ABL 0774 (P237651)
Letter, Neo-Assyrian, Nineveh · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE
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| Designation | ABL 0774 |
|---|---|
| ID | P237651 |
| 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/saa17 · Via Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus (ORACC) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (ORACC)
| Line | English |
|---|---|
| Obverse [0:4] o 1o 1–o 44 | To the king, our lord: your servants Abi-yaqiya, Abi-yadi', Zerutu, Šulluma and Ahi-bigayanu. May Bel and Nabû bless the king, our lord. |
| Obverse [4:12] o 55–o 1212 | As of now, Fort Šama'unu is abandoned. There is nobody there except 200 scratch soldiers, and there is no food there except for the travel provisions which they carry with them. Moreover, they have cut off the water between us and the land of Rašu. Nobo[dy] from Rašu has (been able to) c[ome] to you. |
| Obverse [12:17] o 1313–o 1717 | However, I have spoken with the sheikhs of [GN], of Dummuqu, and of [GN]. All of them are servant[s of the king, my lord]. They have sent their letters to the king, my lord, with my [messen]ger. |
| Obverse [17:20] o 1818–o 2020 | It may not be postponed until later! May the army reach us quickly, so that I can give the whole country back to the king, my lord! |
| Obverse [20:26] o 2121– | The king, my lord, should not say: "You wrote me once, and I sent you troops; what did you give me [as compensation]?" |
| Reverse [0:6] r 1r 1–r 66 | [Abi-y]aqar, the P[uq]udean, does not wish the recovery of the land in the king's presence, he is looking for revenge. He has changed the timetable which he had set. Obliging poverty and robbery, he is (thinking) to take booty for himself. He does not wish the clasping of hands. |
| Reverse [6:9] r 77–r 99 | So, I am sitting in my house with Indabiya, the chiliarch, trodden down. If not, I would have delivered the fortified place to the king. |
| Reverse [9:18] r 1010–r 1818 | The captive Elamite held in Abi-yaqar's prison, who k[nows] my affairs and had heard (them) in the presence of Abi-yaqar and seen my letter — Abi-yaqar's palace manager released him for one mina of silver. And when he came, he testified for me before the legate of Rašu so we were not killed, but our sons are being held as hostages. |
| Reverse [18:26] r 1919– | Now the whole country has raised its hand towards the king. May the army come and take its hand! I swear by Bel and Zarpanitu, Nabû and Marduk, the wise one, that the words which we have sent to the king our lord in this letter are true, out of our heart. |
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 be-li₂-ni ARAD-MEŠ-ka | |
| 2 | {1}AD—ia-qi₂-ia {1}AD—ia-di-iʾ | |
| 3 | {1}NUMUN-u₂-tu {1}šul-lum-a {1}ŠEŠ—bi-ga-a.a-nu | |
| 4 | d.EN u {d}AG a-na LUGAL be-li₂-ni lik-ru-bu | |
| 5 | a-du-u₂ du-u₂-ru ša₂ {uru}ša₂-ma-u₂-nu | |
| 6 | muš-šur mam-ma ina ŠA₃-bi ia-a-nu al-la | |
| 7 | 02 me ERIM-MEŠ su-ub-bu-su-tu u₃ PAD-HI.A | |
| 8 | ina ŠA₃-bi ia-a-nu al-la ṣi-di-is-su-nu | |
| 9 | ša₂ it-ti-šu₂-nu i-na-aš₂-šu₂-u₂-ma | |
| 10 | u₃ A-MEŠ i-na bi-ri-na u i-na | |
| 11 | bi-rit {kur}ra-a-šu₂ ip-tar-su a-a-⸢um⸣-[ma] | |
| 12 | ša₂ {kur}ra-a-šu₂ a-na UGU-ka ul ⸢il⸣-[li-ka] | |
| 13 | u₃ it-ti {lu₂}na-si-ku ša₂ {uru}[x x x] | |
| 14 | ša₂ {uru}du-um-mu-qu u ša₂ {uru}[x x x x] | |
| 15 | ad-di-bu-ub gab-bi-šu₂-nu ARAD-[MEŠ ša₂ LUGAL EN-ia] | |
| 16 | ši-pi-re-ti-šu₂-nu it-ti {[lu₂}A]—⸢KIN⸣-ia₂ | |
| 17 | a-na LUGAL EN-ia il-tap-ru-u₂-[ma a]-na | |
| 18 | ar₂-ra-ka-a-ti la it-[ta-na-aš₂]-kan | |
| 19 | ha-an-ṭiš e-mu-qu lik-šu₂-dan-ši-ma | |
| 20 | KUR gab-bi lu-tir-ram-ma a-na LUGAL | |
| 21 | EN-ia lud-din LUGAL EN-a la i-qab-bi | |
| 22 | um-ma 01.en-šu₂ tal-tap-ra u e-mu-qu | |
| 23 | al-tap-rak-ka mi-nu-⸢u₂⸣ [mul-le-e] | |
| b.e. | ||
| 24 | ta-ad-di-na | |
| r | ||
| 1 | {1}[AD]—⸢ia⸣-qar {lu₂}⸢pu-qu⸣-da-a.a | |
| 2 | šul-mu-u₂ ša₂ KUR a-na pa-an LUGAL EN-ia₂ | |
| 3 | ul ṣi-bi tuk-te-e u₂-ba-ʾa ši-kin | |
| 4 | [ša₂] a-dan-nu ša₂ iš-ku-nu ul-te-en-nu | |
| 5 | ma-ku-tu₂ rak-šu₂ u hu-ub-ti um-ma a-na | |
| 6 | ram-ni-ia lu-bu-uk ṣa-ba-a-ti ša₂ ŠU.2 | |
| 7 | ul ṣi-bu u a-na-ku {1}in-da-bi-ia₂ {lu₂}GAL—01-lim {lu₂}GAL—01-lim | |
| 8 | it-ti-ia ina E₂-ia kab-sa-an-ni | |
| 9 | ia-a-nu-u₂ du-u₂-ru a-na LUGAL at-ta-din-ma | |
| 10 | e-la-mu-u₂ hab-tu ša₂ ina E₂—ki-li E₂—ki-li | |
| 11 | ša₂ {1}AD—ia-qar ṣab-tu ša₂ dib-bi-ia₂ i-[du-u₂] | |
| 12 | i-na pa-an {1}AD—ia-qar iš-mu-u₂ [x] | |
| 13 | u₃ ši-pir-ta-a i-mu-ru {lu₂}GAL—E₂.⸢GAL⸣ {lu₂}GAL—E₂.⸢GAL⸣ | |
| 14 | ša₂ {1}AD—ia-qar a-na 01 MA.NA KUG.UD | |
| 15 | un-diš-šir₃-šu₂ u ki-i il-li-ka | |
| 16 | ina pa-an {lu₂}TIL.LA.AN.GID₂.DA ša₂ | |
| 17 | {kur}ra-a-šu₂ uk-tin-na-an-ni-ma la-a | |
| 18 | di-ka-nu-ma DUMU-MEŠ-na a-na | |
| 19 | maš-ka-nu-tu ṣab-tu-uʾ en-na KUR gab-bi | |
| 20 | ŠU.2-su-nu a-na LUGAL id-di-ku-u₂ e-mu-qu | |
| 21 | lik-šu-dam-ma ŠU.2-su-nu li-iṣ-bat | |
| 22 | d.EN u {d}zar-pa-ni-ti {d}AG u {d}AMAR.UTU | |
| 23 | IGI.⸢GAL₂ lu⸣-u₂ i-du-u₂ ki-i [dib]-bi | |
| 24 | ma-⸢la⸣ [ina] ši-pir-ti a-ga-a a-na | |
| r.e. | ||
| 25 | LUGAL be-li₂-ni niš-pu-ra gab-bi | |
| 26 | la ki-i-nu ŠA₃-bi-i-na | |
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.