ABL 1316 (P238385)
Letter, Neo-Assyrian, Nineveh · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE
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| Designation | ABL 1316 |
|---|---|
| ID | P238385 |
| 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 [0:1] o 1'1'–o 1'1' | [...] Now th[en ...] |
| Obverse [1:2] o 2'2'–o 2'2' | [...] your enemy [...] |
| Obverse [2:3] o 3'3'–o 3'3' | [...] as soon as someone [...] |
| Obverse [3:7] o 4'4'–o 7'7' | At the time of Šamaš-buna[ya ...] a certain Ha'ir used to send ...[...] (as) hostages. They were caught [...], and [...]. |
| Obverse [7:10] o 8'8'–o 10'10' | [In the days] of Aššur-belu-taqqin, who [...], I myself used to do a lot to [...] (and) to eliminate the host[ages ...]. |
| Obverse [10:12] o 11'11'–o 12'12' | Now in the days of [Marduk-šarru-uṣur] they h[ave taken] a hostage of mine [...] |
| Obverse [12:13] o 13'13'–o 13'13' | in his youth ... [...] |
| Obverse [13:14] o 14'14'–o 14'14' | we are not trusted [...] |
| Obverse [14:15] o 15'15'–o 15'15' | and not [...] |
| Obverse [15:16] o 16'16'–o 16'16' | who in the kin[g's] palace [...] |
| Obverse [16:17] o 17'17'–o 17'17' | and (whom) the king, your lord, [...] |
| Obverse [17:19] o 18'18'– | counted me, a hos[tage ...] |
| Bottom [0:1] b.e. 19'b.e. 19'–b.e. 19'b.e. 19' | you did not seek for me [...] |
| Bottom [1:2] b.e. 20'20'–b.e. 20'20' | This governor [...] |
| Bottom [2:3] b.e. 21'21'–b.e. 21'21' | we want to become strong ... [...] |
| Bottom [3:6] b.e. 22'22'– | I myself shall rescue [...] at [the ...'s] command. As Na[bû...] |
| Reverse [0:1] r 1r 1–r 1r 1 | of the vizier, my lord, [...] |
| Reverse [1:2] r 22–r 22 | you have co[nquered] your enemy [...] |
| Reverse [2:3] r 33–r 33 | peace to the kin[g...] |
| Reverse [3:4] r 44–r 44 | you did not grow. In the presence of [...] |
| Reverse [4:5] r 55–r 55 | the evil which he/they heard [...] |
| Reverse [5:6] r 66–r 66 | Otherwise, he is not [...] |
| Reverse [6:7] r 77–r 77 | and will make the va[st] land slide [from the hands of the king]. |
| Reverse [7:15] r 88–r 1515 | As to Abi-har[u], I am not de[voted to him]; as to Nerga[l-ereš], I am not de[voted to him either]; I am devoted to the [vizier, my lord]. May the vizier take care of my lawsuit [against NN, and] let Marduk-šarru-uṣur see (it and) [do] a[s ...]. Should he not do so, [...], (and) Dakuru will remove the extensive land [from the hands] of the king, my lord, and I shall go to the presence [of the king, my lord]. |
| Reverse [15:17] r 1616–r 1717 | They have turned Mahumaya (and) himself [into] a chisel. The [...] |
| Reverse [17:18] r 1818–r 1818 | [Now then] I [am waiting] for the vizier, my lord. |
| Reverse [18:20] r 1919–r 2020 | [Is this i]t? An inquiry [which the vizier, my lord, ... in] his presence [...] |
| Edge [0:1] e. 1e. 1–e. 1e. 1 | saying, "As to the fortress of Bit-Da[kuru], |
| Edge [1:2] e. 22–e. 22 | it is filled [to] the brim. I have not [...] |
| Edge [2:3] e. 33–e. 33 | This slave-boy is aged five [...]. |
| Edge [3:4] e. 44–e. 44 | [Let the vizier my lord ask]: "Is it true [...]?" |
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] a-du-[u₂ x x x x] | |
| 2' | [x x x] {lu₂}EN—KUR₂-⸢ka⸣ {lu₂}EN—KUR₂-⸢ka⸣ [x x x x] | |
| 3' | x [x]+⸢x⸣ ina E₂ man-nu ⸢ib⸣-[x x x x] | |
| 4' | UD-MEŠ ša₂ {1}{d}UTU—bu-na-a.[a x x x] | |
| 5' | {1}ha-a.a-ir šu₂-u₂ ṭa-ab [x x x] | |
| 6' | {lu₂}maš-ka-na-MEŠ i-šap-[x x x] | |
| 7' | ṣu-ub-bu-tu u₃ ši-[x x x ina UD-MEŠ] | |
| 8' | ša₂ {1}aš-šur—EN—LAL-in ša₂ [x x x x x x] | |
| 9' | a-na-ku [x x] ⸢ma⸣-da a-⸢na⸣ [x x x x] | |
| 10' | {lu₂}maš-⸢ka⸣-[na-MEŠ] sa-pa-ni [x x x x x] | |
| 11' | en-na [ina] UD-MEŠ ša₂ {1}{[d}AMAR.UTU—MAN—PAB] | |
| 12' | {lu₂}maš-ka-na-a ⸢iṣ⸣-[x x x x x] | |
| 13' | ṣe-he-ri-šu ⸢x⸣+[x x x x x x] | |
| 14' | la-a qi₂-pa-ni ⸢it⸣-[x x x x x] | |
| 15' | ⸢u₃⸣ ul ⸢x x⸣ [x x x x x] | |
| 16' | ša₂ ina E₂.GAL ša₂ ⸢LUGAL⸣ [x x x x x x] | |
| 17' | u₃ LUGAL be-li₂-ku-nu [x x x x x] | |
| 18' | im-na-an-ni {lu₂}⸢maš⸣-[ka-na x x x] | |
| b.e. | ||
| 19' | ul te-eš-a-ni [x x x x x] | |
| 20' | {lu₂}EN.NAM a-ga-a [x x x x x] | |
| 21' | ni-ip-tin ak-[x x x x x x] | |
| 22' | a-na-ku ina ṭe₃-⸢em⸣ [x x x x x] | |
| 23' | u₂-še-zib a-ki ša₂ {d}⸢AG⸣ [x x x x x] | |
| r | ||
| 1 | {lu₂}SUKKAL be-li₂-ia ⸢it⸣-[x x x x] | |
| 2 | {lu₂}EN—KUR₂-ka {lu₂}EN—KUR₂-ka tak-[x x x x] | |
| 3 | šu-lum-me-e a-na ⸢LUGAL⸣ [x x x x] | |
| 4 | la tir-bi pa-an {lu₂}[x x x x x] | |
| 5 | le-mu-un iš-mu-u₂ [x x x x] | |
| 6 | ia-a-nu-u₂ la-a šu₂-u₂ [x x x x] | |
| 7 | u₃ KUR ra-pa-al-⸢ti⸣ [la—ŠU.2 LUGAL] | |
| 8 | u₂-še-li aš₂-ša₂ {1}AD—ha-⸢ru⸣ [a-na pa-ni-šu₂] | |
| 9 | ul a-mur{ur} aš₂-ša₂ {1}{d}U.⸢GUR⸣—[ŠEŠ a-na pa-ni-šu₂-ma] | |
| 10 | ul a-mur{ur} a-na pa-an {lu₂}[SUKKAL be-li₂-ia₂] | |
| 11 | a-mur{ur} {lu₂}SUKKAL di-na-a [it-ti-šu₂ li-di-in-ma] | |
| 12 | {1}{d}AMAR.UTU—MAN—PAB li-mur ki-[i x x x li-pu-uš] | |
| 13 | ki-i ša₂ la ip-pu-uš i-⸢x⸣+[x x x x] | |
| 14 | {1}da-ku-ru KUR ra-pa-al-⸢ti⸣ [la—ŠU.2 | |
| 15 | LUGAL be-li₂-ia ul-la-ma a-na pa-an [LUGAL be-li₂-ia] | |
| 16 | al-lak {1}ma-hu-ma-a.a šu₂-u₂ [ina ŠA₃-bi] | |
| 17 | {[na₄]}u₂-ra-a-ka ut-tir-ru {lu₂}[x x] | |
| 18 | [a-du-u₂] pa-an {lu₂}SUKKAL be-li₂-ia₂ ⸢a⸣-[dag-gal] | |
| 19 | [a-ga-a šu]-⸢tu⸣-u₂ bu-qu-[ru x x] | |
| 20 | [ša₂ {lu₂}SUKKAL be-li₂ ina] pa-ni-šu₂ ib-[x x x] | |
| 21 | [x x x x x x x]-ti i-⸢x⸣+[x x x] | |
| e. | ||
| 1 | um-ma aš₂-ša₂-a BAD₃ ša₂ E₂—{1}da-[ku-ru a-na] | |
| 2 | ṣi-re-e mu-ul-lu ul a-[x x x x] | |
| 3 | {lu₂}qal-la a-ga-a MU.05.AN.NA šu-u₂ [x x] | |
| 4 | um-ma kit-tu-u₂ [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.