Ashurnasirpal I
Ashurnasirpal I | |
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Ištar of Nineveh .
BiographyAccording to a royal hymn composed in his honor, he was born “in the mountains that nobody knows,” suggesting he may have been born in exile, or perhaps a literary device, as it continues: “I was without understanding and I prayed not of your majesty.” It relates that, when Ištar appointed him to the kingship, he had restored her overthrown cult. Known from a single copy from the Arbil, as though they were separate deities.[1] A second, fragmentary literary prayer thanks her for her favor.[2]
A single short Adad temple. The White Obelisk[i 3] is sometimes attributed to him by historians, but more usually to his later namesake, Aššur-nāṣir-apli II, because its internal content (hunting, military campaigns, etc.) better matches what is known about his reign.[3] The Synchronistic Kinglist[i 4] gives his Babylonian counterpart as Kaššu-nādin-aḫi (c. 1006–1004 BC), but probably only for stylistic purposes as there seems to have been no recorded contact between the kingdoms during this period.[4]
He was succeeded by his son, Šalmanu-ašaredu II, who mentions him in one of his own inscriptions[i 5] and later by another son, the long-reigning Aššur-rabi II. See alsoInscriptionsReferences
Further reading
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