Victory stele of Esarhaddon
| Victory stele of Esarhaddon | |
|---|---|
Dolerite | |
| Size | 3.46m x 1.35m |
| Writing | Akkadian Cuneiform |
| Created | c. 670 BC |
| Discovered | 1888 |
| Present location | Pergamon Museum |
| Identification | VA2708 |
The Victory stele of Esarhaddon (also Zenjirli
The prior battle of 674 BC was won by Taharqa, who confronted Esarhaddon after his initial foray into the Levant;[3] Esarhaddon then entered northern Egypt but was repulsed by Taharqa's forces.
The second battle of 671 BC saw Taharqa retreat with his army to Memphis; Memphis was taken with Taharqa then fleeing to the Kingdom of Kush. With Esarhaddon's victory he: "slaughtered the villagers and 'erected piles of their heads'",[3] As Esarhaddon wrote later:
- Memphis, his royal city, in half a day , with mines, tunnels, assaults, I besieged, I captured, I destroyed, I devastated, I burned with fire. His queen, his harem, [Prince] Ushankhuru his heir, and the rest of his sons and daughters, his property and his goods, his horses, his cattle, his sheep in countless numbers, I carried off to Assyria. The root of Kush I tore up out of Egypt.[3]
Description
The
The identity of the unnamed supplicant before him has been matter of debate. He may be the king of Tyre Baal I,[4] mentioned in Esarhaddon's Treaty with Ba'al of Tyre, or the king of Sidon Abdi-Milkutti.[5] The kneeling figure between the two is prince Ushankhuru with a rope tied around his neck;[4] others deem it to be Pharaoh Taharqa himself,[6] as he is wearing the uraeus tiara of Egyptian rule.
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The Senjirli Victory Stele of Esarhaddon (English Translation) -
Closeup of the supplicant ruler -
Ushankhuru, the captive son of Taharqa, as depicted by the Assyrians on the Victory stele of Esarhaddon
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References
- ^ Spalinger, Anthony (1974). "Esarhaddon and Egypt: an analysis of the First Invasion of Egypt". Orientalia. 43: 295–326.
- ^ Verzeichnis der in der Formerei der Königl. Museen käuflichen Gipsabgüsse (1902) page 20
- ^ National Geographic Magazine, February, 2008, p. 58.
- ^ a b Spalinger, op. cit., pp. 303–304
- ISBN 978-90-04-10457-0
- ^ Ascalone, Enrico. 2007. Mesopotamia: Assyrians, Sumerians, Babylonians (Dictionaries of Civilizations; 1). Berkeley: University of California Press, p.75.