CT 53, 031 (P313446)
Letter, Neo-Assyrian, Nineveh · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE
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| Designation | CT 53, 031 |
|---|---|
| ID | P313446 |
| 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 [0:4] o 1o 1–o 44 | [To the king, my lord]: your serv[ant Adad-šumu-uṣur]. Good health t[o the king], my lord! May Nabû and Marduk bless the king, my lord! |
| Obverse [4:12] o 55–o 1212 | What has not been done in heaven, the king, my lord, has done upon earth and shown us: you have girded a son of yours with headband and entrusted to him the kingship of Assyria; your eldest son you have set to the kingship in Babylon. You have placed the first on your right, the second on your left side! |
| Obverse [12:21] o 1313–o 2121 | (When) we saw (this), we blessed the king, our lord, and our hearts were delighted. May Aššur, Šamaš, Na[bû, Marduk], and the great gods of heaven and earth let [the king my lord, see] them (= the princes) prosper! May Aššur, Adad and Šamaš, ten (times) each, determine a go[od fortune] for the king, [my lord], and for his sons! May Aššur make your name endure with heaven and earth! |
| Obverse [21:35] o 2222– | Just as you have prepared a fine career for these sons of yours, prepare likewise a fine career for (the rest) of your numerous sons! Bring them into (your protective) shadow and shelter! May they like grass seed rule over all countries! May you be good to Assyria — may Assyria be good to you! |
| Reverse [4:15] r 55–r 1515 | (Only) yesterday and the day before yesterday, the Elamite [emissaries behaved] like [...] towards Assyria; [but now] they certainly tremble. [......], they have become worried; they have taken [the road back to their country] and [...d] themselves a dist[ance of ...]. (But) the Assyrians s[eeing (this to happen)], have let out a sigh of relief [and said]: "O ki]ng, our lord, with the kings, your sons, do a favour for Assyria!" |
| Reverse [15:22] r 1616–r 2222 | Now, O king, my lord, the god Aššur has given you (the world) from the rising of the sun to the setting of the sun. Look upon these fine sons of yours and your heart will rejoice. The king, my lord, should banish unpleasant thoughts from his mind; such thoughts (only) make you weak. |
| Reverse [22:25] r 2323–r 2525 | [(While) you] will grow old, jo[y ...... Arrange] the wedding night of your sons, make their hearts delighted! |
| Reverse [25:27] r 2626–r 2727 | [... god and] man [......]. |
| Edge [0:1] e. 1e. 1–e. 1e. 1 | I am (but) an old man of the king, my lord; I put my trust in the king, my lord. May I hear about the health of the king, my lord, may my heart be deli[ghted]! |
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] | |
| 2 | ⸢ARAD⸣-ka {1}{d}IM—MU—PAB] | |
| 3 | lu DI-mu a-[na LUGAL] ⸢EN⸣-ia | |
| 4 | {d}AG {d}AMAR.UTU a-na MAN EN-ia | |
| 5 | lik-ru-bu ša ina AN-e la e-piš-u-ni | |
| 6 | LUGAL be-li₂ ina kaq-qi-ri e-tap-aš₂ | |
| 7 | uk-ta-li-im-a-na-ši DUMU-ka | |
| 8 | {tug₂}pi-tu-tu tar-ta-kas LUGAL-u₂-tu₂ | |
| 9 | ša KUR—aš-šur ina pa-ni-šu₂ tu-us-sa-ad-gi-il | |
| 10 | DUMU.UŠ-ka GAL-u₂ a-na LUGAL-u₂-te | |
| 11 | ina KA₂.DINGIR.RA{ki} ta-as-sa-kan | |
| 12 | 01 ina ZAG-ka 02-u₂ ina šu-me-li-ka | |
| 13 | tu-sa-ze-ʾi-iz a-ni-nu ⸢ne₂⸣-ta-am-ra | |
| 14 | a-na LUGAL EN-i-ni ni-ik-⸢tar⸣-ba | |
| 15 | lib-bi-in-ni ib-ta-⸢al⸣-[ṭa] | |
| 16 | ne₂-ma-al-šu₂-nu aš-šur {d}ša₂-maš {d}⸢PA⸣ {[d}AMAR.UTU] | |
| 17 | DINGIR-MEŠ ša AN-e KI.TIM a-⸢na⸣ [MAN EN-ia] | |
| 18 | lu-kal-li-mu 10-a.a ⸢da⸣-[ma-qu] | |
| 19 | aš-šur {d}IM {d}ša₂-maš a-na MAN [EN-ia] | |
| 20 | a-na DUMU-MEŠ-šu₂ li-ši-⸢mu⸣ | |
| 21 | TA@v AN-e u kaq-qi-ri MU-ka | |
| 22 | aš-šur lu-ke-ʾi-in ki-i | |
| 23 | ša a-na DUMU-MEŠ-ka an-nu-u₂-te | |
| 24 | KASKAL.2 SIG₅ ina GIR₃.2-MEŠ-šu₂-nu taš-kun-u-ni | |
| 25 | ki-i an-ni-im-ma ša DUMU-MEŠ-ka | |
| 26 | ma-aʾ-du-te KASKAL.2 SIG₅ ina GIR₃.2-MEŠ-šu₂-nu | |
| b.e. | ||
| 27 | šu-kun | |
| 28 | a-na ṣi-il-li | |
| 29 | u₃ ṣu-lu-li | |
| r | ||
| 1 | qar-ri-ib ki-i {še}NUMUN šam-me | |
| 2 | KUR.KUR li-be₂-e-lu ina UGU KUR—aš-šur | |
| 3 | lu DUG₃.GA-a-ku-nu KUR—aš-šur | |
| 4 | ina UGU-hi-ku-nu lu ṭa-ba-at | |
| 5 | [ina] ti-ma-li ina šal-ši UD-⸢me⸣ {[lu₂}MAH-MEŠ] | |
| 6 | NIM{ki}a.a ki-i [x x x x x] | |
| 7 | ina pu-ut KUR—aš-šur [x x x u₂-ma-a] | |
| 8 | i-ba-aš₂-ši ⸢ra⸣-[ma-an-šu₂-nu] | |
| 9 | u₂-na-ru-⸢ṭu⸣ [x x x x x x] | |
| 10 | TA@v ŠA₃-šu₂-nu i-⸢du⸣-[bu-bu x x x x] | |
| 11 | i-ṣa-ab-tu₂ ma-⸢lak⸣ [x x x x x x] | |
| 12 | ra-ma-an-šu₂-nu [x x x x x] | |
| 13 | DUMU-MEŠ KUR—aš-šur ⸢e⸣-[tam-ru ŠA₃-ba-šu₂-nu] | |
| 14 | ip-ta-aš₂-⸢hu⸣ [ma-a] ⸢LUGAL⸣ EN-⸢i⸣-[ni] | |
| 15 | ina LUGAL-⸢MEŠ-ni DUMU-MEŠ-ka⸣ ṭa-ab-tu₂ | |
| 16 | a-na KUR—aš-šur e-pu-uš u₂-ma-a | |
| 17 | LUGAL be-li₂ TA@v na-pa-ah {d}UTU-ši | |
| 18 | a-di ra-ba-a {d}UTU-ši aš-šur it-ta-na-ka | |
| 19 | DUMU-MEŠ-ka an-nu-te SIG₅-MEŠ du-gul | |
| 20 | ŠA₃-ba-ka lu ha-ad-di da-ba-bu | |
| 21 | la ⸢SIG₅⸣ LUGAL be-li₂ TA@v UGU ŠA₃-bi-šu₂ | |
| 22 | [lu]-⸢še⸣-li ina ŠA₃-bi te-ni-iš | |
| 23 | [tu-up]-ta-tar-ša₂-am hu-ud-⸢du⸣ | |
| 24 | [x x x] ⸢ru⸣ qur-šu DUMU-MEŠ-⸢ka⸣ | |
| 25 | [x x x x] ⸢ni⸣ ŠA₃-ba-šu₂-nu bal-⸢li⸣-[iṭ] | |
| 26 | [x x x x x DINGIR u] a-me-lu-te | |
| 27 | [x x x x x x x x x x x x] | |
| e. | ||
| 1 | {lu₂v}par-šu-mu ša LUGAL EN-ia a-na-ku a-na MAN EN-ia ⸢tak⸣-[ku-la-ku] | |
| 2 | DI-mu ša LUGAL EN-ia la-aš₂-me ŠA₃-bi lib-⸢la⸣-[ṭa] | |
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.