CT 54, 015 (P237999)
Letter, Neo-Assyrian, Nineveh · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE
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| Designation | CT 54, 015 |
|---|---|
| ID | P237999 |
| 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 [0:6] o 1o 1–o 66 | To the king of the lands, our lord: your servant, Illil-bani, and your servants, the Nippurians, nešakku-priests and 'temple-enterers,' young and old. May Enlil, Ninurta, and Nusku bless the king of the lands, our lord. |
| Obverse [6:13] o 77–o 1313 | The people of the land, all those in our ..., because the king and [yo]ur gods were angry with them, have lifted their heads from the [... of] the king, our lord, and have said things to the king's servants. Everything that the Arameans and the Chaldeans keep writing to the king, our lord, and everything they are saying to the king's servants — not a word of it is true. |
| Obverse [13:15] o 1414–o 1515 | They have made peace with the enemy. Half of what they say is directed her[e] and the rest of what they say, their whole heart, is directed to [...]. |
| Obverse [15:17] o 1616–o 1717 | Before the flooding of the river [......] |
| Reverse [0:1] r 1'1'–r 1'1' | thi[s ......] |
| Reverse [1:2] r 2'2'–r 2'2' | our brothers [......] |
| Reverse [2:3] r 3'3'–r 3'3' | they come out [......] |
| Reverse [3:4] r 4'4'–r 4'4' | their hearts [......] |
| Reverse [4:5] r 5'5'–r 5'5' | they know [...], and the king [......] |
| Reverse [5:6] r 6'6'–r 6'6' | But we are few and are no match for a[ll ...]. |
| Reverse [6:11] r 7'7'–r 11'11' | [May] the king, o[ur] lord, [...]. The f[orces] should [s]t[ay] with us, [so tha]t we can guard Nippur and deliver it to the kin[g]. But even i[f the fo]rces do [not] stand gu[ard] with us in Nippur, the king must not leave u[s] to the hands of the enemy [...]. |
| Reverse [11:15] r 12'12'–r 15'15' | May the messenger of the king, o[ur] lord, [...] take [our hand], so that we [together with ...] may serve the king, our lord, in the cities of the land of A[kkad]. |
| Reverse [15:17] r 16'16'–r 17'17' | [The ... must not] say: "Why did the servant[s of the king of Assyria] send [......]?" |
| Reverse [17:19] r 18'18'– | Those who in [your] grandfa[ther]'s time [......] |
| Right [0:1] r.e. 19r.e. 19–r.e. 19r.e. 19 | until Aššur, Enl[il and Ninurta ... the king], |
| Right [1:2] r.e. 2020–r.e. 2020 | our lord [......] |
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 LUGAL KUR.KUR be-li₂-i-ni | |
| 2 | ARAD-ka {1}{d}EN.LIL₂—ba-ni | |
| 3 | u ARAD-MEŠ-ka {lu₂}EN.LIL₂{ki}MEŠ | |
| 4 | {lu₂}NU.EŠ₃-MEŠ {lu₂}TU—E₂-MEŠ {lu₂}TU—E₂-MEŠ TUR u GAL-⸢u₂⸣ | |
| 5 | {d}EN.LIL₂ {d}NIN.URTA u {d}PA.TUG₂ | |
| 6 | a-na LUGAL KUR.KUR be-⸢li₂⸣-i-ni lik-ru-bu | |
| 7 | UN-MEŠ ⸢KUR⸣ ma-la a-⸢na ṣa⸣-a.a-at-ti-i-ni gab-⸢bi⸣ | |
| 8 | ki-i ⸢ša₂ x LUGAL⸣ DINGIR-⸢MEŠ-ka⸣ a-na ŠA₃-bi-šu₂-nu ra-a-bu | |
| 9 | re-ši-⸢šu₂⸣-nu ⸢la⸣—<pa>-ni [x]+⸢x⸣ LUGAL EN-i-ni id-de-ku-u₂ | |
| 10 | ⸢u₃⸣ dib-bi ⸢it-ti⸣ ARAD-MEŠ ša₂ LUGAL id-dab-bu | |
| 11 | ⸢u ma⸣-la {lu₂}a-ra-⸢mu⸣ u {lu₂}kal-du a-na LUGAL EN-i-ni | |
| 12 | il-ta-nap-ru-nu u it-ti ARAD-MEŠ ša₂ LUGAL | |
| 13 | i-dab-bu-bu gab-bi dib-bi la šal-mu-ti | |
| 14 | sa-lim {lu₂}KUR₂ ep-šu mi-šil pi-i-šu₂-nu a-na a-kan-[na] | |
| 15 | u šit-ti pi-i-šu₂-nu ⸢ŠA₃⸣-ba-šu₂-nu gab-bi a-⸢na⸣ [x x] | |
| 16 | pa-ni mi-li ša₂ ID₂ [x x x] ⸢x x x⸣ [x x x] | |
| 17 | u šu-⸢x⸣+[x] ⸢x x x⸣ [x x x x x x x x x x] | |
| r | ||
| 1' | ⸢a-ga⸣-[a x x x x x x x x x x x x x] | |
| 2' | ŠEŠ-MEŠ-⸢e-ni x⸣+[x x x x x x x x x x x] | |
| 3' | uṣ-ṣu-u₂ ⸢ih-x⸣+[x x x x x x x x x x x] | |
| 4' | ŠA₃-MEŠ-šu₂-nu ut-ta-⸢x⸣+[x x x x x x x x x x] | |
| 5' | i-du-u₂ u LUGAL i-⸢x⸣+[x x x x x x x x x] | |
| 6' | u a-ni-ni mi-ṣa-ni-ma ⸢ma⸣-[la x x x] ⸢x⸣ [x x x] o | |
| 7' | ul ma-ṣa-a-nu LUGAL ⸢EN-a⸣-[ni x x]+⸢x-da⸣ {lu₂}[e-mu-qu] o | |
| 8' | it-ti-i-ni li-⸢iz-zi⸣-[zu]-⸢ma⸣ EN.NUN ša₂ EN.LIL₂{⸢ki} ni-iṣ-ṣur⸣-ma | |
| 9' | a-na ⸢LUGAL⸣ nid-din u ⸢ki⸣-[i {lu₂}e]-⸢mu⸣-qu it-ti-i-ni | |
| 10' | ina EN.LIL₂{ki} a-na ⸢EN⸣.[NUN la o] it-ta-ši-iz-zu | |
| 11' | LUGAL la u₂-maš-šar-⸢an⸣-[na-ši] ⸢ina ŠU⸣.2 {lu₂}KUR₂ ⸢x x-MEŠ⸣ | |
| 12' | {lu₂}A—KIN {lu₂}A—KIN ša₂ LUGAL EN-i-[ni x x x x] ⸢x⸣ [x x x] | |
| 13' | li-iṣ-bat-ma a-ni-ni [x x x x x x x x] | |
| 14' | ina ⸢ŠA₃⸣-bi URU-MEŠ ša₂ {kur}⸢x⸣+[x x x x x x x x] | |
| 15' | LUGAL ⸢EN⸣-a-ni ni-ip-⸢lah₃⸣ [x x x x x x x] | |
| 16' | ⸢um⸣-ma mi-nam-ma ARAD-⸢MEŠ⸣ [x x x x x x] | |
| 17' | iš-pu-ru-nu u₂-ba-⸢x⸣+[x x x x x x x] | |
| 18' | ša₂ ⸢a⸣-na tar-ṣi AD—⸢AD⸣-[ka AD—⸢AD⸣-[ka x x x x x x] | |
| r.e. | ||
| 19 | ⸢a⸣-di ⸢AN⸣.ŠAR₂ {⸢d}EN.LIL₂⸣ [u {d}MAŠ x x x x LUGAL] | |
| 20 | EN-i-ni [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.