Sennacherib 024
| Obverse | ||
| Column i | ||
| i 1i 1 | (i 1) [Sennacherib], great king, [strong] king, [king of the world, king of Assyria], king of [the four quarters (of the world), capable shepherd], favorite of the [great] gods, [guardian of truth who lov]es ju[stice, (i 5) renders assistance, goes to] the aid of [the weak, (and) strives after good deeds, perfect] man, [virile warrior, fore]most of all [rulers, the bridle that controls] the insub[missive, (and) the one who strikes enem]ies [with lightning]: | |
| i 22 | [LUGAL kiš-šá-ti LUGAL KUR aš-šur].KI LUGAL [kib-rat LÍMMU-tim] | |
| i 33 | ||
| i 44 | ||
| i 55 | ||
| i 66 | ||
| i 77 | ||
| i 88 | ||
| i 99 | (i 9b) The god Aššur, the [great] mounta[in, gran]ted to [me unrivalled sovereignty and] made my weapons gr[eater than (those of) all who sit on (royal) dais]es. He made [all] of the black-headed (people) [from the] Upp[er S]ea of the Setting Sun [to] the Lower Sea of the Rising Su[n] bow down at [my] feet. (i 15) Thus did [recalcitrant] rulers come to fear battle with me. While they were abandoning their settlements, they flew away alone like bats (living) in crevices to inaccessible place(s). | |
| i 1010 | ||
| i 1111 | ||
| i 1212 | ||
| i 1313 | ||
| i 1414 | ||
| i 1515 | ||
| i 1616 | ||
| i 1717 | ||
| i 1818 | ||
| i 1919 | (i 19) On my first campaign, I brought [about] the defeat of Marduk-apla-iddi[na] (II) (Merodach-baladan), king of Karduniaš (Babylonia), [toge]ther with the troops of (the land) Elam, his allies, in the plai[n of Kish]. In the midst of that bat[tle he abandoned his] ca[mp], fl[ed] alone, [and (thereby) saved his life. I seized the chariots], hors[es, ...] (i 25) ... [...] ... [...] | |
| i 2020 | ||
| i 2121 | ||
| i 2222 | ||
| i 2323 | ⸢KARAŠ⸣-[su] ⸢e⸣-diš ip-par-[šid-ma na-piš-tuš e-ṭí-ir GIŠ.GIGIR.MEŠ] | |
| i 2424 | ⸢ANŠE.KUR.RA.MEŠ⸣ [...] | |
| i 2525 | (traces) [...]1 | |
| i 2626 | (traces) [...] | |
| Lacuna | ||
| Column ii | ||
| iiii | Lacuna | |
| ii 1'1' | x [...] | (ii 1') ... [... I called it] Kār-Sennac[herib. I settled therein] the people of the lands that [I] had conquer[ed]. I placed (it) under the authority of a eun[uch of mine, the governor of the city Ḫarḫar], and (thus) en[larged my land]. |
| ii 2'2' | ||
| ii 3'3' | ||
| ii 4'4' | ||
| ii 5'5' | (ii 5'b) [On my return march, I received] a [substantial] payme[nt] from the [distant] Mede[s, of whose land] no[ne of the kings], my ancestors, [had heard mention. (Thus) I made them bow down] to the yo[ke of my lordship]. | |
| ii 6'6' | ||
| ii 7'7' | ||
| ii 8'8' | ||
| ii 9'9' | ||
| Lacuna | ||
| Column vi | ||
| vivi | Lacuna | |
| vi 1'1' | (vi 1') [The god Adad (and) the goddess Šala, god]s [of the city Ekallātum whom Marduk-nādin-aḫḫē, king of Ak]kad, [had taken and] br[ought to Babyl]on [during the reign of Tiglath-pil]eser (I), [king of Assyria] — I had (them) [brought out of] Babylon [after 418 years and] I returned them [to the city Ekallātum, th]eir (proper) [place]. | |
| vi 2'2' | [ša mdAMAR.UTU-SUM-ŠEŠ.MEŠ LUGAL KUR] ⸢URI?.KI?⸣ [a-na tar-ṣi] | |
| vi 3'3' | ||
| vi 4'4' | ||
| vi 5'5' | [i-na 4 ME 18 MU.AN.NA.MEŠ ul-tu] KÁ.DINGIR.RA.KI ⸢ú-še⸣-[ṣa-am-ma]2 | |
| vi 6'6' | ||
| vi 7'7' | (vi 7') [I destroyed, devastated, (and) bur]ned [with fire the city, and (its) buildings, from its foundations t]o its crenellations. [I removed bricks] and earth, as much as there was, [from] the inner (and) outer walls, [the temples, (and) the ziggurrat, and] (vi 10´) I threw (it) [into the A]raḫtu [River]. I dug a canal [into the center of that city] and (thus) [lev]eled [their site with water. I destroyed] the outline of its foundations [and (thereby) made] its destruction [surpass that of the] Deluge. [So that in the futu]re, the site of that city [and (its) temples] will be unrecognizable, [I dissolved] it (Babylon) [in water] and annihilated (it), (making it) like a meadow. | |
| vi 8'8' | ||
| vi 9'9' | [É.MEŠ DINGIR.MEŠ ziq-qur-rat SIG₄] ⸢ù SAḪAR⸣.ḪI.A ma-la ba-šu-⸢u⸣ | |
| vi 10'10' | ||
| vi 11'11' | ||
| vi 12'12' | ||
| vi 13'13' | ||
| vi 14'14' | ||
| vi 15'15' | ||
| vi 16'16' | ||
| vi 17'17' | ||
| vi 18'18' | [...] x ⸢LÚ? a⸣-[...] | |
| Lacuna |
1Based on parallels, the translation assumes the restoration of ik-šu-da ŠU.II-a-a “my hands captured” in i 25 or i 26.
24 ME 18 MU.AN.NA.MEŠ “418 years”: See Brinkman, PKB p. 84.
3ÍD “a canal”: Cf. the Bavian Inscription line 52 (Luckenbill, Senn. p. 84), which has ⸢ḫi-ra⸣-a-ti “canals.”
4na-as-pan-ta-šú “its destruction”: The Bavian Inscription line 53 (Luckenbill, Senn. p. 84) has na-al-pan-ta-šu; on that spelling of the word, see Frahm, Sanherib p. 154.
5It is uncertain if these lines contain the first two lines of the building account or another report of military narration. Should these lines be part of the building report, it is very unlikely, as already discussed by E. Frahm (Sanherib p. 107), that x-BI a-lik maḫ-ri is to be read as ⸢a⸣-bi a-lik maḫ-ri “my ancestors, who preceded (me).” Frahm, however, does provide a rather speculative alternative: [ina u₄-me-šú-ma É d]⸢7⸣.BI, “[at that time, the temple of the] Sebetti.” For information on the Sebetti temple at Nineveh, see Menzel, Tempel 1 p. 122; and Reade, RLA 9/5–6 (2000) p. 410 §13.4. Frahm’s conjectural restoration cannot be presently supported, as this project is not attested elsewhere in the extant Sennacherib corpus, and thus it is not followed here. Should vi 17´–18´ be part of an account of military narration, these lines may contain a report describing an expedition to Arabia. Frahm (Sanherib p. 107) has raised the possibility that the traces in vi 18´ could be read as [...] x LÚ.a-[ra-bi/mu] “[...] ... A[rabs]/A[rameans].”
Created by A. Kirk Grayson, Jamie Novotny, and the Royal Inscriptions of the Neo-Assyrian Period (RINAP) Project, 2012. Lemmatized by Jamie Novotny, 2011. The annotated edition is released under the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike license 3.0. Please cite this page as http://oracc.org/rinap/Q003498/.