TRANSLATED BY SIR H. RAWLINSON, K.C.B., D.C.L., ETC.
This inscription of Tiglath Pileser I is found on an octagonal prism and on some other clay fragments discovered at Kalah-Shergat and at present in the British Museum. The text is published in the "Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia," Vol. I, pp. ix-xvi. Four translations of this inscription, made simultaneously in 1857 by Sir H. Rawlinson, Mr. Fox Talbot, Dr. Hincks, and Dr. Oppert, were published in that year under the title of "Inscription of Tiglath Pileser I, King of Assyria, B.C. 1150." Dr. Oppert has also given a revised translation in his "Histoire de l'Empire de Chaldée et d'Assyrie," 8vo, Versailles, 1865, extracted from the "Annales de la Philosophie chrétienne" of the same year, 5e Series, p. 44 and foll. The translations simultaneously published were submitted to the Asiatic Society in that year as a test of the advance made in Assyrian interpretations and the close approximation made by scholars in their interpretation of Assyrian texts. The notes contain some of the different readings of the other Assyrian scholars at that time and give a few of the principal varieties of reading some of the words. It was generally considered a very triumphant demonstration of the sound basis on which the then comparatively recent Assyrian researches were placed and a confutation of certain opinions then prevalent, that no certain or accurate advance had been made in the decipherment of Assyrian inscriptions. On the whole for its extent and historical information relating to the early history of Assyria this inscription is one of the most important of the series showing the gradual advance and rise of Assyria, while as one of the first interpreted it presents considerable literary interest in respect to the details of the progress of Assyrian interpretation. It is also nearly the oldest Assyrian text of any length which has been hitherto discovered and is very interesting from its account of the construction of the temples and palaces made by the King in the early part of his reign. S.B.
INSCRIPTION OF TIGLATH PILESER I
THE BEGINNING
Ashur, the great Lord, ruling supreme over the gods; the giver of sceptres and crowns; the appointer of sovereignty. Bel, the Lord; King of the circle of constellations;[1] Father of the gods; Lord of the world. Sin;[2] the leader the Lord of Empire the powerful the auspicious god; Shamas;[3] the establisher of the heavens and the earth; …;[4] the vanquisher of enemies; the dissolver of cold. Vul;[5] he who causes the tempest to rage over hostile lands and wicked countries. Abnil[6] Hercules; the champion who subdues heretics and enemies, and who strengthens the heart. Ishtar, the eldest[7] of the gods; the Queen of Victory; she who arranges battles.
[Footnote 1: Aratnaki. (Fox Talbot.)]
[Footnote 2: The moon.]
[Footnote 3: The sun.]
[Footnote 4: Lacuna.]
[Footnote 5: Ninev. (Fox Talbot.) Ao. (Dr. Oppert.)]