ABL 0539 (P237759)
Letter, Neo-Assyrian, Nineveh · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE
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| Designation | ABL 0539 |
|---|---|
| ID | P237759 |
| 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/saa21 · Via Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus (ORACC) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (ORACC)
| Line | English |
|---|---|
| Obverse [0:2] o 1o 1–o 22 | [The king's] w[ord to Nabû-ušabši. [I am] we[ll], you [can be glad]. |
| Obverse [2:11] o 33–o 1111 | Fr[om the beginning you have ......] guarded my [treaty], and not sinned against my favour and oath. You have fallen and died on account of all the messages and orders I have been sending to you. And truly by these recent things that you have done you have surpassed everything. |
| Obverse [11:33] o 1212– | The fact that for the sake of my name you have isolated yourself, [keeping on the side of] the representative of Aššur and Marduk; that you have kept [my watch] and not made common cause with my enemy; the fact that ever since you returned [from] my presence and saw that the Babylonians, Chaldeans and Arameans were not loyal, you sent [...] your countrymen [...] and made them conclude (this) treaty with me: "We will not change nor [violate] the treaty of Assurbanipal; we will not side with his enemy; as long as we [live], we will keep the treaty [we have concluded with him]; [...] his ally shall be our ally, and we will walk with him [...]" — from these facts I have experienced your [genuine love] and loyalty [to me]. |
| Reverse [4:11] r 55–r 1111 | [Now ...] this campaign [...] set for your life. This very day, those who have sinned against my treaty — your eyes will notice how God will once again swiftly call to account those who tampered with the treaty. As for you, remain under the protection of Aššur and Marduk, and you will thrive within their castle. |
| Reverse [11:24] r 1212–r 2424 | Now then I am sending to you my eunuch Nabû-eriba, my 'third man' Nergal-šarru-uṣur, and Akkullanu of the clergy of Aššur with my treaty tablet. Join the treaty, let the confidence of my servants settle upon your countrymen and let them become confident. For my part, let me see your love and affection even more clearly, multiply the numerous favours I have already granted to you, pay back fully my debt with you, and make your name great in the assembly of Babylonia. |
| Reverse [24:25] r 2525–r 2525 | Month of Sivan (III). |
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-[mat LUGAL a-na {1}{d}AG—u₂-šab-ši] | |
| 2 | DI-[mu ia-a-ši ŠA₃-ba-ka lu-u DUG₃.GA]-ka | |
| 3 | ⸢ul⸣-[tu re-še a-di a-kan]-⸢na⸣ | |
| 4 | MUN-[HI.A ma-aʾ-da-ti] ina IGI-ia₂ | |
| 5 | tal-ta-⸢kan⸣ [ma-aṣ-ṣar-ti]-⸢ia⸣ ta-at-ta-ṣar | |
| 6 | a-na MUN-ia₂ u a-na ma-mi₃-ti-ia₂ | |
| 7 | ul tah-ṭi a-na UGU šip-re-ti-ia₂ | |
| 8 | ma-la al-tap-pa-ru-ka u a-na UGU | |
| 9 | a-mat-ia ki-i tan-qu-tu me-ta-ta | |
| 10 | u₃ kit-tu₂ ur-ki-tu a-ga-at | |
| 11 | [ša₂] te-pu-šu₂ al-la gab-bi-ši-na | |
| 12 | [tul]-ta-tir ša₂ a-na UGU šu-mi₃-ia ra-man-ga | |
| 13 | [it]-ti ša-ne₂-e ša₂ AN.ŠAR₂ {d}AMAR.UTU tap-ru-us | |
| 14 | [EN.NUN-a ta]-aṣ-ṣu-ru-ma pi-i-ka | |
| 15 | [u ŠA₃-ba-ka] it-ti EN—{lu₂}KUR₂-ia₂ EN—{lu₂}KUR₂-ia₂ la taš-ku-nu | |
| 16 | [x x x] ⸢x⸣ ša₂ ul-tu tal-li-ku | |
| 17 | [ul-tu] pa-ni-ia₂ u ta-mu-ru ša₂ KUR—URI{ki} | |
| 18 | {[kur}kal]-du u {kur}a-ra-mu la ki-ni | |
| 19 | [in-na]-⸢ak⸣-ru UN-MEŠ KUR-ka | |
| 20 | [ši-pir]-tu taš-pu-ru-ma a-de-e | |
| 21 | [it-ti]-ia₂ tu-še-pi-šu₂-nu-tu | |
| 22 | [um-ma] ⸢ki⸣ a-ni-nu a-de-e | |
| 23 | [ša₂ {1}AN.ŠAR₂]—DU₃—A nu-ul-tan-nu-u | |
| 24 | [pi-i]-⸢ni⸣ u ŠA₃-ba-ni it-ti EN—KUR₂-šu₂ EN—KUR₂-šu₂ | |
| b.e. | ||
| 25 | [ni-il]-tak-nu ma-la ⸢bal⸣-[ṭa-nu] | |
| 26 | [x x x]-di-ni a-de-e ⸢x⸣+[x] ⸢x⸣ | |
| 27 | {1}AN.ŠAR₂]—⸢DU₃⸣—A la ni-na-⸢ṣa⸣-ru | |
| r | ||
| 1 | [x x x x] EN—SILIM-šu₂ EN—SILIM-šu₂ la EN—SILIM-ni EN—SILIM-ni | |
| 2 | [x x x it]-ti-šu₂ la ni-tal-ka | |
| 3 | [x x x x]-ka u ki-nu-ut-ka | |
| 4 | [en-na] ⸢a⸣-du-u₂ ina ŠA₃ a-ta-mar | |
| 5 | [lu]-⸢u₂⸣ i-di-ka ša₂ KASKAL.2 a-ga-at | |
| 6 | [ša₂ a]-⸢na⸣ ba-la-ṭi-ka ša₂-ka-nu ki-i UD-me | |
| 7 | [a-ga]-a ša₂ a-de-ia ih-ṭu-u₂ IGI.2-ka | |
| 8 | ⸢ti⸣-da-a ak-ka-a.a-i DINGIR ina ŠU.2 | |
| 9 | [ša₂ a]-de-e u₂-še-nu-u ha-an-ṭiš u₂-tir-ru-ma | |
| 10 | [u₂]-ba-ʾu-u₂ u at-ta ina ṣil ša₂ AN.ŠAR₂ | |
| 11 | u {d}AMAR.UTU u₂-šu-uz-za-ta u₃ ina ŠA₃ | |
| 12 | i-si-ti-šu₂-nu tu-man-da en-na a-du-u₂ | |
| 13 | {1}{d}AG—SU {lu₂}SAG-ia₂ {1}U.GUR—MAN—PAB | |
| 14 | {lu₂}03.U₅-ia₂ {1}ak-kul-a-nu {lu₂}TU—E₂ {lu₂}TU—E₂ | |
| 15 | ša₂ AN.ŠAR₂ it-ti ṭup-pi a-de-ia₂ | |
| 16 | ana pa-ni-ka al-tap-raš-šu₂-nu-ti a-de-e | |
| 17 | aš₂-ba ru-hu-uṣ ša₂ ARAD-MEŠ-ia₂ | |
| 18 | ⸢KUR—tam⸣-tim-MEŠ it-ti UN-MEŠ KUR | |
| 19 | liš-šak-nu-ma ŠA₃-ba-šu₂-nu li-ir-hu-uṣ | |
| 20 | u a-na-ku-ma lu-red-di-ma ra-an-ga | |
| 21 | u ki-nu-tu₂ ša₂ ŠA₃-ka lu-mur u MUN-MEŠ-te | |
| 22 | ša₂ u₂-man-du-u lu-še-ṣip gi-mil dum-qi₂-ka | |
| 23 | u₂-šal-lim-ga u šu-me GAL-u | |
| 24 | ina UKKIN ša₂ KUR—URI{ki} lu-uš-kun-ga | |
| 25 | {⸢iti⸣}SIG₄ | |
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.