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Ashurbanipal 231 (Q008319)

Royal Inscription, Neo-Assyrian, Kuyunjik (Nineveh) · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE

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DesignationAshurbanipal 231
IDQ008319
CollectionBritish Museum, London, UK
LanguageAkkadian
PeriodNeo-Assyrian · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE
GenreRoyal Inscription
Find spotKuyunjik (Nineveh)
Coordinates36.3587, 43.1519

English translation

By ORACC project rinap/rinap5 · Via Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus (ORACC) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (ORACC)

LineEnglish
Obverse [0:8] o 1'1'–o 8'8'[...] ... [... of Babyl]on, true shepherd, who makes the foundations of the land firm, who [...] by his clever knowledge [... with]in the eternal city he elevated. The city of privileged-status, which is depicted as the “Crab” in the heavens and ... [...] its foundations were tottering. The abode of his city was torn out and one could not examine [its] structu[re ... (5´) ...] its [plain]s were full of lions instead of oxen and sheep. In [my] ro[yal] chariot [... whi]ch (with) mighty strength, the fierce bow, the me[rciless] arrow [...]s, I slew and totally destroyed (them). The plains ... [...] I cut off [from] inside it and I made the people happy [...].
Obverse [8:11] o 9'9'–o 11'11'[... in S]ippar he/it made chaos inc[rease ... The Araḫtu River, (normally) a rive]r of abundance, [turned into] an angry wave, a ragin[g ti]de, [a huge flood like the deluge ...] ... [...] ... [...]
Reverse [0:3] r 1'1'–r 3'3'[...] ... [...] ... [...] for Šamaš-šuma-ukīn, their governor, who reveres the gods Nabû and [Marduk ...] ... of the lands who established all settlements ... [...].
Reverse [3:8] r 4'4'–r 8'8'[... I] had bricks made. In a favorable month with the ... [...]. I transported its [...]s (and) [I installed long] beams [of ced]a[r] at its entrances. [(As for its ...), I made its workmanship pleasing (with) [...] (and) cyprus. [I ...] (its) ced[ar] doors. [...] its gates, (on) the eighth day, a festival day, all day long [...]. I made [...] enter the [... o]f the splendid abode. Like the god Šamaš, [I illuminated] the entire [...].
Reverse [8:15] r 9'9'–r 15'15'[... were sl]aughtered (and) sheep were abundant. Lamentation-priests [...]. I poured out libation(s) of oil and [...] ... a fate without equal, the great gods ... [... for whom the god] Ea, their father, interceded ... [...] substantial [trib]ute, the amount [of which was countless ...] ... by the command of the god [...]

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)

LineATFMachine English (draft)
o
1'[...] x [x (x)] x x x [...]
2'[... KA₂].⸢DINGIR.RA⸣{ki} SIPA GIN mu-kin iš-di KUR ša ina ⸢ni⸣-kil-ti ZU-ti-šu₂ ⸢u₂⸣-[...]
3'[... ina] ⸢ŠA₃⸣ URU ṣa-⸢a-te⸣ u₂-ša₂-aš-qi URU ki-din-ni ša {mul}AL.LUL ina ša₂-ma-mi eṣ-ru-ma ŠAB x [...]
4'[...] x it-ru-ra iš-da-a-šu₂ šu-bat URU-šu₂ in-na-as-ḫa-ma la u₂-ṣab-bu-u nab-⸢nit⸣-[sa ...]
5'[... ta-mir]-⸢ti⸣-šu₂ ku-um GU₄.MEŠ u US₅.UDU.ḪI.A im-lu-u UR.MAḪ.MEŠ ina {giš}⸢GIGIR LUGAL⸣-[ti-ia ...]
6'[...] ⸢ša⸣ pu-un-gu-lu e-mu-⸢qi⸣ {giš}PAN ez-ze-tu ⸢mul⸣-mul-lum la ⸢pa⸣-[du-u ...]
7'[...] x.⸢MEŠ⸣ a-duk-ma gi-mir-ti u₂-ḫal-liq ta-mir-ti x (x) [...]
8'[...] ⸢qer⸣-bi-šu₂ ap-ru-us-ma lib₃-bi UN.MEŠ u₂-ṭib x [...]
9'[...] ⸢ZIMBIR⸣{ki} e-ša₂-a-te ⸢u₂-dan⸣-[nin ...]
10'[...] ⸢ID₂ ḪE₂⸣.GAL₂.LA a-gu-⸢u₂ ez-zi⸣ [e]-⸢du⸣-u₂ šam-⸢ru⸣ [...]
11'[...] x x x [...] x x [...]
r
1'[...] x x x x [...] x x x x [...]
2'[...] ⸢a-na⸣ {m}{d}GIŠ.NU₁₁-MU-GIN GIR₃.NITA₂-šu₂-un pa-liḫ {d}AG u {[d}AMAR.UTU ...]
3'[...]-⸢re⸣-eš KUR.KUR ša nap-ḫar da-ad₂-me x-ku-nu šu-pi-[...]
4'[... u₂]-⸢šal⸣-bi-in ina ITI šal-me it-ti {lu₂}x x x [...]
5'[...].⸢MEŠ⸣-šu₂ ⸢u₂-mat⸣-te-ḫa ne₂-reb-e-šu₂ GIŠ.UR₃.MEŠ {[giš]}⸢EREN⸣ [...]
6'[...] {⸢giš}ḪA⸣.ŠUR u₂-ṭi-⸢ib⸣ ne₂-pe-su {giš}IG.⸢MEŠ⸣ {giš}⸢EREN⸣ [...]
7'[...] KA₂.⸢MEŠ⸣-šu₂ UD.8.KAM UD.EŠ₃.EŠ₃ ud-da-kam ⸢IB⸣ [...]
8'[...] ⸢ša⸣ šu-bat ⸢ta⸣-ši-la-a-te u₂-še-rib ki-i {d}UTU ⸢nap-ḫar⸣ [...]
9'[... pu]-⸢ul⸣-lu-qu₂ UDU.NITA₂.MEŠ du-uš-šu-u₂ {⸢lu₂}GALA.MEŠ⸣ [...]
10'[...]-lu I₃.GIŠ ut-ta-qi-ma x [...]
11'[...] x-ni ši-mat la ša₂-na-an DINGIR.MEŠ GAL.MEŠ e-x [...]
12'[... {d]}⸢e₂⸣-a AD-šu₂-nu ⸢e⸣-pu-šu₂ ⸢ab⸣-bu-⸢ti⸣ x x x [...]
13'[... man]-⸢da-te⸣ ka-bit-⸢te⸣ mi-nu-te x x [...]
14'[...] x-⸢la⸣-tu ina a-mat {⸢d⸣}[...]
15'[...] x [...]

Sources & licences

Cite the original edition and translator. Page generated by Unread Atlas from the public corpus export of 2026-10-11.