Relatively few inscriptions are known for Sîn-šarra-iškun (626–612), the last Assyrian king to have ruled from Nineveh. Scholars have identified twenty-one official texts of his, although several of these might in fact belong to his much more powerful father, Ashurbanipal. At present, Sîn-šarra-iškun's texts come from cities in the Assyrian heartland, Nineveh (Ssi 1–6 and possibly 21), Aššur (Ssi 7–18), and Kalḫu (Ssi 19–20). The extant inscriptions are all written in the Akkadian language and are inscribed on clay cones (Ssi 11), clay cylinders (Ssi 1–5, 10, and 19), clay prisms (Ssi 7–9), clay tablets (Ssi 6 and 15–18), a clay bulla (Ssi 20), mud bricks (Ssi 13–14), a stone block (Ssi 12), and a stone vessel (Ssi 21). It is clear from scribal notes written on drafts or archival copies of inscriptions that official texts were also engraved on the metal plating of ceremonial tables (Ssi 17–18) and on metal cultic vessels and utensils (Ssi 15–16). Note that YBC 2171 (Stephens, YOS 9 no. 80), an Assyrian inscription written on a clay cylinder that A.K. Grayson (Studies Winnet p. 168) attributed to Sîn-šarra-iškun, is not edited here since that text more likely dates to the time of the much earlier Assyrian king Ninurta-tukultī-Aššur.
These texts record some of his building activities. Sîn-šarra-iškun is known to have sponsored construction on Sennacherib's "Palace Without a Rival" (South-West Palace; Ssi 1); the city wall of Nineveh (Ssi 6); the temple of the god Nabû at Aššur, Egidrukalamasumu ("House Which Bestows the Scepter of the Land"; Ssi 7–14); and the Nabû temple at Kalḫu, Ezida ("True House"; Ssi 19). Presumably, he undertook other building projects, but inscriptions recording those activities are either not sufficiently preserved to allow their identification or no longer extant (Ssi 2–5). Moreover, he dedicated metal(-plated) objects to various deities at Aššur (Ssi 15–18).
Seven inscriptions of Sîn-šarra-iškun bear eponym dates. These are as follows: Nabû-tappûtī-alik, chief eunuch (Ssi 1); Sîn-šarru-uṣur, governor of Ḫindānu (Ssi 3); Bēl-aḫu-uṣur, palace overseer (Ssi 6 and 10); Aššur-mātu-taqqin, governor of (U)pummu (Ssi 9); Saʾīlu, chief cook (Ssi 11); and Dādî, (chief) treasurer (Ssi 19). For information about the chronological sequence of these six post-canonical eponym officials, see pp. 41–42 of the present volume.
For further information of Sîn-šarra-iškun's inscriptions, click on the "Nineveh Inscriptions," "Ashur Inscriptions," or "Kalhu Inscriptions" links to the left or the links embedding in this paragraph.
Jamie Novotny
Jamie Novotny, 'Inscriptions of Sîn-šarra-iškun', 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/Sin-sharra-ishkun/]