The ancient kings of Mesopotamia ruled one of the two great literate civilizations that set the course the earliest history of the ancient Near East. Their temples and tombs do not waken vivid images in the minds of the modern reader or television viewer, as do those of the other great centre of early Near Eastern civilization, Egypt. But their cities, some with such familiar names as Babylon, Nineveh, and Ur, have been excavated over the past century and a half, according to the standards of the time, and have yielded an abundance of records of the boasted accomplishments of...

Assyrian royal inscriptions were among the earliest cuneiform texts deciphered by scholars in the nineteenth century. These early decipherers presented to the world the first opportunity since ancient times to read of the deeds and hear the boasts of Assyrian kings. Although the biblical connections were of primary concern to the majority of nineteenth-century readers, others were lured by the antiquity of the inscriptions and the opportunity to delve back into man’s earliest written records. Since those heady days of initial discovery much has been learned of Assyrian history through the recovery of and research on a wealth of inscribed...

This text is inscribed on a stone plaque found in the Ištar temple at Aššur and commemorates dedication of booty to Ištar by a certain Ititi, otherwise unknown, who must have been ruler of the city-state Aššur during the Old Akkadian period.

The object (VA 883la, Ass 20377) was found in the Ištar temple, eA7IISE. It measures 25×21.1 cm and the inscription has been collated. The date of the text is certainly about the time of the Old Akkadian period in the south. There is a close affinity with Old Akkadian script and dialect; the names Ititi, Ininlaba, and Aššur...

This text of a certain Azuzu, servant of the Old Akkadian king Maništūšu, was inscribed on a copper spear-head discovered in the Ištar temple at Aššur. Azuzu, who is otherwise unknown, must have been one of the vassal rulers of the city-state Aššur when it was under the control of the Old Akkadian dynasty.

The object (VA 8300, Ass 21340, Ass ph 6558) was found in the Ištar temple, cA7I. It measures 45.6 × 1.4 cm and the inscription has been collated. The name Azu-zu (line 4) is clear as is the name of the deity Be-al-SI.SI. While be-al is...

This text appears on a stone plaque found in the altar room of the Old Assyrian Ištar temple at Aššur. It is dedicated by Zarriqum, who at this stage in his interesting career (see the studies by Hallo and Kutscher in the bibliography) was the governor of Aššur when it was under the control of Amar-Sîn, a king of the Third Dynasty of Ur.

Unfortunately the object (EṢ 7070, Ass 21982) cannot be located and we could collate the inscription only from the published photo (Andrae, AIT). The stone object is rectangular with several holes. The inscribed portion stands within...

This is a private dedicatory text of a man whose name is broken on a clay tablet fragment found at Aššur. The orthography and palaeography are Old Assyrian.

The fragment (VAT 10909) measures 7.1×5.5+ cm and the inscription has been collated. The reading of the personal name in line 5′ is uncertain. Deller (see the bibliography) has summarized the various opinions and proposed the reading tentatively adopted here since it fits the traces and gives a meaningful name. Regarding the object dedicated (line 12′) see CAD 8 (K) p. 394a and cf. Deller. There is a fish sketched on the...

This is the legend on a cylinder seal of a scribe of Aminu who is, presumably, identical with the ruler of Aššur of this name.

The seal is in the Louvre (A 360), and measures 2.4×1.4 cm. The inscription has been collated from the published photos....

Several impressions of this seal on clay tablets and envelopes were found at Kültepe, ancient Kaniš. It is possible but not certain that the owner, Ṣilulu, is identical with the Sulilu (var. Sulê) who appears in the Assyrian King List.

The erasure of the last line is interesting. This must have contained waradka ‘your servant’ or warassu ‘his servant’ (cf. Balkan, Garelli, and Larsen). The seal was reused by a second man of the same name Ṣilulu (son of Uku), as we know from other sources, but the phrase ‘your servant’ did not apply to him and so he had...

This text is on a stone block found in the oldest foundation of the Aššur temple at Aššur.

The block (VA 8835, Ass 17186, Ass ph 5105) was discovered in the oldest stone foundation of the south-east wall of the east corner room of the main court of the Aššur temple, iC3III. Our edition relies on Meissner’s since the original object could not be located. According to Meissner the scribe mistakenly repeated in lines 21–23 a-na ba-la-ṭì-šu ù ba-la-aṭ a-li-šu-ma(?) and then erased it. The text is inscribed in ‘mirror writing’ — see Meissner and Andrae....

This dedicatory text is inscribed on a stone object found in the Old Assyrian Ištar temple at Aššur.

The inscription is on a broken stone object (BM 115690, Ass 19977) with two holes bored through it. Photographs and a detailed description are given by Andrae, who suggested that it was part of a lock, the holes being for metal bars. The stone was found at floor level in the south-east wall of the cella of the Old Assyrian Ištar temple eB7III and Andrae believed that it had been moved from its original position in the Ištar temple. The text has...

This is the first ruler of Aššur for which we have several texts. These are straightforward commemorative inscriptions (except A.0.33.1) describing building enterprises but making no reference to political or military matters. Curiously, however, one text mentions tax exemptions (A.0.33.2). The building works are all at Aššur and the majority concern the Aššur temple (A.0.33.1–14), and in particular the expansion of its area and the ‘two beer vats’ (cf. Šalim-aḫum). The connecting Step Gate is also mentioned (A.0.33.1 and 4). The Adad temple is the subject of two texts (A.0.33.15–16).

This unique text is in fact a conflation...

This text appears on several broken bricks from Aššur and concerns work on the Adad temple.

This text is a conflation of several broken inscriptions. Lines 1–14 are based on exs. 1–3 and lines 15–23 on ex. 4 alone. Exs. 1–4 are from the Aššur temple and presumably so are exs. 5–6 although their specific provenance is not known....

This seal of Sargon, whose name is preceded by the divine determinative, is known from several impressions on clay tablets and envelopes from Kültepe.

The question of whether Sargon’s name could be read in the first line (cf. Balkan and Landsberger who read Ilum-šar) has now been settled by the publication of A.0.35.2001....

The royal inscriptions of Šamšī-Adad i mark a major change in style and content as is to be expected from the political and cultural transformation of the old city-state of Aššur during this period. Aššur now became one of several city-states ruled by this king, who introduced into it foreign and particularly Sumero-Babylonian customs. Thus the royal inscriptions of Šamšī-Adad i have a more scattered provenance (Aššur, Nineveh, Mari, and Terqa) and while some follow the established form of royal inscriptions (e.g. A.0.39.3) others show Babylonian influence in form and content, as well as continuing to show influence in dialect...

This curious text is on a stone tablet from Aššur. Puzur-Sîn is an otherwise unknown ruler of Aššur but according to this text he gained the throne by deposing a successor of Šamšī-Adad. This must be Šamšī-Adad i, whose ‘non-Assyrian’ (i.e. Amorite) extraction is scornfully emphasized in this text. Puzur-Sin obviously considered himself a ‘native Assyrian’ who was restoring a native dynasty, customs, and practices to the city-state of Aššur.

The tablet (BM 115688, 1922–8-12,63, Ass 6366, Ass ph 972–73) was discovered in the corner of a house by the west ziqqurrat of the Anu-Adad temple. It measures...

This royal label appears on a jar rim fragment found at Aššur.

We have not located this fragment (Ass 18496) but collated the inscription from Ass ph 5748. It was discovered at the south-west front of the great forecourt of the Aššur temple, iB4iv....

The inscriptions of this king concern work at Aššur on the Aššur temple (A.0.60.1–2), the Sîn-Šamaš temple (A.0.60.3), the Step Gate (A.0.60.4), and the city wall (A.0.60.5–6).

This text is inscribed on numerous bricks from Aššur.

All exs. have exactly the same text, in so far as they are preserved, except that some (exs. 8, 10–13, and 15) add -ma at the end of line 4; ex. 5 omits ^d in line 5; and ex. 8 has -e for -a in line 5.

Some exs. (2, 5, and 6–8) were found at or near the Aššur...

The texts of this king all come from Aššur and concern work on the wall of the Step Gate (A.0.61.1 and cf. 3) and the Assyrian Ištar temple (A.0.61.2 and cf. 1001). We have been unable to publish the text (IM 57822) mentioned by Borger, EAK 1 p. 20.

This text is on a complete clay cone found at Aššur and concerns work on the wall of the Step Gate.

The cone (VA 8251, Ass 16645) was discovered in the large canal, iC4m. It is 15.6 cm in diameter and the inscription has been collated....

This fragmentary text appears on a clay cone from the Anu-Adad temple at Aššur.

The fragment (A 3446, Ass 6459, Ass ph 873) was discovered in the area of the Anu-Adad temple, eB5v. It measures 7.1 × 8.1+ cm and the inscription has been collated. This fragment was edited together with Ass 6235 (see A.0.70.1002) as a join but they are two separate fragments as pointed out by Donbaz and Grayson....

This text is found on a clay cone fragment from Aššur and seems to concern an early rebuilding of the Enlil temple.

The fragment (IM 75179) measures 7.6×7.9+ cm and the inscription has been collated....

This text is found on several clay cones from Aššur and concerns the erection of a new wall.

None of the exs., all of which are on clay cones, is complete and the master text is constructed from various exs. at different places. It is, therefore, a hypothetical text but it is reasonably certain in general wording if rather uncertain in detail. Following is a list of the line nos. with the nos. of the exs. used as sources in parentheses: 1 (1), 2 (1), 3 (1–3), 4 (1–2), 5 (1, 3–4), 6 (3–5), 7 (4–...

Only one text is known for this king. However, there are a number of unidentified fragments on clay cones from Aššur that are included here because Aššur-rêm-nišēšu happens to be the middle king between Šamšī-Adad iii (A.0.59) and Aššur-uballiṭ i (A.0.73). It is known that these fragments cannot date earlier than this period because they are on clay cones and they cannot be later because of the orthography of Aššur (a-šùr).

This text is on a clay cone from Aššur and, as the excavators recognized, is an invaluable source of information about the history of the building of the ancient...

This text appears on several bricks from Aššur. It is possible that it should be ascribed to the first king of this name rather than the second.

In line 2 a few exs. omit the PN wedge at the beginning. As to the provenance, exs. 1–4 were found under the flooring of the Asn. palace in rubble (fE5II) while the remainder were discovered in various parts of the mound....

This text appears on a fragmentary clay tablet. Unfortunately the building section is missing.

The fragment (VAT 9836, Ass 4901) was said to have been discovered by the Aššur excavators at Hejel. The inscription has been collated....

According to the inscriptions edited here Aššur-uballiṭ i did various works at Aššur: New Palace (A.0.73.1–2 and cf. 1002), a well (A.0.73.3), the Ištar temple (A.0.73.4 and cf. 5). One text (A.0.73.1) is the earliest preserved Assyrian royal inscription with a date. We have not located the inscribed clay sherd mentioned by Andrae, MDOG 26 (1905) p. 62.

This text, on a clay amulet-shaped tablet from Aššur, is a late copy of an original which seems to have concerned the palace of New City.

The object (VA 5707, Ass 13963) was discovered in hD8IW at Aššur. It measures 14...

This text, on fragmentary clay cones from Aššur, describes work on the outer wall at Aššur.

The master text is basically ex. 1 but in lines 4–13 the ends of the lines come substantially from exs. 2–3....

Only two of the inscriptions of this king are sufficiently preserved to recognize the building concerned, the Šamaš temple (A.0.75.1–2).

This text is inscribed on the four sides of a stone tablet from the Šamaš temple at Aššur. The inscription was never finished, there being six blank lines in the midst of the building description. Probably the work was undertaken toward the close of Arik-dīn-ili’s reign and not completed before his death.

The object (VA 5917, Ass 18217) was discovered in the rubble above the post-Assyrian pavement in iD5I. It measures 31.8×13.8 cm and the inscription has been collated....

The reign of Adad-nārārī i marks a significant development in royal inscriptions and in this regard is roughly comparable to the reigns of Šamšī-Adad i and Tiglath-pileser i. For the first time real narratives of military events appeared in the royal inscriptions, these describing the wars with Ḫanigalbat (A.0.76.3) and Babylonia (A.0.76.21). Even the geographical summaries of military conquest are significantly longer and more detailed (e.g. A.0.76.1). Royal scribes were extremely busy during this reign and produced more royal inscriptions than for any previous monarch. This decided increase in quantity, to be continued under Shalmaneser i and Tukultī-Ninurta i, led...

In a sense the royal inscriptions of Shalmaneser i mark a retrograde step in the development of this type of text. The scribes of Adad-nārārī i had developed an effective means of describing military events in narrative style in the body of the text, but with Shalmaneser i we find that the military narration, which continues to be relatively detailed, has been placed in a different position, viz. within the epithet section (A.0.77.1 and 16). This causes syntactic problems and results in confusion for the reader. The vast majority of the inscriptions concern construction at Aššur and in particular reconstruction...

The royal inscriptions of Tukultī-Ninurta i represent a mixture of old and new styles with regard to military narrative. Several texts (A.0.78.1–2, 6, 8–10, and 18) follow the old pattern used under Shalmaneser i — inserting the military description in the epithet section — while a few texts from later in the reign (A.0.78.5 and 22–24) are similar in form to the new form developed by the scribes of Adad-nārārī i.

The majority of building enterprises took place at Aššur: the New Palace (A.0.78.1–10 and 30), the Assyrian Ištar temple (A.0.78.11–16), ‘The Ninevite Goddess’ temple...

This text is one of the more unusual and interesting inscriptions edited in this volume since it describes how the king redirected the course of the Tigris back to its original bed and thus salvaged agricultural land around Aššur which had been flooded. In commemoration of this achievement a shrine (‘house of my royal statue’) was erected ‘on the bank of the Tigris at the entrance of my city’, presumably the low plateau at the north-east of the city. The text is on a clay tablet found at Aššur.

The tablet (YBC 2246) measures 24.5 × 16.1 cm and the...

This text is found on two stone vase fragments from Aššur.

The text is a conflation of two broken exs. and presents problems. To make these clear to the reader here is a transliteration of each ex.

Ex. 1: 1) [^mdma]š-a-é-kur man kiš

2) [...]-šit ^dbad u ^dmaš

3) [...]-di

Ex. 2: 1) [^md]maš-a-é-k[ur ...]

2) [...-šu]r ni-šit ^dba[d ...]

3) ┌a┐ ^mgiš-be-du [(...)]

The overlap of the preserved portions of each inscription, the rare object upon which they are inscribed, and the scarcity of royal inscriptions for this king strongly argue in favour of regarding these as two exemplars of one text....

This text appears on a brick fragment from Aššur.

The brick (EŞ 9315, Ass 4777) was discovered on the plateau between the Aššur temple and the ziqqurrat. The text has been collated....

Since the reign of Tukultī-Ninurta i the fall in Assyria’s fortunes has been reflected in the dramatic dearth of royal inscriptions. With the accession of Aššur-rēša-iši i Assyria began to recover politically and economically and the number of royal texts at our disposal increases. The building activities of this king were concentrated in Aššur and Nineveh. At Aššur he worked on the Anu-Adad temple (A.0.86.7–8), the Aššur temple (A.0.86.11–12), the palace (A.0.78.14), and an unidentified structure (A.0.86.13). At Nineveh he worked on the Ištar temple (A.0.86.1–3 and 9), a palace (A.0.86.5), and an armoury (?) (A.0.86.4). A...

This inscription (‘archaic’ script) on a piece of clay cone from Aššur could be of any king from Šamšī-Adad iii on, since the concluding formula with Adad is used by them all. The museum number is VA Ass 2093 (Ass 21730) and a copy was published in Rost, FuB 22 no. 14.

This inscription (‘archaic’ script) is on a piece of black stone found at Nineveh (G.17). It does not seem to be part of A.0.39.2 (see the commentary there) and is too fragmentary to identify with any specific reign in this volume. The fragment is in the City of...