ABL 1240 (P237246)
Letter, Neo-Assyrian, Nineveh · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE
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| Designation | ABL 1240 |
|---|---|
| ID | P237246 |
| 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/saa21 · Via Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus (ORACC) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (ORACC)
| Line | English |
|---|---|
| Obverse [0:1] o 1o 1–o 1o 1 | [To] the king [......] |
| Obverse [1:2] o 22–o 22 | [whose] sceptre [.....] |
| Obverse [2:3] o 33–o 33 | [...] writing-board [......]: |
| Obverse [3:5] o 44–o 55 | Thus (says) Sar[dur]i, king of Urarṭu: |
| Obverse [5:15] o 66–o 1515 | Why does the king, my lord, always write to me in such irritated and angry terms? When at the time of your father Munuhi was calumniated in this very manner, did I not rule to the effect that the king of the gods, the exalted one, the ruler of the entire universe delivered in the hands of his worshipper sinners (in every direction), before and behind, right and left, above and below? |
| Obverse [15:22] o 1616– | Concerning the lapis lazuli about which the king, my lord, wrote to me: "Let lapis lazuli be brought to me" — does the king, my lord, not know that lapis lazuli is divine to us? If I took the lapis lazuli, the country would rebel against me. |
| Reverse [0:11] r 1r 1–r 1111 | If it is agreeable to the king, let a huge army come and take the lapis lazuli. If, when they come, I shall not dine with them, nor proceed at their side, nor rise before your messenger, nor ask about the well-being of the king, my lord, let the king not consider it as (my) fault. |
| Reverse [11:12] r 1212–r 1212 | According to [...]. |
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 | [ana] ⸢šar⸣-ri [x x x x x x] | |
| 2 | ⸢ša₂⸣ {giš}PA-šu₂ [i-ša₂-rat x x] | |
| 3 | 0 I₃.GIŠ ṭa-[bu x x x x x] | |
| 4 | um-ma {1}{d}⸢IŠ⸣.[TAR—du]-⸢ri⸣ [ARAD-ka] | |
| 5 | LUGAL {kur}u₂-ra-ar-ṭi-im-[ma] | |
| 6 | am—mi₃-ni am—mi₃-ni LUGAL be-li₂ UD-mi-[šam] | |
| 7 | ik-ki te-ku-ti u ma-le-e lib-ba-a-[ti] | |
| 8 | il-ta-nap-pa-ra AD-ka ki-i pi-i | |
| 9 | an-nim-ma kar-ṣi ša₂ {1}mu-nu-hi | |
| 10 | ki-i i-tak-kal-lu-šu₂ ul un-da-ʾi-ir | |
| 11 | u ša₂ pa-ni ar-ki im-na šu-me-lu | |
| 12 | e-la-nu u šap-la-nu i-ha-ṭu | |
| 13 | LUGAL DINGIR-MEŠ ša₂-qu-u₂ mut-tal-lu | |
| 14 | ⸢gim⸣-ri kiš-šat da-ad₂-me | |
| 15 | [a]-na ŠU.2 pa-li-hi-šu₂ uš-tam-ni | |
| 16 | aš₂-šu₂ {na₄}ZA.GIN₃ ša₂ LUGAL be-li₂ iš-pu-ra | |
| 17 | um-ma {na₄}ZA.GIN₃ liš-šu-ni | |
| 18 | LUGAL be-li₂ ul i-de-e | |
| 19 | ki-i {na₄}ZA.GIN₃ i-lu-ni | |
| 20 | u ki-i {na₄}ZA.GIN₃ at-ta-ša₂-a | |
| 21 | KUR i-si-ih-ha-an-ni | |
| r | ||
| 1 | ki-i pa-an LUGAL be-li₂-ia mah-ru | |
| 2 | e-mu-qu ma-aʾ-da-a-ti | |
| 3 | lil-li-ku-nim-ma {na₄}ZA.GIN₃ liš-šu-u₂ | |
| 4 | ki-i ša₂ it-tal-ku-ni NINDA-HI.A | |
| 5 | it-ti-šu₂-nu ul ak-kal | |
| 6 | A-MEŠ it-ti-šu₂-nu ul a-šat-ti | |
| 7 | i-tu-uš-šu₂-nu ul et-ti-iq | |
| 8 | ma-har {lu₂}DUMU—šip-ri-ka {lu₂}DUMU—šip-ri-ka ul a-te-eb-bi | |
| 9 | u₃ šul-mu LUGAL be-li₂-ia₂ | |
| 10 | ul a-ša₂-aʾ-al LUGAL a-na hi-ṭu | |
| 11 | la un-da-na-ʾa-ar | |
| 12 | a-na pi-i ša₂ [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.