Numerous clay cylinders discovered in the debris of Ezida ("True House") at Kalḫu are inscribed with a text stating that Sîn-šarra-iškun had (part) of the god Nabû's temple rebuilt; Adad-nārārī III (810–783) is cited as a previous builder. Because the inscription's building report is poorly preserved, the full extent of the renovation project is not entirely certain. The king claims that the work was carried out according to the craft of the incantation priest, that (some of) the foundations were relaid, that he built (part of) the superstructure (presumably from the foundations to the crenellations), did something with its "grand designs," and returned the temple's divine owners Nabû and Tašmētu to their daises. If the inscription is to be believed, the work started in his accession year (627); however, it is very likely that this is just royal rhetoric. The dated cylinders were inscribed in the eponymy of Dādî, the treasurer. In scholarly literature, this text is generally referred to as "Cylinder B."
Access the composite text [/rinap/rinap5/Q003880/] of Sîn-šarra-iškun 19.
The fourteen fragments that bear this text all come from hollow clay cylinders. Ex. 3 preserves most of the right end of its cylinder, which has a round opening in its base; ex. 2, which preserves the left end of its cylinder, might also have a round opening in its base, but the exemplar was not available for study. A horizontal ruling separates each line of text in all exemplars. Note, however, that D.J. Wiseman's copy of ex. 2 (Iraq 26 [1964] pl. XXVII) does not have any horizontal rulings. The authors were unable to confirm the accuracy of Wiseman's copy since ND 4315 was not examined against the original in the Iraq Museum (Baghdad).
Despite statements in earlier literature, ex. 1 originates from Kalḫu, not Nineveh. See Weissert, NABU 1990/4 pp. 103–105 no. 126 for details. The same is probably true of exs. 4 and 5. Note that M. Streck's edition of this text (Asb. pp. 382–387), which utilizes only exs. 1 (just K 1662) and 4, is conflated with Ssi 1 (Cylinder C) exs. 4–5.
Since many of the exemplars are fragmentary, the master text is a conflation of the exemplars. However, the lineation of lines 1–8 and 23–47 is established by ex. 2 and that of lines 9–11 is set by ex. 5 since both of these exemplars preserve parts of the left side of their respective cylinders. A score of the text is presented on Oracc and the minor (orthographic) variants are listed at the back of the book. G. Van Buylaere kindly collated exs. 1 (K 1662 only), 3–7, and 10–13 from the originals in the British Museum (London). The authors were unable to collate exs. 2, 8–9, and 14 as they are in the Iraq Museum (Baghdad) and were not accessible during the preparation of the present volume.
A proprietary label on a clay sealing discovered in the Review Palace at Kalḫu records that the object to which the bulla was attached was the property of Sîn-šarra-iškun.
Access the composite text [/rinap/rinap5/Q006204/] of Sîn-šarra-iškun 20.
Jamie Novotny & Joshua Jeffers
Jamie Novotny & Joshua Jeffers, 'Inscriptions from Kalhu (text nos. 19-20)', RINAP 5: The Royal Inscriptions of Ashurbanipal, Aššur-etel-ilāni, and Sîn-šarra-iškun, The RINAP/RINAP 5 Project, a sub-project of MOCCI, 2024 [http://oracc.org/rinap/rinap5/RINAP53TextIntroductions/Sin-sharra-ishkun/Kalhutexts19-20/]