Rassam cylinder | |
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![]() Rassam cylinder of Ashurbanipal. A 10-sided prism and the most complete of the chronicles of Ashurbanipal. Nineveh, 643 BCE. British Museum.[1] | |
Created | 643 BCE |
Discovered | Nineveh 36°21′34″N 43°09′10″E / 36.359444°N 43.152778°E |
Present location | British Museum, London |
Registration | BM 91026 |
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5f/Assurbanipal_King_of_Assyria.jpg/260px-Assurbanipal_King_of_Assyria.jpg)
an-szar2-du3-a man kur_ an-szar2{ki}
in the Rassam cylinder, 643 BCE.[2]
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/96/Ashurbanipal_II%27s_army_attacking_Memphis%2C_Egypt%2C_645-635_BCE%2C_from_Nineveh%2C_Iraq._British_Museum.jpg/260px-Ashurbanipal_II%27s_army_attacking_Memphis%2C_Egypt%2C_645-635_BCE%2C_from_Nineveh%2C_Iraq._British_Museum.jpg)
The Rassam cylinder is a cuneiform cylinder, forming a prism with ten faces, written by Neo-Assyrian king Ashurbanipal in 643 BCE. The 7th century BCE cylinder was discovered in the North Palace of Nineveh by Hormuzd Rassam in 1854, hence its name. It is located in the British Museum.[4][1]
Content
The cylinder describes in detail nine military campaigns of Ashurbanipal.[4][1] The content of the cylinder has been listed as follows:[5]
- Introduction, account of the accession of Ashurbanipal
- First Egyptian War against Tirhakah
- Second Egyptian War against Urdamane
- Conquest of Tyre and death of Ba'al, king of Tyre
- Expedition against Ahseri, king of Van
- Expedition against Teumman, king of Elam
- War against Shamash-shum-ukin of Babylon, brother of Ashurbanipal
- First war with Ummanaldas, king of Elam
- Second war with Ummanaldas, king of Elam
- Expedition against Uate, king of Arabia
- Capture of Ummanaldas, king of Elam
- Embassy from Istar-duri, king of Ararat
- Repair of the Palace of Sennacherib at Nineveh, conclusion, and date of the inscription
Extracts
One of these is his victorious campaign in Egypt:
In my first campaign I marched against Magan, Meluhha, Taharqa, king of Egypt and Ethiopia, whom Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, the father who begot me, had defeated, and whose land he brought under his sway. This same Taharqa forgot the might of Ashur, Ishtar and the other great gods, my lords, and put his trust upon his own power. He turned against the kings and regents whom my own father had appointed in Egypt. He entered and took residence in Memphis, the city which my own father had conquered and incorporated into Assyrian territory.
— Rassam cylinder of Assurbanipal (extract).[6]
Some reliefs from Nineveh are otherwise known that illustrate these campaigns.[3]
A full translation of the cylinder was made by Luckenbill in Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia.[4][1] A full transcription of the cuneiform is available on CDLI.[7]
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Transcription of the cuneiform script of the first column.[8]
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Translation of the first column by Luckenbill: Introduction and First Campaign of Egypt.[9]
Important words
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The word Mu-ṣur, for Egypt
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The word Ku-u2-si, for "Kingdom of Kush"
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The word Sha-ba-ku-u, for Kushite Pharaoh Shabaka
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The word Tar-qu-u2, for Kushite Pharaoh Taharqa
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Tar-qu-u, an alternative spelling used for Kushite Pharaoh Taharqa
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The word Urdamanee, for Kushite Pharaoh Tantamani
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The word An-shar-pap-ash, for Neo-Assyrian ruler Esarhaddon
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The word An-shar-du-a, for Neo-Assyrian ruler Ashurbanipal
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The word Aššur KI, for the city of Assur
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The word mat Aššur KI, for the country of Aššur, Assyria
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The word An-shar, for supreme god Anshar
References
- ^ a b c d "Rassam cylinder British Museum". The British Museum.
- ^ For the original inscription: Rawlinson, H.C. Cuneiform inscriptions of Western Asia (PDF). p. 3, column 2, line 98. For the transliteration: "CDLI-Archival View". cdli.ucla.edu. For the translation: Luckenbill, David. Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia Volume II (PDF). p. 297.
- ^ a b "Wall panel; relief British Museum". The British Museum.
- ^ a b c Luckenbill, Daniel David (1927). Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia, Volume II (PDF). University of Chivago Press. pp. 290 ff.
- ^ Miscelleneous inscription Vol 5, page 1 Published in 1905. Author: Theophilus Goldridge Pinches M.R.A.S. (1856 – 6 June 1934 Muswell Hill, London)
- ^ Pritchard, James B. (2016). Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament with Supplement. Princeton University Press. p. 294. ISBN 978-1-4008-8276-2.
- ^ "CDLI-Archival View". cdli.ucla.edu.
- ^ Miscelleneous inscription Vol 5 Published in 1905. Author: Theophilus Goldridge Pinches M.R.A.S. (1856 – 6 June 1934 Muswell Hill, London)
- ^ Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia pp 290-296 by Daniel David Luckenbill, University of Chicago Press, 1927
- ^ Smith, George (1871). History of Assurbanipall, Translated from the Cuneiform Inscriptions by George Smith. Williams and Norgate. pp. 15ff.