Artifact overview
The Great Inscription of King Tukulti-Ninurta I is an artifact (Alabaster stone Wall Panel) related to the mythological story named 'Epic of Tukulti-Ninurta I.' The artifact's condition is Excellent and it is currently located at The Israel Museum, Jerusalem in Jerusalem, Israel, catalogued as record number Tukulti-Ninurta I Inscription. The language of the text contained is . Its estimated date is 1241—1206 BCE, which is a range based on available data and scholarship. The mythology associated with this artifact includes the Assyrian belief system and related deities: An, Aššur, Aššur, Enlil, Ištar, and Šamaš.
About this artifact
Basic details
| Type | Wall Panel Alabaster stone material |
| Condition | Excellent |
| Date created | 1241—1206 BCE |
| Location | The Israel Museum, Jerusalem The Israel Museum, Jerusalem · Jerusalem, Israel |
| Exhibit | I Placed My Name There: The Great Inscription of Tukulti-Ninurta I, King of Assyria |
Provenience
| Discovery | Aššur, Assyria Present-day Qal'at Sherqat, Iraq |
| UNESCO Site | World Heritage Site No. 1130 Designated since 2003 |
Museum record data
The Israel Museum, Jerusalem
The Israel Museum, Jerusalem · Jerusalem, Israel
Item specifications
| Museum No. | Tukulti-Ninurta I Inscription |
Mythological contents
Assyrian Religion
The contents of this artifact may depict or reference the following myths and deities associated with this belief system.
Associated myths and deities
| Myths | Epic of Tukulti-Ninurta I |
| Deities | An, Aššur, Aššur, Enlil, Ištar, Šamaš |
Artifact history
In 2014, the artifact was purchased by a private collector from a London auction company named Christie's. Shortly thereafter, it was loaned to The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, on "extended loan from the Collection of David and Cindy Sofer, London." In June 2015, the museum exhibited the artifact in the Ancient Near East Section, Neighboring Cultures Gallery, Samuel and Saidye Bronfman Archaeology Wing.[1] The curator was listed as Laura A. Peri and the special display was titled "I Placed My Name There: The Great Inscription of Tukulti-Ninurta I, King of Assyria."
Notes
Extended artifact data for Tukulti-Ninurta I Inscription
See detailed information about this artifact from the entity that has access to it.
Location description
- The Israel Museum, Jerusalem Jerusalem, Israel
Full address: The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Derech Ruppin 11, Jerusalem, 9171002, Israel
The Israel Museum is the largest cultural institution in the State of Israel and is ranked among the world’s leading art and archaeology museums. Founded in 1965, the Museum houses encyclopedic collections, including works dating from prehistory to the present day, in its Archaeology, Fine Arts, and Jewish Art and Life Wings, and features the most extensive holdings of biblical and Holy Land archaeology in the world. In nearly seventy years, thanks to a legacy of gifts and generous support from its circle of patrons worldwide, the Museum has built a far-ranging collection of nearly 500,000 objects, representing the full scope of world material culture.
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Record numbers
| Exhibit | I Placed My Name There: The Great Inscription of Tukulti-Ninurta I, King of Assyria |
| Artifact access | On display |
Full artifact data
| Provenience | Assur, Assyria (Qal'at Sherqat, Iraq) |
| Date | Middle Assyrian Period, probably 1239 BCE |
| Inscription | Akkadian cuneiform |
| Dimensions | 38.5 x 77 x 5.5 cm |
| Material | Alabaster |
| Notes | From https://museum.imj.org.il
From christies.com
|
Record notes
About these data
| Retrieval date | Jun. 6, 2020 |
| Copyright | The Israel Museum, Jerusalem |
Render
See a rendering of the artifact in images, text, and other form factors. Where available, a translation is included.
Digital scan
OMNIKA Reader
Good news. This original artifact is digitized and available in the OMNIKA Library.
Full Translation, Collation (full)
Akkadian ⟶ English a
| Source a Bloch, "The Great Inscription: Translation and Transliteration," 21–35. More info launch |
All texts
| Title |
|
|---|---|
| "The Great Inscription of Tukulti-Ninurta I": English Translation by Yigal Bloch |
|
Mythological contents
This artifact contains mythological contents associated with Assyrian Religion. The main narrative mentioned may be Epic of Tukulti-Ninurta I, a Prestige myth. The deities depicted or mentioned in the artifact may be: An. Aššur. Aššur. Enlil. Ištar. Šamaš.
Parent belief system
- Assyrian Religion · PolytheisticHeads up. This Religion belongs to the Mesopotamian collection on the basis of shared myths and deities.
Assyrian religion was adapted from Babylonian and Akkadian culture during the first two centuries BCE. The religion was practiced from roughly 2000-500 BCE in modern-day Iraq and its chief deity was Aššur.
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Associated myth
Epic of Tukulti-Ninurta I Prestige mythNuthsell
Tukulti-Ninurta I, the Assyrian leader, describes his military campaigns against the Babylonians. The poetic narrative embellishes the might and power of Tukulti-Ninurta I and his army, resulting in an Assyrian victory. A statue of the chief Babylonian deity, Marduk, was stolen and taken to the Assyrian capital.
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Deities depicted
Artifact condition
The artifact named 'Tukulti-Ninurta I Inscription' is appraised as being in Excellent condition based on how much reliance is placed on other resources to make it complete and readable.
| Condition | Excellent | Just OK | Poor |
|---|---|---|---|
 |  |  | |
| Completeness | More than 80% | 50 - 80% | Less than 50% |
| Fragmentation | Minor | Moderate | Significant |
| Damage | Minor | Moderate | Significant |
| Legibility | Highly readable | Somewhat readable | Unintelligible |
What's a 'joined' artifact?
A joined artifact is one that was originally part of the other and was broken or fragmented at some point in time. Joins are common among clay tablets because they may get broken during discovery and transportation. The join is notated with the + sign. For example, if tablets A000 and Z999 are joined, we would express this relationship by grouping them as A000 + Z999 to indicate they are related.
If the fragments are owned, maintained, and cataloged by separate museums then classifying the join relationship is critical for accurate translations.
Cite this page
OMNIKA Foundation Contributors. "The Great Inscription of King Tukulti-Ninurta I." OMNIKA – World Mythology Index, OMNIKA Foundation, 06 Jun. 2020, omnika.org/stable/589. Accessed 27 Jul. 2024.
OMNIKA (2020, June 06). The Great Inscription of King Tukulti-Ninurta I. Retrieved from https://omnika.org/stable/589
OMNIKA Foundation Contributors. "The Great Inscription of King Tukulti-Ninurta I." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created June 06, 2020. Accessed July 27, 2024. https://omnika.org/stable/589.
