CT 53, 138 (P313553)
Letter, Neo-Assyrian, Nineveh · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE
Open in the reader & map →See it among all tablets
| Designation | CT 53, 138 |
|---|---|
| ID | P313553 |
| 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/saa05 · Via Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus (ORACC) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (ORACC)
| Line | English |
|---|---|
| Obverse [1:2] o 2'2'–o 2'2' | died [......] |
| Obverse [2:5] o 3'3'–o 5'5' | [I swear by the g]ods of [the king, my lord,] that th[is w]ork [...]; if we have been negli[gent, may ......]! |
| Obverse [5:6] o 6'6'–o 6'6' | [The k]ing, my lord [......] |
| Obverse [6:7] o 7'7'–o 7'7' | has done [......] |
| Obverse [7:8] o 8'8'–o 8'8' | I am a servant of the k[ing, my lord ...]; |
| Obverse [8:9] o 9'9'–o 9'9' | when [......] |
| Obverse [9:11] o 10'10'–o 11'11' | and when the gods ta[ke action, I] wi[ll do accor]dingly [...]. |
| Obverse [11:16] o 12'12'–o 16'16' | The Kummeans w[ho previously] appealed [to] the king, [my lord, h]ave returned and [c]ome t[o me], saying: "The city of Kummu in its entirety can't stand the royal delegate; [but] we can, and will bear the responsibility." |
| Obverse [16:19] o 17'17'–o 19'19' | [Aššur]-reṣuwa has said: "[There are] four men [who should be] removed; they must not walk (free) in my presence while I [am] here; they are inci[ting] the country." |
| Obverse [19:21] o 20'20'–o 21'21' | [In f]act, he told me: "T[hey] should stay with you and be provided with [foo]d and drink; when the ti[me is right] let them disappear." |
| Obverse [21:26] o 22'22'– | Now, if it is not [..., and the ... insists]: "Let them be detained," [he sho]uld speak k[indly with them]; the royal delegate [and the ... should n]ot detain [the men]. |
| Bottom [0:2] b.e. 26'b.e. 26'– | [... who w]ent [......] |
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' | ⸢ir-ta⸣-[x x x x x x x x x x] | |
| 2' | in-tu-a-[ta x x x x x x x x] | |
| 3' | ⸢DINGIR⸣-MEŠ\m-ni ša\ym [LUGAL EN-ia lu u₂-du-u šum₂-mu] | |
| 4' | ⸢dul₆⸣-lu an-⸢ni⸣-[u₂ la x x x x x x] | |
| 5' | ⸢šum₂⸣-mu ni\d-si-[aṭ x x x x x x x x] | |
| 6' | ⸢LUGAL⸣ be-li₂ i-[x x x x x x x x x] | |
| 7' | ⸢e-ta⸣-pa-aš₂ [x x x x x x x x x] | |
| 8' | ⸢u₃⸣ ARAD ša\dy ⸢LUGAL⸣ [EN-ia x x x x] | |
| 9' | [a]-na-ku ki-i ⸢x⸣+[x x x x x x x x x] | |
| 10' | ⸢ki⸣-i DINGIR-MEŠ\m e-[pa-šu-u-ni a-na-ku] | |
| 11' | [ina] ⸢pi⸣-ti le\d-⸢pu⸣-[uš x x x x x] | |
| 12' | {⸢lu₂v⸣}ku-ma-a.a ⸢ša\y⸣ [ina pa-ni-ti a-na] ⸢LUGAL⸣ [EN-ia] | |
| 13' | ⸢ih⸣-hu-ru-ni\d [is]-su-uh-ru-ni ina ⸢UGU⸣-[hi-ia] | |
| 14' | ⸢it⸣-tal\d-ku-ni ma-a {uru}ku-um\d-mu gab-bi-šu₂ | |
| 15' | {⸢lu₂vy⸣}qe-e-pu\tp la i-na-ši-u₂ ma-a a-ni-[nu-ma] | |
| 16' | [ni]-⸢na⸣-ši ma-a pu\p-tu-hu na-ṣa-ni [o] | |
| 17' | {1}aš-šur]—⸢re⸣-ṣu-u-a iq-ṭi₂-bi ma-a 04 ERIM-MEŠ\m [šu-nu] | |
| 18' | [lu]-⸢še⸣-li\d-u₂ UD-MEŠ\m ša\dy an-na\y-ka a-⸢na⸣-[ku-ni] | |
| 19' | [pa]-⸢na⸣-tu-u-a lu la il-lu-ku KUR i-da\d-[ki-u] | |
| 20' | [i-ba]-ši iq-ṭi₂-bi-a ma-a ina IGI-ka lu ⸢šu⸣-[nu] | |
| 21' | [NINDA-MEŠ\m le]-kul A-MEŠ\m li\d-is-si-u ki-i si-[min₃] | |
| 22' | [x x x] le-li-u u₂-ma-a šum₂\m-mu la [x x] | |
| 23' | [x x x] ma-a lu ka-la-ʾu di\d-ib-⸢bi⸣ [DUG₃.GA-MEŠ\m] | |
| 24' | [is-si-šu₂-nu] ⸢lid⸣-bu\p-bu\p {lu₂v}qe-e-pu\p ⸢x⸣+[x x x] | |
| 25' | {[lu₂v}ERIM-MEŠ\m lu] ⸢la⸣ i-kal-li\d-⸢u₂⸣ [x x x x] | |
| b.e. | ||
| 26' | [x x x il]-⸢lik⸣-u-ni ⸢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.