ABL 1455 (P238357)
Letter, Neo-Assyrian, Nineveh · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE
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| Designation | ABL 1455 |
|---|---|
| ID | P238357 |
| 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/saa03 · Via Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus (ORACC) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (ORACC)
| Line | English |
|---|---|
| Obverse [0:3] o 1'1'–o 3'3' | [Say to ...], the unrivaled [...], the tr[ue] deputy of [...], [the lord of] the lands, to the burning torch [......, to the creation] of the hands of Marduk, to the battle-axe [......, to] |
| Obverse [3:6] o 4'4'–o 6'6' | the sun, whose radiance is strong and whose light [......, whose ...] were created before heaven and earth were created, and [......], |
| Obverse [6:7] o 7'7'–o 7'7' | to Assurbanipal, the king [of the four regions], |
| Obverse [7:8] o 8'8'–o 8'8' | to the stronghold [......, the ...] |
| Obverse [8:9] o 9'9'–o 9'9' | of his heart [......: thus (speaks) your ...]: |
| Obverse [9:10] o 10'10'–o 10'10' | Lord of kings [......] |
| Reverse [1:2] r 2'2'–r 2'2' | [The ...]s of the lords of the enemies [......] |
| Reverse [3:4] r 4'4'–r 4'4' | Prolong (the life of) my friend, [... my e]nemy! [......] |
| Reverse [4:6] r 5'5'–r 6'6' | ... Are you not a lion? Y[ou ... issue] the commands for war; do not fear [...]! |
| Reverse [6:7] r 7'7'–r 7'7' | O lord of kings! (When) a governor investigates, [......] do not keep silent. |
| Reverse [7:8] r 8'8'–r 8'8' | I shall give him the appearance of a lion, and the princes will [......]. |
| Reverse [8:9] r 9'9'–r 9'9' | Marduk and Zarpanitu gave the appearance [......] |
| Reverse [9:11] r 10'10'–r 11'11' | O lord of kings, who [...ed] these two lands to kin[gship], gave heart to (them) when they were blunted, may [...] not [...]! |
| Reverse [11:13] r 12'12'–r 13'13' | Let me pull the king's [...]! Never has there been (anybody) who [has approached] the gate of [...] and come to shame. Let me not come to sh[ame .....]! |
| Reverse [13:14] r 14'14'–r 14'14' | [...]... of the graves go ...[...] |
| Reverse [14:15] r 15'15'–r 15'15' | [...]... will live, lord [of the kings]. |
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] KALAG NU.SA₂.A {lu₂}qi-pu gi [x x x x x x x] | |
| 2' | [x x]+⸢x⸣ KUR.KUR.RA a-na GI.IZI.LA₂ ⸢GIBIL₂⸣ [x x x x x x x] | |
| 3' | [DU₃] ⸢ŠU⸣.2 ša₂ {d}AMAR.UTU a-na qul-mi-i ba-⸢na⸣-[x x x x x x x] | |
| 4' | {[d]}UTU ša₂ zi-mi-i-šu₂ dan-nu u₃ nu-[ur-šu₂ x x x x x x] | |
| 5' | [ša₂] a-di la AN-e u KI.TIM ib-ba-[nu-u₂ x x x x x x x x] | |
| 6' | ⸢ib⸣-ba-nu-u₂ u₃ at-⸢x⸣+[x x x x x x x x] | |
| 7' | a-na {1}AN.ŠAR₂—DU₃—DUMU.UŠ LUGAL [kib-ra-a-ti er-bet-ti] | |
| 8' | a-na dan-na-ti ⸢x⸣+[x x x x x x x x x x x] | |
| 9' | ša₂ ŠA₃-bi-šu₂ ⸢x⸣+[x x x x x x x x x x x x] | |
| 10' | EN LUGAL-MEŠ ⸢x⸣+[x x x x x x x x x x x x] | |
| r | ||
| 1' | [x x x x]+⸢x-i-šu₂⸣ ku-⸢x⸣+[x x x x x x x x x] | |
| 2' | [x x]-⸢MEŠ⸣ ša₂ EN-MEŠ na-⸢ki-ri⸣ [x x x x x x x x x] | |
| 3' | [x] AN bi-ri-i ki-i ta-[x x x x x x x x x x] | |
| 4' | šul-bi-ir ib-ri a.a-⸢x⸣+[x x x x x x x x x x x] | |
| 5' | id-di at-ta ul ne₂-šu₂-u₂ at-⸢ta⸣ [x x x x x x x] | |
| 6' | te-re-et a-na ta-ha-zi la ta-dar ⸢x⸣+[x x x x x x x] | |
| 7' | EN LUGAL-MEŠ GIR₃.NITA₂ uṣ-ṣa-aṣ-ma ul i-qa-lu ⸢x⸣+[x x x x x] | |
| 8' | zi-i-mu la-ab-bi a-šak-kan-šu₂-ma NUN-MEŠ u₂-⸢x⸣+[x x x x x] | |
| 9' | {d}AMAR.UTU u {d}zar-pa-ni-tum zi-i-mu il-tak-nu ⸢x⸣+[x x] | |
| 10' | ⸢EN⸣ LUGAL-MEŠ ša₂ 02-ta KUR.KUR a-gan-ne₂-e-ti a-na ⸢LUGAL⸣ [x x x] | |
| 11' | ⸢ŠA₃⸣-bi il-ta-kan ki-i ke-pu-u₂ la ⸢il⸣-[x x x x x] | |
| 12' | [x x]+⸢x⸣ ša₂ LUGAL lul-du-ud im—ma-tim-ma ša₂ KA₂.⸢GAL⸣ [x x] | |
| 13' | [x]+⸢x x⸣-ba i-ba-šu₂ ia-a-nu a-na-ku la a-ba-[a-ša₂ x x x x] | |
| 14' | [x x]-ti ša₂ qu-bu-ri il-la-ku ki-[x x x x] | |
| 15' | [x x x]+⸢x⸣-mu-u₂ i-bal-luṭ EN [LUGAL-MEŠ] | |
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.