Broken obelisk

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The broken obelisk ( Broken obelisk ) is one of the oldest traditional Assyrian obelisk . Only the upper part is preserved.

The obelisk was found during the excavations of Hormuzd Rassam in Niniveh in 1853 . A statue of a god with an inscription from Aššur-bel-kala was discovered nearby shortly afterwards . The obelisk is now in the British Museum (inventory number 118898).

inscription

The upper part measures 67 × 42 cm and bears an inscription on three sides, two columns each on the front and back, one on the side. The inscription tells of the deeds of a Central Assyrian king, whose name has not been preserved. There is a relief on the front. It shows a larger than life king with the ring as a symbol of rule in his hand in front of bound enemies, above whom symbols of gods hover.

The following parts of the text are based on Jariz. Column I (obverse, 17 lines preserved) is poorly preserved. Column II (obverse, 22 lines preserved) reports among other things:

next year, in the eponymate of [...] - Aššur:

  • Working on the Anu Adad Temple (?)
  • Assyrian raid in the land of Harki (?) on the Habur
  • The Assyrian army reaches the Karkemiš area in Hatti .
  • The Euphrates is crossed on boats made of animal skins

Column III (right narrow side), 31 lines preserved: in the eponymate of Aššur-rîm-nišē-šu:

  • War with the Arameans in Sasiri
  • another campaign against the Arameans in the same year

next year:

  • Conquest of Tu-ur- [with?] - ta in Muṣri
  • Campaign in Sabāṭu
  • Conquest of [...] indišula and [...] sands in the province of Dur-Kurigalzu in Karduniaš, the governor Kadašman-buriaš is captured.

in the following year:

  • Campaigns against the Arameans ( Arime ) in Pauṣa at the foot of Mount Kašiari and near the town of Nabula
  • Deportations in Muṣri
  • Fight against the Arameans in [...] - ti-bu-a on the Tigris
  • Fight against the Aramaeans in Lišur-ṣala-Aššur in the area of Šinamu
  • Deportation of the inhabitants of Šu-ú- [...] - ra in Ḫanigalbat
  • Conquest of Ḫulza in the Kašiari mountain
  • Conquest of Erišu in Ḫabḫu
  • Battle against the Arameans in Murarir (?) In the land of Suprē
  • Looting of the area of Maḫirani until after SUPPA in HARRAN .

in the following year:

  • Campaign against the Arameans in Makrisi in the mountains of Iari and in Dūr-Katlimu
  • Train to Sangarite across the Euphrates
  • Train to Gulguli and the mountains of ani .

in the following year:

  • Campaign against the Arameans (ša māt ari-me)

In column IV (reverse) 39 lines are preserved and report on the king's hunting successes. This report is reminiscent of comparable enumerations by Tiglat-pileser I.

Column 5 (reverse), 37 lines preserved
: The buildings of the king. This column is the only one that is singular in the first person.

This column is the only one in the first person singular (otherwise third person singular), which has led to the assumption that an older inscription may have been reused or continued. Jaritz assumes that the events are reported in chronological order. After that, the king in question would have to have ruled for at least five years. Not all eponyms are named, the formula 'ima šatti-ma ši-a-ti' (in the following year) is often used.

Dating

Eponyms

  • [...] - Aššur
  • Aššur-rîm-nišē-šu
  • Ilu-iddina

Contemporaries

  • Kadašman-buriaš ( i Ka-dáš-man-buria), son of Ki [...], governor of Dur-Kurigalzu

predecessor

Attribution

The name of the king has not survived , only the title šar māt akkadi ki has survived. The names of some eponyms have only survived in fragments. Leonard William King and Ernst Friedrich Weidner see Marduk-nadin aḫḫe as the author of the inscription. Adad-nērari II was proposed by J. Lewy, among others. Other candidates are:

  • Tiglath-pileser I.
  • Aššur-bēl-kala (Jaritz)
  • Aššur-naṣir-apli I.
  • Aššur-dan (Forrer)
  • Aššur-naṣir-apli II. (FE Peiser)

literature

Holly Pittman: The White Obelisk and the Problem of Historical Narrative in the Art of Assyria. In: The Art Bulletin 78, 1996, pp. 334-355.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Kurt Jaritz: The problem of the “Broken Obelisk” . In: Journal of Semitic Studies 4, 1959, p. 20. 4
  2. ^ A b Kurt Jaritz, The problem of the "Broken Obelisk", Journal of Semitic Studies 4/3, 1959, 206
  3. ^ EA Wallis Budge , Leonard William King, Annals of the Kings of Assyria 1, 1902.
  4. ↑ Ernst Friedrich Weidner, In: Archive for Orient Research 12, 1939, p. 377.
  5. ^ J. Lewy: The Broken Obelisk of Adad-nirāri II. As source for the history of Tukulti-Ninurta I. , OJLZ 26, 1923.