Sennacherib 1015
| Obverse | ||
| oo | Lacuna | |
| o 1'1' | [...] | (1') [... the god Aššur, my lord, encouraged] me and [I marched] to the land Ju[dah. In] the course of my campaign, [I received] a payment from the kin[gs of ... With the str]ength of (the god) Aššur, my lord, [I ...] the district [of ...-Y]aū (Hezekiah) of the land Judah like [... (5´) ...] the city Azaqâ, a place upon which he relied, which (is situated) between my ... and the land Judah, [...] is situated upon a mountain peak. Like the blade(s) of daggers, without number, they rise up high into the heavens [...] were well fortified and rival high mountains. Looking upon (them), like [...] from the heavens [...] |
| o 2'2' | [...] ŠID [...] | |
| o 3'3' | [... daš-šur be-lí ú-tak-kil]-⸢an⸣-ni-ma a-na KUR.ia-[u-di lu al-lik ina] me-ti-iq KASKAL.II-ia man-da-at-tu šá ⸢LUGAL⸣.[MEŠ ... am-ḫur (...)] | |
| o 4'4' | [... ina da]-⸢na?⸣-ni šá AN.ŠÁR EN-ia na-gu-u [šá mx-x]-⸢ia⸣-a-u KUR.ia-u-da-a-a GIM x [...]1 | |
| o 5'5' | [...]-x URU.a-za-qa-a É tuk-la-te-šú šá ina ⸢bi-rit⸣ [(x)]-x-ri-ia u KUR.ia-u-di x [...]2 | |
| o 6'6' | [...] ṣe-er ŠU.SI KUR-e šá-kin GIM zi-qip GÍR.AN.⸢BAR.MEŠ⸣ la ni-bi ana AN-e šá-qu-u SUR [...] | |
| o 7'7' | [...] ⸢dun⸣-nu-nu-ma šit-nu-nu KUR-e zaq-ru-ti a-na ni-[ṭil] IGI.II.MEŠ ki-i šá ul-tu AN-e [...] | |
| o 8'8' | [... ina šuk-bu-us a]-⸢ra⸣-am-me qur-ru-bu šu-pe-e da-an-nu*-tú u [i]-⸢na⸣ mit-ḫu-uṣ zu-ki GÌR.II ⸢qu⸣-[ra-di-ia? x x (x)]3 | (8') [... by having r]amps [trodden down], mighty battering rams brought up, and the assault of foot soldiers, [my] wa[rriors ... When] they saw the [...] of my [ho]rses and heard the clangor of the vast troops of (the god) Aššur, th[ey] became frightened [... I surround]ed, conquered, plundered, destroyed, devastated, (and) [burned with fire]. |
| o 9'9' | [... ANŠE].⸢KUR⸣.RA.MEŠ-ia e-mu-ru-ma ri-gim um-ma*-nat ⸢AN⸣.ŠÁR gap-šá-te iš-mu-ma ip-làḫ ⸢lìb⸣-[ba-šú-un x x (x)]4 | |
| o 10'10' | [... al]-⸢me⸣ KUR-ud áš-lu-la šal-lat-su ap-pul aq-qur [ina dGIŠ.BAR aq-mu]5 | |
| o 11'11' | [...] ⸢URU? LUGAL-ti⸣ ša KUR.pi-liš-ta-a-⸢a? šá? m⸣x-x-[x]-⸢ia⸣-a-u e-ki-mu ú-dan-ni-nu-šú-ma [...]6 | (11') [...] a royal city of the land Philistia that ...-Yaū (Hezekiah) had taken away (and) fortified, and (then) [...] ... like a bush [...] it was surrounded by tall towers and was exceedingly difficult [...] the palace was secured before them like a mountain and rose [...] was dark, the sun did not illuminate it. Its waters were forever in darkness and its outflow [...] its [mo]uth had been hacked out with axes, the moat adjacent to it was deep, and ... [...]. |
| o 12'12' | [...] x x x x x x x x GIM GIŠ.gap-ni [...] | |
| o 13'13' | [...] ⸢di-ma⸣-a-ti GAL.MEŠ šu-tas-ḫu-ur-⸢ma⸣ šum-ru-ṣa-at [...]7 | |
| o 14'14' | [...] x É.GAL GIM KUR-e pa-nu-uš-šú-⸢un⸣ ed-let-ma šá-qa-at [...] | |
| o 15'15' | [...] ⸢e⸣-kel la na-pi-iḫ-šú dUTU-šú A.MEŠ-šú ina e-⸢ṭu?⸣-ti šit-ku-nu-ma mu-ṣa-šú [...] | |
| o 16'16' | [... pi]-i-šá ina qul-mì-i na-kis ḫa-ri-ṣu i-te-⸢šá?⸣ šá-pil-ma ka-x [...] | |
| o 17'17' | [...] ⸢le⸣-ʾu-u-te MÈ ú-še-rib qé-reb-šú GIŠ.TUKUL.MEŠ-šú ú-ra-kis a-⸢na⸣ [...]8 | (17') [...] he had [his] battle-seasoned [troops] garrisoned inside it. He girt his weapons in orde[r to ...]. I made all the troops of the land Amurru carry earth and [...] against them. On the seventh try, ... its great walls [I smashed] like a [like] a [potter’s] vessel. [...] I b[rought] out of it [... oxen, and shee]p and goats, [and I counted (them) as] boo[ty. ...] ... [...] |
| o 18'18' | [...] ⸢um⸣-ma-na-at KUR MAR.TU.KI DÙ-šú-un ⸢SAḪAR.ḪI⸣.A ú-šá-az-bíl-šu-nu-ti-ma [...] | |
| o 19'19' | [...] x ṣe-ru-uš-šú-un ina 7-šu x [x] ⸢du?-ri?⸣-šú GAL.MEŠ GIM kar-⸢pat⸣ [pa-ḫa-ri] | |
| o 20'20' | [ú-par-ri-ir ... GU₄.MEŠ u ṣe]-⸢e⸣-ni ul-tú qer-bi-šú ⸢ú⸣-[še-ṣa-am-ma] ⸢šal-la⸣-[tiš am-nu]9 | |
| o 21'21' | [...] x x x x (x) x x x x [...] | |
| Reverse | ||
| rr | Reverse completely missing |
1[mx-x]-⸢ia⸣-a-u “[...-Y]aū”: The reading of the name is uncertain, although one expects Hezekiah. G. Galil (SAAB 6 [1992] p. 62) restores the name as ⸢m⸣[ḫa-zaq]-⸢ia⸣-a-u “[Hezek]iah” based on his proposed reading of the name in line 11´. See the on-page note to that line. GIM x [...] “like [...]”: Galil (Zion 57 [1992] p. 115) suggests reading this as GIM ⸢im!⸣-[ba-ri as-ḫu-up] “[I overwhelmed] like a f[og].” The traces on the tablet, however, do not support the reading of x as IM; see also Frahm, Sanherib p. 230.
2[(x)]-x-ri-ia “my ...”: N. Naʾaman (BASOR 214 [1974] p. 26) reads the signs as [mi]-⸢iṣ⸣-ri-ia “my [bo]rder”; R. Borger (BAL2 p. 134) and G. Galil (Zion 57 [1992] p. 114) read them as ⸢áš⸣-ri-ia “my place”; and E. Frahm proposes reading the signs as [ki]-⸢iṣ⸣-ri-ia “my [con]tingent.”
3da-an-nu*-tú “mighty”: The tablet has da-an-ŠI-tú. R. Borger (BAL2 p. 134) suggests reading the signs as da-an ši-pir (no translation possible).
4um-ma*-nat “troops”: The tablet has um-na-nat.
5N. Naʾaman (BASOR 214 [1974] p. 26) restores URU.a-za-qa-a “the city Azaqâ” before [al]-⸢me⸣ “[I surround]ed.”
6G. Galil (Zion 57 [1992] p. 115) suggests restoring a-na URU.am-qa-ru-na “[against Ekron]” before ⸢URU? LUGAL-ti⸣ “a royal city.” N. Naʾaman (BASOR 214 [1974] p. 27) tentatively suggests restoring “Gath.” ⸢m⸣x-x-[x]-⸢ia⸣-a-u “...-Yaū”: Although one expects the name of Hezekiah, the reading of the name is uncertain; see Borger, BAL2 p. 135. Naʾaman (BASOR 214 [1974] p. 26) reads the name as ⸢mḫa⸣-[za-qi]-⸢ia⸣-a-u “He[zek]iah.” G. Galil (SAAB 6 [1992] p. 62) confidently reads the name as ⸢mḫa-zaq-ia⸣-a-u, “Hezek[i]ah,” a reading he states was confirmed by R. Borger in a private letter; cf. Frahm, Sanherib p. 230. Hezekiah’s name is written as mḫa-za-qi-a-a-ú, mḫa-za-qi-a-u, mḫa-za-qi-a-ú, and mḫa-za-qi-ia-a-u in the inscriptions of Sennacherib, never as mḫa-zaq-ia-a-u.
7G. Galil (Zion 57 [1992] pp. 116) restores ma-lak-šá “its access” on the basis of Sargon’s Letter to Aššur line 22 (Thureau-Dangin, TCL 3 p. 6; and Mayer, Assyrien und Urarṭu 1 p. 98).
8On the basis of Sargon’s Letter to Aššur line 104 (Thureau-Dangin, TCL 3 p. 18; and Mayer, Assyrien und Urarṭu 1 p. 106), G. Galil (Zion 57 [1992] p. 116) restores LÚ.mun-daḫ-ṣe-šú “his warriors” before ⸢le⸣-ʾu-u-te “skilled.” E. Frahm (Sanherib p. 231), however, points out that um-ma-ni-šú “his troops” is more likely on the basis of Sargon’s Letter to Aššur line 289 (Thureau-Dangin, TCL 3 p. 44; and Mayer, Assyrien und Urarṭu 1 p. 126), which has um-ma-ni-šú le-ʾu-tu ta-ḫa-zi “his troops (who are) skilled in battle.”
9ú-par-ri-ir “I smashed”: Or possibly restore aḫ-pi “I broke.”
Created by A. Kirk Grayson, Jamie Novotny, and the Royal Inscriptions of the Neo-Assyrian Period (RINAP) Project, 2014. Lemmatized by Jamie Novotny, 2013. The annotated edition is released under the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike license 3.0. Please cite this page as http://oracc.org/rinap/Q004071/.