ABL 1215 (P237177)
Letter, Neo-Assyrian, Nineveh · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE
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| Designation | ABL 1215 |
|---|---|
| ID | P237177 |
| 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 [0:5] o 1o 1–o 55 | [To the king of the l]ands, [my lord: your servant, NN]. May En[l]il, Ninur[ta, and Nusku] bless [the king of the lands, my lord! May] the god[s of Ekur and Nippur and the great gods] of heaven and earth [grant] the king of the universe, [my] l[ord, a life of long days, ...], an enduring reign, [......]. |
| Obverse [5:7] o 66–o 77 | [...] years [......] |
| Obverse [7:8] o 88–o 88 | [a]ll to [......] |
| Obverse [8:9] o 99–o 99 | [of] this Nisan (I) [......] |
| Obverse [9:10] o 1010–o 1010 | When [......] Babylon, |
| Obverse [10:11] o 1111–o 1111 | they rejoiced and [......] |
| Obverse [11:12] o 1212–o 1212 | like criminals [......] |
| Obverse [12:13] o 1313–o 1313 | in the streets of Babylo[n ......] |
| Obverse [13:14] o 1414–o 1414 | When [......] to Esaggil [...] |
| Obverse [14:15] o 1515–o 1515 | th[ey] ... ab[o]ut me [......], |
| Obverse [15:16] o 1616–o 1616 | saying: "Weeping [......] |
| Obverse [16:17] o 1717–o 1717 | with Esaggil [......] |
| Obverse [17:18] o 1818–o 1818 | is sprinkled [......] |
| Obverse [18:19] o 1919–o 1919 | wh[en] help [......] |
| Obverse [19:20] o 2020–o 2020 | who [......] |
| Obverse [20:21] o 2121–o 2121 | [...... Bab]ylon |
| Bottom [0:1] b.e. 27b.e. 27–b.e. 27b.e. 27 | you should not [... a]bout them. |
| Bottom [1:5] b.e. 2828– | [W]hen they spoke [t]o the king of Babylon, my lord, [...] bla[sphemy in] their mouths [...] |
| Reverse [0:1] r 1r 1–r 1r 1 | [...] have we been treated [like th]is [...] |
| Reverse [1:2] r 22–r 22 | [...] of Nippur which [...] |
| Reverse [2:4] r 33–r 44 | [NN], a scholar of the Inner Cit[y] (and) of ... is in the presence of the king, my lord. The king should question him. |
| Reverse [4:10] r 55–r 1010 | (Only) [rites that] are written down in scripture are our rit[e]s. They have been performed by our forefathers, and they meet the needs of the ki[ng]. (There are) a hundred, (nay,) a thousand (rites) which, as far as I am concerned, would be suitable for the purification of the kings, my lords. But, because they are not our rites, they are not recorded in scripture. |
| Reverse [10:12] r 1111–r 1212 | Why do these men hatefully misadvise the king, my lord, and (why) do they have this attitude towards us? |
| Reverse [12:14] r 1313–r 1414 | The king should establish these three [......] |
| Reverse [14:15] r 1515–r 1515 | an enemy [......] |
| Reverse [15:16] r 1616–r 1616 | the kings, [your] fathers [......] |
| Reverse [16:17] r 1717–r 1717 | he laboured. [......] in the hands [...] |
| Reverse [17:18] r 1818–r 1818 | he did not listen to th[em ......] |
| Reverse [18:19] r 1919–r 1919 | their hands [......] |
| Reverse [19:21] r 2020–r 2121 | Now [if] it is agreeable [to the king, my lord, .......] |
| Reverse [21:23] r 2222–r 2323 | the ki[ng ......] |
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 | [a-na LUGAL] ⸢KUR.KUR⸣ [be-li₂-ia ARAD-ka {1}x x x x x] | |
| 2 | {⸢d}EN.LIL₂⸣ {d}⸢MAŠ⸣ [u {d}PA.TUG₂ a-na LUGAL KUR.KUR be-li₂-ia] | |
| 3 | lik-ru-bu DINGIR-[MEŠ šu-ut E₂.KUR u EN.LIL₂{ki} u DINGIR-MEŠ GAL-MEŠ] | |
| 4 | ša₂ AN-e u KI.⸢TIM⸣ [ba-laṭ UD-MEŠ GID₂.DA-MEŠ x x x x] | |
| 5 | la-bar BALA-e ⸢x⸣+[x x x x x x x x x x] | |
| 6 | a-na LUGAL kiš-šat ⸢be⸣-[li₂-ia x x x x x x x] | |
| 7 | ⸢MU⸣.AN.NA-MEŠ a-⸢x⸣+[x x x x x x x x x x] | |
| 8 | ⸢gab⸣-bi a-na a-⸢ga⸣-[a x x x x x x x x x] | |
| 9 | [ša₂] {⸢iti⸣}BARAG a-ga-⸢a⸣ [x x x x x x x x x] | |
| 10 | TIN.TIR{ki} ki-i [x x x x x x x x x] | |
| 11 | ha-mu-u₂ u i-man-[x x x x x x x x x] | |
| 12 | a-ki EN-MEŠ—hi-ṭu EN-MEŠ—hi-ṭu [x x x x x x x x x] | |
| 13 | ina su-qa-ni ša₂ TIN.⸢TIR⸣{[ki} x x x x x x x] | |
| 14 | ana {e₂}sag-gil₂ ki u₂-⸢x⸣-[x x x x x x x x] | |
| 15 | ina ⸢UGU⸣-ia₂ ul-tar-ri-[hu x x x x x x x] | |
| 16 | um-ma ba-ku-u₂ ⸢la x⸣+[x x x x x x] ⸢x x⸣ | |
| 17 | it-ti {e₂}sag-gil₂ [x x x x x x x]+⸢x⸣ | |
| 18 | ša₂-pi-ih re-⸢x x⸣ [x x x x x x x]+⸢x⸣-šu₂ | |
| 19 | a.a-la ⸢ki⸣-[i x x x x x x]-⸢ta⸣ | |
| 20 | ša₂ [x x x x x x x x x x x]-⸢ni⸣ | |
| 21 | ⸢x⸣+[x x x x x x x x x x TIN].TIR{ki} | |
| 22 | [x x x x x x x x x x]-⸢it⸣ | |
| 23 | [x x x x x x x x x x x]-u₂-tu₂ | |
| 24 | [x x x x x x x x x x x x x] | |
| 25 | [x x x x x x x x x x x]-⸢pa⸣ | |
| 26 | [x x x x x x x x x x x x x] | |
| b.e. | ||
| 27 | [ina] ⸢UGU-šu₂⸣-nu la ⸢ta⸣-[x x x] | |
| 28 | [a]-⸢na⸣ LUGAL TIN.TIR{ki} be-li₂-⸢ia₂⸣ | |
| 29 | ⸢ki⸣-i iq-bu-u₂ šil-[la-tu₂] | |
| 30 | [ina] ⸢pi⸣-i-šu₂-nu [x x x] | |
| r | ||
| 1 | [ŠA₃-bu a]-⸢ga⸣-a ep-še-ni ⸢i⸣-[x x x] | |
| 2 | [x x x]-tu ša₂ EN.LIL₂{ki} ša₂ ⸢x⸣+[x x x] | |
| 3 | [x x x]+⸢x⸣ {lu₂}⸢um-ma⸣-nu {lu₂}ŠA₃—⸢URU⸣-[a.a] | |
| 4 | {⸢lu₂⸣}[x]{⸢ki⸣}a.a ⸢x x x x x ina pa-an LUGAL⸣ EN-⸢ia₂⸣ | |
| 5 | LUGAL liš-al-⸢šu par-ṣi ša₂⸣ ina DUB.SAR-u₂-tu | |
| 6 | šaṭ-ru par-⸢ṣi-ni šu₂-nu AD⸣-MEŠ-ni i-pu-šu₂ | |
| 7 | u a-na ṣi-bu-tu₂ ša₂ ⸢LUGAL⸣ šak-nu 01-me 01-lim | |
| 8 | ša₂ aš₂-ša₂ at-tu-u₂-a a-na ku-pa-ar-ti | |
| 9 | ša₂ LUGAL-MEŠ EN-MEŠ-e-a lil-lik-u₂ u aš₂-ša₂ | |
| 10 | la par-ṣi-ni šu₂-nu ina DUB.SAR-u₂-tu la šaṭ-ru | |
| 11 | am—mi₃-ni am—mi₃-ni ERIM-MEŠ a-ga-nu-tu₂ ina ze-e-ri | |
| 12 | la mil-ki LUGAL EN-a ⸢i⸣-me-lik-u₂-ma ŠA₃-bu a-ga-a | |
| 13 | ip-pu-šu-na-a-šu₂ ⸢it-x x x⸣ a-⸢ga⸣-nu-tu₂ 03 | |
| 14 | LUGAL lu-kin-na ⸢na⸣-[x x x x x x x x x]+⸢x x⸣ | |
| 15 | ze-ir-a-⸢ni⸣ [x x x x x x x x x x x] | |
| 16 | LUGAL-MEŠ ⸢AD-MEŠ⸣-[ka x x x x x x x x x] | |
| 17 | id-lip ina ŠU.2 [x x x x x x x x x x] | |
| 18 | ul iš-mu-⸢šu₂-nu⸣-[tu₂ x x x x x x x x] | |
| 19 | ŠU.2-su-nu ⸢i⸣-[x x x x x x x x x x] | |
| 20 | en-na a-du-⸢u₂⸣ [ki-i pa-an LUGAL be-li₂-ia] | |
| 21 | mah-⸢ri x⸣+[x x x x x x x x x x x] | |
| 22 | ⸢LUGAL⸣ [x x x x x x x x x x x x] | |
| 23 | ⸢x⸣+[x x x x x x x x x x x x x x] | |
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.