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In the preface to this 1904 work by Leonard King (1869-1919) of the British Museum's department of Egyptian and Assyrian antiquities, he states that the text it presents 'is of great historical value, inasmuch as it supplements our knowledge of the history of Assyria and her relations with Babylonia during the early part of the thirteenth century BC'. The tablet containing the text was buried under the wall of a city founded by King Tukulti-Ninib I (transliterated as Tukulti-Ninurta by modern scholars), to commemorate its building and his previous military achievements, which included the invasion of Babylonia. This account confirms earlier documents, and gives more detail on the chronology of a crucial period in the ancient history of the Near East. The book offers a lengthy introduction on the tablet and on the tradition of such foundation documents, as well as the cuneiform text and a parallel translation, along with an appendix of related documents.
List of contents
Preface; Part I. Introduction: 1. Materials for the early history of Assyria; 2. The memorial tablets of Adad-Nirari I and Tukulti-Ninib I; 3. The historical value of Tukulti-Ninib's tablet; 4. Description of the tablets; 5. Analysis of the text; 6. Babylonian and Assyrian foundation memorials; 7. Egyptian foundation deposits compared; 8. The foundation sacrifice; 9. Object and origin of foundation deposits; 10. Their manner of burial; 11. The city of Kar-Tukulti-Ninib; 12. Tukulti-Ninib's campaigns; 13. His conquest of Babylon; 14. Early relations of Assyria and Babylon; 15. Smaller inscriptions of Tukulti-Ninib; 16. The seal-inscription of Tukulti-Ninib; 17. The undeciphered portion of the seal-inscription; 18. Suggested interpretations of the characters; 19. Tukulti-Ninib's successors; 20. Problems connected with Tukulti-Ninib's rule in Babylon; Part II. Texts and Translations: 1. The annals of Tukulti-Ninib I; 2. Supplementary texts; Appendix; Cuneiform texts; Index.
Summary
This 1904 work presents a tablet, buried under the wall of a city founded by Tukulti-Ninib I (who reigned in the thirteenth century BCE) to commemorate his military achievements, including the invasion of Babylonia. It gives an introduction on the tablet, the cuneiform text and a parallel translation, along with an appendix of related documents.
