oi.uchicago.edu ANCIENT RECORDS oi.uchicago.edu ANCIENT RECORDS Under the General Editorship of JAMES HENRY BREASTED FIRST SERIES ANCIENT RECORDS OF ASSYRIA AND BABYLONIA Edited by DANIEL DAVID LUCKENBILL SECOND SERIES ANCIENT RECORDS OF EGYPT Edited by JAMES HENRY BREASTED THIRD SERIES ANCIENT RECORDS OF PALESTINE, PHOENICIA AND SYRIA oi.uchicago.edu '^- 'ZL % ANCIENT RECORDS OF ASSYRIA AND BABYLONIA oi.uchicago.edu THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS CHICAGO, ILLINOIS THE BAKER & TAYLOR COMPANY NEW YORK THE MACMILLAN COMPANY OF CANADA, LIMITED TORONTO THE CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS LONDON THE MARUZEN-KABUSHIKI-KAISHA TOKYO, OSAKA, KYOTO, FUKUOKA, SENDAI THE COMMERCIAL PRESS, LIMITED SHANGHAI oi.uchicago.edu ANCIENT RECORDS OF ASSYRIA AND BABYLONIA -By DANIEL DAVID L^CKENBILL, PH.D. Professor of the Semitic Languages and Literatures in the University of Chicago VOLUME I HISTORICAL RECORDS OF ASSYRIA FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO SARGON 'Pa \s> vb •")- '<& Vp \ ^ <§>• "h % CHICAGO, ILLINOIS \ -& THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRES oi.uchicago.edu ') t L i COPYRIGHT 1926 BY THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO All Rights Reserved Published November 1926 Composed and Printed By The University oi Chicago Press Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. 100 oi.uchicago.edu(o^Q EDITOR'S FOREWORD These two volumes, containing a complete English version of the historical records of ancient Assyria, represent the resumption of a long-interrupted plan for the creation of a library of the historical documents of the ancient Near East in English, begun over thirty years ago. The present writer, returning in 1895 from oriental studies in Europe and the Near East, found himself entirely without the tools and instrumentalities for teaching the ancient cultures he was supposed to represent, especially the Egyptian. The Uni­ versity of Chicago was in 1895 the first and at that time the only university in America to offer studies in Egyptian language and civilization. The first task was an obvious one: to make the historical documents of ancient Egypt accessible in English. The task consumed ten years. After it had been going on for some years, the late President William R. Harper proposed to the writer that the volumes of the Egyptian records be incorporated in a comprehensive series which should include the entire ancient Near East. This proposal was adopted and in October, 1905, the project was announced in the publications of the University of Chicago Press. It was to be called "Ancient Records," to appear in a series of twenty-three volumes under the general editorship of Presi­ dent William R. Harper. It was to be divided into three sec­ tions: six volumes of Assyrian records to be edited by the late Professor Robert Francis Harper; five volumes of Palestinian records under the editorship of President Harper himself; and twelve volumes of Egyptian sources to be edited and translated by the present writer. In 1906 and 1907 the historical documents of Egypt from vii » oi.uchicago.edu viii EDITOR'S FOREWORD the earliest times to the loss of Egyptian independence after the Persian conquest in 525 B.C., a period of about twenty- five hundred years, were published in five volumes under the title Ancient Records of Egypt.1 The public demand for his­ torical documents of this kind is necessarily limited, and confined chiefly to libraries. Their publication therefore re­ quires a heavy subsidy. After the lamented death of Presi­ dent Harper early in 1906, the project languished. Just be­ fore the outbreak of the world-war, however, we who had long and deeply regretted the discontinuance of the under­ taking were casting about for means to revive it. Like so many other scientific projects, these efforts at revival were submerged in the Great War. In the spring of 1919 the generosity of Mr. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., enabled us to organize and begin the work of the Oriental Institute. Following closely upon the conclusion of the war, therefore, our interests were absorbed in the de­ velopment of our new Institute which was to mobilize the old Department of Oriental Languages and transform it into the investigating staff of a research laboratory. Prominent in its scientific program, as we desired to see it develop, was the compilation of an Assyrian-Babylonian Dictionary based for the first time on all of the known cuneiform documents. It was placed under the able editorship of Professor D. D. Luckenbill. The translation of the historical documents of Assyria into English for incorporation into the Assyrian Dictionary has made the resumption of the "Ancient Rec­ ords" project an obvious step, while the publication fund of the Oriental Institute has been able to furnish the needed subvention. x Ancient Records of Egypt: Historical Documents from the Earliest Times to the Persian Conquest Collected, edited, and translated by James Henry Breasted. Vol I, The First to the Seventeenth Dynasties; Vol. II, The Eighteenth Dynasty; Vol. Ill, The Nineteenth Dynasty; Vol. IV, The Twentieth to the Twenty-Sixth Dynasties; Vol. V, Indices. University of Chicago Press, 1906-7. oi.uchicago.edu EDITOR'S FOREWORD ix It is with the greatest gratification, therefore, that after a lapse of twenty years since the first volume appeared, we find that the resources of the Oriental Institute have made possible the resumption of the plan for making the historical records of the ancient Near East available in English. The continuation of the entire series has been adopted as a part of the approved program of the Institute, and the production and publication of the additional volumes will be financially provided for in its future budget. We venture to hope that these two volumes comprising the Ancient Records of Assyria, presenting for the first time in a single compact edition the entire body of the Assyrian historical records in a Western language, may form not only a monument to the careful scholarship of Professor Luckenbill, but also a valuable con­ tribution to historical knowledge. JAMES HENRY BREASTED ORIENTAL INSTITUTE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO CHICAGO, ILLINOIS July 3, 1926 oi.uchicago.edu oi.uchicago.edu PREFACE Since the Director of the Oriental Institute has been so kind as to sketch, in an Editor's Foreword, the history of the University of Chicago's efforts to create a library of English translations of the documents which have survived from the ancient Near East, and has indicated the circumstances which have made possible the resumption of the long-interrupted plan to publish the Ancient Records of Assyria and Baby­ lonia, there rests upon the author but one prefatory duty— the pleasant duty of acknowledging the part others have had in furthering his work. To Professor Breasted for his untiring efforts in behalf of this and other "Assyriological" projects of the Oriental Institute; to Dr. Geers for his patience in performing the drudgery of compiling the Bibliography, the List of Abbrevia­ tions, and the Index of Proper Names, and for lightening my labors in many other ways; and to the keeper of the Egyptian and Assyrian antiquities in the British Museum, Dr. Hall, and his assistants, Messrs. Smith and Gadd, for their unfailing courtesy and generous help during the months I was engaged in the work of collating the published texts with those orig­ inals which are preserved in the British Museum—to these men I owe much. I ask them to accept this word of deepest gratitude. D. D. L. xi oi.uchicago.edu oi.uchicago.edu TABLE OF CONTENTS VOLUME I CHAPTtt PAGE I. INTRODUCTION ; • i n. INSCIOPTIONS OF THE EARLY RULERS; FROM ITITI TO ADAD-NIRARI I ii I. Ititi II II. Zariku n III. Dadum 12 IV. Shalim-ahum 12 V. Ilu-shuma 12 VI. Jrishum 12 VII. Ikunum . 15 VIII. Samsi-Adad 15 IX. Shamshi-Adad 15 X. Ashir-nirari I 17 XL Puzur-AshirIV(?) 18 XII. Ashir-bel-nisheshu 19 XIII. Ashir-rim-nisheshu 19 XIV. Assur-nadin-ahe 19 XV. Eriba-Adad 20 XVI. Assur-uballit 21 XVII. Arik-dSn-ilu . 24 III. INSCRIPTIONS OF ADAD-NIRARI I 27 I. Restoration of the Mushlalu 29 II. Repairs on the South Wall of Assur ... 29 III. Restoration of the East Wall 30 IV. Restoration of the Quay Wall 31 V. Palace Repairs 32 VI. Restoration of the Temple of Ishtar ... 34 VII. Restoration of the Gate of Anu and Adad . 35 VIII. Repairs on the Temple of Assur .... 36 IX. Stele Inscription 37 xiii oi.uchicago.edu xiv TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE IV. INSCRIPTIONS OF SHALMANESER I 38 I. Rebuilding of the Temple of Eharsagkurkurra (Historical Introduction) 38 II. Restoration of the Temple of Ishtar of Assur . 45 III. Restoration of the Court of the Ninevite Ishtar at Assur 46 IV. Palace Inscription 46 V. Repairs on the Gate of Libur-Shalhi at Assur . 46 VI. Restoration of the Temple of Ishtar at Nineveh 47 VII. Stele Inscription 4s V. INSCRIPTIONS OF TUKULTI-URTA I 49 I. Inscriptions Commemorating the Rebuilding of the Palace in Assur 5° II. Repairs on the City Wall and Moat ... 55 III. Inscriptions Commemorating the Founding of the Suburb of Assur Called Kar-Tukulti-Urta . 56 IV. Rebuilding of the Temple of the Assyrian Ishtar . 62 V. Restoration of the Temple of Ishtar Dinitu . 64 VI. Restoration of the Temple of Ishtar Anunaitu . 66 VII. Dedicatory Inscriptions 66 VIII. Bowl Inscriptions from Nineveh .... 67 IX. Inscription on a Stone from the Court of Assur's Temple 68 VI. THE SUCCESSORS OE TUKULTI-URTA I . • 69 I. Assur-nadin-apli 69 II. Assur-resh-ishi 69 VII. TIGLATH-PILESER I 72 I. Prism Inscription (History of First Five Years of Reign) 72 II. Rock Inscriptions 91 III. Rebuilding of the Royal Palace at Assur .