Cuneiform Cylinder of Sargon II (721-705 B.C.E.)

Inscriptions

Inscribed, in cuneiform [translation]: Sargon, prefect of Enlil, exalted priest of Assur, elect of Anu and Dagan, the great king, the mighty king, king of the universe, king of Assyria, king of the four quarters (of the world) …. Mighty hero, clothed with terror, who sent forth his weapon to bring low the foe; the king, since the day of whose (accession) to rulership, there has been no prince equal to him, and who has not seen a conqueror in war or battle, who has smashed all lands like pots and who has cast bonds upon the four regions (of the earth); …who brought under his sway, beginning with the land of Rashi on the Elamite border, the people of Pakudo (and) Damunu, the cities of Dur-Kurigalzu and Rapiku, all of the desert as far as the River of Egypt,…who devastated the wide land of Bit-Humria, at Rapihu brought about the defeat of Egypt and had Hanunu (Hanno), king of Gaza, brought in bonds to Assur;…. The sagacious king, full of kindness (words of grace), who gave his thought to the restoration of (towns) that had fallen to ruins, to bringing fields under cultivation, to the planting of orchards, who set his mind on raising crops on steep (high) slopes whereon no vegetation had flourished since the days of old;…Day and night I planned (how) to build that city. I ordered a sanctuary to be built therein for Shamash, the great judge of the gods, who made me attain unto victory…. In the month of Abu, the month of the descent of the fire-god, destroyer of growing (cultivated) vegetation, when one lays (lit., who lays) the foundation platform for city and house, I laid its foundation walls, I built its brickwork…. Palaces of ivory, mulberry, cedar, cypress, juniper, and pistachio-wood I built at their (the gods) lofty command for my royal dwelling-place…. Peoples of all the four regions of the world, of foreign tongue and divergent speech, dwellers of mountain and lowland, all that were ruled by the light of the gods, the lord of all, I carried off at Ashur, my lord’s command, by the might of my scepter. I unified them (made them of one mouth) and settled them therein. Assyrians, fully competent to teach them how to fear god and king, I dispatched to them as scribes and sheriffs (superintendents)…. Whoever destroys the work of my hands, injures my statue (lit., features), brings to naught the law which I have established, or blots out the (record) of my honors, may Assur, Shamash, Adad, and the great gods who dwell therein, destroy his name and his seed from the land, may they set him in chains under (the heel) of his foe.

Label

Despite their unusual appearance, these football-shaped clay objects share functional similarities with a number of other objects in this gallery, including the relief panels from the Northwest Palace of Ashurnasirpal II. Like the Standard Inscription that proclaims Ashurnasirpal’s power, these cylinders record achievements of two other rulers from the ancient Near East—the Babylonian Nebuchadnezzar II and the Assyrian Sargon II.

Cuneiform cylinders typically celebrate the physical construction of an empire through architectural projects. Nebuchadnezzar II drastically expanded his capital of Babylon during his reign, while Sargon II built an entirely new capital at Dur-Sharrukin. In contrast to the cuneiform brick, which would have been visible even after Shalmaneser III’s ziggurat was completed, these cylinders would have been encased within the walls or foundations of a building. This practice demonstrates the desire of kings to situate themselves within a historical narrative, ensuring that their deeds and buildings would be remembered far into the future. Perhaps more importantly, however, the text would be seen and remembered by the gods.

From the exhibition, Stone, Sand, and Clay: Connecting Cultures in the Ancient Mediterranean, curated by Ashley B. Offill, Curator of Collections

Course History

REL 81, Dickinson Distinguished Scholar Seminar: Orientalism and the Origins of Religion, Susannah Heschel, Fall 2012

ANTH 12.2, The Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, Jason Herrmann, Spring 2013

ANTH 7, Thinking About Empire, Alan Covey, Winter 2014

ANTH 12.2, Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, Daniel Potts, Spring 2014

Anthropology 39.01, Middle Eastern Studies 3.02, Archaeology of the Middle East, Jesse Casana, Fall 2023

Anthropology 39.01, Middle Eastern Studies 3.02, Archaeology of the Middle East, Jesse Casana, Fall 2024

Anthropology 39.01, Middle Eastern Studies 3.02, Archaeology of the Middle East, Jesse Casana, Fall 2024

History 10.02, Archival Research, Julia Rabig, Summer 2025

Anthropology 31.01, Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies 36.01, Gender in Cross Cultural Perspectives, Sabrina Billings, Fall 2025

Theater 15.01, Theatre & Society I, Samantha Lazar, Fall 2025

Exhibition History

Stone, Sand, and Clay: Connecting Cultures in the Ancient Mediterranean, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, June 7, 2025 - Ongoing

Provenance

Milton S. Yondorf, Chicago, Illinois; given to present collection, 1942.

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Subjects