CT 53, 024 (P313439)
Letter, Neo-Assyrian, Nineveh · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE
Open in the reader & map →See it among all tablets
| Designation | CT 53, 024 |
|---|---|
| ID | P313439 |
| 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 Aššur-šumi-ke'in. Good health to the king, my lord! May Aššur bless the king, my lord! |
| Obverse [4:7] o 55–o 77 | As to what the king, my lord, wrote to me: "Find big twelve-cubit bull colossi!" — |
| Obverse [7:11] o 88–o 1111 | [There are two] in front of the main gate of the center of the city; [one] is an [el]even-cubit colossus [of the Chief C]upbearer; the other has a [...] and is not 'clean'. |
| Obverse [11:16] o 1212–o 1616 | Then there are [two] bull colossi of Zeru-ibni, each ten cubits; one he has set up in front of the royal palace, the other one is extra and in his possession. Let him give it [to] the Palace Herald so it may be brought and set up before the royal palace. |
| Obverse [16:21] o 1717– | Perhaps the king my lord now says: "Why should the Palace Herald get a bull colossus of Zeru-ibni?" |
| Reverse [0:4] r 1r 1–r 44 | [Once the wate]r in the river gets l[ess, any of] the bull colossi [which] are being hewn [along the ri]ver could stand [...] the king's [...]. |
| Reverse [4:11] r 55–r 1111 | I[f the kin]g my lord so orders, I could bring down (the river) two bull colossi [that have been fini]shed, one in [the city of ...], the other in Tastiate. Now, [I have (already) brou]ght down to Adia [one] bull colossus of Zeru-ibni; another one belonging to the Treasurer [is in Ur]zuhina. |
| Reverse [11:17] r 1212–r 1717 | The king [..... bull col]ossi; they should quickly give me [....... What does the k]ing my lord orde[r? May he quickly send] a messenger to [his servant]! |
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}aš-šur—⸢MU—GIN⸣ | |
| 3 | lu-u DI-mu a-na LUGAL EN-⸢ia⸣ | |
| 4 | {⸢d⸣}aš-šur a-na LUGAL EN-ia lik-ru-⸢ub⸣ | |
| 5 | ša\d LUGAL EN iš-pur-a-ni | |
| 6 | ⸢ma⸣-a {na₄}ALAD\m.{d}LAMA KALAG-MEŠ | |
| 7 | ⸢ša⸣ 12 ina 01 KUŠ₃\m a-mu-ur | |
| 8 | 02 ina IGI KA₂.GAL da-at-ti\t ša\m MURUB₄—URU MURUB₄—URU | |
| 9 | 01-en] {na₄}ALAD.{d}⸢LAMA⸣ [ša] 11 ina 01 KUŠ₃\m | |
| 10 | [ša {lu₂}GAL]—⸢KAŠ⸣.LUL {lu₂}GAL]—⸢KAŠ⸣.LUL 01-en E₂ [x x] | |
| 11 | [x x]+⸢x⸣ ina ŠA₃-bi-šu₂ la za-ku | |
| 12 | 02 {na₄]}{d}ALAD.{d}LAMA-MEŠ\m ša\m 10-a.a 01 KUŠ₃\m | |
| 13 | [ša {1}NUMUN—DU₃ 01-en ina IGI E₂—LUGAL E₂—LUGAL | |
| 14 | [iz-za]-qap₂ 01-en ut-ru ina IGI-šu₂ | |
| 15 | [a-na] {lu₂}600—E₂.GAL {lu₂}600—E₂.GAL lid-din | |
| 16 | ⸢lu⸣-bi-⸢lu⸣ ina IGI E₂—LUGAL E₂—LUGAL li\d-iz-qu-pu | |
| 17 | i—su\t-ri LUGAL EN i-qa-bi | |
| 18 | ma-a a-ta-a {na₄}{d}ALAD.{d}LAMA | |
| 19 | ša\m {1}NUMUN—DU₃ {lu₂}600—E₂.GAL {lu₂}600—E₂.GAL | |
| 20 | i-na-aš₂-ši | |
| r | ||
| 1 | [ki-ma A]-⸢MEŠ⸣ ina ID₂ i-⸢si⸣-[ṣu] | |
| 2 | [x x x x]+⸢x⸣ {na₄}{d}ALAD.{d}LAMA | |
| 3 | ⸢ša⸣ [ina UGU] ⸢ID₂⸣ i-bat-taq-u-ni | |
| 4 | ⸢x⸣+[x x] ⸢LUGAL⸣ li\d-zi-zi | |
| 5 | ⸢šum⸣-[ma] ⸢LUGAL EN⸣ i-qa-bi | |
| 6 | 02 {na₄⸣}{[d]}ALAD.{d}LAMA-MEŠ\m | |
| 7 | [x x x]+⸢x-ru⸣-ni 01-en | |
| 8 | [ina {uru}x x]+⸢x⸣ 01-en ina {uru}tas-ti\t-a-te | |
| 9 | [lu-še]-ri-da u₂\m-ma-a ina {urud}a-di\d-a | |
| 10 | 01-en] {na₄}{d}ALAD.{d}LAMA ša\d {1}NUMUN—DU₃ | |
| 11 | [u₂-se]-⸢ri⸣-da ša\d {lu₂}⸢IGI.DUB\m⸣ | |
| 12 | [ina {uru}ur]-zu\t-hi-na [šu-u] ⸢LUGAL⸣ | |
| 13 | [x {na₄}{d}ALAD.{d]}⸢LAMA⸣-MEŠ\m | |
| 14 | [x x x x x]+⸢x-ta⸣ ar₂-hiš | |
| 15 | [x x x x] lid-nu-ni | |
| 16 | [mi₃-nu ša] ⸢LUGAL⸣ EN i-qa-⸢bu⸣-[u-ni] | |
| 17 | [ar₂-hiš] {⸢lu₂⸣}A—⸢KIN⸣ {⸢lu₂⸣}A—⸢KIN⸣ ina UGU [ARAD-šu₂] | |
| 18 | [liš-pu-ra] | |
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.