ABL 0292 (P237945)
Letter, Neo-Assyrian, Nineveh · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE
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| Designation | ABL 0292 |
|---|---|
| ID | P237945 |
| 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 [0:4] o 1o 1–o 44 | The king's word to Il[lil-ban]i and the Nippu[reans ol]d and young, every one of [my servants]: I am well; you can be glad. |
| Obverse [4:9] o 55–o 99 | You know that through the iron sword of Aššur and my gods you had that entire land consumed by fire, so that the land has retreated, been subjugated, and turned its face once again towards me. And now life has become narrow for him. |
| Obverse [9:18] o 1010–o 1818 | All the work that you have done since those days — behold, now [...] it is time for you to keep him under watch, and lest he escape, you are to seize all his roads. In all the roads, just as sieves are placed at the outlets of gutters in order to filter away splinters, litter and trash, in like manner you are to filter and examine all the roads. |
| Obverse [18:26] o 1919– | Maybe he will change his looks to get out like a thief; do not let anyone pass uninterrogated, even if he should pass with a face of gypsum! |
| Reverse [0:11] r 1r 1–r 1111 | Whoever keeps his hands off him, I will delete his posterity; but if one takes him prisoner and brings him into my presence, even if he should kill him, just as my grandfather on account of Šuzubu placed Adda-barakka on scales, and weighed out and cast him his weight of silver, so I will now place on scales whomever takes him prisoner, even if he should kill him, and weigh out and give him his weight of gold. |
| Reverse [11:12] r 1212–r 1212 | What else, what else? |
| Reverse [12:15] r 1313–r 1515 | Now then I am writing to you: be attentive, considering that since life has become narrow for him, he is seeking ways to get out and escape. |
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}EN.[LIL₂—ba]-⸢ni⸣ | |
| 2 | u₃ {lu₂}EN.[LIL₂{ki}MEŠ {lu₂}AB.BA]-MEŠ | |
| 3 | u₃ TUR-MEŠ [ARAD-MEŠ-ia] mal₂ ba-šu-u₂ | |
| 4 | DI-mu ia-a-ši ŠA₃-ba-ku-nu lu-u DUG₃.GA-ku-nu-šu₂ | |
| 5 | at-tu-nu ti-da-a ša₂ ina ŠA₃ GIR₂ AN.BAR ša₂ | |
| 6 | AN.ŠAR₂ DINGIR-MEŠ-e-a KUR ul-li-ti gab-bi-ša₂ | |
| 7 | i-ša₂-a-tu tu-ša₂-ki-la u KUR ki-i tah-hi-sa | |
| 8 | ta-at-tak-ba-as u pa-ni-ša₂ ana UGU-hi-ia₂ | |
| 9 | tu-ut-tir-ma u en-na is-si-qa-aš₂-šu₂ | |
| 10 | dul-lu gab-bi ša₂ ul-tu UD-MEŠ ul-li-ti | |
| 11 | te-pu-ša₂-aʾ a-mur en-na ⸢x x⸣ si-ma-nu | |
| 12 | ša₂ EN.NUN-šu₂ ta-na-aṣ-ṣa-ra la—pa-an | |
| 13 | hi-li-qu KASKAL.2-MEŠ-šu₂ gab-bi tu-ṣab-ba-ta | |
| 14 | ina gab-bi KASKAL.2-MEŠ ki-i ša₂ ša₂-hi-li | |
| 15 | ina KA₂ mu-še-ṣi-i i-šak-kan-u₂-ma | |
| 16 | hu-ṣa-bu si-ip-ru u ga-la-lu | |
| 17 | i-šah-ha-lu ap—pit₂-te ap—pit₂-te ta-šah-ha-la | |
| 18 | ina UGU KASKAL.2-MEŠ gab-bi ta-az-ziz-za | |
| 19 | min₃-de-e-ma sar-ta-at-ti ra-man-šu₂ | |
| 20 | u₂-ša₂-an-ne₂-e-ma uṣ-ṣa-aʾ mam-ma | |
| 21 | ša₂ la ša₂-ʾa-a-li la tu-maš-šar-a-ma | |
| b.e. | ||
| 22 | la it-ti-iq u ki-i | |
| 23 | ina pa-ni gaṣ-ṣu-te it-ti-qu | |
| 24 | man-nu šu-u₂ ša₂ A₂.2-MEŠ-šu₂ | |
| r | ||
| 1 | la—pa-ni-šu₂ u₂-šah-ha-sa na-an-nab-šu₂ | |
| 2 | u₂-šel-li u iṣ-ṣab-bat-aš₂-šum-ma | |
| 3 | a-na pa-ni-ia ib-ba-kaš-šu₂ u ki-i | |
| 4 | i-duk-ku-uš ki-i ša₂ AD—AD-ia₂ AD—AD-ia₂ ina UGU | |
| 5 | {1}šu-zu-bu a-na {1}{d}IM—ba-rak-ka | |
| 6 | ina {giš}zi-ba-ni-ti iš-kun-u₂-šu₂-ma | |
| 7 | KUG.UD ma-lu-uš-šu₂ i-hi-ṭu-ma id-da-aš₂-šu₂ | |
| 8 | en-na ana-ku man-nu ša₂ iṣ-ṣab-bat-aš₂-šum-ma | |
| 9 | u ki-i i-duk-ku-uš ina ŠA₃ {giš}ERIM | |
| 10 | a-šak-kan-šu₂-ma KUG.GI ma-lu-uš-šu₂ | |
| 11 | a-ha-ṭi-ma a-nam-da-aš₂-šu₂ | |
| 12 | mi-nu-u₂ ah—hur mi-nu-u₂ ah—hur | |
| 13 | a-du-u₂ al-tap-rak-ku-nu-ši | |
| 14 | lu-u pit₂-qu-da-tu-nu a-mur ki-i | |
| 15 | i-si-qa-aš₂-šu₂ pa-an ša₂ mu-ṣe-e-šu₂ | |
| 16 | u₂-ba-ʾe-e-ma i-hal-liq | |
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.