Aššur-nāṣir-apli I, inscribed
m''aš-šur-''
PAB-A, “the god
Aššur is the protector of the heir,” was the king of
Assyria
Assyria ( Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the A ...
, 1049–1031 BC, and the 92nd to appear on the ''Assyrian Kinglist''. He was the son and successor of
Šamši-Adad IV, and he ruled for 19 years
[''Khorsabad Kinglist'', tablet IM 60017 (excavation nos.: DS 828, DS 32-54), iv 5.] during a troubled period of Assyrian history, marked by famine and war with nomads from the deserts to the west. He is best known for his penitential prayer to
Ištar of
Nineveh.
Biography
According 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
library of Ashurbanipal, it includes a plea to the goddess to restore him to health from the sickness that afflicted him, citing his temple-restoration, and devotions, to persuade her. It addresses Ištar of Nineveh, and Ištar of
Arbil, as though they were separate deities. A second, fragmentary literary prayer thanks her for her favor.
A single short
brick-inscription comes from his palace in
Assur
Aššur (; Sumerian: AN.ŠAR2KI, Assyrian cuneiform: ''Aš-šurKI'', "City of God Aššur"; syr, ܐܫܘܪ ''Āšūr''; Old Persian ''Aθur'', fa, آشور: ''Āšūr''; he, אַשּׁוּר, ', ar, اشور), also known as Ashur and Qal'a ...
,
[RIMA 2 A.0.92.1:1.] which was located between the south-west front of the
ziggurat and the
Anu
, image=Detail, upper part, Kudurru of Ritti-Marduk, from Sippar, Iraq, 1125-1104 BCE. British Museum.jpg
, caption=Symbols of various deities, including Anu (bottom right corner) on a kudurru of Ritti-Marduk, from Sippar, Iraq, 1125–1104 BCE
, ...
-
Adad temple. The ''White Obelisk''
[''White Obelisk'', BM 118807.] 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.
The ''Synchronistic Kinglist''
[''Synchronistic Kinglist'', Ass 14616c (KAV 216), iii 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.
He was succeeded by his son,
Šalmanu-ašaredu II, who mentions him in one of his own inscriptions
[RIMA 2 A.0.93.1:4.] and later by another son, the long-reigning
Aššur-rabi II.
See also
*
White Obelisk of Ashurnasirpal I
The White Obelisk is a large stone monolith found at the ancient Assyrian settlement of Nineveh, northern Iraq. Excavated by the British archaeologist Hormuzd Rassam in 1853, it is one of only two intact obelisks to survive from the Assyrian empir ...
Inscriptions
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashurnasirpal 01
11th-century BC Assyrian kings