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Akkadian royal titulary

Akkadian or Mesopotamian royal titulary refers to the

royal titles and epithets (and the style they were presented in)
assumed by monarchs in Ancient Mesopotamia from the
Akkadian period to the fall of the Neo-Babylonian Empire
(roughly 2334 to 539 BC), with some scant usage in the later
Achaemenid and Seleucid periods. The titles and the order they
were presented in varied from king to king, with similarities
between kings usually being because of a king's explicit choice
to align himself with a predecessor. Some titles, like the
Akkadian šar kibrāt erbetti ("king of the Four Corners of the
World") and šar kiššatim ("king of the Universe") and the Neo-
Sumerian šar māt Šumeri u Akkadi ("king of Sumer and
Akkad") would remain in use for more than a thousand years
through several different empires and others were only used by
a single king.

In the Akkadian-speaking kingdoms of Assyria and Babylonia,

distinct styles of Akkadian titulature would develop, retaining Head of an ancient Mesopotamian
titles and elements of earlier kings but applying new royal or Iranian ruler, 2300–2000 BC,
traditions. In Assyrian royal titulary, emphasis would housed in the Metropolitan Museum
typically be placed on the strength and power of the king whilst of Art, New York.
Babylonian royal titulary would usually focus on the
protective role and the piety of the king. Monarchs who
controlled both Assyria and Babylon (such as some of the Neo-
Assyrian kings) often used "hybrid" titularies combining
aspects of both. Such hybrid titularies are also recorded for the
only known examples of Akkadian titularies beyond the fall of
the Neo-Babylonian Empire, employed by Cyrus the Great (r.
559–530 BC) of the Achaemenid Empire and Antiochus I (r.
281–261 BC) of the Seleucid Empire, who also introduced some
Seal of the Neo-Sumerian king Ur-
aspects of their own royal ideologies.
Nammu in the British Museum. The
inscription gives Ur-Nammu's
History titulature as "Ur-Nammu, strong
man, king of Ur".
Mesopotamian royal titles vary in their contents, epithets and
order depending on the ruler, dynasty and the length of a
monarch's reign. Patterns of arrangement and the choice of titles and epithets usually reflect
specific kings, which also meant that later rulers attempting to emulate an earlier great king often
aligned themselves with their great predecessors through the titles, epithets and order chosen. As
such, Akkadian-language royal inscriptions can be important sources on the royal ideology of any
one given king and in exploring sociocultural factors during the reigns of individual kings.[1][2]

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Origins

Though there had been kings (and thus obviously royal titles)
in Mesopotamia since prehistoric times, the first great
"innovator" of royal titles was Naram-Sin of Akkad (r.
2254–2218 BC), the grandson of Sargon of Akkad and the
fourth ruler of the Akkadian Empire. Naram-Sin introduced the
idea of kingship in the four corners (e.g. the four inhabited
regions of the Earth) with the title "King of the Four Corners of
the World", probably in geographical terms expressing his
dominion over the regions Elam, Subartu, Amurru and Akkad
(representing east, north, west and south respectively).[3] It is
possible that Naram-Sin might have been inspired to claim the
title following his conquest of the city Ebla, in which
quadripartite divisions of the world and the universe were
prominent parts of the city's ideology and beliefs. Naram-Sin
was also the first king to claim divinity for himself during his
lifetime. Though both his father Manishtushu and his Relief with Naram-Sin of Akkad's
grandfather Sargon were recognized as divine, they had only portrait. Naram-Sin, who reigned
been deified posthumously.[4] The adoption of the title "God of between 2254 and 2218 BC, has
Akkad" may have been due to Naram-Sin winning a great been described as the first great
victory over a large-scale revolt against his rule. Naram-Sin was "innovator" when it comes to
also the first Mesopotamian ruler to adopt the epithet dannum Mesopotamian royal titles. Relief
("mighty").[5] today housed at the Istanbul
Archaeological Museum.
Another title heavily associated with the Akkadian rulers was
šar kiššatim. The literal translation of this title is "King of
Kish", Kish being one of the more prestigious Sumerian cities, often having been seen in the times
preceding the Akkadian Empire as having some sort of primacy over the other cities in the region.
Use of the title, which was not limited to kings actually in possession of the city itself, implied that
the ruler was a builder of cities, victorious in war and a righteous judge.[6] By the time of Sargon of
Akkad, "King of Kish" meant a divinely authorized ruler with the right to rule over all of Sumer, it
might have begun to refer to some sort of a universal rule already in the centuries before Sargon's
rise to power.[7] Through its use by Sargon of Akkad and his successors, the title would be altered
in meaning from "King of Kish" to the more boastful "King of the Universe", which is how later
rulers would interpret it for more than a thousand years.[8]

After the fall of Akkad, further titles would be introduced by the kings of the Third Dynasty of Ur.
The founder of this dynasty, Ur-Nammu (r. 2112–2095 BC), combined the title of "king of Akkad"
with the traditional "king of Sumer" in an effort to unify the north and south of Mesopotamia
under his rule, creating the title of "king of Sumer and Akkad". Though the Akkadian kings had
used both the titles of "king of Akkad" and "king of Sumer", the combined title was new. Sargon of
Akkad had even during his reign explicitly been against linking Sumer and Akkad. There was some
native Mesopotamian precedence for double titles of this kind, in the Early Dynastic III
(c. 2900–2350) period, double titles were used by some kings with examples like "lord of Sumer
and king of the nation" and "king of Uruk and king of Ur". These titles were unique to their
respective rulers however, never appearing again, and repeated "king" at the mention of the second
kingship. Ur-Nammu was acknowledged by the priesthood at Nippur and crowned as sovereign of
the two lands surrounding Nippur "to right and left".[9] The fourth king of the Third Dynasty of Ur,

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Amar-Sin (r. 2046–2038 BC), was the first ruler to introduce the title šarru dannu ("mighty
king"), replacing the earlier epithet dannum.[10]

When the Third Dynasty of Ur collapsed and its vassals once again became independent polities,
the former vassal cities often only implicitly renounced their allegiance to Ur. Since the ruler of Ur
was deified and thus technically a god, ruling titles like šar ("king") were applied to the principal
deities of the cities. As a result, formerly subordinate titles such as šakkanakki and Išši’ak (both
translating to "governor") became sovereign ruling titles.[10]

Assyrian and Babylonian titulature

Over the course of the centuries after the fall of the Third
Dynasty of Ur, the main kingdoms that would develop in
Mesopotamia were Assyria in the north and Babylonia in the
south. The kings of Assyria would title themselves as Išši’ak
until the reign of the Middle-Assyrian king Ashur-uballit I of
the 14th century BC, who once more introduced the title šar,
signifying his role as an absolute monarch.[11]
Text and seal of Shamash-shum- Typically, Assyrian royal inscriptions usually glorify the
ukim, a Neo-Assyrian king of
strength and power of the king whilst Babylonian royal
Babylon, featuring a depiction of the
inscriptions tend to focus on the protective role and the piety of
king fighting an oryx antelope. Now
the king.[1] Assyrian titularies usually also often emphasize the
housed in the British Museum.
royal genaeology of the king, something Babylonian titularies
do not, and also drive home the king's moral and physical
qualities while downplaying his role in the judicial system.[12] Assyrian epithets about royal lineage
vary in how far they stretch back, most often simply discussing lineage in terms of "son of ..." or
"brother of ...". Some cases display lineage stretching back much further, Shamash-shuma-ukin (r.
667–648 BC) describes himself as a "descendant of Sargon II", his great-grandfather. More
extremely, Esarhaddon (r. 681–669 BC) calls himself a "descendant of the eternal seed of Bel-
bani", a king who would have lived more than a thousand years before him.[13]

Assyrian royal titularies were often changed depending on where the titles were to be displayed,
the titles of the same Assyrian king would have been different in their home country of Assyria and
in conquered regions. Those Neo-Assyrian kings who controlled the city of Babylon used a "hybrid"
titulary of sorts in the south, combining aspects of the Assyrian and Babylonian tradition, similar
to how the traditional Babylonian deities were promoted in the south alongside the Assyrian main
deity of Ashur.[12] The assumption of many traditional southern titles, including the ancient "king
of Sumer and Akkad", by the Assyrian kings served to legitimize their rule and assert their control
over Babylon and lower Mesopotamia.[2] Epithets like "chosen by the god Marduk and the goddess
Sarpanit" and "favourite of the god Ashur and the goddess Mullissu", both assumed by
Esarhaddon, illustrate that he was both Assyrian (Ashur and Mullissu, the main pair of Assyrian
deities) and a legitimate ruler over Babylon (Marduk and Sarpanit, the main pair of Babylonian
deities).[14]

Most of the Neo-Assyrian titles that speak of the king's prowess, e.g. "great king", "mighty king"
and even the old "king of the Universe", a title dating back to Akkadian times, were not carried over
into the succeeding Neo-Babylonian Empire with two exceptions. The founder of the Neo-
Babylonian empire, Nabopolassar (r. 625–605 BC) uses some of the titles (prominently "mighty

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king") in his early inscriptions, possibly due to his family originating as high-ranking officials for
the Assyrians (a fact he otherwise was careful to mask). The final ruler of the Neo-Babylonian
empire, Nabonidus (r. 556–539 BC), took all three of the Assyrian titles in inscriptions late in his
reign, deliberately aligning himself with the Neo-Assyrian kings, possibly to claim a universal
empire as in the Assyrian model.[1]

Achaemenid and Seleucid use

In the Cyrus Cylinder, Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid

Empire assumes many native Mesopotamian title following his
539 BC conquest of Babylon. Much like the late inscriptions of
Nabonidus, the Cyrus Cylinder corresponds more to the
traditional Assyrian royal titulary than it does the
Babylonian.[1] When the Assyrian kings conquered Babylon,
they titled themselves as both kings of Babylon and kings of
Assyria. Since they were not technically legitimate Babylonian The Antiochus Cylinder of Antiochus
rulers in that they had not been born to the Babylonian throne, I of the Seleucid Empire contains
they stressed their legitimacy by deriving their kingship from the last known example of a royal
the fact that they had held royal status before conquering titulary written in Akkadian. The
Babylon. Cyrus does much the same in the Cyrus Cylinder, cylinder is today housed at the
stressing that his father and grandfather were "kings of Anšan" British Museum.
and that Cyrus was the "heir to an eternal line of kingship".[15]

The Antiochus Cylinder, which describes how Antiochus I (r. 281–261 BC) of the Seleucid Empire
rebuilt the Ezida Temple in the city of Borsippa, is one of the last known documents written in
Akkadian, separated from the previous Cyrus Cylinder by around 300 years. This cylinder also
contains the last known example of an Akkadian-language royal titulary, applied to Antiochus
himself. It is an important source on the self-presentation of Seleucid kings and on the relations
between the Seleucid rulers and the inhabitants of Babylon (located near the recently founded
Seleucid capital of Seleucia). The text of the cylinder as a whole combines and reshapes elements
from the Babylonian and Assyrian traditions of royal titularies, sometimes breaking with tradition
to introduce aspects of the Seleucid royal ideology.[16]

Though the titulature of Antiochus I used in the cylinder has in the past been interpreted as very
traditionally Babylonian in its composition, especially compared to that of Nebuchadnezzar II (r.
605–562 BC) of the Neo-Babylonian empire, only two titles in the Antiochus Cylinder actually
align with titles consistently used by the Neo-Babylonian kings (those being "king of Babylon" and
"provider of Esagila and Ezida". Other titles in the cylinder, including "great king", "mighty king"
and "king of the Universe" are more characteristic of the Neo-Assyrian kings.[1]

Out of the titularies of all previous kings, the titulary of Antiochus most closely resembles that of
Nabonidus in its arrangement though they are not identical, that of Antiochus combining Assyrian,
Babylonian and Persian titles. It is possible given the large amount of time separating the
Antiochus Cylinder from the last known previous example (the Cyrus Cylinder) and the rather
simply and short nature of the titulary that it mixes traditions and ideas due to the limited amount
of sources the scribe would have had to work with, but royal titularies were usually created with
great care and consideration. It is possible that the mixture was chosen to specifically reflect a
more Seleucid version of kingship, Assyrian titles like "mighty king" and "great king" fitting with
the warrior king-idea used by the Seleucids in the rest of their empire. Universalizing titles like

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"king of the Universe" may have simply been appealing in lacking a geographical specification and
that the king would not have to confine his realm to include just Babylon or Mesopotamia (which
would have resulted from a title like "king of Sumer and Akkad").[17] Similar to how Cyrus the
Great stressed that his lineage was royal despite him not being born to the Babylonian throne,
Antiochus titulary contains the information that he is the son and heir of Seleucus I Nicator (the
first Seleucid king, r. 305–281 BC), who is referred to as "the Macedonian", connecting him with
the kingship of Alexander the Great and his line and granting Antiochus further legitimacy.[15]

Examples of titles

Titles centering on the king's person

Descriptive titles similar to epithets, titles which center on the king's person. Titles and epithets
which relate to the personality and position of the king account for about 24.9% of Neo-Assyrian
titularies.[13]

English translation of
Title in Akkadian Notes
title

Popular title designating the king as powerful enough to

draw the respect of their adversaries, frequently used in
Great king[18] šarru rabû[18]
diplomacy with other nations.[19]
Example users: Sargon II,[18] Esarhaddon[20]

Only recorded for Esarhaddon (r. 681–669 BC) and

King who has no equals šarru ša ina kullat mātāti
Ashurbanipal (r. 669–631 BC).[21][22]
in all of the lands[21] māḫiri lā īšû[21]
Example users: Esarhaddon,[21] Ashurbanipal[22]

Strong king[18] A popular title, especially in Assyria.[1]

šarru dannu[18]
Alternatively "Mighty king"[20] Example users: Sargon II,[18] Esarhaddon[20]

Titles centering on the king's relationship to the world

Titles describing the domain under the control of a king. Titles and epithets which relate to the
worldly position of the king account for about 35.8% of Neo-Assyrian titularies.[13]

Specific locations and peoples

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English translation of
title
Governor of Assyria[23]
Alternatively "Viceroy of the
god Assur"[24]
Governor of Babylon[18]
Kassite king[27]
King of Akkad[28]
King of Assyria[18]
King of Babylon[18]
King of Babylon[27]
King of Karduniaš
King of Padan and
Alman[27]
King of Sumer[28]
King of the
Akkadians[27]
King of the Amnanu[29]
King of the Kassites[27]
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Title in Akkadian Notes
Ruling title of the Old and Middle Assyrian kings.[23]
Išši’ak Aššur[23]
Example user: Shamshi-Adad I[23]
Ruling title of the Old Babylonian kings.[25] Title
employed by some Assyrian kings who ruled over
šakkanakki Bābili[18]
Babylon.[18]
Example users: Sargon II,[18] Esarhaddon[26]
Title used by the Kassite dynasty of Babylon.[27]
šar Kaššu[27]
Example users: Agum III,[27] Karaindash[27]
Literally "king of the land of Akkad".[28] Combined with
"king of Sumer" by Ur-Nammu (r. 2112–2095 BC),
šar māt Akkadi[28] thereafter only occurs in the combined form "king of
Sumer and Akkad".[9]
Example user: Ur-Nammu[9]
Literally "king of the land of Assur". Ruling title of the
šar māt Aššur[18] Neo-Assyrian kings.[18]
Example users: Sargon II,[18] Esarhaddon[20]
Ruling title of monarchs of Babylon.[18]
šar Bābili[18] Example users: Sargon II,[18] Esarhaddon,[20] Shamash-shum-
ukin[29]
Literally "king of the land of Babylon". Rare variant of
the Babylonian royal title recorded for some Kassite
šar māt Bābil[27]
kings.[27]
Example users: Agum III,[27] Karaindash[27]
Title used by the Kassite dynasty of Babylon,
"Karduniaš" being the Kassite name for the kingdom
šar Karduniaš[27]
centered in Babylon.[27]
Example users: Agum III,[27] Karaindash[27]
Literally "king of the land of Padan and Alman". Title
šar māt Padan u Alman[27] only recorded for Agum III of Babylon (c. 1470 BC).[27]
Example user: Agum III[27]
Literally "king of the land of Sumer".[28] Combined with
"king of Akkad" by Ur-Nammu (r. 2112–2095 BC),
šar māt Šumeri[28] thereafter only occurs in the combined form "king of
Sumer and Akkad".[9]
Example user: Ur-Nammu[9]
Variant of šar māt Akkadi only recorded for Agum III of
šar Akkadi[27] Babylon (c. 1470 BC).[27]
Example user: Agum III[27]
Expressing kingship over the Amnanu, an Amorite tribal
group settled in Babylonia.[30] Only recorded for
šar Amnānu[29]
Shamash-shum-ukin (r. 667–648 BC).[29]
Example user: Shamash-shum-ukin[29]
Title used by the Kassite dynasty of Babylon.[27]
šar Kašši[27]
Example users: Agum III,[27] Karaindash[27]
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Dominance over Mesopotamia

English translation of
Title in Akkadian Notes
title

Variant of "King of the Lands" recorded for

Glorious King of the Ashurnasirpal II (r. 883–859 BC) and Shalmaneser III (r.
šar mātāti šarhu[31]
Lands[31] 859–824 BC).[31][32]
Example users: Ashurnasirpal II,[31] Shalmaneser III[32]

Introduced by Tukulti-Ninurta I of Assyria (r. 1233–1197

BC),[33] "King of Kings" became an especially prominent
King of Kings[33] šar šarrāni[33] title during the Achaemenid Empire after which it would
be used in Iran and elsewhere up until modern times.[34]
Example users: Tukulti-Ninurta I,[33] Mithridates II[35]

Ruling title in the Third Dynasty of Ur, used for more

than 1,500 years in later empires trying to claim its and
King of Sumer and šar māt Šumeri u
the Akkadian Empire's legacy.[36]
Akkad[28] Akkadi[28]
Example users: Ur-Nammu,[9] Hammurabi,[36] Esarhaddon,[36]
Cyrus[37]

Introduced in its simplified form by Ashurbanipal (r.

669–631 BC).[22] Saw occasional later use in the
King of the Lands[38] šar mātāti[38]
Achaemenid, Seleucid and Parthian Empires.[39][38][40]
Example users: Ashurbanipal,[22] Cyrus,[40] Phraates II[38]

Claims to universal rule

English translation of
Title in Akkadian Notes
title

Recorded for two Middle Assyrian kings and two Neo-

King of All Peoples[32] šar kiššat nišē[32] Assyrian kings.[32]
Example users: Tukulti-Ninurta I,[41] Ashurnasirpal II[32]

Variant of "King of the Four Corners of the World" used

King of All the Four
šar kullat kibrāt erbetti[42] in the Middle Assyrian Empire.[43]
Corners of the World[42]
Example users: Tiglath-Pileser I,[43] Ashur-bel-kala[43]

King of the Four

Popular title introduced by Naram-Sin (r. 2254–2218
Corners of the World[44] šar kibrāt erbetti[44] BC).[45] Used in a succession of later empires until its
Alternatively "King of the Four
šar kibrāti arba'i[46] final use by Cyrus the Great (r. 559–530 BC).[37]
Corners of the Universe",[45]
usually shortened to "King of
šarru kibrat 'arbaim[8] Example users: Naram-Sin,[45] Ashurnasirpal II,[44]
Hammurabi,[47] Cyrus[37]
the Four Corners"[46]

King of the Totality of Variant of "King of the Four Corners of the World"
the Four Corners šar kiššat kibrāte ša recorded for Ashurnasirpal II (r. 883–859 BC) and
including all their napḫar malkī kalîšunu[44] Shalmaneser III (r. 859–824 BC).[44]
rulers[44] Example users: Ashurnasirpal II,[44] Shalmaneser III[44]

Popular title introduced by Sargon of Akkad (r

2334–2284 BC).[48] Used in a succession of later
King of the Universe[46] šar kiššatim[46]
empires until its final use by Antiochus I (r. 281–261
Alternatively "King of All"[7] or šarru kiššat māti[48]
BC).[1]
"King of the World"[1] šar-kiššati'[48]
Example users: Sargon,[48] Esarhaddon,[46] Nabonidus,[1]
Cyrus[37]

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Titles centering on the king's relationship to the divine

Titles describing the position of the king relative to the deities of the Ancient Mesopotamian
religion. Titles and epithets which relate to the divine position of the king account for about 38.8%
of Neo-Assyrian titularies.[13]

English translation of
Title in Akkadian Notes
title

Separated from Išši’ak Aššur in that this title refers to

being a governor explicitly on behalf of the god Ashur,
Governor of Ashur[49] šakkanakki Aššur[49]
not as governing the region of Assyria.[49]
Example user: Shalmaneser III[49]

Governor of the Great Only recorded for Shalmaneser III (r. 859–824 BC).[49]
šakkanakki ilāni rabûti[49]
Gods[49] Example user: Shalmaneser III[49]

The title speaks about humility before the gods, the king
would not have shown inferiority towards other
Humble king[21] šarru šaḫtu[21]
rulers.[50]
Example user: Esarhaddon[21]

King who is his

šarru migrišu[21]
favourite[21]
"His", "her" and "their" refers to the deities of ancient
King who is her
šarru migriša[21] Mesopotamia.[50]
favourite[21]
Example users: Esarhaddon,[21] Ashurbanipal[22]
King who is their
šarru migrišun[21]
favourite[21]

King who fears him[21] šarru pāliḫšu[21]

"Him", "her" and "them" refers to the deities of ancient
King who fears her[21] šarru pāliḫša[21] Mesopotamia.[50]
Example user: Esarhaddon[21]
King who fears them[21] šarru pāliḫšun[21]

King who provides for

šarru zāninšu[18]
him[18]
"Him", "her" and "them" refers to the deities of ancient
King who provides for
šarru zāninša[18] Mesopotamia.[50]
her[18]
Example user: Sargon II[18]
King who provides for
šarru zāninšun[18]
them[18]

One of the most common royal titles of the Neo-

Provider of Esagila and Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian periods, used by nearly
zānin Esagil u Ezida[1]
Ezida[1] all kings.[1]
Example users: Sargon II,[18] Nebuchadnezzar II[51]

Epithets
Royal epithets generally served to highlight the qualities of a specific king, many rulers having at
least some unique epithets. Typical of Babylonian titles is focusing on the benevolent and coercive
attributes of any one given king with only few references to violence. Neo-Assyrian rulers,
including Ashurbanipal, Esarhaddon and Shamash-shuma-ukin, frequently employed the epithet
rē’û kēnu (meaning "righteous shepherd") to illustrate royal benevolence. Wisdom and competence

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are also common points of focus, Esarhaddon is for instance

referred to as itpēšu ḫāsis kal šipri ("competent one who knows
every craft").[50]

Many epithets are religious in nature, usually focusing on the

king as a "provider" (zānin) for the gods in some capacity,
provider here meaning that the king is fulfilling his duty of
providing required nourishments for the deities and keeping
their temples in good condition. Considering the boastful
Detail of a stone monument of
nature of Esarhaddon's titles, his epithet kanšu ("submissive")
Ashurbanipal of Assyria as a basket-
may seem strange, his title šarru šaḫtu ("humble king")
bearer. Kings only expressed
likewise so, but these titles refer to humility and inferiority in
inferiority and humility before the
divine, often using epithets to
regards to the gods, for which this was appropriate. The
describe themselves as "providers"
Assyrian king would never have acknowledged inferiority in the
for the gods. Currently housed in the earthly sphere.[50]
British Museum.
Epithets often also illustrate the king as selected to rule by the
gods, the chosen words typically being migru ("favourite")
and/or nibītu ("designate"). Shamash-shuma-ukin refers to himself as migir Enlil Šamaš u
Marduk ("favourite of Enlil, Shamash and Marduk") and Esarhaddon refers to himself as nibīt
Marduk Ṣarpanītu ("designate of Marduk (and) Sarpanit"). Marking the Assyrian king as the
choice of the gods would have further legitimized his rule.[52] The king respecting the divine is
sometimes expressed with words like palāḫu ("to fear") or takālu ("to trust in"). Ashurbanipal has
the epithet rubû pāliḫšu/ša ("prince who fears him/her"). Religious epithets can also speak of the
king's piety through his actions, typically focusing on construction (often utilizing the word epēšu,
"build" or "make"). Shamash-shuma-ukin refers to himself as ēpiš Esagila ("he who
(re)constructed Esagila"), referring to a major temple in Babylon.[53]

Another common theme for epithets is the king's relation to his people. Esarhaddon again being an
example, he refers to himself as maḫīru kīnu ešēru ebūru napāš Nisaba ušaššû ina māti ("he who
brought stable prices, successful harvests, (and) an abundance of grain to the land").[30]

Assyrian epithets often emphasize the king as a military leader and relates war to the divine as an
issue part of the idea of universal rule. Epithets like "the god Aššur gave me the power to let cities
fall into ruins and to enlarge Assyrian territory" are common.[2]

Examples of royal titularies

Old Assyrian titulary: Ashur-nirari I

In one of his inscriptions, Ashur-nirari I, who reigned 1529–1503 BC, uses the following titles[24]:

Viceroy of the god Assur, son of Ishme-Dagan, viceroy of the god Assur, builder of the
temple of Bêl, the elder.

Middle Assyrian titulary: Tukulti-Ninurta I

In one of his inscriptions, Tukulti-Ninurta I, who reigned 1233–1197 BC, uses the following

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titles[54]:

King of the Universe, the mighty king, the king of Assyria, favorite of Assur, priest of
Assur, rightful ruler, beloved of Ishtar, who subjected the Kuti to their farthest border;
son of Shalmaneser, priest of Assur, grandson of Adad-nirari, priest of Assur.

Kassite titulary: Kurigalzu

In one of his inscriptions, the Kassite king Kurigalzu (there were two kings of this name; Kurigalzu
I and Kurigalzu II, it is unclear which one of them used these titles)[55]:

Great king, mighty king, king of the Universe, favorite of Anu and Enlil, nominated (for
kingship) by the lord of the gods am I! King who has no equal among all the kings his
ancestors, son of Kadashman-Harbe, unrivalled king ...

Neo-Assyrian titulary: Esarhaddon

In one of his inscriptions, Esarhaddon, who reigned 681–669 BC, uses the following titles[56]:

The great king, the mighty king, king of the Universe, king of Assyria, viceroy of
Babylon, king of Sumer and Akkad, son of Sennacherib, the great king, the mighty king,
king of Assyria, grandson of Sargon, the great king, the mighty king, king of Assyria;
who under the protection of Assur, Sin, Shamash, Nabu, Marduk, Ishtar of Nineveh,
Ishtar of Arbela, the great gods, his lords, made his way from the rising to the setting
sun, having no rival.

Neo-Babylonian titulary: Nebuchadnezzar II

The titles preserved in Babylon for Nebuchadnezzar II, who reigned 605–562 BC, read as
follows:[51]

King of Babylon, true shepherd, chosen by the steadfast heart of Marduk, exalted
governor, beloved of Nabu, knowing one, wise one, who pays attention to the ways of
the great gods, untiring governor, provider of Esagila and Ezida

Seleucid titulary: Antiochus I

The Antiochus Cylinder is the last known Akkadian-language royal inscription, separated from the
last known previous one (the Cyrus Cylinder) by 300 years. At the time it was made, Akkadian was
no longer a spoken language and the cylinder's contents were likely inspired by earlier royal
inscriptions by Assyrian and Babylonian kings.[57] The Akkadian-language titulature (here
translated into English) of the Seleucid king Antiochus I (r. 281–261 BC) is preserved in the
Antiochus Cylinder from Babylon and reads as follows:[58]

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Great king, mighty king, king of the Universe, king of Babylon, king of the Lands,
provider of Esagila and Ezida, foremost heir of Seleucus, the king, the Macedonian,
king of Babylon

See also
▪ History of institutions in Mesopotamia

References

Citations
1. Stevens 2014, p. 73. 30. Karlsson 2017, p. 14.
2. Soares 2017, p. 21. 31. Johandi 2012, p. 170.
3. Hallo 1980, p. 189. 32. Karlsson 2016, p. 153.
4. Hallo 1980, p. 190. 33. Handy 1994, p. 112.
5. Hallo 1980, p. 191. 34. Saikal & Schnabel 2003, p. 9.
6. Levin 2002, p. 359. 35. Olbrycht 2009, p. 165.
7. Steinkeller 2013, p. 146. 36. Porter 1994, p. 79.
8. Levin 2002, p. 360. 37. Cyrus Cylinder Translation.
9. Hallo 1980, p. 192. 38. Shayegan 2011, p. 43.
10. Hallo 1980, p. 193. 39. Kosmin 2014, p. 113.
11. Radner 2019, p. 136. 40. Waerzeggers & Seire 2018, p. 40.
12. Karlsson 2017, p. 1. 41. Sazonov 2011, p. 26.
13. Karlsson 2017, p. 12. 42. Karlsson 2016, p. 150.
14. Soares 2017, p. 28. 43. Karlsson 2013, p. 255.
15. Stevens 2014, p. 77. 44. Karlsson 2013, p. 135.
16. Stevens 2014, p. 72. 45. Raaflaub & Talbert 2010, p. 153.
17. Stevens 2014, p. 75. 46. Roaf & Zgoll 2001, p. 284.
18. Karlsson 2017, p. 2. 47. De Mieroop 2004, p. 119.
19. Cohen & Westbrook 1999. 48. Levin 2002, p. 362.
20. Karlsson 2017, p. 6. 49. Karlsson 2016, p. 77.
21. Karlsson 2017, p. 7. 50. Karlsson 2017, p. 13.
22. Karlsson 2017, p. 10. 51. Stevens 2014, p. 74.
23. Liverani 2013. 52. Karlsson 2017, p. 15.
24. Luckenbill 1926, p. 17. 53. Karlsson 2017, p. 16.
25. Hallo 1980, p. 194. 54. Luckenbill 1926, p. 65.
26. Karlsson 2017, p. 5. 55. Foster 2005, p. 365.
27. Goetze 1964, p. 98. 56. Luckenbill 1927, p. 211.
28. Da Riva 2013, p. 72. 57. Stevens 2014, p. 71.
29. Karlsson 2017, p. 11. 58. Stevens 2014, p. 68.

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▪ Da Riva, Rocío (2013). The Inscriptions of Nabopolassar, Amel-Marduk and Neriglissar. Walter
de Gruyter. ISBN 978-1614515876.
▪ De Mieroop, Marc Van (2004). A History of the Ancient Near East ca. 3000 - 323 BC (https://ar
chive.org/details/AHistoryOfTheAncientNearEast) (2nd ed.). Blackwell Publishing.
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▪ Foster, Benjamin R. (2005) [1993]. Before the Muses (3rd ed.). CDL Press.
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▪ Goetze, Albrecht (1964). "The Kassites and near Eastern Chronology". Journal of Cuneiform
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▪ Johandi, Andreas (2012). "Mesopotamian Influences on the Old Persian Royal Ideology and
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oclc/1100967165).
▪ Karlsson, Mattias (2017). "Assyrian Royal Titulary in Babylonia". S2CID 6128352 (https://api.se
manticscholar.org/CorpusID:6128352). {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal=
(help)
▪ Kosmin, Paul J. (2014). The Land of the Elephant Kings. Harvard University Press.
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▪ Levin, Yigal (2002). "Nimrod the Mighty, King of Kish, King of Sumer and Akkad". Vetus
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F156853302760197494).
▪ Liverani, Mario (2013). The Ancient Near East: History, Society and Economy (https://books.go
ogle.com/books?id=_EtJAgAAQBAJ&q=The+Ancient+Near+East:+History,+Society+and+Econ
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▪ Luckenbill, Daniel David (1926). Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia Volume 1:
Historical Records of Assyria From the Earliest Times to Sargon (https://oi.uchicago.edu/resear
ch/publications/misc/ancient-records-assyria-and-babylonia-volume-1-historical-records-assyri
a). University of Chicago Press.
▪ Luckenbill, Daniel David (1927). Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia Volume 2:
Historical Records of Assyria From Sargon to the End (https://oi.uchicago.edu/research/publica
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▪ Olbrycht, Marek Jan (2009). "Mithridates VI Eupator and Iran" (http://www.pontos.dk/publication
s/books/bss-9-files/bss-9-10-olbrycht). {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal=
(help)
▪ Oshima, Takayoshi M. (2017). "Nebuchadnezzar's Madness (Daniel 4:30): Reminiscence of a
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▪ Porter, Barbara N. (1994). Images, Power, and Politics: Figurative Aspects of Esarhaddon's
Babylonian Policy (https://books.google.com/books?id=J6toY--R430C&q=%C5%A1ar+m%C
4%81t+%C5%A0umeri+u+Akkadi&pg=PA79). American Philosophical Society.
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▪ Raaflaub, Kurt A.; Talbert, Richard J. A. (2010). Geography and Ethnography: Perceptions of
the World in Pre-Modern Societies (https://books.google.com/books?id=FH3WolaD9asC&q=%
22King+of+the+four+corners%22&pg=PA147). John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-1405191463.
▪ Radner, Karen (2010). "The stele of Sargon II of Assyria at Kition: A focus for an emerging
Cypriot identity?" (http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/19836/2/Radner_Philippika%2034%20(2010)%20K
ition%20stele.pdf) (PDF). Interkulturalität in der Alten Welt: Vorderasien, Hellas, Ägypten und
die vielfältigen Ebenen des Kontakts. Harrassowitz Verlag. ISBN 978-3447061711. (in
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▪ Radner, Karen (2019). "Last Emperor or Crown Prince Forever? Aššur-uballiṭ II of Assyria
according to Archival Sources" (https://www.academia.edu/39300596). State Archives of
Assyria Studies. 28: 135–142.
▪ Roaf, Michael; Zgoll, Annette (2001). "Assyrian Astroglyphs: Lord Aberdeen's Black Stone and
the Prisms of Esarhaddon". Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und Vorderasiatische Archäologie. 91
(2): 264–295. doi:10.1515/zava.2001.91.2.264 (https://doi.org/10.1515%2Fzava.2001.91.2.26
4). S2CID 161673588 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:161673588).
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Struggles, Challenges. United Nations University Press. ISBN 9789280810851.
▪ Sazonov, Vladimir (2011). Die mittelassyrischen, universalistischen Königstitel und Epitheta
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4%81t%C4%81ti). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521766418.
▪ Soares, Filipe (2017). "The titles 'King of Sumer and Akkad' and 'King of Karduniaš', and the
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▪ Steinkeller, Piotr (2013). "An archaic "prisoner plaque" from kiš". Revue d'assyriologie et
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▪ Stevens, Kahtryn (2014). "The Antiochus Cylinder, Babylonian Scholarship and Seleucid
Imperial Ideology" (http://dro.dur.ac.uk/15105/1/15105.pdf) (PDF). The Journal of Hellenic
Studies. 134: 66–88. doi:10.1017/S0075426914000068 (https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0075426
914000068). JSTOR 43286072 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/43286072).
▪ Waerzeggers, Caroline; Seire, Maarja (2018). Xerxes and Babylonia: The Cuneiform Evidence
(https://web.archive.org/web/20201209122950/https://www.peeters-leuven.be/pdf/9789042938
097.pdf#page=202) (PDF). Peeters Publishers. Archived from the original (http://www.peeters-l
euven.be/pdf/9789042938097.pdf#page=202) (PDF) on 2020-12-09. Retrieved 2019-03-31.

Websites
▪ "Livius - Cyrus Cylinder Translation" (https://www.livius.org/sources/content/cyrus-cylinder/cyru
s-cylinder-translation/). www.livius.org. Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20190119193513
/https://www.livius.org/sources/content/cyrus-cylinder/cyrus-cylinder-translation/) from the
original on 19 January 2019. Retrieved 19 January 2019.

External links
▪ Daniel David Luckenbill's Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia Volume 1: Historical
Records of Assyria From the Earliest Times to Sargon (https://oi.uchicago.edu/research/publica
tions/misc/ancient-records-assyria-and-babylonia-volume-1-historical-records-assyria) (1926)
and Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia Volume 2: Historical Records of Assyria From
Sargon to the End (https://oi.uchicago.edu/research/publications/misc/ancient-records-assyria-
and-babylonia-volume-2-historical-records-assyria) (1927), containing translations of a large
number of royal Assyrian inscriptions.

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