Victory stele of Esarhaddon

{{Infobox artifact

|name = Victory stele of Esarhaddon

|image = 200px

|image2 =

|image_caption = The Victory Stele in its current location.

|material = Dolerite

|size = 3.46m x 1.35m

|writing = Akkadian Cuneiform

|created = c. 670 BC

|discovered = 1888

|location = Pergamon Museum

|id = VA2708

}}

The Victory stele of Esarhaddon (also Zenjirli{{cite journal|first=Anthony|last=Spalinger|year=1974|title=Esarhaddon and Egypt: an analysis of the First Invasion of Egypt|journal=Orientalia|pages=295–326|volume=43}} or Zincirli stele) is a dolerite[https://archive.org/stream/verzeichnisderi00berlgoog#page/n19/mode/2up Verzeichnis der in der Formerei der Königl. Museen käuflichen Gipsabgüsse (1902)] page 20 stele commemorating the return of Esarhaddon after his army's 2nd battle and victory over Pharaoh Taharqa in northern ancient Egypt in 671 BC. It was discovered in 1888 in Zincirli Höyük (Sam'al, or Yadiya) by Felix von Luschan and Robert Koldewey. It is now in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin.

The prior battle of 674 BC was won by Taharqa, who confronted Esarhaddon after his initial foray into the Levant;Black Pharaohs, National Geographic Magazine, February, 2008, p. 58. Esarhaddon then entered northern Egypt but was repulsed by Taharqa's forces.

The second battle of 671 BC saw Taharqa retreat with his army to Memphis; Memphis was taken with Taharqa then fleeing to the Kingdom of Kush. With Esarhaddon's victory he: "slaughtered the villagers and 'erected piles of their heads'", As Esarhaddon wrote later:

:Memphis, his royal city, in half a day , with mines, tunnels, assaults, I besieged, I captured, I destroyed, I devastated, I burned with fire. His queen, his harem, [Prince] Ushankhuru his heir, and the rest of his sons and daughters, his property and his goods, his horses, his cattle, his sheep in countless numbers, I carried off to Assyria. The root of Kush I tore up out of Egypt.