CT 54, 017 (P237452)
Letter, Neo-Assyrian, Nineveh · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE
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| Designation | CT 54, 017 |
|---|---|
| ID | P237452 |
| 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 1'1'–o 5'5' | [The ...s wh]om [the king, my lord, sta]tioned [in Babylon f]or guard duty, [have turned] their [...] against the king, my lord. They are [capt]uring [...] and subjugating the city, and [...] in their midst [have ...] Šamaš- šumu-ukin. |
| Obverse [5:10] o 6'6'–o 10'10' | The Babylonians have several times performed the ritual on [the city gate, and on the xth day th]ey [have lo]cked it. And [Šam]aš-šumu-ukin has spoken to them as [follows]: |
| Obverse [10:13] o 11'11'–o 13'13' | "[If the king of Assyria] and your brothers who [are] in [Assyria should march] against you, [the gods...] will make them retreat and throw [......] in manacles." |
| Obverse [13:14] o 14'14'–o 14'14' | [......] Šamaš-šumu-ukin |
| Obverse [14:15] o 15'15'–o 15'15' | [...] their [...] against Babylon |
| Obverse [17:18] o 18'18'–o 18'18' | [......] Babylon |
| Obverse [18:19] o 19'19'–o 19'19' | [......] their [...] |
| Obverse [19:20] o 20'20'–o 20'20' | [......] arms |
| Obverse [20:21] o 21'21'–o 21'21' | [......] their [...] |
| Obverse [21:22] o 22'22'–o 22'22' | [......] and the people |
| Obverse [22:25] o 23'23'–o 25'25' | [......] their [...] |
| Reverse [0:1] r 1r 1–r 1r 1 | [......] a good cause |
| Reverse [1:2] r 22–r 22 | [......] let them enter [...]and |
| Reverse [2:3] r 33–r 33 | [......] let him do |
| Reverse [3:4] r 44–r 44 | [...... sa]ying: "Just as |
| Reverse [4:5] r 55–r 55 | [......] them and |
| Reverse [5:6] r 66–r 66 | [......] Now |
| Reverse [6:7] r 77–r 77 | [......] are making [...] and |
| Reverse [7:8] r 88–r 88 | [...... Bel-l]e'i, their commandant |
| Reverse [8:9] r 99–r 99 | [......] has placed |
| Reverse [9:10] r 1010–r 1010 | [......] they are full |
| Reverse [10:11] r 1111–r 1111 | [......] their intention |
| Reverse [11:12] r 1212–r 1212 | [... Nobody] has entered or left [B]abylon. |
| Reverse [12:13] r 1313–r 1313 | [...] are [the ones who] did the [w]ork. Didn't they do it? |
| Reverse [13:15] r 1414–r 1515 | [...] are saying: "If Šamaš-šumu-ukin captures [...] and |
| Reverse [15:16] r 1616–r 1616 | [(if) ...] capture [...] |
| Reverse [16:17] r 1717–r 1717 | [......] their troops who |
| Reverse [17:18] r 1818–r 1818 | [......] st[oo]d |
| Reverse [18:19] r 1919–r 1919 | [......] and the rest of Babylon |
| Reverse [19:20] r 2020–r 2020 | [......] upon our word |
| Reverse [20:21] r 2121–r 2121 | [......] heaped up and they |
| Reverse [21:22] r 2222–r 2222 | [......] of conquering |
| Reverse [22:23] r 2323–r 2323 | [......] And if they are released and |
| Reverse [23:24] r 2424–r 2424 | [...... the kin]gship and Bel-ibni |
| Reverse [24:26] r 2525–r 2626 | [......] they are plotting and |
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' | [x x x x x ša₂ LUGAL be-li₂-a a]-⸢na ma-aṣ-ṣar-ta⸣ | |
| 2' | [x x x x x u₂-ša₂]-⸢az⸣-zi-⸢zu⸣-šu₂-nu-ti | |
| 3' | [x x x x x x x pa]-⸢ni⸣-šu₂-nu a-na UGU LUGAL EN-ia₂ | |
| 4' | [x x x x x x u₂-ṣab]-⸢ba⸣-tu u URU i-kab-ba-su-ma | |
| 5' | [x x x x x x x x] ina ŠA₃-bi-šu₂-nu {d}GIŠ.NU₁₁—⸢MU⸣—GIN | |
| 6' | [x x x x x x x x] 02-šu₂ 03-šu₂ dul-lu ša₂ ina UGU | |
| 7' | [x x x x x x x] {⸢lu₂⸣}TIN.TIR{ki}MEŠ i-tep-šu-ma | |
| 8' | [x x x x x x i-te]-ed-lu-ši-ma ki-i | |
| 9' | [x x x x x x {d}GIŠ].⸢NU₁₁⸣—MU—GIN iq-ta-ba-⸢aš₂⸣-šu₂-nu-tu₂ | |
| 10' | [um-ma x x x x x] ⸢u₃⸣ ŠEŠ-MEŠ-ku-nu ša₂ ⸢i⸣-na | |
| 11' | [x x x x x x x x]+⸢x⸣-u a-na tar-ṣi-ku-nu | |
| 12' | [x x x x x x x x]+⸢x x u₂⸣-tar-ru-šu₂-nu-ti-ma | |
| 13' | [x x x x x x x x]-ni iṣ—⸢ŠU⸣.2 i-nam-du-šu₂-nu-tu₂ | |
| 14' | [x x x x x x x x] {⸢d⸣}GIŠ.NU₁₁—MU—GI.NA | |
| 15' | [x x x x x x x x]+⸢x⸣-šu₂-nu ina UGU TIN.TIR{ki} | |
| 16' | [x x x x x x x x] ⸢x x x⸣ ra ⸢x⸣+[x] ⸢x x⸣ | |
| 17' | [x x x x x x x x x x] ⸢x x⸣ [x] ⸢x⸣ | |
| 18' | [x x x x x x x x x x x x]+⸢x⸣ TIN.TIR{ki} | |
| 19' | [x x x x x x x x x x x x]+⸢x⸣-šu₂-nu | |
| 20' | [x x x x x x x x x x x] ⸢a⸣-hi | |
| 21' | [x x x x x x x x x x x]-ni-šu₂-nu | |
| 22' | [x x x x x x x x x x x] u₃ UN-MEŠ | |
| 23' | [x x x x x x x x x x x x]+⸢x⸣-ri-šu₂-nu | |
| 24' | [x 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 x x] | |
| r | ||
| 1 | [x x x x x x x x x x x]+⸢x⸣ a-mat bab-ba-ni-⸢ti⸣ | |
| 2 | [x x x x x x x x x]{⸢ki⸣} li-ru-bu-u₂-ma | |
| 3 | [x x x x x x x x x x]+⸢x⸣ li-pu-uš | |
| 4 | [x x x x x x x x x] ⸢um⸣-ma ŠA₃-bu-u₂ | |
| 5 | [x x x x x x x x x x]+⸢x⸣-šu₂-nu-ti-ma | |
| 6 | [x x x x x x x x x x]-ri-mu en-na | |
| 7 | [x x x x x x x x x x] ⸢ip⸣-pu-šu-ma | |
| 8 | [x x x x x x x x {1}{d}EN]—⸢DA⸣ {lu₂}GAR—UMUŠ-šu₂-nu {lu₂}GAR—UMUŠ-šu₂-nu | |
| 9 | [x x x x x x x x x x x]+⸢x⸣ il-ta-⸢ak-na⸣ | |
| 10 | [x x x x x x x x x x x]+⸢x⸣-ti ma-lu-u₂ | |
| 11 | [x x x x x x x] ⸢x x⸣-ti ṭe₃-en-šu₂-nu | |
| 12 | [x x x x a-na] ⸢TIN⸣.TIR{ki} ul i-ru-ub ul u₂-ṣa-⸢a⸣ | |
| 13 | [x x x x x x] ⸢dul-la i⸣-pu-šu šu₂-nu ul i-pu-šu-⸢uʾ⸣ | |
| 14 | [x x x x x x i]-qab-bu-u₂ ⸢um-ma ki-i⸣ | |
| 15 | [x x x x x x x] {⸢d⸣}GIŠ.NU₁₁—⸢MU—GIN⸣ u₂-⸢ṣab-bi-ta-ma⸣ | |
| 16 | [x x x x x x x] uṣ-ṣab-bi-⸢tu a-na x x⸣ | |
| 17 | [x x x x x x x x]+⸢x ERIM⸣-MEŠ-šu₂-nu ša₂ a-⸢na⸣ | |
| 18 | [x x x x x x x x]-⸢ša₂-šu₂ i-zi⸣-[iz]-zu | |
| 19 | [x x x x x x x x x]+⸢x⸣-šu₂ ⸢u₃ šit⸣-ti TIN.⸢TIR{ki⸣} | |
| 20 | [x x x x x x x x x] ⸢u₂ x⸣-is a-na UGU ⸢a-mat-i⸣-ni | |
| 21 | [x x x x x x x x x x]+⸢x⸣ iš-pu-⸢ka⸣-ma šu₂-nu-⸢ma⸣ | |
| 22 | [x x x x x x x x x x]+⸢x x x x x x⸣ ša₂ ka-šad | |
| 23 | [x x x x x x x x x x]+⸢x u₃ ki-i⸣ paṭ-ru-ma | |
| 24 | [x x x x x x x x x] ⸢LUGAL⸣-u₂-⸢tu u₃ {1}{d}EN—ib⸣-ni | |
| 25 | [x x x x x x x x x] ⸢x x x x i-dab-bu-bu⸣-ma | |
| 26 | [x 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.