ABL 0542 (P237783)
Letter, Neo-Assyrian, Nineveh · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE
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| Designation | ABL 0542 |
|---|---|
| ID | P237783 |
| 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 [0:5] o 1o 1–o 55 | Your servant Bel-iqiša: I would gladly die for Sargon, the king of the universe, my lord! May Nabû and Marduk bless the king! Say to the king, my lord: I pray daily to Bel and Nabû for the good health of the king, my lord. |
| Obverse [5:18] o 66–o 1818 | The king did not listen to any of the earlier reports that we sent to the king, my lord. Now after the delegates of Bit-Dakuri of one accord had written to Merodach-Baladan, and the šandabakku together with Nabû-le'i the governor and the troops of Bit-Yakin had marched to (Bab)-bitqi and the prefect had turned the charioteers of Bit-Dakuri, the Arameans and the men of Bit-Dakuri against him (= Merodach-Baladan), the delegates have been silent, because they have become afraid. The others, having heard (the news), have retreated. |
| Obverse [18:30] o 1919– | But the leading men who do not keep the land in order and to whose words the king has listened, after making their views public, are now incessantly sending deceitful messages and fortifying their cities. The king should not wait for the outcome! The army should come to Bab-bitqa. And before the army comes, the following message from the king should be brought to the prefect and Ana-Nabû-taklak: |
| Reverse [4:13] r 55–r 1313 | "According to what I have heard, Merodach-Baladan is doing repair work in Larak and is settling Hasinu, the Yašumean, with his family and his Arameans there. (That is why) I am now sending the army to you. Together with the army, lead Da'ini and his Larakeans, who are with you, to Larak so he can enter it, until I arrive personally." |
| Reverse [13:16] r 1414–r 1616 | They will listen carefully and not refuse, and the king will attain his objective. We for our part have written to the king what we know. The king may do as he wishes. |
| Reverse [16:26] r 1717– | Should the king do thus, the king could also say: "I have made the land great again and have built a powerful fortress on the border of the lands." I have written to the king because I am desperate! The king should not hesitate, for we are now at our limits, and your servants and the land of Akkad threaten to slide out of your hand. The message is due to distressful danger. Now [...] Imr[a...] |
| Right [0:1] r.e. 26r.e. 26–r.e. 26r.e. 26 | [...] is to write and [...] |
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 | ARAD-⸢ka⸣ {1}{d}⸢EN—BA-ša₂⸣ a-⸢na di-na⸣-an | |
| 2 | LUGAL—u₂-kin LUGAL ŠU₂ be-li₂-ia lul-lik | |
| 3 | d.AG u {d}AMAR.UTU a-na LUGAL lik-ru-bu | |
| 4 | um-ma-a a-na LUGAL be-li₂-ia-a-ma | |
| 5 | UD-mu-us-su a-na ba-laṭ ZI-MEŠ ša₂ LUGAL be-li₂-ia₂ | |
| 6 | d.EN u {d}AG u₂-ṣal-li dib-bi mah-ru-ti | |
| 7 | ma-la a-na LUGAL be-li₂-ia ni-il-tap-ra | |
| 8 | LUGAL ul iš-me en-na {lu₂}TIL.LA.GID₂.DA-MEŠ | |
| 9 | ša₂ {uru}E₂—{1}da-ku-ri a-na 01-en pi-i | |
| 10 | ki-i i-tu-ru a-na {d}AMAR.UTU—DUMU.UŠ—SUM-na | |
| 11 | ki-i iš-pu-ru {lu₂}GU₂.EN.NA {1}{d}AG—A₂.GAL₂ | |
| 12 | {lu₂}GAR—UMUŠ {lu₂}GAR—UMUŠ u₃ e-muq ša₂ E₂—{1}ia-a-ki-ni | |
| 13 | it-ti-šu₂-nu a-di UGU (KA₂)—bit-qa ki-i il-li-ku-ni | |
| 14 | {lu₂}šak-nu {lu₂}ki-zu-u₂-MEŠ ša₂ {uru}E₂—{1}da-ku-ri | |
| 15 | {lu₂}a-ra-mu u₃ ERIM-MEŠ ša₂ {uru}E₂—{1}da-ku-ri | |
| 16 | a-na UGU-hi-šu₂ ki-i u₂-tir-ru | |
| 17 | {lu₂}qi₂-pa-nu ki-i ip-la-hu is-sak-tu | |
| 18 | ul-lu-ti ki-i iš-mu-u₂ a-na ku-tal-li | |
| 19 | it-te-eh-su u₃ a-du-u₂ ERIM-MEŠ | |
| 20 | mah-ru-ti šu-nu-ma ša₂ KUR la u₂-taq-qa-nu | |
| 21 | ša₂ dib-bi-šu-nu LUGAL iš-mu-u₂ | |
| 22 | pi-i-šu₂-nu ki-i u₂-še-ṣu-u₂ | |
| 23 | e-le-ni-it-ti il-ta-nap-pa-ru | |
| 24 | u₃ URU-MEŠ-šu₂-nu u₂-dan-na-nu | |
| 25 | pa-an šu-ṣu LUGAL la i-dag-gal | |
| r | ||
| 1 | e-muq a-na {uru}KA₂—bit-qa lil-li-ku-ni | |
| 2 | u₃ a-di la e-muq il-la-ku-ni | |
| 3 | ši-pir-ti LUGAL a-na {lu₂}šak-nu u₃ | |
| 4 | {1}a-na—{d}AG—tak-lak liš-šu-ni um-ma | |
| 5 | ki-i aš₂-mu-u₂ {d}AMAR.UTU—DUMU.UŠ—SUM-na | |
| 6 | bat-qa ša₂ UD.UD.AG{ki} i-kaṣ₃-ṣar u₃ {1}⸢ha-si⸣-ni | |
| 7 | DUMU {1}ia-a-šu-mu a-di {lu₂}qin-ni-šu₂ | |
| 8 | u₃ {lu₂}a-ra-mi-šu₂ i-na ŠA₃-bi u₂-šeš-šib | |
| 9 | um-ma a-du-u₂ e-muq al-tap-rak-ku-nu-šu₂ | |
| 10 | {1}da-i-ni u₃ {lu₂}UD.UD.AG{ki}u₂-a | |
| 11 | ma-la it-ti-šu₂ ša₂ i-na pa-ni-ku-nu | |
| 12 | it-ti e-mu-qu qur-ri-ba-šu-ma | |
| 13 | a-na UD.UD.AG{ki} li-ru-ub a-di a-na-ku | |
| 14 | al-la-ka i-šem-mu-ma ul un-da-az-zu | |
| 15 | LUGAL ṣi-bu-us-su i-kaš-šad ni-i-ni ma-la ni-du-u₂ | |
| 16 | a-na LUGAL ni-il-tap-ra LUGAL ki-i ša₂ i-le-ʾu-u₂ | |
| 17 | le-pu-uš ki-i an-ni-ti LUGAL | |
| 18 | i-tep-šu₂ LUGAL liq-bi um-ma KUR ra-bi-ti | |
| 19 | ut-tir-ra u₃ bi-ir-ti dan-na-ti ina qa-an KUR.KUR | |
| 20 | ak-ta-ṣar ki-i na-kut-tu | |
| 21 | a-na LUGAL be-li₂-ia al-tap-ra | |
| 22 | LUGAL la i-ka-šu₂ en-na-ma he-pa-ni | |
| 23 | u₃ ARAD-MEŠ-ka u₃ KUR—URI{ki} la—qa-ti-ka | |
| 24 | i-te-lu-u₂ a-na ši-pir-ti na-kut-tu | |
| 25 | ⸢pu-qat⸣ i-raš-ši a-du-u₂ {1}im-⸢ra⸣ | |
| r.e. | ||
| 26 | [x x x]+⸢x⸣ i-šaṭ-ṭar u₃ [x x x x x] | |
| 27 | [x x x x]+⸢x⸣ az ⸢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.