This article containscuneiform script. Without properrendering support, you may seequestion marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of cuneiform script.

Rassam cylinder
Rassam cylinder of Ashurbanipal. A 10-sided prism and the most complete of the chronicles of Ashurbanipal. Nineveh, 643 BCE.British Museum.[1]
Created	643 BCE
Discovered	Nineveh 36°21′34″N43°09′10″E / 36.359444°N 43.152778°E /36.359444; 43.152778
Present location	British Museum,London
Registration	BM 91026
Location
Nineveh Show map of Near East Nineveh Show map of Iraq

TheRassam cylinder is acuneiform cylinder, forming a prism with ten faces, written byNeo-Assyrian kingAshurbanipal in 643 BCE. The 7th century BCE cylinder was discovered in the North Palace ofNineveh byHormuzd Rassam in 1854, hence its name. It is located in theBritish Museum.^[4][1]

The cylinder describes in detail nine military campaigns of Ashurbanipal.^[4][1] The content of the cylinder has been listed as follows:^[5]

1. Introduction, account of the accession of Ashurbanipal
2. First Egyptian War againstTirhakah
3. Second Egyptian War againstUrdamane
4. Conquest ofTyre and death ofBa'al, king of Tyre
5. Expedition againstAhseri, king ofVan
6. Expedition againstTeumman, king ofElam
7. War againstShamash-shum-ukin ofBabylon, brother of Ashurbanipal
8. First war withUmmanaldas, king ofElam
9. Second war withUmmanaldas, king ofElam
10. Expedition against Uate, king ofArabia
11. Capture ofUmmanaldas, king ofElam
12. Embassy fromIstar-duri, king ofArarat
13. Repair of the Palace ofSennacherib atNineveh, conclusion, and date of the inscription

One of these is hisvictorious campaign in Egypt:

In my first campaign I marched against Magan, Meluhha,Taharqa, king of Egypt and Ethiopia, whomEsarhaddon, king of Assyria, the father who begot me, had defeated, and whose land he brought under his sway. This same Taharqa forgot the might of Ashur, Ishtar and the other great gods, my lords, and put his trust upon his own power. He turned against the kings and regents whom my own father had appointed in Egypt. He entered and took residence in Memphis, the city which my own father had conquered and incorporated into Assyrian territory.

Some reliefs from Nineveh are otherwise known that illustrate these campaigns.^[3]

A full translation of the cylinder was made byLuckenbill inAncient Records of Assyria and Babylonia.^[4][1] A full transcription of the cuneiform is available onCDLI.^[7]

• 
  Transcription of thecuneiform script of the first column.^[8]
• 
  Translation of the first column byLuckenbill: Introduction and First Campaign of Egypt.^[9]
• 
  Ashurbanipal "The First Egyptian War". Word-for-word translation byGeorge Smith.^[10]

• 
  The wordMu-ṣur, forEgypt
• 
  The wordKu-u₂-si, for "Kingdom of Kush"
• 
  The wordSha-ba-ku-u, for Kushite PharaohShabaka
• 
  The wordTar-qu-u₂, for Kushite PharaohTaharqa
• 
  Tar-qu-u, an alternative spelling used for Kushite PharaohTaharqa
• 
  The wordUrdamanee, for Kushite PharaohTantamani
• 
  The wordAn-shar-pap-ash, for Neo-Assyrian rulerEsarhaddon
• 
  The wordAn-shar-du-a, for Neo-Assyrian rulerAshurbanipal
• 
  The wordAššur^KI, for the city ofAssur
• 
  The wordmat Aššur^KI, for the country of Aššur,Assyria
• 
  The wordAn-shar, for supreme godAnshar
• 
  The country ofMeluhha (𒈨𒈛𒄩𒆠) possibly identical withMeroe

• 7th-century BC inscriptions
• 7th century BC in Assyria
• 1854 archaeological discoveries
• Akkadian inscriptions
• Ancient Near and Middle East clay objects
• Art and cultural repatriation
• Middle Eastern objects in the British Museum
• Iraq–United Kingdom relations
• Archaeological discoveries in Iraq
• Nineveh
• Ashurbanipal

• Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Coordinates on Wikidata