ABL 0968 (P238356)
Letter, Neo-Assyrian, Nineveh · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE
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| Designation | ABL 0968 |
|---|---|
| ID | P238356 |
| 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/saa13 · Via Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus (ORACC) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (ORACC)
| Line | English |
|---|---|
| Obverse [0:1] o 1'1'–o 1'1' | [......] man of [......] |
| Obverse [1:2] o 2'2'–o 2'2' | [......] men of the king, whe[n ...] |
| Obverse [2:3] o 3'3'–o 3'3' | [...] all of Babylonia [...] |
| Obverse [3:9] o 4'4'–o 9'9' | [There is no relative of] mine in the palace of the king, [my] lord. [Should they ...] here, I will disperse their encampment and dw[ellings] here, saying: "The 60+[x men] who have gone must not [...] to the king. Did I myself not say: '10 is all [I commanded], and you who would go, [wait] for me?'" |
| Obverse [9:19] o 10'10'–o 19'19' | As for the work of the gods of the king in which I was e[arlier] delayed, I have (now) show[n him] the work. In addition to the work which [I have done] on the god of heaven and earth, I have [fashioned] the front sides of the golden pedestals, and [have inscribed] the name of the king, my lord, the[reon]. But when the royal delegate came, he said: "This is an order of the king: '[You will] not [do] any work.'" And he he[ld back] the regular offerings for Bel. Now I ha[ve written] to the king, my lord. He [...] inside it [......]. |
| Obverse [19:20] o 20'20'–o 20'20' | [......] wo[rk in] the palace |
| Obverse [20:21] o 21'21'–o 21'21' | [......] house [......] |
| Reverse [0:1] r 1'1'–r 1'1' | [......] cell[a ...] |
| Reverse [2:13] r 3'3'–r 13'13' | When I brou[ght in NN], the royal bodyguard [...] and the royal bodyguard who came with the son of [...], the merchant who [...] the seal testified in their presence that [he had spoken] untruthfully to the king, my lord. Even before he was on his way to the king, my lord, I said: "You will [give] the seal to Dadâ." How did he come into possession of the seal? I have confirmed that [the seal] was with him. I seized it for the account of Bel [...]. Because in our opinion [he is a liar]. He spoke equivocably to the king, my lord. |
| Reverse [13:18] r 14'14'–r 18'18' | One seal is work I can ha[ndle] on my own. But when one talent of gold and nu[merous] gems turn up here, should I be the one to take them to [DN] or should that be [their] responsibility? I must not be the one to give them to Bel. |
| Reverse [18:19] r 19'19'–r 19'19' | But [...] his officials who [...] |
| Reverse [19:20] r 20'20'–r 20'20' | [...] to the king, my lord [...] |
| Reverse [20:21] r 21'21'–r 21'21' | [...] them. If [......] |
| Reverse [21:22] r 22'22'–r 22'22' | [...wi]thout th[em ......] |
| Reverse [22:24] r 23'23'–r 24'24' | [......] the king to [......] |
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' | [x x x x x x x]+⸢x⸣ ERIM ša₂ ⸢x⸣+[x x x x] | |
| 2' | [x x x x x x] ERIM-MEŠ ša₂ LUGAL ki-[i x x] | |
| 3' | [x x x x] KUR—URI{ki} gab-bi i-⸢x⸣+[x x x] | |
| 4' | [mam-ma-nu-u]-a ina E₂.GAL ša₂ LUGAL EN-[ia ia-aʾ-nu] | |
| 5' | [x x]-⸢nim⸣-ma a-ša₂-an-šu₂-nu u₃ KI.[TUŠ-MEŠ-šu₂-nu] | |
| 6' | a-kan-na u₂-šab-ba-ah um-ma 600+[x ERIM-MEŠ] | |
| 7' | ša₂ il-li-ku-ma a-na pa-an LUGAL la [x x] | |
| 8' | ul a-na-ku-u₂ aq-bi-ma 10 ma-la [pi-ia₂] | |
| 9' | u₃ at-ta ša₂ ta-al-la-ku IGI-[ia₂ du-gul] | |
| 10' | a-na UGU dul-la ša₂ DINGIR-MEŠ ša₂ LUGAL ša₂ ina ⸢pa⸣-[ni-ti] | |
| 11' | am-mir-ku-u₂ dul-la uk-te-⸢li⸣-[im-šu₂] | |
| 12' | al-la dul-la ša₂ DINGIR AN-e KI.⸢TIM⸣ [e-pu-šu₂] | |
| 13' | pa-na-ti ki-gal-li KUG.GI at-ta-[x x] | |
| 14' | u₃ MU ša₂ LUGAL EN-ia₂ ⸢ina⸣ [ŠA₃-bi al-ta-ṭar] | |
| 15' | u {lu₂}qi₂-i-pi ki-i il-li-[ku] | |
| 16' | um-ma a-mat LUGAL ši-i dul-la mim₃-ma ul [te-ep-pu-uš] | |
| 17' | u₃ gi-nu-u₂ ša₂ {d}EN ik-[ta-la] | |
| 18' | a-du-u₂ a-na pa-an LUGAL EN-ia₂ ⸢al⸣-[tap-ra] | |
| 19' | šu-u₂ ⸢x⸣+[x x x x] ina ŠA₃-bi-šu₂ u₂-[x x] | |
| 20' | ⸢x⸣+[x x x x x x x] E₂.GAL ⸢dul⸣-[x x] | |
| 21' | [x x x x x x x x]+⸢x⸣ E₂ ⸢x⸣+[x x x] | |
| r | ||
| 1' | [x x x x x x] {⸢e₂⸣}pa-pa-[hu x x x x] | |
| 2' | ⸢x⸣+[x x x x x x]+⸢x⸣ il-ta-⸢x⸣+[x x x x] | |
| 3' | {1}⸢x⸣+[x x x x] {lu₂}qu-ru-bu-ti [x x x] | |
| 4' | u {lu₂}qu-ru-bu-ti ša₂ it-ti DUMU ⸢x⸣+[x x x] | |
| 5' | il-li-ka ki-i a-bu-[kam₂-ma] | |
| 6' | ina pa-ni-šu₂-nu {lu₂}DAM.QAR ša₂ {na₄}KIŠIB [x x] | |
| 7' | uk-tin la ket-ti it-ti LUGAL EN-ia₂ [id-da-bu-ub] | |
| 8' | a-di la a-na pa-an LUGAL EN-ia₂ il-la-⸢ka⸣ | |
| 9' | um-ma {na₄}KIŠIB a-na {1}da-da-a ta-⸢x⸣+[x x] | |
| 10' | ul-tu a.a-i šu-u₂ EN {na₄}KIŠIB ki-i {[na₄}KIŠIB] | |
| 11' | it-ti-šu₂ uk-tin a-na ŠA₃ NIG₂.ŠID ša₂ {d}EN [x x] | |
| 12' | aṣ-ba-ta ki-i i—pi-na i—pi-na ⸢sa⸣-[ar-ru šu-u₂] | |
| 13' | a-mat la a-mat a-na LUGAL EN-ia₂ iq-⸢ta⸣-[bi] | |
| 14' | 01.en {na₄}KIŠIB dul-lu-u₂ a-na-ku a-na-[aš₂-ši u₃] | |
| 15' | 01 GU₂.UN KUG.GI u₃ NA₄-MEŠ ma-⸢x⸣+[x x x] | |
| 16' | a-na pa-ni-ia₂ ki-i i-la-a a-na {d}⸢x⸣+[x x] | |
| 17' | lu-uš-ši-ma lu-u₂ at-tu-⸢u₂⸣-[šu-nu] | |
| 18' | a-na-ku a-na {d}EN la a-nam-din u₃ [x x x] | |
| 19' | [x x x] {lu₂}EN-MEŠ—pi-qi₂-ne₂-ti-šu₂ {lu₂}EN-MEŠ—pi-qi₂-ne₂-ti-šu₂ ša₂ i-[x x] | |
| 20' | [x x x]-ib a-na pa-an LUGAL EN-ia₂ ⸢x⸣+[x x x] | |
| 21' | [x x x]-ur-šu₂-nu-ti ki-i ⸢x⸣+[x x x x] | |
| 22' | [x x x ša₂]-la-nu-uš-⸢šu₂⸣-[nu x x x x x] | |
| 23' | [x x x x]+⸢x⸣ LUGAL a-na [x x x x x x] | |
| 24' | [x x x x x] ⸢x⸣ [x 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.