Posts Tagged ‘akkadian’
I am An-ti-‘u-ku-us
The following is an inscription, originally in Akkadian, from the reign of Antiochus I Soter, second king of the Seleucid Empire (see Nicholas Ostler, Empires of the Word). The incongruity of a Greek ruler describing himself in such a way (not to mention in Akkadian!) is remarkable.
I am An-ti-‘u-ku-us [Antiochus], the great king, the legitimate king, the king of the world, king of E [Babylon], king of all countries, the caretaker of the temples Esagila and Ezida, the first born of Si-lu-uk-ku [Seleucus], Ma-ak-ka-du-na-a-a [Macedonian], king of Babylon.
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