BE 17/1, 040 (P261326)
Letter, Middle Babylonian, Nippur · c. 1400 BCE–1100 BCE
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| Designation | BE 17/1, 040 |
|---|---|
| ID | P261326 |
| Museum no. | CBS 05134 |
| Collection | Penn Museum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Language | Akkadian |
| Period | Middle Babylonian · c. 1400 BCE–1100 BCE |
| Genre | Letter |
| Find spot | Nippur (mod. Nuffar) |
| Coordinates | 32.1271, 45.2300 |
English translation
By Zimmermann, Lynn-Salammbô · Via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative · CDLI (reuse with citation)
| Line | English |
|---|---|
| obverse 1 | Your servant Ubāru: I shall go as my lord’s substitute! |
| obverse 2 | The following (say) to my lord: |
| obverse 3 | The ḫazannu of Dūr-Pap šukkal |
| obverse 4 | has closed the namgāru irrigation canal. Until they will irrigate the two |
| obverse 5 | irrigated territories (belonging to the city) of (=for) the early (sowing) |
| obverse 6 | and (until) 20 ḫarbu of (=for) fields of the late (sowing) |
| obverse 7 | are placed (there) on standby, until then they are going to levy a workforce (for it). |
| obverse 8 | With what kind of water my lord has irrigated, |
| obverse 9 | ... if it is the case that he closed the namgāru irrigation canal |
| obverse 10 | my lord shall write (this) to me. And he shall irrigate the irrigated territories (surrounding a city), |
| obverse 11 | which he has already filled out of his heart (= from his own stocks with seeds), |
| obverse 12 | but he shall prevent them from (doing the) late (sowing). |
| obverse 13 | My lord shall not miss the irrigation and the seeding with a seeder-plow. |
| obverse 14 | His own(= of the ḫazannu) namgāru irrigation canal is flowing |
| obverse 15 | and he is sitting in front of the namgāru irrigation canal (i.e. thereby blocking it) |
| obverse 16 | of my lord. The water in his own namgāru irrigation canal |
| obverse 17 | is filled up (= enough) and still he is sitting in front of |
| obverse 18 | this namgāru irrigation canal! |
| reverse 1 | Out of his namgāru irrigation canal he shall take water and |
| reverse 2 | the namgāru irrigation canal of my lord he shall make flow (with it). |
| reverse 3 | (About) the water of the nāru canal of Ilu-ipuš |
| reverse 4 | and the water of the nāru canal Nalaḫ, |
| reverse 5 | which is the share of the water of my lord |
| reverse 6 | shall my lord speak to the šandabakku and |
| reverse 7 | he shall send for the qīpu officials. |
| reverse 8 | They shall give (water) and the ploughing must not decrease! |
Transliteration (ATF)
From Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative · CDLI: reuse of catalogue/transliteration data with citation of CDLI; images restricted (not fetched)
| Line | ATF | Machine English (draft) |
|---|---|---|
| obverse | ||
| 1 | _ARAD_-ka {disz}u-bar-ru3 a-na di-na-an be#-li2#-ia# lul#-lik# | |
| 2 | um-ma-a a-na be-li2-ia-a-ma | |
| 3 | ha-za-an-nu sza _bad3_-{d}pap-{szuk}sukkal!{ki} | |
| 4 | nam-ga-ra is-se-[ke]-er a-di szi-it-ta | |
| 5 | ta-mi-ra-ti sza har#-pi i-sza-aq-qu-u2 | |
| 6 | u3 2(u) har-bu sza up-pu-li | |
| 7 | [sza]-ak-nu u3 i-de-ek-ku-u2 | |
| 8 | [be]-li2 me-e a-a-u2-ti isz-qi2-ma | |
| 9 | [... lu]-u2 nam-gar-ra is-ki-ir | |
| 10 | be-li2 lisz-pu-ra-am-ma ta-mi-ir-ta | |
| 11 | sza i-na lib3-bi-szu u2-ma-al-lu-u2 lisz-qi2 | |
| 12 | u3 up-pu-la li-sza-ak-li-ma | |
| 13 | be-li2 mi-ik-ra u3 e-re-sza | |
| 14 | la i-ha-at,-t,i nam-gar-szu musz-szur | |
| 15 | u3 szu-u2 a-na pa-an nam-ga-ri | |
| 16 | sza be-li2-ia a-szi-ib mu-u2 i-na nam-ga-ri-szu2 | |
| 17 | ma-a'-du u3 szu-u2 a-na pa-an | |
| 18 | nam-ga-ri an-ni-i a-szi-ib | |
| reverse | ||
| 1 | i-na nam-ga-ri-szu me-e lil-qi2-ma | |
| 2 | nam-gar-ra sza be-li2-ia li-masz-szi-ir | |
| 3 | me-e _i7 dingir_-i-pu-usz | |
| 4 | u3 me-e _i7_ na-la-ah | |
| 5 | me-e zi-it-ti sza be-li2-ia | |
| 6 | be-li2 a-na _gu2-en-na_-ki li-iq-bi2-ma | |
| 7 | a-na qi2-pu-ti lisz-pu-ru-ni-im-ma | |
| 8 | lid-di-nu-ma e-re-szu la i-ma-at,-t,i | |
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
Cite the original edition and translator. Page generated by Unread Atlas from the public corpus export of 2026-10-11.