Sargon II 089

1Possibly for appa ikaššadu, “triumphs” (see CAD A/2 p. 187)?

2The tentative restoration at the end of the line follows AHw p. 832.

3The understanding of the end of the line basically follows H.W.F. Saggs (Iraq 37 [1975] pp. 12 and 17), who reads šá a-na la na-[a^?-di^? x x x], but collation shows that there may be a trace of a slanted wedge head after NA, suggesting Aʾ rather than NA. G. Vera Chamaza (SAAB 6 [1992] pp. 22 and 24) reads šá a-na la na-[sa-ki ...] and translates “who for those who [do not cast themselves in front of him? ...].”

4For the restoration kullat nakirī, see for example Grayson, RIMA 2 p. 275 A.0.101.23 line 4.

5mu-ṭib (following CAD M/2 p. 284) or mu-dip (see Saggs, Iraq 37 [1975] p. 17).

6The reading na-du-⸢šu^?⸣ (“offspring of”) follows H.W.F. Saggs (Iraq 37 [1975] pp. 14 and 18; see also Vera Chamaza, SAAB 6 [1992] pp. 22 and 24); cf. CAD N/1 p. 104. W. Mayer (Studies Loretz p. 546) reads na-ṭù <a>-⸢na⸣, “geeignet für?.”

7For the reading ⸢pe⸣-[(e)-li], cf. Grayson, RIMA 2 p. 226 A.0.101.2 line 25.

8Or ^m⸢DINGIR⸣-[bi-iʾ-di], “Ilu-[biʾdī], although the spacing might suggest the longer reading.

9The restoration is based on text no. 81 lines 5–6; although H.W.F. Saggs’s copy might not suggest that there was sufficient room for this restoration, collation of the original would suggest there was (see also the photo at CDLI P393884).

10For the possible restoration, cf. text no. 81 lines 12–13 and text no. 7 line 33.

11Based on text no. 81 lines 14–15, E. Frahm (Last Days p. 59) suggests restoring mārē aššur ša ina māt ḫamati at the end of the line 20 and reading [ba^?]-⸢šu^?-ú^?⸣ at the beginning of line 21, thus “He killed [the citizens of Assyria who we]re [in the land Hamath (...)]” (Frahm’s translation slightly modified). It is not clear if there would be sufficient room for the former restoration, but the restoration would be a logical one. For the tentative reading ⸢GIM^? 1^?-en^?⸣, “altogether,” see text no. 81 line 15 and Frahm, AoF 40 (2013) p. 48.

12For the beginning of the line, H. Winckler’s edition would suggest [... a-naaššur] qa-ti áš-ši-ma, “I raised (my) hands (in prayer) [to the god Aššur] and” (AOF 1/5 p. 403). H.W.F. Saggs (Iraq 37 [1975] pp. 14 and 18) has [x x] ⸢x x x x x x áš⸣-š[i]-⸢ma⸣ (slightly modified) and states that the traces “may conceal some form of qātī (or qātēII-ia) anadaššur” but that “qa-ti (following Winckler) is not the preferred reading.” While Winckler’s reading would make good sense, collation also indicates that, with regard to áš-ši-ma, the traces of the first sign are not necessarily compatible with ÁŠ and that the second sign is more likely DI than ŠI. For the tentative restoration sa-kap ^mdia-ú-bi-iʾ-di, “to overthrow Iaū-biʾdī,” see text no. 108 Frgm. D line 7´ and text no. 81 line 18.

13Or ⸢um⸣-[ma-na-at?aššur gapšāti?adkēma?], “[I mustered the vast] t[roops of Aššur and],” following E. Frahm (Last Days p. 59).

14E. Frahm (Last Days p. 60) says “mu-ṣa-at is apparently a feminine singular stative derived from wuṣṣû/muṣṣû ‘to spread out,’ even though one would rather have expected plural forms here” and translates the beginning of the line as “[...] ... spead out was the corpse.”

15Possibly restore gi-mir, “all,” instead of UN.MEŠ, “people” at the beginning of the line. At the end of the line would be a statement of who or what was taken back to Assyria, for which cf. text no. 106 ii 11´. Likely based on text no. 117 ii 11, E. Frahm (Last Days p. 59) suggests restoring Iaū-biʾdī /šâšu adi kimtišu (mundaḫṣēšu)?, thus “Iaū-biʾdī (or: him), together with his family (and his fighting men)” (Frahm’s edition slightly modified).

16G. Vera Chamaza (SAAB 6 [1992] pp. 23 and 25) reads [UŠ]-⸢ma⸣, “[he] impo[sed] ... and” rather than ⸢iš^?-kun^?⸣, “He imposed,” but there is a trace of the first sign and it would fit the end of IŠ better than UŠ. Collation also shows that there is sufficient room to read iš-kun (against Vera Chamaza).

17⸢iš-kip^?⸣: The tentative translation “overthrew” follows H.W.F. Saggs (Iraq 37 [1975] pp. 14–15) and G. Vera Chamaza (SAAB 6 [1992] pp. 23 and 25) and assumes that the verb is from sakāpu (see CAD S p. 71 sub sakāpu 1.d.2´). For the end of the line, Saggs (Iraq 37 [1975] pp. 14–15 and 20) reads MAN ⸢ka⸣-ía-⸢nu⸣ [...] and translates “the legitimate king,” but the traces do not fit KA and kay(y)ānu means “normal, plain, permanent, constant, regular” (CAD K p. 40). Relying in part on H. Winckler’s copy, Vera Chamaza (SAAB 6 [1992] pp. 23 and 25) reads MAN [KUR aš-šur] šá-[i-im ...] and translates the passage “[appointed] me, Sargon, as king [of Assyria].” However, the traces do not fit well with KUR aš-šur; the sign is ÍA, not ŠÁ; and we would not expect šá-ʾ-im to stand for “appointed” in this context.

18The exact sense of the passage is not clear. H.W.F. Saggs (Iraq 37 [1975] pp. 16–17 and 20) prefers to take the ends of line 36 and line 37 as being what Sargon planned to do and translates the passage “In order to give a sure foundation to the throne-base, to make my dynasty firm, I conceived a desire to bring about the freedom of those citizens, to restore their freedom (from taxes), to permit them to walk about within Ešarra before Him, for the sake of their heart’s life.” In the break at the end of line 36, Saggs (Iraq 37 [1975] p. 16) reads [tu^?-ur^?-ri^? ...] and G. Vera Chamaza (SAAB 6 [1992] p. 23) [šá-ka-ni ...], i.e., “[to restore/(re)-establish ...].”

19Following H.W.F. Saggs (Iraq 37 [1975] pp. 17 and 20), possibly ⸢ŠÀ⸣-[(bi)-šu-nu ...], “[they be] ... of he[art ...].”

20H.W.F. Saggs (Iraq 37 [1975] pp. 16–17 and 20) reads ⸢mu^!?⸣-šim^!? ši-ma-a-te, “the One who fixes the fates,” and assumes this describes Aššur, who is mentioned immediately following. However, a divine name is not generally preceded by an epithet and, as noted by Saggs, the tablet has ḪU-U, not ŠIM. G. Vera Chamaza (SAAB 6 [1992] pp. 23 and 25) reads [mu-saḫ]-ḫu-u ši-ma-a-te ... li-[iš-i-im-šú], takes the first word with the preceding and the second word with the following, and translates “[w]hoever [takes away] this work [from its place and] vio[lates it], for him, may the god Aššur determine a fate of death.” However, one would prefer a finite verb in the subjunctive to follow the ša of line 42. The traces before ḪU would fit well with a SAḪ sign and there may actually be the trace of the top of a vertical wedge for the first sign of the line (thus ⸢ú^?-saḫ^?⸣-ḫu-u). The tentative translation “representation(s)” assumes that ši-ma-a-te stands for simāte. The phrase DN + ezziš + a precative of the verb nekelmû is common in royal inscriptions (see CAD N/2 pp. 152–153).