CT 54, 359 (P238887)
Letter, Neo-Assyrian, Nineveh · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE
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| Designation | CT 54, 359 |
|---|---|
| ID | P238887 |
| 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/saa10 · Via Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus (ORACC) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (ORACC)
| Line | English |
|---|---|
| Obverse [0:2] o 1o 1–o 22 | [To] the king of the lands, my lord: your servant B[el-ušezib]. [May Bel, Nabû and] Šamaš [bless] the king, [my] lord! |
| Obverse [2:3] o 33–o 33 | [... on the 4th of Shebat (XI) [...] |
| Obverse [3:4] o 44–o 44 | [......] on the 14th day the moon [was seen] with [the sun]. |
| Obverse [4:9] o 55–o 99 | [If on the 14th day the moon and sun are seen] together: [reliable speech; the land will become hap]py; the gods [will remember] Ak[kad favorably]; joy will be set up among people; [the king will become happy]; [the cattle of] Akkad [will] lie [in the steppe] undisturbed. |
| Obverse [9:11] o 1010–o 1111 | [If the moon and sun are in balance]: reliable [spe]ech [will be placed in the mouth of people; the king will make his thr]one last long. |
| Reverse [1:2] r 2'2'–r 2'2' | Aššur [...... a]cceptable. |
| Reverse [2:5] r 3'3'–r 5'5' | Let the lord of kings [find out and] hear [what] he has to say; [a]s he is an ab[le] scribe, they [...] him with the two styluses of his father. |
| Reverse [5:7] r 6'6'–r 7'7' | The lord of kings [should ask] the chief scribe; it is not good to exasperate [...]. |
| Reverse [7:12] r 8'8'–r 12'12' | [If] it is acceptable [to the king], my [lo]rd, [let him appoi]nt him as the scribe of the house, and [let] the king [charge] him with his watch. I have written (this) as a reminder [to the king], my lord; let the lord of kings do [as he] deems best. |
| Reverse [12:14] r 13'13'– | The [...] of Nabû-šarru-ukin [......] |
| Right [0:2] r.e. 14r.e. 14–r.e. 1515 | I have sent four tablets [concerning] the palace superintendent to the king, [my] lo[rd]; I do not know if the king has heard them. |
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 | [a-na] LUGAL be-li₂-ia ARAD-ka {1}{⸢d⸣}[EN—u₂-še-zib] | |
| 2 | {[d}EN {d}AG u] {⸢d⸣}UTU a-na LUGAL be-li₂-[ia lik-ru-bu] | |
| 3 | [x x x x x] ina {iti}ZIZ₂ UD 04-[KAM₂ x x x] | |
| 4 | [x x x x x UD] 14-KAM₂ 30 ⸢KI⸣ {[d}UTU IGI-ir] | |
| 5 | 1 UD 14-KAM₂ 30 u 20 KI a-ha-meš [IGI-MEŠ] | |
| 6 | [KA GI.NA ŠA₃ KUR DUG₃]-⸢ab⸣ DINGIR-ME KUR—⸢URI⸣{[ki]} | |
| 7 | [ana SIG₅ i-ha-sa]-⸢su⸣ hu-ud ŠA₃ UN-ME ⸢GAR-an⸣ | |
| 8 | [ŠA₃ LUGAL DUG₃-ab bu-ul] KUR—URI{ki} par-ga-niš | |
| 9 | [ina EDIN i]-rab-bi-ṣu | |
| 10 | 1 30 u 20 šit-qu-lu at]-⸢mu⸣-u₂ ki-i-nu | |
| 11 | [ina KA UN-MEŠ GAR-an LUGAL AŠ].TE SUMUN-bar | |
| 12 | [x x x] ⸢a x x⸣ [x x x x x x x x] | |
| r | ||
| 1' | [x x] ⸢x x x⸣ [x x x x x x x x x] | |
| 2' | [o] AN.ŠAR₂ at-tu-⸢x⸣+[x x x x x x x x x] | |
| 3' | ⸢ma⸣-hi-ir EN LUGAL-ME ⸢lil⸣-[mad ša₂] pi-i-šu₂ liš-me | |
| 4' | [ki]-i {lu₂}DUB.SAR le-⸢ʾu⸣-[u₂] šu-u₂ | |
| 5' | [ina] ⸢ŠA₃⸣-bi 02 GI—DUB.BA-MEŠ ša₂ AD-šu₂ | |
| 6' | [x i]-⸢man⸣-nu-niš-šu₂ EN LUGAL-MEŠ {lu₂}GAL—DUB.SAR {lu₂}GAL—DUB.SAR | |
| 7' | [liš-al x x] ⸢a-na zu⸣-un-ni-i ul ṭa-a-bi | |
| 8' | [ki-i pa-an LUGAL be]-li₂-ia mah-ru {lu₂}DUB.SAR—E₂-u₂-tu₂ {lu₂}DUB.SAR—E₂-u₂-tu₂ | |
| 9' | [lid-di]-⸢na⸣-aš₂-šu₂ u₃ LUGAL EN.NUN-ta-šu₂ | |
| 10' | [li-qi₂-pa]-aš₂-šu₂ a-na tah-sis-ti [a-na LUGAL] | |
| 11' | [EN]-ia al-tap-ra EN LUGAL-⸢MEŠ⸣ [ki-i ša₂] | |
| 12' | ⸢i⸣-le-ʾu-u₂ li-pu-uš | |
| 13' | [x]+⸢x⸣ ša₂ {1}{d}AG—LUGAL—⸢GIN⸣ [x x x]+⸢x⸣ [x] | |
| r.e. | ||
| 14 | [x x]+⸢x⸣ 04 IM-MEŠ a-na LUGAL be-[li₂-ia] | |
| 15 | [ina UGU] {lu₂}ša₂—IGI—E₂.GAL al-tap-⸢ra⸣ [o] | |
| 16 | [ki]-⸢i⸣ LUGAL iš-mu-u₂ ul i-di [o] | |
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.