Esarhaddon 114 (Q003343)
Royal Inscription, Neo-Assyrian, Babylon · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE
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| Designation | Esarhaddon 114 |
|---|---|
| ID | Q003343 |
| Collection | British Museum, London, UK |
| Language | Akkadian |
| Period | Neo-Assyrian · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE |
| Genre | Royal Inscription |
| Find spot | Babylon |
| Coordinates | 32.5434, 44.4222 |
English translation
By ORACC project rinap/rinap4 · Via Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus (ORACC) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (ORACC)
| Line | English |
|---|---|
| Obverse Column i [0:6] i 1i 1–i 66 | Esarhaddon, king of the world, king of Assyria, governor of Babylon, king of Sumer and Akkad, pious prince, who reveres the gods Nabû and Marduk — |
| Obverse Column i [6:18] i 77–i 1818 | Before my time, in the reign of a previous king, bad omens occurred in Sumer and Akkad. The people living there were answering each other yes (for) no (and) were telling lies. They put the[ir] hands on the possessions of Esagil, the palace of the gods, and they sold the gold, sil[ver], (and) precious stones at market value to the land Elam. |
| Obverse Column i [18:35] i 1919– | The Enlil of the gods, the god Marduk, became angry and plotted evilly to level the land (and) to destroy [its] people. The river Araḫ[tu, (normally) a river of abun]dance, [turned into] a hu[ge] flood like the deluge, (and) [swept (its) waters] destructively across the city, its dwellings, [(...)], (and) its shrines, and turned (them) into ruins. The gods and goddesses dwelling in it went up to the heavens; the people living in it were distributed among the (foreign) riffraff (and) became slaves. |
| Obverse Column ii [11:18] ii 1212–ii 1818 | The merciful god Marduk wrote that the calculated time of its abandonment (should last) 70 years, (but) his heart was quickly soothed, and he reversed the numbers and (thus) ordered its (re)occupation to be (after) 11 years. |
| Obverse Column ii [18:32] ii 1919– | You [truly] selected me, Esarhaddon, in the assembly of my older brothers, to put these matters right, and you (are the one) who placed your sweet [protec]tion over me, swept away all of my enemies like [a flood], killed all of my [foes] and [made] me attain my wish, (and), to appease the heart of your great divinity (and) to please your spirit, you entrusted (me) with shepherding Assyria. |
| Obverse Column iii [8:14] iii 99–iii 1414 | At the beginning of my kingship, in my first year, when I sat in greatness on (my) royal throne, [good] signs were [est]ablished for me; in heaven (and) on earth, [he (the god Marduk) constantly se]nt me his omen(s). |
| Obverse Column iii [14:24] iii 1515–iii 2424 | [I was afraid] (and) worried [to] preform that work (and) I knelt before the gods Šamaš, [Adad], (and) Marduk, the great judge(s), the god[s], my lords. In the diviner’s bowl, trustworthy oracles were established for me, and they had (their response) concerning the (re)building of Babylon (and) the renovation of Esagil written on a liver. |
| Obverse Column iv [0:15] iv 1iv 1–iv 1515 | I trusted in their fi[rm] ‘yes’ and I mustered all of my craftsmen and the people of Karduniaš (Babylonia) to its full extent. I had them wield hoes and I imposed baskets (on them). I mixed (the mud for) its revetment with fine oil, honey, ghee, kurunnu-wine, (and) pure mountain beer. I raised a basket onto my head and carried (it) myself. I had its bricks made for one year in brickmolds of ivory, ebony, boxwood, (and) musukkannu-wood. |
| Obverse Column iv [15:24] iv 1616–iv 2424 | I had Esagil, the palace of the gods, and its shrines, Babylon, the privileged city, Imgur-Enlil, its wall, (and) Nēmetti-Enlil, its outer wall, built anew from their foundations to their parapets. I made (them) greater (than before), raised (them) up, (and) glorified (them). |
| Obverse Column iv [24:28] iv 2525–iv 2828 | I refurbished the statues of the great gods (and) I had (them) dwell on their daises as an eternal dwelling. I (re)confirmed their interrupted sattukku offerings. |
| Obverse Column iv [28:35] iv 2929–iv 3535 | I gathered the citizens of Babylon who had become slaves (and) who had been distributed among the (foreign) riffraff and I counted (them once again) as Babylonians. I established anew their privileged status. |
Transliteration (ATF)
From Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus (ORACC) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (ORACC default); per-file JSON license fields say: This data is released under the CC0 license (133618)
| Line | ATF | Machine English (draft) |
|---|---|---|
| i | ||
| 1 | ⸢AN⸣.ŠAR₂-ŠEŠ-SUM.NA ⸢LUGAL⸣ | |
| 2 | kiš-ša₂-ti LUGAL KUR-aš-šur{⸢ki⸣} | |
| 3 | GIR₃.NITA₂ KA₂.DINGIR.RA{⸢ki⸣} | |
| 4 | LUGAL KUR-EME.GI₇ u₃ URI{ki} | |
| 5 | NUN na-a-du pa-lih₃ | |
| 6 | {d}AG u₃ {d}AMAR.UTU | |
| 7 | ul-la-nu-u₂-a ina BALA | |
| 8 | LUGAL mah-re-e ina KUR-EME.GI₇ | |
| 9 | u₃ URI{ki} it-tab-ša₂-a | |
| 10 | A₂.MEŠ HUL.MEŠ UN.MEŠ | |
| 11 | a-šib lib₃-bi-šu an-na | |
| 12 | ul-⸢la a-ha-meš⸣ e-tap-pa-lu | |
| 13 | i-dab-⸢bu-ba sur-ra⸣-a-⸢ti⸣ | |
| 14 | a-⸢na NIG₂.GA e₂-sag-il₂⸣ | |
| 15 | E₂.GAL DINGIR.⸢MEŠ⸣ ŠU-⸢su⸣-[nu] | |
| 16 | u₂-bi-lu-ma KU₃.GI KU₃.[BABBAR] | |
| 17 | ni-siq-ti NA₄.MEŠ a-na | |
| 18 | {kur}ELAM.MA{ki} ip-šu-ru ma-hi-riš | |
| 19 | i-gu-ug-ma {d}EN.LIL₂ | |
| 20 | DINGIR.MEŠ {⸢d}AMAR⸣.UTU a-na sa-pan | |
| 21 | KUR hul-lu-qu UN.MEŠ-[ša₂] | |
| 22 | ik-ta-pu-ud MUNUS.⸢HUL⸣ | |
| 23 | {id₂}a-ra-⸢ah⸣-[ti] | |
| ii | ||
| 1 | [ID₂ HE₂].GAL₂ ILLU ⸢gap⸣-[šu] | |
| 2 | ⸢tam-šil⸣ a-bu-⸢bi⸣ [ib-bab-lam-ma] | |
| 3 | ⸢a⸣-lum šu-bat-su [(...)] | |
| 4 | ⸢eš-re⸣-e-ti-šu [A.MEŠ] | |
| 5 | ⸢uš⸣-bi-iʾ-ma u₂-še-⸢me⸣ | |
| 6 | ⸢kar⸣-meš DINGIR.MEŠ {d}15.MEŠ | |
| 7 | a-šib lib₃-bi-šu e-lu-u₂ | |
| 8 | ša₂-ma-meš UN.MEŠ a-šib | |
| 9 | qer-bi-šu a-na ṣi-in-di | |
| 10 | ⸢u₃⸣ bir-te zu-uʾ-u₂-zu | |
| 11 | ⸢il⸣-li-ku re-e-šu-tu₂ | |
| 12 | 70 MU.AN.NA.MEŠ mi-nu-ut | |
| 13 | ni-du-ti-šu iš-ṭur-ma | |
| 14 | re-me₂-nu-u₂ {d}AMAR.UTU | |
| 15 | sur-riš lib₃-ba-šu i-nu-uh-ma | |
| 16 | e-liš a-na šap-liš | |
| 17 | uš-bal-kit-ma a-na 11 | |
| 18 | MU.AN.NA.MEŠ a-šab-šu iq-bi | |
| 19 | ia-a-ti AN.ŠAR₂-ŠEŠ-MU | |
| 20 | aš₂-šu ep-še-e-te ši-na-ti | |
| 21 | a-na aš₂-ri-ši-na tur-ri | |
| 22 | ina UKKIN ŠEŠ.MEŠ-ia GAL.MEŠ | |
| 23 | ⸢ke-niš⸣ tu-ut-tan-ni-ma | |
| iii | ||
| 1 | [AN].⸢DUL₃⸣-ka DUG₃.⸢GA taš-ku-nu-ma⸣ | |
| 2 | [UGU]-ia kul-lat za-ʾi-ri-ia | |
| 3 | [a-bu]-biš tas-pu-nu-ma gi-mir | |
| 4 | [za-ma]-⸢ni⸣-ia ta-na-ru-ma | |
| 5 | ⸢tu-šak⸣-ši-du ni-iz-ma-ti | |
| 6 | a-⸢na⸣ nu-uh-hi lib₃-bi DINGIR-ti-ka | |
| 7 | GAL-ti šup-šu-uh ka-bat-ti-ka | |
| 8 | SIPA-ut KUR-aš-šur{ki} tu-mal-lu-u₂ | |
| 9 | ina SAG LUGAL-ti-ia ina mah-re-e | |
| 10 | BALA-ia ša ina {giš}GU.ZA | |
| 11 | LUGAL-ti ra-biš u₂-ši-bu | |
| 12 | ⸢iš-šak⸣-na-nim-ma A₂.MEŠ | |
| 13 | ⸢SIG₅⸣.[MEŠ] ina ša₂-ma-me qaq-qa-ri | |
| 14 | [iš-tap-pa]-ra gis-kim-mu-uš | |
| 15 | [a-na] ⸢e⸣-peš šip-ri šu-a-tu₂ | |
| 16 | [aš₂-hu]-⸢ut⸣ ak-kud ša {d}UTU | |
| 17 | {[d}IŠKUR] {d}AMAR.UTU DI.KU₅.GAL | |
| 18 | DINGIR.[MEŠ] EN.MEŠ-ia ak-ta-mis | |
| 19 | ⸢ma⸣-har-šu-un ina ma-kal-ti | |
| 20 | {lu₂}HAL-u₂-ti UZU.MEŠ | |
| 21 | tu-kul-ti iš-šak-nu-nim-ma | |
| 22 | ša e-peš KA₂.DINGIR.RA{ki} | |
| 23 | ud-du-uš e₂-sag-il₂ | |
| 24 | u₂-ša₂-aš₂-ṭi-ra a-mu-tu₂ | |
| iv | ||
| 1 | ⸢a⸣-na an-ni-šu-nu ke-⸢e⸣-[nu] | |
| 2 | at-kal-ma ad-ke-e-⸢ma⸣ | |
| 3 | gi-mir ERIM.HI.A u UN.MEŠ | |
| 4 | {kur}kar₂-{d}dun-ia₂-aš₃ | |
| 5 | si-hir-ti-ša₂ {giš}al-lu | |
| 6 | u₂-šat-rik-ma e-mid-da | |
| 7 | tup-šik-ki ina I₃.GIŠ DUG₃.GA diš-pu | |
| 8 | I₃.NUN.NA KURUN.NAM ši-kar | |
| 9 | KUR-i KU₃ ab-lu-la ta-ra-huš | |
| 10 | ku-dur₂-ru ina SAG.DU-ia aš₂-ši-ma | |
| 11 | u₂-ša₂-az-bil ra-ma-ni | |
| 12 | ina {giš}U₃.ŠUB.MEŠ ZU₂ AM.SI | |
| 13 | {giš}ESI {giš}TUG₂ {giš}MES.MA₂.KAN.NA | |
| 14 | AD.ME.KAR₂ a-na ne₂-ri-ša₂ | |
| 15 | u₂-šal-bi-na SIG₄ | |
| 16 | e₂-sag-il₂ E₂.GAL DINGIR.MEŠ | |
| 17 | u₃ eš-re-e-ti-šu | |
| 18 | KA₂.DINGIR.RA{ki} URU ki-din-ni | |
| 19 | im-gur-{d}EN.LIL₂ BAD₃-šu | |
| 20 | ne₂-met-{d}EN.LIL₂ šal-hu-šu | |
| 21 | ul-tu uš-še-šu-un a-di | |
| 22 | na-bur-ri-šu-un eš-šiš | |
| 23 | u₂-še-piš u₂-šar-bi | |
| 24 | u₂-šaq-qi₂ u₂-šar-ri-ih | |
| 25 | ṣa-lam DINGIR.MEŠ GAL.MEŠ ud-diš | |
| 26 | ina BARA₂.MEŠ-šu-nu u₂-šar-ma-a | |
| 27 | šu-bat da-ra-a-ti SA₂.DUG₄-šu₂-nu | |
| 28 | ba-aṭ-lu-ti u₂-ki-in | |
| 29 | DUMU.MEŠ KA₂.DINGIR.RA{ki} ša | |
| 30 | a-na re-e-šu-ti šu-lu-ku | |
| 31 | a-na ṣin-di u₃ bir-te | |
| 32 | zu-uʾ-u₂-zu u₂-pa-hi-ir-ma | |
| 33 | a-na {lu₂}KA₂.DINGIR.RA{ki.}MEŠ | |
| 34 | am-nu ki-din-nu-sun₂ eš-šiš | |
| 35 | aš₂-kun | |
Sources & licences
- Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus (ORACC) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (ORACC default); per-file JSON license fields say: This data is released under the CC0 license (133618) · ORACC project editions, https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/ ; cite the individual project (see texts.extra_json.project)
Cite the original edition and translator. Page generated by Unread Atlas from the public corpus export of 2026-10-11.