CT 53, 010 (P313425)
Letter, Neo-Assyrian, Nineveh · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE
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| Designation | CT 53, 010 |
|---|---|
| ID | P313425 |
| 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/saa01 · Via Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus (ORACC) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (ORACC)
| Line | English |
|---|---|
| Obverse [0:4] o 1o 1–o 44 | [To the king, my lord: your servant Bel-liqbi. Good health to the ki]ing, [my lord]! The k[ing's land and d]istrict [are well]. |
| Obverse [4:7] o 55–o 77 | [The Ar]abs are settled on the other side of the [H]adina river; they come [...] ... and go, everything is [fine]. |
| Obverse [7:19] o 88–o 1919 | I have driven the farmer(s) and gardener(s) [of Ammi]li'ti son of Amiri [out of] my towns and torn down a [...] of sheep he had constructed. Now, he came to me saying: "Why have you expelled my subjects? I shall write to the Palace!" I proposed a bargain, saying: "Your subjects molested my subjects. But since you are the king's servant, I will give you fields and gardens in the land of Yasubuqu. Take it!" The king my lord should know this in case he writes to the king my lord. |
| Obverse [19:33] o 2020– | As to what the king, my lord, wrote to me: "You have made Huzaza into a merchant town! The people have been selling iron for money to the Arabs!" — who are the merchants that have been selling there? Three men, elders of the 'Ateans, [are ...] there; they stock grapes, 20 or [30 homers], as much as we bring in, and sell them to the Arabs. I sell iron to the deportees [only], copper to the Arabs. |
| Reverse [2:6] r 33–r 66 | By the gods of the king my lord (I swear) I am staying in Šupat! In Huzaza I have only sold 30 homers of grapes for silver. The king my lord should (only) hold me accountable for this! |
| Reverse [6:12] r 77–r 1212 | A toll collector has been placed at the city-gate of Ṣupat, and now they have placed another one in Huzaza; the Arabs are leaving and not coming any more because they have become scared. Am I less loyal to the king my lord than a toll collector? And do I appropriate a shekel from my duty for doing it? |
| Reverse [12:17] r 1313–r 1717 | My carpenters who worked in Ṣupat ran away from me. [The king, my lord], wrote that [they should re]turn to Dur-Šarruken, so I got hold of them and brought them down, but one of them got sick and died while the other ran away again. |
| Reverse [17:24] r 1818–r 2424 | The king my lord knows that I have been losing artisans; I would not like to relinquish them either for repair work or for making ...s. Abatu, a chariot-maker, and Qanê, a smith, (both) servants of Bel-šarru-[uṣur, came to] me saying: "[...... |
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 EN-ia] | |
| 2 | [ARAD-ka {1}EN—liq-bi] | |
| 3 | [lu DI-mu a-na] ⸢LUGAL⸣ [EN-ia] | |
| 4 | {[kur}ma-a-tu₂] {⸢kur⸣}na-gi-u ša\d ⸢LUGAL⸣ [DI-mu] | |
| 5 | {[lu₂vy}ar]-ba-a.a ina bat-ti am-⸢mi⸣-[te] | |
| 6 | [ša {id₂]}⸢ha⸣-di\d-na šak-nu e-ru\t-⸢bu⸣ | |
| 7 | [ina ŠA₃] ⸢x⸣ i-me-ru u₂-ṣu-u | |
| 8 | [DI-mu a]—dan-niš {lu₂vy}ENGAR\m {lu₂vy}NU.GIŠ.SAR\m | |
| 9 | [ša {1}a-mi]—li\d-iʾ-ti\t DUMU {1}a-me-ri | |
| 10 | [TA@v ŠA₃] ⸢URU⸣-MEŠ\m-ia uk\d-ta\d-ši\d-di | |
| 11 | [x x]-⸢tu₂⸣ ši-i ša\m UDU-MEŠ\m ša ir-ṣip-u-ni | |
| 12 | un-ta\d-gir₂ u₂-ma-a šu-u₂\m i-tal\d-ka | |
| 13 | ma a-ta-a {lu₂vy}ARAD-ME-ia tu₂-še-⸢li⸣ | |
| 14 | ma-a ina E₂\d.GAL\p a-ša₂-pa-ra a-na\t-ku te-⸢gir₂-tu₂⸣ | |
| 15 | a-[sa]-⸢kan mu-ku⸣ {lu₂vy}ARAD-MEŠ\m-ka a-na {lu₂vy}ARAD-⸢MEŠ-ia⸣ | |
| 16 | ⸢ih⸣-ta-sa-ʾu mu-ku TA@v\m ma-ṣi {⸢lu₂vy}ARAD⸣ | |
| 17 | ša\m LUGAL at-ta-ni mu-ku A.ŠA₃.⸢GA⸣ {giš}SAR | |
| 18 | ina {kur}ia-su-bu-qi la-di\d-na-ka ṣa-bat | |
| 19 | šum-ma ina UGU LUGAL EN-ia i-ša₂-pa-ra | |
| 20 | LUGAL be-li₂ lu-u-da\d ša LUGAL be-li₂ iš-⸢pur⸣-a-ni | |
| 21 | ma-a {uru}hu-za-za a-na URU {lu₂vy}DAM.QAR | |
| 22 | te-ta\p-⸢ap⸣-ša₂ ma-a AN.BAR UN-MEŠ a-na | |
| 23 | {lu₂vy}ar-ba-a.a ina kas-pi i-tan-di\d-nu | |
| 24 | [man]-⸢nu⸣ šu-nu {lu₂vy}DAM\m.QAR-ME ša\m ina ŠA₃-bi | |
| 25 | [i]-⸢di⸣-nu-ni 03 ERIM-ME {lu₂vy}AB.⸢BA-ME⸣ | |
| b.e. | ||
| 26 | ⸢ša⸣ {kur}ʾa\m-ta-a.a ina ŠA₃-bi ⸢x⸣+[x x] | |
| 27 | {[giš]}⸢KIN⸣.GEŠTIN-MEŠ lu 20 lu 30 ANŠE] | |
| 28 | ⸢a⸣—mar nu-še-rab-u-ni u₂\m-⸢ka-lu⸣ | |
| 29 | [a]-⸢na {lu₂vy}ar⸣-ba-a.a i-⸢du⸣-[nu] | |
| r | ||
| 1 | ⸢a-na-ku AN.BAR a-na {lu₂vy⸣}hu-ub-⸢ti⸣-[ma] | |
| 2 | ⸢e⸣-ra ⸢a-na\t⸣ {lu₂vy}⸢ar⸣-ba-a.a a-⸢da\d-an⸣ | |
| 3 | DINGIR-MEŠ\m ša\dm ⸢LUGAL EN šum₂⸣-[ma] ina {uru}ṣu-pi-te | |
| 4 | ⸢la⸣ ka-⸢ra⸣-ku-u-ni 30 ANŠE {⸢giš}KIN.GEŠTIN⸣-MEŠ\m | |
| 5 | ina {uru}hu-za-za ina kas-pi a-ti\t-din ina UGU | |
| 6 | an-ni-ti\t LUGAL be-li₂ ina ŠU\m.2-ia ⸢lu⸣-ba-ʾi | |
| 7 | 01-en {⸢lu₂vy⸣}ma-ki-su ina a-bul-⸢li ša\ydm {uru}ṣu⸣-pat | |
| 8 | i-sa-ka-nu u₂-ma-a {lu₂vy}02-u₂ ina {uru}hu-za-za | |
| 9 | i-sa-ka-nu {lu₂vd}ar-ba-a.a u₂-ṣu ina ŠA₃-bi | |
| 10 | la-a i-la-ku-u-ni ig\d-du-ru a-na\t-ku | |
| 11 | a—mar {lu₂vy}ma-ki-se-e TA@v\m LUGAL EN-ia | |
| 12 | la ke-nak 01 ⸢GIN₂⸣ KUG.UD ⸢ša\m⸣ il-⸢ki⸣-ia ina ŠA₃-bi | |
| 13 | ⸢a⸣-na\t-ga-ra {lu₂vy}NAGAR-⸢MEŠ-ia ša⸣ ina {⸢uru}ṣu-pi⸣-[te] | |
| 14 | [dul]-⸢lu⸣ e-pa-aš₂-u-ni ⸢ih-tal⸣-qu-u-ni | |
| 15 | [LUGAL be-li₂] i-sa-ap-ra ma-a [ina] {⸢uru⸣}BAD₃—MAN—⸢GIN⸣ | |
| 16 | [li-is]-hu-ru a-ṣa-bat u₂-⸢se⸣-ri-⸢di⸣ | |
| 17 | 01-en in\m-ta-ra-ṣa UŠ₂ 01-en ⸢i-su\t⸣-hur | |
| 18 | ih-tal-qa LUGAL be-li₂ u₂-da\d {lu₂vy}UM.ME.A-MEŠ\m | |
| 19 | ⸢TA@v\m⸣ pa-ni-ia i-tu₂-ṣi-u₂ la a-na bat-qi\mm | |
| 20 | [la] ⸢a⸣-na {giš}gu-ma-ki-li\d e-pa-a-ši | |
| 21 | [TA IGI]-ia lu-ra-mi-šu-nu {1}a-⸢ba⸣-tu₂ | |
| 22 | {[lu₂vy}NAGAR]—mu-gir {[lu₂vy}NAGAR]—mu-gir {1}qa-ni-e\d {lu₂vy}⸢SIMUG⸣ | |
| 23 | {[lu₂vy}ARAD]-⸢MEŠ\m⸣-ni ša {1}EN—MAN—[x ina UGU-hi-ia] | |
| 24 | [i-tal-ku]-ni ⸢ma⸣-[a 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.