Excerpts from the Annals of Ashurnasirpal II
(9th c. BC)
Ashurnasirpal
II (r. 884-859 BCE) was a king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire
who campaigned ruthlessly throughout his reign to suppress
rebellions against Assyrian rule in the fertile crescent. He
viewed himself as the representative of Assur, the primary god of
the Assyrian pantheon, who had given him a mission to establish
order throughout the world. Thanks to extensive archeological
excavations at the city of Nimrud which he founded (in present day
Iraq), scholars have vivid and detailed depictions of his use of
terror to enforce Assyrian imperialism in the name of Assur.
When
Assur, the lord, who called me by my name and has made great my
kingdom, entrusted his merciless weapon unto my lordly hand, (I)
Assur-nâsir-pal, the exalted prince, who fears the great gods, the
powerful despot, conqueror of cities and mountains to their
farthest borders, the king of rulers, who consumes the wicked, who
is crowned with glory, who fears not opposition, the strong, the
exalted, the unsparing, who destroys opposition, the king of all
princes, the lord of lords, the shepherd, the king of kings, the
exalted priest, the chosen of the hero Urta, the worshiper of
great gods. . . who has battled with all the enemies of Assur
north and south, and has laid tribute and tax on them, conqueror
of the foes of Assur. . . . And now at the command of the great
gods my sovereignty, my dominion, and my power are manifesting
themselves; I am regal, I am lordly, I am exalted, I am mighty, I
am honored, I am glorified, I am preeminent, I am powerful, I am
lion-brave, and I am heroic! . . . I am the merciless weapon that
strikes down the land of his enemies; I am a king, mighty in
battle, destroying cities and highlands, first in war, king of the
four quarters (of the world), who has conquered his foes,
destroyed all his enemies, king of all the regions (of earth), or
all princes, every one of them, the king who has trampled down all
who were submissive to him, and who has brought under his sway the
totality of all peoples. The decrees of destiny came forth at the
word of the great gods, and for my destiny they duly ordained
them. . . .
***
To the city of Sûru of Bît-Halupê I drew near, and the terror of
the splendor of Assur, my lord, overwhelmed them. The chief men
and the elders of the city, to save their lives, came forth into
my presence and embraced my feet, saying: “If it is thy pleasure,
slay! If it is thy pleasure, let live! That which they heart
desireth, do!” Ahiababa, the son of nobody, whom they had brought
from Bît-Adini, I took captive. In the valor of my heart and with
the fury of my weapons I stormed the city. All the rebels they
seized and delivered them up. My officers I caused to enter into
his palace and his temples. His silver, his gold, his goods, and
his possessions, copper, iron, lead, vessels of copper, cups of
copper, dishes of copper, a great hoard of copper, alabaster,
tables with inlay, the women of his palaces, his daughters, the
captive rebels together with their possessions, precious stone
from the mountains, his chariot with equipment, his horses, broken
to the yoke, trappings of men and trappings of horses, garments of
brightly colored wool and garments of linen, goodly oil, cedar,
and fine sweet-scented herbs, panels of cedar, purple and crimson
wool, his wagons, his cattle, his sheep, his heavy spoil, which
like the stars of heaven could not be counted, I carried off.
Azi-ilu I set over them as my own governor. I built a pillar over
against his city gate, and I flayed all the chief men who had
revolted, and I covered the pillar with their skins; some I walled
up within the pillar, some I impaled upon the pillar on stakes,
and others I bound to stakes round about the pillar; many within
the border of my own land I flayed, and I spread their skins upon
the walls; and I cut off the limbs of the officers, of the royal
officers who had rebelled. Ahiababa I took to Nineveh, I flayed
him, I spread his skin upon the wall of Nineveh.
***
In the same [year], while I was staying in Nineveh, they brought
word that the Assyrians and Hulai, their governor, whom
Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, a prince who preceded me, had
settled in the city of Halzi-luha, had revolted and marched
against Damdamusa, my royal city, to take it. At the word of
Assur, Ishtar, and Adad, the gods, my helpers, I mustered my
chariots and armies. . . .
. . . .To the mountain of Kashiari I crossed, to Kinabu, the
fortified city of Hulai, I drew near. With the masses of my troops
and by my furious battle onset I stormed, I captured the city; 600
of their warriors I put to the sword; 3000 captives I burned with
fire; I did not leave a single one among them alive to serve as a
hostage. Hulai, their governor, I captured alive. Their corpses I
formed into pillars; their young men and maidens I burned in the
fire. Hulai, their governor, I flayed, his skin I spread upon the
wall of the city of Damdamusa; the city I destroyed, I devastated,
I burned with fire. . . .
From Kinabu, I departed, to the city of Têla I drew near. The city
was exceeding strong and was surrounded by three walls. The men
trusted in their mighty walls and in their hosts, and did not come
down, and did not embrace my feet. With battle and slaughter I
stormed the city and captured it. 3000 of their warriors I put to
the sword; their spoil and their possessions, their cattle and
their sheep I carried off. Many captives from among them I burned
with fire, and many I took as living captives. From some I cut off
their noses, their ears, and their fingers, of many I put out the
eyes. I made one pillar of the living, and another of heads, and I
bound their heads to posts round about the city. Their young men
and maidens I burned in the fire, the city I destroyed, I
devastated, I burned it with fire and consumed it.
Source:
Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia, Volume I, edited by
Danial David Luckenbill Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
1926, pp. 139-141, 144-147.