ABL 0283 (P237834)
Letter, Neo-Assyrian, Nineveh · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE
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| Designation | ABL 0283 |
|---|---|
| ID | P237834 |
| 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 [0:2] o 1o 1–o 22 | To the chief eunuch, [my] lord, your servant Bel-ibni. May Nabû and Marduk bless my lord! |
| Obverse [2:13] o 33–o 1313 | Initially, when I did not come to the audience of the king, there were men who came from Elam to see the king and who, in order to obtain intercession for themselves, libelled me in the palace. There was also a certain opponent of mine who said and wrote to the palace bad things about me from Elam. When I heard of this, I did not come, because I was afraid. Now (however), I have become desirous of serving the king. |
| Obverse [13:20] o 1414–o 2020 | All those who initially committed a crime have been forgiven by the king. (As to) all the libels that have been uttered against me in the palace, I am not guilty of any of them. Now, [shou]ld there be a misdemeanour of mine, [let my lord] speak for me to the king so that he will forgive me and [I can come and kiss the feet] of the king [and of my lord]. |
| Reverse [0:1] r 1'r 1'–r 1'r 1' | [...] until he writes that [...]. |
| Reverse [1:11] r 2'2'–r 11'11' | May it not happen that by the command of the king they succeed in turning me out of the grace of the king, my lord! Let my lord make no mistake, and may nobody worsen my reputation in the palace! May it be stated by the mouth of the king, my lord, that I may not be denigrated in the palace of the king, my lord! On the contrary, may the king count me as one of his servants, may the mark of the kings' servitude be put on me, and I may not be slighted and humiliated in the eyes of my fellow Babylonians! |
| Reverse [11:17] r 12'12'–r 17'17' | May I see just one single sign from the king, my lord, and may we get confident through it! Then we, myself, my brothers, my sons and my friends, shall come and kiss the feet of the king, our lord, and serve [the king, our lord]. |
| Reverse [17:22] r 18'18'– | May my lord read whatever I [say] and speak for me [favoura]bly in the presence of the king. May I hear the well-being of the king, my lord, and rejoice! |
| Right [2:4] r.e. 2222– | I have grasped [the hand of the chief eunuch], my [lord]. May I not come to shame! |
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 {lu₂}GAL—SAG {lu₂}GAL—SAG be-li₂-[ia] | |
| 2 | ARAD-ka {1}{d}EN—ib-ni {d}AG u {d}AMAR.UTU | |
| 3 | a-na be-li₂-ia lik-ru-bu re-eš-su | |
| 4 | ša₂ ana pa-an LUGAL la al-li-ka | |
| 5 | i-ba-aš₂-ši ERIM-MEŠ ša₂ ul-tu {kur}NIM.MA{ki} | |
| 6 | a-na pa-an LUGAL il-li-ku-ni a-na ṣa-bat | |
| 7 | a-bu-ti ša₂ ra-ma-ni-šu₂-nu kar-ṣi-ia₂ | |
| 8 | ina E₂.GAL i-tak-lu u i-ba-aš₂-ši mam-ma | |
| 9 | zi-ʾi-i-ra-na-a ša₂ ul-tu {kur}NIM.MA{ki} | |
| 10 | dib-bi bi-i-šu-ti a-na UGU-hi-ia₂ | |
| 11 | iš-ku-nu-ma a-na E₂.GAL iš-pu-ra | |
| 12 | ki-i aš₂-mu-u₂ ki-i ap-la-hu | |
| 13 | ul al-li-ka en-na ARAD-u₂-ti | |
| 14 | ša₂ LUGAL aṣ-ṣi-bi mam-ma ma-la re-eš-su | |
| 15 | ih-ṭu-u₂ hi-ṭu-šu₂-nu LUGAL uz-zak-ki-šu₂-nu-ti | |
| 16 | kar-ṣi-ia ma-la ina E₂.GAL in-nak-lu | |
| 17 | ⸢mim⸣-ma ina ŠA₃-bi ul ah-ṭu en-na-a-ma | |
| 18 | [lu]-⸢u₂⸣ hi-ṭu-u₂-a a-bu-ta-a ina pa-an LUGAL | |
| 19 | [be-li₂ li]-⸢iṣ⸣-bat-ma LUGAL lu-zak-⸢ki⸣-an-ni-ma | |
| 20 | [lul-li-kam₂-ma GIR₃.2 ša₂ LUGAL [u₃ ša₂ EN-ia₂] | |
| r | ||
| 1' | [x x x a]-⸢di⸣ E₂ i-šap-pa-ra | |
| 2' | [x x ki-i] pi-i LUGAL la il-lak-ma | |
| 3' | [ina ŠU].2 LUGAL EN-ia la u₂-šel-lu-in-ni | |
| 4' | ⸢be⸣-li₂ la i-hi-iṭ-ṭe-e-ma mam-ma | |
| 5' | dib-bi-ia ina E₂.GAL la u₂-ba-ʾa-aš₂ | |
| 6' | ina pi-i LUGAL EN-ia liq-qa-bi-ma | |
| 7' | ina E₂.GAL ša₂ LUGAL EN-ia₂ la ad-dal-lah₃ | |
| 8' | u LUGAL it-ti ARAD-MEŠ-šu₂ li-im-na-an-ni-ma | |
| 9' | i-da-ti ša₂ ARAD-u₂-ti ša₂ LUGAL ina UGU-hi-ia₂ | |
| 10' | tab-ba-ši-ma ina pa-an {lu₂}TIN.TIR{ki}MEŠ | |
| 11' | ŠEŠ-MEŠ-e-a la aš₂-ša₂-ṭi-ma re-ši-ia | |
| 12' | la i-šap-pi-la 01-et i-da-ti | |
| 13' | ša₂ LUGAL EN-ia lu-mur-ma a-na UGU-hi | |
| 14' | ni-ir-hu-uṣ-ma a-na-ku ŠEŠ-MEŠ-e-a | |
| 15' | DUMU-MEŠ-e-a u EN-MEŠ—ṭa-ab-te-e-a EN-MEŠ—ṭa-ab-te-e-a | |
| 16' | ni-il-li-kam₂-ma GIR₃.2 ša₂ LUGAL EN-ni | |
| 17' | niš-ši-iq u ARAD-u₂-ti ša₂ [LUGAL EN-ni] | |
| 18' | ni-pu-uš ma-la a-⸢qa⸣-[ab-bu-u₂] | |
| 19' | liš-sa-an-ni-ma a-na [da-mi₃-iq-ti] | |
| r.e. | ||
| 20 | ina pa-an LUGAL be-li₂ li-[iq-bi] | |
| 21 | šul-mu ša₂ LUGAL be-li₂-⸢ia⸣ [o] | |
| 22 | lu-uš-me-e-ma lu-⸢uh⸣-[mi ŠU.2 GAL—SAG] GAL—SAG] | |
| e. | ||
| 1 | [EN]-ia₂ aṣ-ṣa-bat la a-ba-a-šu₂ | |
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.