CT 54, 470 (P237051)
Letter, Neo-Assyrian, Nineveh · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE
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| Designation | CT 54, 470 |
|---|---|
| ID | P237051 |
| Museum no. | BM — |
| Collection | British Museum, London, UK |
| Language | Akkadian |
| Period | Neo-Assyrian · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE |
| Genre | Letter |
| Find spot | Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) |
| Coordinates | 36.3582, 43.1621 |
English translation
By ORACC project saao/saa17 · Via Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus (ORACC) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (ORACC)
| Line | English |
|---|---|
| Obverse [0:4] o 1o 1–o 44 | Your servant Qišti-Marduk: I would gladly die for Sargon, the king of Babylon, the king of the lands, the mighty king, my lord! May Nabû and Marduk bless Sargon, the king of Babylon, the king of the lands, the mighty king, my lord! Say to the king, my lord: |
| Obverse [4:10] o 55–o 1010 | The sealed clay tablet which Sîn-duri, Nabû-šuma-iškun and their scribe wrote in Babylon and [sent] to the king, [my lord, ...] and the insolence ther[ein ...] — how can I hear anything through [...] and stay al[ive]! |
| Obverse [10:11] o 1111–o 1111 | [...] who have not retained gold in the holy cities [...] |
| Obverse [11:12] o 1212–o 1212 | After they wrote [...] |
| Reverse [0:1] r 1'1'–r 1'1' | from [...] |
| Reverse [1:2] r 2'2'–r 2'2' | this [...] bread [...] |
| Reverse [2:3] r 3'3'–r 3'3' | of Nabû-šuma-išku[n ...] |
| Reverse [3:4] r 4'4'–r 4'4' | whatever a prelate [...] |
| Reverse [4:5] r 5'5'–r 5'5' | why [...] |
| Reverse [5:6] r 6'6'–r 6'6' | all that I have [...] |
| Reverse [6:7] r 7'7'–r 7'7' | I seized on his behalf [...] |
| Reverse [7:9] r 8'8'–r 9'9' | saying, "Let me g[o] to the king and [...] speak to the king about it. You surely are aware of it [...]." He backed off. |
| Reverse [9:16] r 10'10'– | Nabû-šuma-iškun is saying to Sîn-duri: "Now I shall be installed in the prelateship." (But) nobody may install a prelate except you! Since the king, my lord, granted my prelateship, Sîn-duri is saying to Nabû-šuma-iškun: "You will see what Qištiya will do." |
| Right [2:4] r.e. 1616–r.e. 1717 | The servants of the king know very well that my prelateship, like (those of) all the prelates, is the king's affair. The king verily also grants the governor's office. |
Transliteration (ATF)
From Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus (ORACC) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (ORACC default); per-file JSON license fields say: This data is released under the CC0 license (133618)
| Line | ATF | Machine English (draft) |
|---|---|---|
| o | ||
| 1 | ARAD-ka {1}NIG₂.BA—{d}AMAR.UTU a-na di-na-an LUGAL—u₂-kin LUGAL TIN.TIR{ki} | |
| 2 | LUGAL KUR.KUR LUGAL dan-nu be-li₂-ia₂ lul-lik {d}AG u₃ {d}AMAR.UTU | |
| 3 | a-na LUGAL—u₂-kin LUGAL TIN.TIR{ki} LUGAL KUR.KUR LUGAL dan-nu | |
| 4 | be-li₂-ia₂ lik-ru-bu um-ma-a a-na LUGAL be-li₂-ia-a-ma | |
| 5 | ka-si-laq-qu ša₂ {1}{d}30—BAD₃ {1}{d}AG—MU—GAR-un | |
| 6 | u₃ {lu₂}DUB.SAR-šu₂-nu ina TIN.TIR{ki} [x x x x] | |
| 7 | iš-ṭu-ru-ma a-⸢na LUGAL⸣ [be-li₂-ia₂ iš-pu-ru] | |
| 8 | u₃ pi-hi-iz i-na ŠA₃-⸢bi⸣ [x x x x x x x] | |
| 9 | ak-ka-ʾi-i mim-ma ina ŠU.2 [x x x x x x x x] | |
| 10 | lu-uš-me u₃ lu-u₂ bal-[ṭa-ku x x x x x x] | |
| 11 | ša₂ KUG.GI ina ma-ha-zi la ik-lu-[u₂ x x x x x x] | |
| 12 | ki-i iš-ṭu-[ru] [x]+⸢x x x⸣+[x x x x x x x] | |
| r | ||
| 1' | ul-tu ⸢UGU⸣ [x x x x x x x x x x] | |
| 2' | a-ga-a NINDA-HI.A [x x x x x x x x x x x x] | |
| 3' | ša₂ {1}{d}AG—MU—GAR-⸢un⸣ [x x x x x x x x x x] | |
| 4' | mim-ma ša₂ {lu₂}ŠA₃.TAM [x x x x x x x x x x] | |
| 5' | mi-nam-ma ša₂ [x x x x x x x x x x x x] | |
| 6' | mim-ma ša₂ it-ti-ia₂ id-[x x x x x x x x x] | |
| 7' | a-na UGU-hi-šu₂ aṣ-ṣa-⸢bat⸣ [x x x x x x x x x] | |
| 8' | um-ma a-na pa-an LUGAL al-[lak-ma x x x]+⸢x x⸣+[x x] | |
| 9' | a-na LUGAL a-qab-bi-šu₂ tu-da-[a-ma x x a]-na ku-tal-⸢li⸣ | |
| 10' | ⸢it⸣-te-hi-is {1}{d}AG—MU—GAR-un a-na {1}{d}30—du-ri | |
| 11' | i-qab-bi um-ma a-du-u {lu₂}ŠA₃.TAM-mu-u₂-ti am-mah-har | |
| 12' | mam-ma {lu₂}ŠA₃.TAM it-ti-ka la i-šak-kan aš₂-ša₂ LUGAL | |
| 13' | be-li₂-a {lu₂}ŠA₃.TAM-u₂-ti id-di-na {1}{d}30—du-ri | |
| r.e. | ||
| 14 | a-na {1}{d}AG—MU—GAR-un i-qab-bi um-ma | |
| 15 | ta-am-mar mi-nu-u {1}NIG₂.BA-ia ip-pu-uš | |
| 16 | ⸢ARAD⸣-MEŠ ša₂ LUGAL ki-i i-du-u₂ ki-i {lu₂}ŠA₃.TAM-u₂-ti | |
| 17 | [ki]-ma {lu₂}ŠA₃.TAM-MEŠ gab-bi šu-nu ša₂ LUGAL | |
| 18 | {[lu₂]}GAR—UMUŠ-u₂-ti {[lu₂]}GAR—UMUŠ-u₂-ti LUGAL lu-u₂ id-di-nu | |
Sources & licences
- Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative · CDLI: reuse of catalogue/transliteration data with citation of CDLI; images restricted (not fetched) · Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI), https://cdli.earth/ ; cite CDLI and the P-number
- Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus (ORACC) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (ORACC default); per-file JSON license fields say: This data is released under the CC0 license (133618) · ORACC project editions, https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/ ; cite the individual project (see texts.extra_json.project)
Cite the original edition and translator. Page generated by Unread Atlas from the public corpus export of 2026-10-11.