ABL 1255 (P237652)
Letter, Neo-Assyrian, Nineveh · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE
Open in the reader & map →See it among all tablets
| Designation | ABL 1255 |
|---|---|
| ID | P237652 |
| 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 servant, [NN]. May [Bel and Nabû] ordain a life of [long] days [of] happiness, [... of ki]ngship, and an enduring throne of the k[ing, my lord, for] everlasting days. |
| Obverse [5:9] o 66–o 99 | Conce[rning the matte]rs about which the king, the lord, wrote, say[ing]: "[From wh]om did you hear them?" — Zakir, [the ...] of the brother-in-law of [NN] told them to me. |
| Obverse [9:13] o 1010–o 1313 | [All the forme]r and later [rumours which] I have written [to the ki]ng, my lord, [I have heard from the comman]dant of Kish and from Zakir. [I wrote] to the king, my lord, what they had to say. |
| Obverse [13:18] o 1414–o 1818 | [If] the king, the lord, wishes, let me try to hear [about the affairs of] Ṣillaya. [Let me cho]ose [...], and let [Mardu]k-naṣir and Zakir report his [...] to the king. |
| Obverse [18:19] o 1919–o 1919 | [...] should [n]ot question him |
| Obverse [19:20] o 2020–o 2020 | [...] should [no]t argue ... |
| Obverse [20:21] o 2121–o 2121 | [...] should not keep him under guard. |
| Bottom [0:14] b.e. 22b.e. 22– | Ze[rutiya] broug[ht] in Bel-ipuš and Be[l]-bu[lliṭ] from Dilbat, (but) the king did not listen to what they said, and Ṣill[aya] has cunningly returned th[em] to Dilbat, telling them to mobilise archers. [I]f they have not mobilised archers, shouldn't he mobilise some, if there are none? He sends back men who have com[e] to him, telling himself: "They should not make my affairs known and no witnesses against me should stay here." May the king ask Zerutiya why he brought them in. |
| Reverse [10:15] r 1111–r 1515 | Zerutiya (also) brought in Bel-ahhe-Marduk, a legal adversary of Bel-iddin, (but) nobody brought him to the court, (and) Ṣillaya has annulled the case. The king should ask him why he came. |
| Reverse [15:22] r 1616– | And as for me, my life is indeed entrusted to the king, my lord! He (= Ṣillaya) is going to destroy and kill us all by oppression. Besides having taken my property [..., he has ...ed] whatever he gave me. I keep telling him [...] |
| Right [1:2] r.e. 2222–r.e. 2222 | [...] men |
| Right [2:4] r.e. 2323– | [... s]ays, "[... t]o him ... [...] |
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}x x x {d}EN u {d}AG] ba-laṭ UD-me | |
| 3 | [GID₂.DA-MEŠ ša₂ o] ṭu-ub ŠA₃-bi | |
| 4 | ⸢da⸣-[x x] ⸢LUGAL⸣-u₂-ti u la-bar {giš}GU.ZA | |
| 5 | ša₂ ⸢LUGAL⸣ [EN-ia ana] UD-me da-ru-ti liq-bu-u₂ | |
| 6 | ana ⸢UGU⸣ [dib]-⸢bi⸣ ša₂ LUGAL EN iš-pur | |
| 7 | ⸢um⸣-[ma ina pi] ⸢man⸣-ni taš-mi {1}za-kir | |
| 8 | [x x x x x] ⸢ša₂⸣ DUMU e-me-šu₂ | |
| 9 | [ša₂ {1}x x x] ⸢iq⸣-ta-ba-a | |
| 10 | [da-ba-bu ar-ku]-⸢u₂⸣ u mah-ru-u₂ | |
| 11 | [ša₂ a-na] ⸢LUGAL⸣ EN-ia₂ aš₂-pur | |
| 12 | [ina pi {lu₂}GAR]—⸢UMUŠ⸣ {lu₂}GAR]—⸢UMUŠ⸣ ša₂ KIŠ{ki} u {1}za-kir | |
| 13 | [al-te-me] ⸢ša₂⸣ pi-šu₂-nu ana LUGAL ⸢EN⸣-ia₂ | |
| 14 | [al-tap-ra ki-i] LUGAL EN ṣe-bu-u₂ | |
| 15 | [x x x x x {1}ṣil-la-a lu-uš-me | |
| 16 | [x x x lu-us]-⸢si⸣-iq-ma | |
| 17 | [x x {1}{d}AMAR].⸢UTU⸣—PAB-ir u {1}za-kir | |
| 18 | [x x x x x x]+⸢x⸣-šu₂ ana LUGAL liq-⸢bu⸣-u₂ | |
| 19 | [x x x x x] ⸢la⸣ i-ša₂-ʾa-al-šu₂ ⸢x x⸣ | |
| 20 | [x x x x] ⸢la⸣ i-ga-ar₂-ru ⸢x x⸣ | |
| 21 | [x x x] ⸢la⸣ i-na-aṣ-⸢ṣar⸣-šu₂ | |
| b.e. | ||
| 22 | {1}{d}EN—DU₃-uš u {1}{d}⸢EN—TIN⸣-[iṭ o] | |
| 23 | {lu₂}{⸢uru}dil⸣-bat{ki}u₂-a {1}NUMUN⸣-[u₂-ti-ia₂] | |
| 24 | i-⸢tab-kaš⸣-šu₂-nu-ti | |
| r | ||
| 1 | LUGAL ša₂ pi-šu₂-nu ul iš-me u {1}ṣil-⸢la⸣-[a] | |
| 2 | ina ni-kil-tum ana {uru}dil-bat{ki} ut-tir-šu₂-⸢nu⸣-[ti] | |
| 3 | um-ma ERIM-ME ša₂ {giš}BAN di-ka-a-ni ⸢ki⸣-i | |
| 4 | šu₂-nu ERIM-ME {giš}BAN la id-de-ku-ni mam-ma-a | |
| 5 | ki-i ia-a-aʾ-nu-um-ma la i-de-ek-ka-a | |
| 6 | ERIM-ME ša₂ ana UGU-hi-šu₂ il-li-ku-⸢ni⸣ [ana] ⸢ku-tal⸣-lu | |
| 7 | u₂-šah-ha-as um-ma dib-bi-ia₂ | |
| 8 | la u₂-ša₂-aš₂-mu-u₂ u {lu₂}mu-kin-ni-ia₂ | |
| 9 | a-kan-na la iz-za-az-zi {1}NUMUN-u₂-ti-ia₂ | |
| 10 | LUGAL liš-ʾa-al ana UGU mi-ni-i i-bu-kaš-šu₂-nu-ti | |
| 11 | {1}{⸢d⸣}EN—ŠEŠ-ME—{d}AMAR.UTU {lu₂}EN—di-i-nu {lu₂}EN—di-i-nu ša₂ {1}{d}EN—MU | |
| 12 | {1}NUMUN-u₂-ti-ia i-tab-kaš-šu₂ mam-ma ana di-i-nu | |
| 13 | ul u₂-še-ṣa-aš₂-šu₂ {1}ṣil-la-a ik-ta-ba-as | |
| 14 | LUGAL liš-ʾa-al-šu₂ ana UGU mi-ni-i | |
| 15 | il-li-ka | |
| 16 | u ana-ku nap-ša₂-ti-ia₂ ana LUGAL EN-ia₂ | |
| 17 | lu-u₂ pa-aq-da gab-bi na-a-ši | |
| 18 | ⸢u₂⸣-qat₂-te-e-ma ina tuk-ka-a-ti | |
| 19 | [i]-⸢da⸣-a-ki ana UGU ša₂ NIG₂.ŠID-ia₂ | |
| 20 | [x x] ⸢iš⸣-šu₂-u₂ ma-la ⸢id⸣-di-na | |
| r.e. | ||
| 21 | [x x x x] ⸢a-qa⸣-ba-aš₂-šu₂ | |
| 22 | [x x x x x x]+⸢x⸣ ERIM-ME | |
| 23 | [x x x x i]-⸢qab-bi⸣ | |
| e. | ||
| 1 | um-⸢ma⸣ [x x x ana] ⸢UGU⸣-hi-šu₂ us ⸢ka⸣ [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.