ABL 1373 (P237537)
Letter, Neo-Assyrian, Nineveh · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE
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| Designation | ABL 1373 |
|---|---|
| ID | P237537 |
| Museum no. | BM 098986 |
| 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/saa10 · Via Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus (ORACC) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (ORACC)
| Line | English |
|---|---|
| Obverse [0:2] o 1o 1–o 22 | To the king of the lands, my lord: your servant Bel-ušezib. May Bel, Nabû and Šamaš bless the king, my lord! |
| Obverse [2:3] o 33–o 33 | If the moon becomes visible on the 1st day: reliable speech, the land will become happy. |
| Obverse [3:4] o 44–o 44 | [If the day] reaches its normal length: a reign of long days. |
| Obverse [4:5] o 55–o 55 | [If the moon at its ap]pearance wears a crown: the king will reach the highest rank. |
| Obverse [5:6] o 66–o 66 | The mayor of Babylon [...... Na'id-Ma]rduk of Bit-Yakin on account of |
| Obverse [6:7] o 77–o 77 | [...]. He became angry and [......] in his presence |
| Obverse [7:8] o 88–o 88 | [...]-ilu son of Illil-zera-ibni in his presence |
| Obverse [8:9] o 99–o 99 | [...] He said to him as follows: |
| Obverse [9:10] o 1010–o 1010 | "[...], and let them be thrown into prison." |
| Obverse [10:12] o 1111–o 1212 | [... ...]-ilu is saying: "Concerning |
| Reverse [2:3] r 3'3'–r 3'3' | [As] to the news of Bel-[......] |
| Reverse [3:4] r 4'4'–r 4'4' | [......] Adad-šumu-uṣur the brother of [Nabû-zeru-lešir ...] |
| Reverse [4:7] r 5'5'–r 7'7' | [The lord of kings] may ask the team commander; if [it is acceptable to the king], let him appoint him [as his exorcist]. I am sending to the king, my lord], a recommendation only, and the king should do as he deems best. |
| Reverse [7:9] r 8'8'–r 9'9' | I am [a dog of the king], my [lord, passing] to the king, my lord, whatever I hear, but the king should act in accordance with his ability. [Who] is as able as the king, my lord? |
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}{d}EN—u₂-še-zib | |
| 2 | {d}EN {d}AG u {d}UTU a-na LUGAL be-li₂-ia lik-ru-bu | |
| 3 | 1 {d}30 UD 01-KAM₂ IGI.LAL KA GIN-an ŠA₃ KUR DUG₃-ab | |
| 4 | 1 UD-mu] ina ŠID-MEŠ-šu₂ GID₂.DA BALA-e UD-MEŠ GID₂.DA-MEŠ | |
| 5 | 1 30 ina] ⸢IGI⸣.LAL-šu₂ AGA a-pir LUGAL SAG.KAL-tu₂ DU-ak | |
| 6 | {1}na-id—{d]}⸢AMAR⸣.UTU DUMU {1}ia-ki-nu {lu₂}ha-za-an-nu TIN.TIR{ki} a-na UGU-hi | |
| 7 | [x x x x]-su-ni-šu₂ ŠA₃-ba-šu₂ ki-i iš-hi-ṭu i-na pa-ni-šu₂ | |
| 8 | [x x x x x]+⸢x⸣—DINGIR DUMU-šu₂ ša₂ {1}{d}EN.LIL₂—NUMUN—ib-ni i-na pa-ni-šu₂ | |
| 9 | [x x x x x]+⸢x⸣-<$e$>-šu₂ šu-u₂ iq-ta-ba-aš₂-šu₂ um-ma | |
| 10 | [x x x x]-⸢ti⸣ u₃ a-na E₂—kil-li E₂—kil-li li-is-su-⸢ku-šu₂⸣-nu-tu₂ | |
| 11 | [x x x x x x]+⸢x⸣—DINGIR i-qab-bi um-ma a-na UGU-hi | |
| 12 | [x x x x x x x x]+⸢x x x x x x⸣+[x x] | |
| r | ||
| 1' | [x x x x x x x] LUGAL [x x x x x x x x] | |
| 2' | [x x x x x x] i-ri-⸢x⸣+[x x x x x x x x] | |
| 3' | [x x a-na UGU]-hi ṭe₃-e-mu ša₂ {1}{d}EN—[x x x x x x] | |
| 4' | [x x] ⸢x⸣-ni—[x]+⸢x⸣—DINGIR-MEŠ {1}{d}IM—MU—ŠEŠ ŠEŠ {1}{d}AG—NUMUN—SI.SA₂ [x x x] | |
| 5' | [EN LUGAL-MEŠ {lu₂}GAL]—u₂-ra-tu {lu₂}GAL]—u₂-ra-tu liš-al ki-i a-na ⸢pa⸣-[an LUGAL mah-ru] | |
| 6' | {[lu₂}MAŠ.MAŠ-u₂-ti] li-ip-qid-su a-na-ku ša tah-sis-⸢ti⸣ [a-na] | |
| 7' | [LUGAL be-li₂-ia] ⸢al⸣-tap-ra u₃ EN LUGAL-MEŠ ki-i ša₂ i-le-ʾu-u₂ li-pu-šu₂ | |
| 8' | [UR.KU ša₂ LUGAL EN]-ia a-na-ku mim-ma ma-la a-šem-mu-u₂ a-na LUGAL be-li₂-ia₂ | |
| 9' | [u₂-še-eš-me] u₃ EN LUGAL-MEŠ ki-i le-ʾu-u₂-ti-šu₂ li-pu-uš | |
| 10' | [man-nu ki]-i LUGAL be-li₂-ia i-le-ʾi | |
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.