Several clay cylinders are inscribed with an Akkadian inscription of Ashurbanipal that records his restoration of Borsippa's city wall, Ṭābi-supūršu ("Its Fold Is Pleasant"), and its gates. Because the king's older brother Šamaš-šuma-ukīn is mentioned favorably, the text was composed prior to the outbreak of his rebellion against Assyria in 652.
Access the composite text [/rinap/rinap5/Q008342/] or the score [/rinap/scores/Q008342/] of Ashurbanipal 253.
Ex. 1 was purchased by the Vorderasiatisches Museum, ex. 3 by the Louvre Museum, and ex. 4 by the Metropolitan Museum of Art; ex. 2 is thought to come from H. Rassam's work (see Leichty, Sippar 3 pp. xiii and 327; Lambert, Cat. p. 75 indicates that BM 83001 comes from Nineveh [modern Kuyunjik]). Exemplars 1–2 and 4 are written in Neo-Assyrian script and ex. 3 is in contemporary Babylonian script, although D. Arnaud states that some of its signs diverge from the forms expected in Neo-Babylonian writing (Studies Puech p. 27). The line arrangement follows ex. 1. The master line is a conflation of the various exemplars, although only ex. 1 preserves parts of lines 13–14. The restoration of lines 7–23 and 25–28 is based upon Asb. 241 lines 3–23 and 25b–29. Note, however, that line 6 is partially restored from an inscription of Šamaš-šuma-ukīn; see Frame, RIMB 2 p. 254 B.6.33.4 line 10. A score of the text is presented on Oracc and the minor (orthographic) variants are listed at the back of the book.
The favorable mention of Ashurbanipal's appointment of his older brother Šamaš-šuma-ukīn as the king of Babylon in lines 16–17 (partially restored) indicates that the text must have been composed sometime between 668 and 652.
A stone stele discovered at Borsippa is engraved with an Akkadian inscription of Ashurbanipal recording the restoration of Ezida ("True House"), the temple of the god Nabû in that city. A relief of the king carrying a basket on his head is carved on the front of the stele (see also Asb. 246); this image depicts the king personally aiding in the restoration work. Like many of Ashurbanipal's inscriptions, this eighty-one-line text was composed at some point between 668 and 652, that is, during the first half of the reign of Ashurbanipal. This inscription is sometimes referred to as "S[tele]2" in previous editions.
Access the composite text [/rinap/rinap5/Q008343/] of Ashurbanipal 255.
BM 90865 (80-6-17,2) was found during excavations at Borsippa in 1880 under the general direction of H. Rassam. The object was found in the same room of Ezida (the chamber southwest of room C2) as a stele with a similar inscription of his older brother Šamaš-šuma-ukīn (Frame, RIMB 2 pp. 252–253 B.6.33.3), which has a relief depicting that king of Babylon with a basket on his head. It was not found at Babylon as has sometimes been thought (for example, Unger, AfK 2 [1924–25] p. 23 no. 11). The inscription is for the most part in contemporary Babylonian script, although some Neo-Assyrian sign forms do appear. Lines 1–49 are on the back of the stele and lines 50–81 on the monument's side.
The friendly mention of Šamaš-šuma-ukīn in lines 3–32 and 46–48 indicates that the inscription must date before 652. Note that "Prism T", which was composed in the eponymy of Nabû-šar-ahhēšu, the governor of Samaria (645), records that Ashurbanipal had four silver(-plated) statues of wild bulls (rīmu) stationed in two prominent gateways of the Ezida temple at Borsippa (Novotny and Jeffers, RINAP 5/1 p. 216 Asb. 10 [Prism T] ii 1–6). For further details about Ashurbanipal's activities at Borsippa, see the introduction of the present volume (pp. 21–22).
A poorly preserved clay tablet now in the Penn Museum (Philadelphia) bears copies of two dedicatory texts, both of which are written in Akkadian. The first and much shorter inscription only mentions Ashurbanipal, while the second and longer one mentions both Šamaš-šuma-ukīn and Ashurbanipal. The former is thought to have been written in the name of Ashurbanipal, while the latter is generally believed to have been composed in the name of his older brother, Šamaš-šuma-ukīn (Frame, RIMB 2 pp. 256–257 B.6.33.5); however, it is not inconceivable that both inscriptions should be attributed to Ashurbanipal. The badly damaged inscription might concern an object dedicated to the god Nabû at Borsippa (see the commentary).
Access the composite text [/rinap/rinap5/Q008344/] of Ashurbanipal 255.
The two fragments, CBS 733 + CBS 1757, were joined by W.G. Lambert. The inscription is written in contemporary Babylonian script and is separated from an inscription of Ashurbanipal's brother Šamaš-šuma-ukīn (Frame, RIMB 2 pp. 256–257 B.6.33.5) by a horizontal ruling.
Due to the poor state of preservation of the tablet, it is uncertain with what object or structure the inscription was concerned. The name of Marduk's temple at Babylon, Esagil, is found in line 2 and the second inscription on the tablet, which is written in the name of Šamaš-šuma-ukīn, likely deals with a piece of equipment for the sacred boat of the god Nabû at Borsippa. As Lambert has already pointed out, in view of these facts and the appearance of the phrase "that light" in line 3, it is possible that the text "commemorates the giving of a lamp or lampstand to Marduk or Nabû" (AfO 18 [1957–58] p. 386).
Grant Frame & Jamie Novotny
Grant Frame & Jamie Novotny, 'Inscriptions from Borsippa (text nos. 253-255)', RINAP 5: The Royal Inscriptions of Ashurbanipal, Aššur-etel-ilāni, and Sîn-šarra-iškun, The RINAP/RINAP 5 Project, a sub-project of MOCCI, 2023 [http://oracc.org/rinap/rinap5/RINAP53TextIntroductions/Ashurbanipal/Borsippatexts253-255/]