CT 54, 204 (P238683)
Letter, Neo-Assyrian, Nineveh · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE
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| Designation | CT 54, 204 |
|---|---|
| ID | P238683 |
| 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 [0:3] o 1o 1–o 33 | [Your servant Bel-iqiša]: I would gladly [die for the king], my [lord! May] Nab[û and Marduk] bless [the king], my [lord]! Say [to the king], my [lord]: |
| Obverse [3:7] o 44–o 77 | I daily bless [the king], my lord, saying: "May [the king], my [lord], stay alive and [may] Ea [grant him ... and] a wide [understanding]." |
| Obverse [7:8] o 88–o 88 | [...] your chosen name [...] |
| Obverse [8:9] o 99–o 99 | [...] ... Esaggil [...] |
| Obverse [9:10] o 1010–o 1010 | [...] the land to your hands [...] |
| Obverse [10:11] o 1111–o 1111 | [...] may he examine [...] |
| Obverse [11:12] o 1212–o 1212 | [...] may he get Babylon m[oving ...] |
| Obverse [12:13] o 1313–o 1313 | [...] words of the Lord-of-Lords, [Marduk, ...] |
| Obverse [13:14] o 1414–o 1414 | When [NN] seized Babylo[n, ...] |
| Obverse [14:15] o 1515–o 1515 | [... of] the Sealand, descendant [of NN] |
| Obverse [15:16] o 1616–o 1616 | [...] since days of old to Babylon ... [...] |
| Obverse [16:17] o 1717–o 1717 | [...] the evil enemy, who does not fear the gods [...] |
| Obverse [17:18] o 1818–o 1818 | [...] to the shrines ... [...] |
| Obverse [18:19] o 1919–o 1919 | [...] they plundered and bu[rned] the land of Akkad [...] |
| Obverse [19:20] o 2020–o 2020 | [...] Esaggil, Babylon and [...] |
| Obverse [20:24] o 2121–o 2424 | [...] he did wrong. The punishment of Mardu[k reached him, however]. He he[ard the ... and w]oes of his city Babylon [...] and became reconciled towards his city Babylon. For [..., the destruction] of (his) throne, and the disappearance of the dynasty of the Sealand [...] |
| Obverse [24:25] o 2525–o 2525 | [...] many evil signs of Na[bû-...] |
| Obverse [25:26] o 2626–o 2626 | [...] strange [bird]s to Esaggil and Babylo[n ...] |
| Obverse [26:28] o 2727– | [...] rare steppe animals into the centre of the city [...] |
| Bottom [0:1] b.e. 28b.e. 28–b.e. 28b.e. 28 | [...] alien ...s, young [...] |
| Bottom [1:2] b.e. 2929–b.e. 2929 | [...] the circumspect king, the 'suppo[rter] of evil' [...] |
| Bottom [2:4] b.e. 3030– | [...] he will ...[...] |
| Reverse [3:4] r 4'4'–r 4'4' | [...] service [...] |
| Reverse [4:5] r 5'5'–r 5'5' | [Perhaps the king, my lord], will say: "A [female] servant [...] |
| Reverse [5:6] r 6'6'–r 6'6' | [...] a joyful [he]art, as soon as he [...] to Marduk-[...] |
| Reverse [6:7] r 7'7'–r 7'7' | [...] If it pleases the king, my, lord, let [...] |
| Reverse [7:10] r 8'8'–r 10'10' | [...] their words [...] |
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 {1}{d}EN—BA-ša₂ a-na di-na-an] | |
| 2 | [LUGAL be-li₂]-⸢ia lul-lik⸣ {d}⸢AG⸣ [u {d}AMAR.UTU a-na] | |
| 3 | [LUGAL be-li₂]-⸢ia⸣ lik-ru-bu um-⸢ma⸣-[a a-na] | |
| 4 | [LUGAL be-li₂]-⸢ia⸣-a-ma UD-ME-us-⸢su⸣ [x x x] | |
| 5 | [LUGAL be-li₂]-a a-kar-rab um-⸢ma⸣ [x x x] | |
| 6 | [LUGAL be-li₂]-a lu-u₂ ba-laṭ-ma ⸢x⸣+[x x x] | |
| 7 | [x x uz-nu] ra-pa-aš₂-tu₂ {d}E₂.A [liš-kun-šu₂] | |
| 8 | [x x x x] ⸢šu⸣-mi-ka na-as-qu [x x x] | |
| 9 | [x x x x x x]-⸢liš⸣-šu₂ E₂.SAG.⸢IL₂⸣ [x x x] | |
| 10 | [x x x x x x x] KUR ana qa-ti-ka [x x x] | |
| 11 | [x x x x x x x]-na lu-u₂-mas-si [x x x] | |
| 12 | [x x x x x x] TIN.TIR{ki} lu-⸢nam⸣-[mi-šu] | |
| 13 | [x x x x x] ⸢dib⸣-bi EN—EN.EN EN—EN.EN {d}[AMAR.UTU] | |
| 14 | [x x x x x x] TIN.TIR{ki} ki-i iṣ-[ba-tu] | |
| 15 | [x x x x] ⸢KUR⸣—A.AB.BA ŠA₃.BAL.BAL [x x] | |
| 16 | [x x x x] ⸢ul⸣-tu UD-me pa-an ana TIN.TIR{ki} ⸢x⸣+[x x] | |
| 17 | [x x x x x] {⸢lu₂⸣}KUR₂ lem-nu la pa-lih DINGIR-⸢MEŠ⸣ [x x] | |
| 18 | [x x x x x x] ana {e₂}eš-re-e-ti i-⸢x⸣+[x x x] | |
| 19 | [x x x x x x] KUR—URI{ki} iš-lul-u₂-ma u₂-⸢qa⸣-[am-mi] | |
| 20 | [x x x x x x] E₂.SAG.IL₂ TIN.TIR{ki} u da-[x x] | |
| 21 | [x x x x x u₂]-hab-bil hi-bil-tu e-nen {d}AMAR.⸢UTU⸣ [x x] | |
| 22 | [x x x x na]-az-mat URU-šu₂ TIN.TIR{ki} iš-mi-[e-ma] | |
| 23 | [x x x a-na] ⸢URU⸣-šu₂ TIN.TIR{ki} sa-lim ir-ta-ši a-⸢na⸣ [x x] | |
| 24 | [x x x x] {⸢giš⸣}GU.ZA ZAH₂ BALA-e ša₂ KUR—A.AB.BA pa-[x x] | |
| 25 | [x x x x] ⸢GISKIM⸣-MEŠ lem-ni-ti ma-da-a-tu₂ ša₂ {1}{d}⸢AG⸣—[x x] | |
| 26 | [x x x x x]-MEŠ a-hu-ti ana E₂.SAG.IL₂ u TIN.⸢TIR⸣{[ki]} | |
| 27 | [x x x x x x]+⸢x⸣-mi EDIN aq-ru-tu₂ ana ŠA₃ URU [x x] | |
| b.e. | ||
| 28 | [x x x x x x]+⸢x⸣ GID₂-MEŠ a-hu-tu₂ ṣe-he-⸢ru⸣-[tu₂ x x] | |
| 29 | [x x x x x x] ⸢LUGAL⸣ has-su SAG.HUL.⸢HA⸣.[ZA SAG.HUL.⸢HA⸣.[ZA SAG.HUL.⸢HA⸣.[ZA x x] | |
| 30 | [x x x x x x x x x]+⸢x⸣ i-pal-⸢x⸣+[x x x x] | |
| r | ||
| 1' | [x x x x x x x x x]+⸢x x⸣+[x x x x x] | |
| 2' | [x x x x x x x x x] ⸢x x⸣ [x x x x] | |
| 3' | [x x x x x x x x] ⸢x x x⸣+[x x x x x] | |
| 4' | [x x x x x x]-⸢na dul-lu x⸣ [x x x x] | |
| 5' | [x x x x x]+⸢x⸣ i-qab-bi um-ma ⸢GEME₂⸣ [x x x] | |
| 6' | [x x x ŠA₃]-⸢bi⸣ ha-du-u₂ ki ša₂ a-⸢na⸣ {1}{d}⸢AMAR⸣.[UTU—x x] | |
| 7' | [x x x x x] ⸢pa⸣-an ⸢LUGAL⸣ be-li₂-ia₂ ⸢ha-du⸣-u₂ lu-u₂ [x x] | |
| 8' | [x x x x x x x]+⸢x⸣ dib-bi-šu₂-nu [x x] | |
| 9' | [x x x x x x x x x]-MEŠ ⸢x⸣+[x x x] | |
| 10' | [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.