The Pride of Naram-Sin


I was reading this morning in Ancient Near East: Historical Sources in Translation and found this section from Chapter 2 interesting.  King Naram-Sin says:

Thus I said to myself, thus indeed I spoke: “What lion practiced divination? What wolf inquired of an interpreter of dreams? Let me go like a bandit, following the counsel of my own heart. Let me disregard (the counsel) of the god; let me take responsibility for myself.”

As you can imagine, the rest of the story doesn’t go so well for Naram-Sin.  I just thought it was interesting.  Sounds like a motif one would find in the Hebrew Bible.  Or, perhaps like something a Psalmist might place on the lips of his enemies.  Go figure …

Related:

Douglas Mangum’s Roundup on the Qeiyafa Ostracon Buzz

Gary Rendsburg – The Bible and History Free Mini-course

Free Course Guide – Eric Cline History of Ancient Israel