ABL 1404 (P237581)
Letter, Neo-Assyrian, Nineveh · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE
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| Designation | ABL 1404 |
|---|---|
| ID | P237581 |
| Museum no. | BM 098563 |
| 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 [0:3] o 1o 1–o 33 | To the king of the lands, [my] lo[rd]: your [serva]nt, Nergal-ibni. May [M]arduk and Z[a]rpanitu bless the king of the lands, m[y] lord. |
| Obverse [3:11] o 44–o 1111 | Ammini-ilu, a merch[a]nt from Tema, [wa]s going from here to the king of Babylon. [He was arr]ested at the city gate of Sippar, and is in fetters in Dur-Šarrukku. Let them fetch him and [qu]estion him. [No]b[o]dy from here [knows] him, and the king should not say: "[W]hy didn't I hear these things?" |
| Obverse [11:18] o 1212–o 1818 | [Nabû-ušab]ši, the haruspex, has incited the ..., [the] palace [supervisor], and the magnate[s ag]ainst me. [I ha]ve [s]ent [...] a letter [about i]t to the king, my lord. The king should summon him and [have] him [brought i]n. He must not conceal [...]. |
| Obverse [19:21] o 2020– | [...] his [so]ns to |
| Reverse [0:1] r 1r 1–r 1r 1 | [...] and Šamaš-le'i |
| Reverse [1:2] r 22–r 22 | [...] in the presence of the king of Babylon |
| Reverse [2:3] r 33–r 33 | [...] against |
| Reverse [3:4] r 44–r 44 | [...] and Birati [...] |
| Reverse [4:6] r 55–r 66 | The king should ask him, "[W]here did you send [...]?" |
| Reverse [6:7] r 77–r 77 | [H]e should appoint [...] in [...]. |
| Reverse [7:8] r 88–r 88 | [Perhaps the king, my lord], will say: "[...]" |
| Reverse [16:17] r 1717–r 1717 | for th[ese] five months [......]. |
| Reverse [17:22] r 1818– | I am a treaty partner of the king. I have come forward for a good cause. Why has an outrider carrying an arrow been standing over me for (all) these seven months? |
| Right [0:2] r.e. 22r.e. 22–r.e. 2323 | [......] against |
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 ⸢EN⸣-[ia₂] ⸢ARAD⸣-ka | |
| 2 | {1}{d}U.GUR—ib-⸢ni⸣ {d}⸢AMAR.UTU⸣ u₃ {d}⸢zar⸣-pa-ni-tum | |
| 3 | a-na LUGAL KUR.KUR EN-⸢ia₂⸣ lik-ru-bu | |
| 4 | {1}am—mi₃-ni—DINGIR {lu₂}DAM.<$QAR$> te-ma-a.a | |
| 5 | ul-tu a-ga-a a-⸢na⸣ pa-an LUGAL TIN.TIR{ki} | |
| 6 | ⸢il⸣-lak i-na KA₂ URU ša₂ {uru}UD.KIB.NUN{ki} | |
| 7 | [ṣa]-⸢ab⸣-ta u₃ {uru}BAD₃—LUGAL-uk-ki | |
| 8 | [ina] ⸢UD⸣.KA.BAR-MEŠ na-di li-bu-ku-niš-šum-ma | |
| 9 | [liš]-⸢ʾa⸣-al-lu-šu₂ ul-tu a-ga-a man-⸢na⸣ | |
| 10 | [x x]+⸢x⸣-šu₂ u₃ LUGAL la i-qab-bi | |
| 11 | [um-ma mi]-nam-ma dib-bi a-ga-a la aš₂-me | |
| 12 | {1}{d}AG—GAL₂]-ši {lu₂}HAL {lu₂}ha-ta-aš₂-ši [o] | |
| 13 | {[lu₂}ša₂—IGI]—⸢E₂⸣.GAL u₃ {lu₂}GAL-[MEŠ] | |
| 14 | [a]-⸢na⸣ [UGU]-hi-ia₂ ul-tam-hi-⸢iṣ⸣ | |
| 15 | [x] ⸢x x⸣ ši-pir-ti | |
| 16 | [ina UGU]-⸢hi⸣ a-na LUGAL EN-ia₂ | |
| 17 | [al]-⸢ta⸣-par LUGAL SAG-su liš-ši | |
| 18 | [li-bu]-⸢ku⸣-niš-šu la i-pes-sin | |
| 19 | [x x x x]+⸢x⸣ a-ba-ʾi-i | |
| 20 | [x x x x x x] ⸢DUMU⸣-MEŠ-šu₂ a-na pa-an | |
| r | ||
| 1 | [x x x x x x]+⸢x⸣-ra u₃ {1}{d}UTU—⸢A₂⸣.GAL₂ | |
| 2 | [x x x x x]+⸢x⸣-šu₂ ina pa-an LUGAL TIN.TIR{ki} | |
| 3 | [x x x x] ša₂ a-na UGU-hi | |
| 4 | [x x x x]+⸢x⸣ u₃ {uru}bi-ra-a-ta | |
| 5 | [x x x x] LUGAL liš-ʾa-al-šu₂ um-ma | |
| 6 | [x x a]-⸢na⸣ e-ka-na [o] taš-pur | |
| 7 | [x x x x] ⸢x⸣-ši ina ⸢x⸣+[x x] ⸢lip⸣-qid | |
| 8 | [x]+⸢x x⸣+[x x x x x x i]-qab-bi | |
| 9 | [x]+⸢x⸣ a [x x x x x x x]-⸢aš₂⸣ | |
| 10 | [x x x x x x x x x]+⸢x⸣-lu-šu₂ | |
| 11 | [x x x x x x x x x]-⸢te⸣ | |
| 12 | [x x x x x x x x x x]-a | |
| 13 | [x x x x x x x x x x]-hi | |
| 14 | ⸢us⸣-[x x x x x x x x x]+⸢x⸣ | |
| 15 | ⸢x x⸣+[x x x x x x x x x]+⸢x⸣ | |
| 16 | a-na ⸢x⸣+[x x x x x x x]-ši | |
| 17 | 05 ITI-MEŠ a-⸢ga⸣-[a x x x x]+⸢x⸣ | |
| 18 | EN a-de-e ša₂ ⸢LUGAL a-na-ku⸣ a-na a-mat | |
| 19 | bab-ba-ni-ti a-na pa-an at-tal-ka | |
| 20 | am—mi₃-ni am—mi₃-ni 07 ITI-MEŠ a-ga-a {lu₂}kal-la-bi | |
| 21 | ⸢šil⸣-ta-hu na-ši UGU-ia₂ u₂-šu-uz [o] | |
| r.e. | ||
| 22 | ⸢x⸣+[x] ⸢x x x x x a-na UGU⸣-hi | |
| 23 | [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.