CT 54, 489 (P237109)
Letter, Neo-Assyrian, Nineveh · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE
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| Designation | CT 54, 489 |
|---|---|
| ID | P237109 |
| 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/saa18 · Via Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus (ORACC) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (ORACC)
| Line | English |
|---|---|
| Obverse [0:1] o 1o 1–o 1o 1 | For two days [...], bread (and) shallots were (to be) given to the deaf. Until the 17th day, no bread had come in. On the 17th day, one 'litre' of ... |
| Obverse [1:2] o 22–o 22 | After my (appeal), when they showed him the seal, bread was (to be) given from the prefect to the deaf. Until the 21st day, no bread had come in. |
| Obverse [2:6] o 33–o 66 | On the 21st day, when the overseer of the household made public the appeal to the king, for five minas of gold of (mine) at the disposal of Iqišaya, whose giving out ... I had settled and promised him, he gave half a 'litre' of bread. To each of his deaf ones, he gave one 'litre' of bread (and) plants. |
| Obverse [6:9] o 77–o 99 | He said to them as follows: "Do ...!" A Hamurean deaf man said to him: "Aššur-balassu-iqbi has not been present (but) has reduced my bread (allowance)." |
| Obverse [9:12] o 1010–o 1212 | Gumāta told me: "In my city, there is much honey, wine, bread (and) ...; open it and take it!" I was unwilling; (and) when I did open it by the king's order and out of hunger, my bread was finished. |
| Obverse [12:14] o 1313– | The overseer of the household [... did not] tell me to open (and) ... it. |
| Bottom [0:4] b.e. 14b.e. 14– | The deaf (and) [...] (are) my witnesses. The [chief tail]or is running things [w]ithout me. Every day you finish off my breath and ... me! |
| Reverse [1:2] r 22–r 22 | You have [...] deadly silence. One ram (is) hunger. |
| Reverse [2:4] r 33–r 44 | Emuq-Bel-išpura is a [...]; he guarded the king, the crown prince and the gods of the king, (and) this is his meal! |
| Reverse [4:5] r 55–r 55 | And I am dying of hunger and obduracy. |
| Reverse [5:8] r 66–r 88 | They say: "While you put your trust in the king and the chief tailor, intrigues have penetrated to the king. |
| Reverse [8:11] r 99– | Every day, (among) all the retainers of the crown prince's household, I am telling everybody: "Speak to the chief tailor!" |
| Right [0:2] r.e. 11r.e. 11–r.e. 1212 | But whether the chief tailor [has ...ed] the shares of ... onto the king, (and) whether or not they have told (him), I do not know. |
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 | 02 UD-MEŠ-šu₂ x x⸣ NINDA-HI.A SUM.SIKIL ana {lu₂}PI.2.LA₂-MEŠ SUM a-di UD 17-KAM₂ NINDA-HI.A la₃ TU | |
| 2 | UD 17-KAM₂ 01 qa {⸢u₂⸣}ša₂-de-e ar₂-ki-ia ša₂ {na₄}KIŠIB u₂-ka-li-u₂-šu₂ NINDA-HI.A | |
| 3 | KI {lu₂}ša₂-kin ana {lu₂}PI.2.LA₂-MEŠ SUM a-di UD 21-KAM₂ NINDA-HI.A la₃ TU UD 21-KAM₂ EN a-mat LUGAL | |
| 4 | {lu₂}ša₂—UGU-hi—E₂ u₂-še-pu-u₂ a-na KUG.GI 05 MA.NA at-tu-u₂ | |
| 5 | ša₂ pa-an {1}NIG₂.BA-ia ša₂ da-tu-tu na-da-na-šu₂ u₂-ki-nu-u₂ | |
| 6 | aq-qa-ba-aš₂-šu₂ 1:2 qa NINDA-HI.A SUM a-na {lu₂}PI.2.LA₂-MEŠ-šu₂ LU₂ 01 qa NINDA U₂ SUM | |
| 7 | ki-i pi-i an-ni-i iq-ta-ba-šu₂-nu um-ma ⸢x x-ri⸣-ta e-pu-uš-aʾ | |
| 8 | {lu₂}PI.2.LA₂ {lu₂}ha-mu-ra-a iq-ta-ba-aš₂-šu₂ um-ma {1}AN.ŠAR₂—DIN-su—E | |
| 9 | ul i-zi-iz-za a-na ŠA₃-bi NINDA-HI.A-a it-ta-šar-ra u₃ | |
| 10 | gu-ma-a-ta iq-ta-ba-aʾ um-ma LAL₃ {giš}GEŠTIN NINDA-HI.A {giš}GEŠTIN-HI.A | |
| 11 | ina URU-ia ma-a-da ⸢pi-i-ti⸣-ma i-ša₂-aʾ ul a-am-gur ina a-mat LUGAL | |
| 12 | u ina bu-bu-tu ki-i ap-tu-u₂ NINDA-HI.A-a iq-ti-ta | |
| 13 | a-na pa-ta-e-šu₂ al-šu₂ {lu₂}ša₂—UGU—E₂ ⸢x x x⸣ [ul] iq-ba-aʾ {lu₂}PI.2.LA₂ | |
| b.e. | ||
| 14 | nu ⸢x 02 BAN₂ A an-na-a.a {lu₂}mu-ki-ne₂-⸢e-a {lu₂}x x x⸣ | |
| 15 | [ša₂]-la-nu-u₂-ia i-le-e UD-mu-u₂-su | |
| r | ||
| 1 | ni-ip-šu₂ ta-ga-ma-ra-an-ni ⸢te⸣-ra-pa-an-ni | |
| 2 | qu-la-a-ta ik-tal-⸢x x⸣ UDU.NITA₂ 01.en bu-bu-tu | |
| 3 | {1}e-muq—{⸢d}EN⸣—iš-pu-ra {⸢lu₂}x⸣ NA šu₂-u₂ LUGAL DUMU—LUGAL DUMU—LUGAL DUMU—LUGAL | |
| 4 | u DINGIR-MEŠ ša₂ LUGAL it-ta-ṣa-ar a-ga-a ma-ka-lu-šu₂ | |
| 5 | u₃ ina bu-bu-tu u ina šip-ṣi-ne₂-ti a-ma-ta | |
| 6 | um-ma UGU-hi LUGAL u {lu₂}GAL—ka-ṣir {lu₂}GAL—ka-ṣir | |
| 7 | ša₂ ta-ka-la-ta nik-la-ta ana LUGAL | |
| 8 | i-ter-bu-u₂-nu | |
| 9 | UD-mu-MEŠ-u₂-su {lu₂}lab-bit-tu-u₂ ša₂ E₂ DUMU—LUGAL DUMU—LUGAL DUMU—LUGAL gab-bi | |
| 10 | ⸢a-na⸣ LU₂ a-qa-ba ⸢um-ma⸣ a-⸢na {lu₂}GAL—ka⸣-ṣir {lu₂}GAL—ka⸣-ṣir {lu₂}GAL—ka⸣-ṣir qi₂-ba-aʾ | |
| r.e. | ||
| 11 | u ki-i {lu₂}GAL—ka-ṣir {lu₂}GAL—ka-ṣir {lu₂}GAL—ka-ṣir ⸢qa-ta⸣-ti ša₂ ⸢kit⸣-ra UGU-hi LUGAL | |
| 12 | [x] ⸢x x⸣-di ki-i iq-bu-u₂ u ki-i la₃ iq-bu-u₂ | |
| 13 | ul i-di | |
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.