ABL 1431 (P237963)
Letter, Neo-Assyrian, Nineveh · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE
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| Designation | ABL 1431 |
|---|---|
| ID | P237963 |
| 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 [0:4] o 1o 1–o 44 | Yo[ur] servant (Bel-iqiša): I would gladly die for the vi[zier], my lord! May Nabû and Marduk bless my lord! Say to my lord: |
| Obverse [4:16] o 55– | My lord must not say, "Why have I not heard his report and seen his message for a long time?" I have been imprisoned for two years, and even now, after I have been set free, I could not make any plans. When I was set free, I prayed to Bel and Nabû for the good health of the king, my lord, and of the vizier, saying, "When will the king, my lord, come here and establish the protection of Babylon?" |
| Reverse [0:10] r 1r 1–r 1010 | All Babylonians have daily confidence in this. Now, as the prefect has left Bit-Dakuri, the whole of Babylon lives in fear, saying, "We have been handed over to the dogs." Why is my lord silent, while the whole of Babylon (pleadingly) raises its hands towards my lord? (Any)one whom Marduk has given something and whose property has been created, will give Bel an exceptionally good present. (And) the present which he gives is as good as a Babylonian, if it is pleasing to Bel. |
| Reverse [10:15] r 1111–r 1515 | Why does my lord remain silent, while Babylon is being destroyed? Šamaš and Marduk have installed you for intercession in Assyria. Persuade the king to come here and to exempt Babylon for Marduk, and (make) your name everlasting in Esaggil and Ezida! |
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⸣ a-na di-na-an {lu₂}⸢suk⸣-[kal-lu] | |
| 2 | be-li₂-ia lul-lik | |
| 3 | d.AG u {d}AMAR.UTU a-na be-li₂-ia₂ lik-⸢ru⸣-[bu] | |
| 4 | um-ma-a a-na be-li₂-ia-a-ma | |
| 5 | be-li₂ la i-qab-bi um-ma mi-nam-ma | |
| 6 | im—ma-tim-ma im—ma-tim-ma ṭe₃-en-šu₂ la aš₂-mi | |
| 7 | u₃ ši-pir-ta-šu₂ la a-mur | |
| 8 | ul-tu MU.AN.NA 02-ta ṣab-ta-ku | |
| 9 | u en-na ša₂ ap-paṭ-ru ṭe₃-ma-a ul aṣ-bat | |
| 10 | ki-i ap-paṭ-ru {d}EN u {d}AG | |
| 11 | a-na ba-laṭ ZI-MEŠ ša₂ LUGAL be-li₂-ia | |
| 12 | u₃ ša₂ {lu₂}suk-kal-lu u₂-ṣal-li | |
| 13 | um-ma im—ma-ti im—ma-ti LUGAL be-li₂-a | |
| 14 | il-la-kam₂-ma ki-di-nu-ti | |
| 15 | ša₂ TIN.TIR{ki} i-šak-kan | |
| r | ||
| 1 | UD-mu-us-su {lu₂}TIN.TIR{ki}MEŠ gab-bi | |
| 2 | ra-ah-ṣu en-na im—ma-ti im—ma-ti {lu₂}šak-nu ul-tu | |
| 3 | E₂—{1}da-ku-ri u₂-ṣi TIN.TIR{ki} gab-bi | |
| 4 | ip-ta-al-⸢hu um⸣-ma a-na ŠU.2 UR.KU-MEŠ | |
| 5 | muš-šu-ra-ni am—me-ni am—me-ni TIN.TIR{ki} gab-bi | |
| 6 | ŠU.2-su-nu a-na be-li₂-ia i-de-ek-ku-u₂ | |
| 7 | u be-li₂ sa-ki-it ša₂ {d}AMAR.UTU id-da-aš₂-šum-ma | |
| 8 | mim-mu-šu₂ it-tab-šu₂-u₂ šul-ma-ni bab-ba-nu-u₂ | |
| 9 | a-na {d}EN i-nam-din šul-ma-ni ša₂ i-nam-di-nu | |
| 10 | ki-i TIN.TIR{ki}i ki-i ina pa-an {d}EN ba-nu-u₂ | |
| 11 | am—me-ni am—me-ni TIN.TIR{ki} ih-hap-pi u be-li₂ sa-ki-it | |
| 12 | {d}UTU u {d}AMAR.UTU a-na ab-bu-ut ša₂ KUR—aš-šur{ki} | |
| 13 | il-tak-nu-ka LUGAL šuk-pi-id-ma | |
| 14 | lil-li-kam₂-ma TIN.TIR{ki} a-na {d}AMAR.UTU | |
| 15 | lu-zak-ki MU-ku-nu a-na da-ra-a-[ti] | |
| 16 | ina E₂.SAG.IL₂ u E₂.ZI.⸢DA⸣ [liš-kun] | |
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.