME 1), Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1993, pp. 5-218. Scholarly editions of some of the Sumerian texts in this corpus are presently available on Gábor Zólyomi's Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Royal Inscriptions [/etcsri/] (ETCSRI) Project.
• "Gutian": This sub-project would potentially include the few Akkadian royal inscriptions of the Sargonic kings of Gutium (2334-2113 BC), texts edited by D. Frayne in Sargonic and Gutian Periods (2334-2113 BC) (RIME 1), pp. 219-230.
• "Babylon 0": This sub-project would potentially include the Akkadian inscriptions of the "First Dynasty of Babylon," texts edited by D. Frayne in Old Babylonian Period (2003-1595 BC) (RIME 4), pp. 323-438. Scholarly editions of some of the Sumerian texts in this corpus are presently available on Gábor Zólyomi's Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Royal Inscriptions [/etcsri/] (ETCSRI) Project.
• "Babylon 1": This sub-project will include the Akkadian and Sumerian royal inscriptions and kudurrus of the Kassite Period (1595-1155 BC), edited by Grant Frame and Alexa Bartelmus.

Note that the editions of the inscriptions of the rulers of the Middle Euphrates kingdom of Sūḫu included in G. Frame's RIMB 2 are not included on RIBo. These appear under the "Inscriptions of Suhu online Project" [/suhu/] of the LMU Munich-based OIMEA Project.

Sponsors and timing

This website was created as part of the research project Official Inscriptions of the Middle East in Antiquity (OIMEA), whose funding is provided by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (through the establishment of the Alexander von Humboldt Chair for Ancient History of the Near and Middle East [http://www.ag.geschichte.uni-muenchen.de/lehrstuehle/ls_radner/index.html]) and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (Historisches Seminar - Abteilung Alte Geschichte). The project began in late 2015 and Phase 1 of the website was made available in early 2016. This work included: (1) Making annotated (lemmatized) editions of the inscriptions published in Frame, Rulers of Babylonia: From the Second Dynasty of Isin to the End of Assyrian Domination (1157-612 BC) (RIMB 2) and Da Riva, The Inscriptions of Nabopolassar, Amel-Marduk and Neriglissar, as well as the "Cyrus Cylinder" and the "Antiochus (Borsippa) Cylinder" available; and (2) creating numerous informational portal pages on Babylonian rulers and their inscriptions, as well as on various Babylonian King Lists. Since 2017, we have been editing all of the known Akkadian royal inscriptions of the six kings of the Neo-Babylonian Dynasty (625-539 BC). See the Babylon 7 About the Project [/ribo/babylon7/abouttheproject/index.html] page for further details. The RIBo Project is intended to be a long-term endeavor since there is much work to do and finish before we have reached our primary objects. Please be patient with us as we expand, improve, and refine our content.

Project team

OIMEA Editorial Board

• Grant Frame [https://aamw.sas.upenn.edu/people/frame] (Associate Professor, Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, University of Pennsylvania)
• Jamie Novotny [http://www.ag.geschichte.uni-muenchen.de/personen/mitarbeiter/novotny/index.html] (Akademischer Oberrat, Historisches Seminar – Abteilung Alte Geschichte, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München)
• Karen Radner [http://www.ag.geschichte.uni-muenchen.de/personen/mitarbeiter/radner/index.html] (Alexander von Humboldt-Professorin für die Alte Geschichte des Nahen und Mittleren Ostens, Historisches Seminar – Abteilung Alte Geschichte, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München)

OIMEA Advisory Committee

• Rocío Da Riva [http://www.ub.edu/prehist/component/tlpteam/team/dra-rocio-da-riva-munoz] (Professor of Prehistory, ICREA Academia Research Prize Awardee 2014, Departament d'Història i Arqueologia, Universitat de Barcelona)
• Eckart Frahm [https://nelc.yale.edu/people/eckart-frahm] (Professor of Assyriology, Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Yale University)
• Andreas Fuchs [https://uni-tuebingen.de/en/forschung/forschungsschwerpunkte/sonderforschungsbereiche/sfb-1070/archiv/erste-foerderphase/organisation/personen/personenverzeichnisse/prof-dr-andreas-fuchs/] (Außerplanmäßiger Professor and Akademischer Oberrat, Institut für die Kulturen des Alten Orients, Altorientalische Philologie, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen)
• Mirjo Salvini [http://independent.academia.edu/MirjoSalvini] (Former Director, Istituto di Studi sulle Civiltà dell'Egeo e del Vicino Oriente, CNR, Roma)
• Mark Weeden [https://www.ucl.ac.uk/classics/people/academic-staff/mark-weeden/mark-weeden] (Senior Lecturer in Ancient Near Eastern Studies, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London)

RIBo Contributors

• Alexa Bartelmus [http://www.ag.geschichte.uni-muenchen.de/personen/mitarbeiter/bartelmus/index.html]
• Rocío Da Riva [http://www.ub.edu/prehist/component/tlpteam/team/dra-rocio-da-riva-munoz]
• Grant Frame [https://aamw.sas.upenn.edu/people/frame]
• A. Kirk Grayson (Professor Emeritus, Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations, University of Toronto)
• Henry Heitmann-Gordon [http://www.ag.geschichte.uni-muenchen.de/personen/mitarbeiter/heitmann-gordon/index.html] (Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter, Historisches Seminar – Abteilung Alte Geschichte, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München)
• Erle Leichty† (Professor Emeritus, Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, University of Pennsylvania)
• Giulia Lentini (Research Assistant, Dipartimento di Studi Storici, Università degli Studi di Torino)
• Jamie Novotny [http://www.ag.geschichte.uni-muenchen.de/personen/mitarbeiter/novotny/index.html]
• Kathryn Stevens [https://www.dur.ac.uk/directory/profile/?id=12975] (Assistant Professor in Classics and Ancient History, Durham University)
• Bastian Still (August 2015-March 2016; former Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter, Historisches Seminar – Abteilung Alte Geschichte, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München)
• Frauke Weiershäuser [https://www.ag.geschichte.uni-muenchen.de/personen/mitarbeiter/weiershaeuser_frauke/index.html] (Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin, Historisches Seminar – Abteilung Alte Geschichte, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München)

Credits and Copyright

The contents of this website, except where noted below, are the intellectual property of the OIMEA Project. They are released under a Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/] license.

This means that you are free to copy, distribute, transmit, and adapt our work without permission, under the following conditions:

• You must attribute the work to the OIMEA project and (if relevant) the author(s), as well as acknowledge the fact that we are funded by LMU Munich the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation [https://www.humboldt-foundation.de/web/home.html]. We recommend the following wording: "Based on data prepared by [name of author(s)] for the LMU-Munich- and Humboldt-Foundation-funded OIMEA Project" or "Based on data prepared by the LMU-Munich- and Humboldt-Foundation-funded OIMEA Project".
• If you alter, transform, or build upon any material on this website, you may distribute the resulting work only under the same or similar license to this one.

Any of these conditions may be waived in the right circumstances, if you explicitly ask us for permission.

Read our hints and suggestions for reusing material from Oracc [/doc/help/visitingoracc/reusingoracc/index.html]. For information on how to cite Oracc URLs online and in print, click here [/doc/help/visitingoracc/citingurls/index.html].

Jamie Novotny

Jamie Novotny, 'About the Project', The Royal Inscriptions of Babylonia online (RIBo) Project, The RIBo Project, a sub-project of MOCCI, 2024 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/ribo/AbouttheProject/]