CT 53, 078 + 426 (P313493)
Letter, Neo-Assyrian, Nineveh · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE
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| Designation | CT 53, 078 + 426 |
|---|---|
| ID | P313493 |
| 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/saa16 · Via Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus (ORACC) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (ORACC)
| Line | English |
|---|---|
| Obverse [0:5] o 1o 1–o 55 | Concerning the men who [appeal] for royal intervention, the king, my lord, should not tarry. Let th[e men] come and speak up, and may [the king] familiarise himself with [their] cases. May the king seize upon the matter whi[ch] is accept[able t]o him. What is not acce[ptable t]o the king, my lord, the king, [my] lord, [may] drop. |
| Obverse [5:12] o 66– | If one is a servant of the king and tells ab[out] his prefect or about his governor, his prefect should be given clear instructions about him; (and) if one is a servant of an Assyrian, his lord should be told in no uncertain terms: "He rests in the king's protection — nobody may litigate against him! You must not lead him to ..., he must not be detained!" |
| Bottom [1:7] b.e. 1212– | (Should) the king, my lord, finish off his m[e]n, one might [g]o to his comrade and say: "I too want to speak before the king." No, O king, my lord! The magnates should be given clear instructions about it. They will hear it at once and many people will come. The desire of the king, [my lord], will be achieved through much talk. |
| Reverse [4:8] r 55–r 88 | As to the gold about which I wrote [to] the king, my lord: "If the report of this [...] comes to the king, my lord, the king, [my lord], should write to his servant" — why [has] the kin[g, my lord, not written to me]?" |
| Reverse [8:9] r 99–r 99 | [I]f the king, my lord, [...] about t[his] matter |
| Reverse [9:11] r 1010– | [...] to the sartinn[u ......] |
| Right [0:1] r.e. 11r.e. 11–r.e. 11r.e. 11 | [o]f Harhar, the king, my lord [......] |
| Right [1:2] r.e. 1212–r.e. 1212 | [T]hey should keep their eyes on him [...] |
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 | ina UGU {lu₂v}ERIM-MEŠ ša a-bat—šar-ra-a-⸢te⸣ a-bat—šar-ra-a-⸢te⸣ a-bat—šar-ra-a-⸢te⸣ [i-zak-ka-ru-u-ni] | |
| 2 | LUGAL be-li₂ lu la u₂-⸢ku⸣-uš {⸢lu₂v⸣}[ERIM-MEŠ] | |
| 3 | li-li-ku-u-ni li-iq-⸢bi⸣-u₂ ⸢ina de-e-ni⸣-[šu₂-nu LUGAL] | |
| 4 | le-ru-ub a-bu-tu₂ ⸢ša⸣ [ina] IGI LUGAL mah-ra-tu-[u-ni] | |
| 5 | ina ŠU.2-šu₂ li-ṣi-bat ša ⸢ina⸣ IGI LUGAL EN-ia₂ la mah-⸢ra⸣-[tu-u-ni] | |
| 6 | LUGAL be-⸢li₂⸣ [lu-ra]-⸢am⸣-mi ⸢šum₂⸣-ma ARAD ša LUGAL šu-u ina [UGU] | |
| 7 | {lu₂v}šak-ni-šu ina UGU {⸢lu₂v}NAM⸣-šu₂ iq-ṭi₂-bi bir-ti IGI.2 | |
| 8 | ša {lu₂v}šak-ni-šu ina UGU-⸢hi-šu₂⸣ lu-[ma-di]-⸢du⸣ šum₂-ma ur-du | |
| 9 | ⸢ša⸣ aš-šur-a.a bir-te IGI.2-šu₂ ⸢ša⸣ EN-šu₂ lu-ma-di-du | |
| 10 | ⸢ma⸣-a ina ŠA₃-bi LUGAL i-ti-i-la [ma]-a me-me-ni i-si-šu₂ | |
| b.e. | ||
| 11 | [lu] la i-da-bu-ub ma-a ina ŠA₃-⸢bi⸣ e-ki-it la ta-ra-di | |
| 12 | ⸢lu⸣ la-a u₂-kaš LUGAL be-li₂ ⸢ERIM⸣-MEŠ-šu₂ u₂-ga-mar i—[su-ri] | |
| r | ||
| 1 | [i]-lak a-na me-eh-ri-šu i-⸢qa-bi⸣ ma-a ina IGI LUGAL-ma | |
| 2 | la-qa-bi u₂-la LUGAL be-li₂ bir-te IGI.2-MEŠ ša {lu₂v}GAL-MEŠ | |
| 3 | ina UGU-hi lu-ma-di-du bi-is i-šam-me-u₂ UN-MEŠ | |
| 4 | ma-aʾ-⸢du-te i-la-ku⸣-u-ni ṣa-hi-it-tu₂ ša LUGAL [EN-ia₂] | |
| 5 | ina da-ba-bi ma-aʾ-di ta-na-mar ina UGU KUG.GI ša [a-na] | |
| 6 | ⸢LUGAL EN⸣-ia₂ aš₂-pur-an-ni nu-uk šum-ma ṭe₃-e-mu ša [x x x] | |
| 7 | an-ni-e ina IGI LUGAL EN-ia₂ e-ta-rab nu-uk ⸢LUGAL⸣ [be-li₂] | |
| 8 | a-na ARAD-šu₂ liš-pu-ra a-ta-a ⸢LUGAL⸣ [x x x x x] | |
| 9 | [šum₂]-ma LUGAL be-li₂ ina UGU da-ba-bi ⸢an⸣-[ni-e x x] | |
| 10 | ⸢x⸣-te-e-ni a-na {lu₂v}sar-tin-⸢ni⸣ [x x x x x x] | |
| r.e. | ||
| 11 | ⸢ša⸣ {uru}har-ha-ra LUGAL be-li₂ [x x x x x x] | |
| 12 | [o] IGI.2-⸢šu₂⸣-nu lu ina UGU-hi-šu₂ [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.