ABL 0878 (P237800)
Letter, Neo-Assyrian, Nineveh · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE
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| Designation | ABL 0878 |
|---|---|
| ID | P237800 |
| 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 [0:1] o 1o 1–o 1o 1 | The words which the people of Babylon spoke before the king: |
| Obverse [1:5] o 22–o 55 | "Ever since the kings, our lords, sat on the throne, you have been intent on securing our privileged status and our happiness. But what of us, who have had our fill of safeguarding those of (our) Elamite, Tabalite and Ahlamite women! |
| Obverse [5:11] o 66–o 1111 | When the kings, our lords, did their elementary studies, the gods bestowed great wisdom and magnanimity on you. "Dimkurkurra, Babylon, (is) the Bond of the Lands." Whoever enters inside it, his privileged status is secured. Also, Babylon (is) "the bowl of the Dog of Enlil." Its (very) name is set up for protection. Not even a dog that enters inside it is killed. |
| Obverse [11:19] o 1212–o 1919 | The kings, our lords, know that Eṭiru and his sons grasped the feet of the king of Assyria, your father. Until Šuzubu son of Gahal came and killed them all, they kept kiss[ing] the feet of Assyria which they had grasped, and kept the watch of their lord's house. Šuzubu received the [heads], arms and feet of Eṭiru (and) his sons together with [...] in the presence of Beliya. But the women [of ...] and Šaddinnu were married in Babylon. |
| Obverse [19:20] o 2020–o 2020 | [...] with them (f.), saying: "She is [a wom]an who goes out." What is wrong (with that)? [...] |
| Obverse [20:23] o 2121–o 2323 | [...] all the [women] of Eṭiru's house [...] |
| Reverse [0:1] r 1'1'–r 1'1' | carries everything. To [......] |
| Reverse [1:2] r 2'2'–r 2'2' | the foreign women [......]. |
| Reverse [2:5] r 3'3'–r 5'5' | And in having made our privileged status sur[passing ...] from all lands, the kings, our lords, have [...] more than past kings. |
| Reverse [5:9] r 6'6'–r 9'9' | So let the privileged status of the women who [...] al[so be established] with us by the name of Babylon, (and) may the favours which the kings, our lords, have do[ne for us], be (thus) brought to a climax. |
| Reverse [9:12] r 10'10'–r 12'12' | Under your protection, Bel-bulliṭ (and) [...] continue ble[ssing] the kings, our lords, every day before Marduk (and) [Zarpanitu]. |
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 | dib-bi ša₂ {lu₂}TIN.TIR{ki}MEŠ ina pa-<an> LUGAL id-bu-bu | |
| 2 | um-ma LUGAL-MEŠ EN-MEŠ-ni ul-tu UGU ša₂ ina {giš}GU.ZA u₂-ši-bu | |
| 3 | a-na ka-ṣa-ri ki-di-nu-ti-ni u ṭu-ub ŠA₃-bi-ni pa-ni-ku-nu šak-nu | |
| 4 | u₃ a-ni-ni ša₂ a-na ṣi-re-e ni-im-lu-u₂ | |
| 5 | ša₂ {mi₂}NIM.MA{⸢ki⸣} ša₂ {mi₂}ta-ba-lu-i-tu₂ ša₂ {mi₂}ah-la-mi-tu₂ a-na ⸢šu⸣-ul-⸢lum⸣ | |
| 6 | LUGAL-MEŠ EN-MEŠ-ni li-gin₃-nu ki-i iq-bu-u₂ | |
| 7 | DINGIR-MEŠ PI.2 DAGAL-tu₂ u ŠA₃-bi DAGAL-šu₂ il-tak-nu-ku-nu-ši | |
| 8 | DIM.KUR.{kur}KI ba-bi-lu ri-kis ma-ta-a-ti | |
| 9 | mam-⸢ma⸣ ma-la a-na ŠA₃-bi ir-ru-bu ki-din-ut-su ka-aṣ-rat | |
| 10 | u₃ BUR UR {d}EN.LIL₂ ba-bi-lu šum-šu₂ a-na ki-din ša₂-kin | |
| 11 | UR.KU ma-la a-na ŠA₃-bi ir-ru-bu ul id-da-ki | |
| 12 | LUGAL-MEŠ EN-MEŠ-ni i-du-u₂ ki-i {1}e-ṭe₃-ru u₃ DUMU-MEŠ-šu₂ | |
| 13 | GIR₃.2 ša₂ LUGAL KUR—aš-šur{ki} AD-ku-nu iṣ-ba-tu | |
| 14 | a-di UGU ša₂ {1}šu-zu-bu DUMU {1}ga-hal il-li-kam₂-ma | |
| 15 | gab-bi-šu₂-nu i-du-ku GIR₃.2 KUR—{d}aš-šur{ki} ša₂ iṣ-ba-⸢tu it-taš⸣-ši-⸢qu⸣ | |
| 16 | EN.NUN ša₂ E₂—EN-šu₂-nu E₂—EN-šu₂-nu it-taṣ-ru {1}šu-zu-bu a-⸢na⸣ [x x] | |
| 17 | kap-pi u GIR₃.2 ša₂ {1}e-ṭe₃-ru DUMU-MEŠ-šu₂ a-di ku-[x x] | |
| 18 | i-na pa-an {d}EN-ia in-da-har-šu₂-nu-ti u ⸢MI₂-MEŠ⸣ [x x] | |
| 19 | u {1}šad-din-nu ina TIN.TIR{ki} uh-hu-za it-ti-ši-⸢na x⸣+[x x x] | |
| 20 | ⸢um-ma MI₂⸣ a-ṣi-tu₂ ši-i mi-nu-u₂ hi-⸢ṭu⸣ [x x x] | |
| 21 | [x x MI₂]-MEŠ ša₂ E₂ {1}⸢e-ṭe₃⸣-ru gab-bi [x x] | |
| 22 | [x x x x x x x x] ⸢x x x⸣ u₂ [x x x] | |
| 23 | [x x x x x x x x x x x x] ⸢x⸣ [x x] | |
| r | ||
| 1' | gab-bi na-ši a-na [x x x x x x x x x x] | |
| 2' | MI₂-MEŠ nak-ra-a-tu₂ nu-⸢x⸣+[x x x]-⸢MEŠ⸣ [x x x x x] | |
| 3' | u₃ LUGAL-MEŠ EN-MEŠ-ni ul-tu ⸢nap-har⸣ KUR.KUR ⸢x⸣+[x x x x] | |
| 4' | ki-di-nu-ta-ni ki-i u₂-ša₂-⸢ti⸣-[ru x x] | |
| 5' | al-la LUGAL-MEŠ mah-ru-ti ⸢iq⸣-[x x x x] | |
| 6' | u a-na šu-mi ša₂ TIN.TIR{ki} MI₂-MEŠ ⸢ša₂ x⸣+[x x x x] | |
| 7' | ki-di-nu-us-si-na it-ti-ni-⸢ma⸣ [lu ka-aṣ-rat] | |
| 8' | MUN-HI.A ša₂ LUGAL-MEŠ EN-MEŠ-ni i-⸢pu⸣-[šu-na-ši] | |
| 9' | a-na ap-pi lu-še-ṣu-[u₂] | |
| 10' | i-na GIŠ.MI-ku-nu {1}{d}EN—TIN-iṭ ri-⸢x⸣+[x x x x] | |
| 11' | UD-mu-us-su ina ma-har {d}AMAR.UTU {d}[zar-pa-ni-tum] | |
| 12' | LUGAL-MEŠ EN-MEŠ-ni ik-tar-[ra-bu] | |
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.