ABL 1117 (P237256)
Letter, Neo-Assyrian, Nineveh · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE
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| Designation | ABL 1117 |
|---|---|
| ID | P237256 |
| 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 lands], my lord: [your] se[rvant, Nabû-šumu-l]išir. [M]ay Nabû and Marduk give [the king of the l]ands, m[y] lord, [long] day[s], everlasting [ye]ar[s], a [just] sce[ptre], and an [ever]lasting throne. |
| Obverse [5:12] o 66–o 1212 | When emissaries of Natnu, the Nabayatean, came to the king of Babylon, the king of Babylon sent to Natnu as an extra gift one hundred Biratians and five Assyrians, who had been taken prisoner in Cutha, servants of the king, my lord. |
| Obverse [12:16] o 1313–o 1616 | When [on]e Biratian, a servant of the king, my lord, fled [fro]m Babylon, [......] |
| Obverse [16:20] o 1717–o 2020 | [When a Biratian], a servant of the ki[ng, m]y [lord, ......] |
| Reverse [0:1] r 1'1'–r 1'1' | [... servant]s of the king. |
| Reverse [1:8] r 2'2'–r 8'8' | [When I c]aptured [...]s of the king of Babylon [..., I wrote] to the king, my lord, [and dis]tributed [...]; [i]f not, [I sen]t [...] to the king, my lord. The captives [and the emis]saries I have sent [t]o Sipp[ar], into the presence to the magnates. |
| Reverse [8:10] r 9'9'–r 10'10' | [N]ow I pray to the gods for the life of the king, my lord. |
| Reverse [10:17] r 11'11'– | Ahu-ṭab, the Biratian whom the king, my lord, sent to Bit-Amukani, has delivered the king's letter to Bit-Amukani. Now, [let them br]ing him before the king, my lord. If not, may the king, my lord, do as he deems best. |
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 | |
| 2 | ⸢ARAD⸣-[ka {1}{d}AG—MU]—⸢SI⸣.SA₂ {d}AG u {d}AMAR.UTU | |
| 3 | UD-[MEŠ GID₂.DA-MEŠ MU].⸢AN⸣.NA-[MEŠ] da-ra-a-ta | |
| 4 | {giš}⸢NIG₂⸣.[PA i-šar-tu] {giš}GU.⸢ZA⸣ [da]-ru-u₂ | |
| 5 | a-na [LUGAL] ⸢KUR⸣.KUR be-li₂-⸢ia lid⸣-din-nu | |
| 6 | {lu₂}ṣi-ra-ne₂-e ša₂ {1}na-at-nu | |
| 7 | {lu₂}na-ba-a-tu-u₂-a a-na pa-an LUGAL TIN.TIR{ki} | |
| 8 | ki-i il-li-ku-u₂-ni 01-me {uru}bir-ta-a.a | |
| 9 | u 05 KUR—aš-šur ša₂ i-na GU₂.DU₈.A{ki} | |
| 10 | ṣa-ab-tu ARAD-MEŠ ša₂ LUGAL be-li₂-ia₂ | |
| 11 | a-na nu-up-tu LUGAL TIN.TIR{ki} | |
| 12 | ⸢a⸣-na {1}na-at-nu ul-te-bi-li | |
| 13 | 01.⸢en⸣ {lu₂}bir-ta-a.a ARAD ša₂ LUGAL EN-ia₂ | |
| 14 | [ul]-⸢tu⸣ TIN.TIR{ki} ki-i ih-li-qa | |
| 15 | [x x x]+⸢x⸣-nu ⸢ki-i x x x⸣-ia₂ | |
| 16 | [x x x]+⸢x⸣-bu-⸢u₂⸣ [x x x x] | |
| 17 | {[lu₂}bir-ta]-a.a ARAD ⸢LUGAL⸣ [be-li₂]-⸢ia₂⸣ | |
| 18 | [x x] ⸢x⸣-bu ⸢u₂⸣-[x x x x] | |
| 19 | [x x x x]+⸢x⸣+[x x x x x]{⸢ki⸣} | |
| 20 | [x x x x]-ti [x x x x] | |
| r | ||
| 1' | [x x x x x x]-⸢MEŠ⸣ ša₂ LUGAL | |
| 2' | [x x x x x]+⸢x⸣-ti ša₂ LUGAL TIN.TIR{ki} | |
| 3' | [x x ki-i] ⸢aṣ⸣-ba-ta a-na LUGAL EN-ia₂ | |
| 4' | [al-tap-ra x x a]-zu-⸢za ia⸣-a-nu-um-ma | |
| 5' | [x x x x]+⸢x a-na pa⸣-an LUGAL EN-ia₂ | |
| 6' | [al-tap]-ra hu-ub-tu | |
| 7' | [u {lu₂}ṣi]-⸢ra-ne₂-e⸣ a-na pa-an {lu₂}GAL-MEŠ | |
| 8' | [a-na] UGU UD.KIB.⸢NUN⸣{[ki]} ⸢al⸣-ta-par-šu₂-nu-ti | |
| 9' | [a]-du-u₂ DINGIR-MEŠ ⸢a-na⸣ ba-laṭ ZI-MEŠ | |
| 10' | ša₂ LUGAL be-li₂-ia u₂-ṣal-li | |
| 11' | {1}ŠEŠ—DUG₃.GA {lu₂}bir-ta-a.a | |
| 12' | ša₂ a-na {uru}E₂—e-muk-a-nu | |
| 13' | LUGAL EN-a iš-pu-ru-šu₂ | |
| 14' | ši-pir-ti ša₂ LUGAL a-na {uru}E₂—e-muk-a-nu | |
| 15' | ⸢it⸣-ta-din en-na ina pa-an LUGAL EN-ia₂ | |
| 16' | [lu]-⸢bi⸣-lu-šu₂ ia-a-nu ⸢ki-i⸣ ša₂ LUGAL EN-a | |
| r.e. | ||
| 17 | [i]-⸢le⸣-ʾu-u₂ li-pu-uš | |
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.