ABL 1340 (P238726)
Letter, Neo-Assyrian, Nineveh · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE
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| Designation | ABL 1340 |
|---|---|
| ID | P238726 |
| 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 [0:4] o 1o 1–o 44 | [Your servant Nabû-šumu-liš]ir: I would [gladly die for the king of the universe, my lord]! May [Nab]û and Marduk [bless] the king of the universe, [my] l[ord]! Say to the king of the universe, m[y lord]: |
| Obverse [4:8] o 55–o 88 | Every [day], from the unlocking of the door socket until the closing of the gate, I bless the king, my lord, with raised hands before Bel and Beltiya. |
| Obverse [8:18] o 99–o 1818 | The bread is excellent, the best quality beer is good. The door of the god of the dead one has been put up. The plating is ready, and all the Babylonians who on the 4th day went up to Esaggil and saw the door, blessed the king, my lord, before Bel and Beltiya, and rejoiced greatly. The king, my lord, can be happy. [The d]oor of Esaggil and Babylon, your [house] of god, is very beautiful. |
| Obverse [18:23] o 1919–o 2323 | [But] I myself am not happy. I am [loy]al, but my food ration has been held back. The king will perhaps say: "[W]ho has withheld it?" The 'ear-men' [who g]o [...] |
| Reverse [0:1] r 1'1'–r 1'1' | [...] they have conspi[red] |
| Reverse [1:2] r 2'2'–r 2'2' | [...] each of us |
| Reverse [2:3] r 3'3'–r 3'3' | [... Ever since] I grew up |
| Reverse [3:4] r 4'4'–r 4'4' | [... of the king], my lord, |
| Reverse [4:5] r 5'5'–r 5'5' | [... f]or a prebend |
| Reverse [5:6] r 6'6'–r 6'6' | [...] before [...] |
| Reverse [6:7] r 7'7'–r 7'7' | [... re]treated, some[one] |
| Reverse [7:8] r 8'8'–r 8'8' | [... Na]bû-zera-uṣur from |
| Reverse [8:9] r 9'9'–r 9'9' | [...] have advised me [on the basis of a t]ablet |
| Reverse [9:10] r 10'10'–r 10'10' | [... have gi]ven (but) nobody [...] |
| Reverse [10:11] r 11'11'–r 11'11' | [...] tablets [...] |
| Reverse [11:12] r 12'12'–r 12'12' | [...] the old robes [...] |
| Reverse [12:13] r 13'13'–r 13'13' | [...] Consequently the king, my lord, ... [...] |
| Reverse [13:16] r 14'14'–r 16'16' | [...] If it is agreeable to the king, [my] lord, he may enjoy it. Otherwise let my [preb]end be given to me, so [I] can [e]at [from it]! |
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}AG—MU—SI].SA₂ a-na [di-na-an] | |
| 2 | [LUGAL ŠAR₂ be-li₂-ia] lul-[lik] | |
| 3 | [d].⸢AG⸣ u₃ {d}AMAR.UTU a-na LUGAL ŠAR₂ ⸢be⸣-[li₂-ia lik-ru-bu] | |
| 4 | [um]-ma a-na LUGAL ŠAR₂ be-li₂-ia-[a-ma] | |
| 5 | [UD]-mu-us-su i-na pa-te-e up-[pi] | |
| 6 | [a]-⸢di⸣ tur-ru KA₂ i-na na-še-e [o] | |
| 7 | ⸢ne⸣-eš—ŠU.2 ⸢ne⸣-eš—ŠU.2 i-na pa-an {d}EN | |
| 8 | ⸢u₃⸣ {d}GAŠAN-ia <$a-na$> LUGAL be-li₂-a | |
| 9 | [a]-⸢kar⸣-rab NINDA-HI.A ba-ni KAŠ.SAG | |
| 10 | ⸢ṭa⸣-a-bi {giš}IG DINGIR ša₂ mi₃-i-ti zaq-pa-at | |
| 11 | ⸢le⸣-ʾa-a-ni qa-tu-u₂ u {lu₂}TIN.TIR{ki}MEŠ | |
| 12 | ⸢ma⸣-la UD 04-KAM₂ a-na {e₂}sag-gil₂ | |
| 13 | ⸢i⸣-lu-nim-ma {giš}IG i-mu-ru ina pa-an | |
| 14 | d.EN u₃ {d}GAŠAN-ia LUGAL be-li₂-a | |
| 15 | ⸢ik⸣-ta-rab-bu u₃ ma-aʾ-diš | |
| 16 | [ha]-mu-u₂ LUGAL be-li₂-a lu-u₂ ha-me | |
| 17 | {[giš]}⸢IG⸣ {e₂}sag-gil₂ u TIN.TIR{ki} | |
| 18 | [E₂]—DINGIR-MEŠ-ka [E₂]—DINGIR-MEŠ-ka ma-aʾ-diš ṭa-a-bi | |
| 19 | ⸢u₃⸣ ia-a-ši ŠA₃-bi la ṭa-a-bi | |
| 20 | [ki]-na-ku u₃ PAD-HI.A-a ka-la-a-ti | |
| 21 | [min₃-de]-e-ma LUGAL be-li₂-a i-qab-bi | |
| 22 | [um-ma] ⸢man⸣-nu ik-lu {lu₂}ša₂—PI.2-MEŠ | |
| 23 | [ša₂ x x il]-la-ku [x x x x x x] | |
| r | ||
| 1' | [x x x x x x x] ⸢id⸣-dab-⸢bu⸣ | |
| 2' | [x x x x x x] mim-mu-u₂-ni | |
| 3' | [x x x x x x]+⸢x⸣ ar-ba-a | |
| 4' | [x x x x x LUGAL] be-li₂-ia | |
| 5' | [x x x x x a]-na {giš}ŠUB.BA | |
| 6' | [x x x x x x] a-na pa-an [x x] | |
| 7' | [x x x x x] ⸢ih⸣-hi-si mam-⸢ma⸣ | |
| 8' | [x x x x x {1}d].⸢AG⸣—NUMUN—PAB ul-tu | |
| 9' | [x x x x x x] DUB im-tal-ku-in-ni-ma | |
| 10' | [x x x x x id]-di-nu mam-ma [x x]-⸢it⸣ | |
| 11' | [x x x]-hi-im DUB-MEŠ la [x x] | |
| 12' | [x x] TUG₂-MEŠ la-bi-ru-⸢tu⸣ [x] | |
| 13' | [x x] aš₂-ša₂-a LUGAL be-li₂-a uk-[x x] | |
| 14' | [x x]-tu₂ ki-i pa-an LUGAL be-li₂-[ia] | |
| 15' | ⸢mah⸣-ru li-kul ia-aʾ-nu-u₂ [o] | |
| 16' | {[giš]}⸢ŠUB⸣.BA-a lid-di-nu-nim-⸢ma⸣ | |
| 17' | [lu]-kul | |
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.