CT 53, 141 (P313556)
Letter, Neo-Assyrian, Nineveh · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE
Open in the reader & map →See it among all tablets
| Designation | CT 53, 141 |
|---|---|
| ID | P313556 |
| 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/saa13 · Via Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus (ORACC) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (ORACC)
| Line | English |
|---|---|
| Obverse [0:5] 11–55 | To the king, my lord: your servant, Šamaš-šumu-lešir. Good health to the king, my lord. May Nabû and Marduk bless the king, my lord. |
| Obverse [5:15] 66–1515 | When the king, my lord, sent me to the Land of the Chief Cupbearer and gave fields to his servants, in that city to which I ascended, in one temple these six deities were dwelling: Marat-Sin of Eridu, Marat-Sin of Nemed-Lagudu, Marat-Eridu, Nergal, Amurru, and Lugalbanda. |
| Obverse [15:23] 1616– | The people there told me: "These gods came with the king's father from Issete. The king's father said: 'I will send them with Bel to Babylon.'" |
| Bottom [1:5] b.e. 2323– | No one has spoken about this to the king. They indeed came here with Bel. |
| Reverse [0:8] r 1r 1–r 88 | Now if the king, my lord, (so) commands, let a royal messenger go, and let them bring these gods (there) and have them sent on their way. Why should they dwell here? I have written t[o the king], my [lord], about what I have seen. |
| Reverse [8:15] r 99–r 1515 | [Unlike a] servant of the king, on [the day w]hen I came here at the written order of the ki[ng], my lord, I did not even get an audience with the king, my lord. And I perish at my work, like a [dog]; I have not even entered the presence of the king, my lord. |
| Reverse [15:25] r 1616– | Am I not your servant? O king, my lord, let me behold that beautiful face of yours. Why must I die for want of food? Like a dog, I bound about and roam around. I have no house, no maid, no servant. (If this is) the way the king, my lord, regards me, I am finished. O king, my lord, for what reason did you bring me here? |
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) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | a-na LUGAL EN-ia | |
| 2 | ARAD-ka {1}{d}UTU—MU—GIŠ | |
| 3 | lu-u DI-mu a-na LUGAL EN-ia | |
| 4 | {d}AG u₃ {d}AMAR.UTU | |
| 5 | a-na LUGAL EN-ia lik-ru-bu | |
| 6 | be₂-et LUGAL [be]-li₂ a-na KUR GAL—KAŠ.LUL GAL—KAŠ.LUL | |
| 7 | iš-pur-an-ni-ni A.ŠA₃-MEŠ | |
| 8 | a-na ARAD-⸢MEŠ⸣-[šu₂] ⸢id⸣-din-u-ni | |
| 9 | ina ŠA₃-bi URU šu-u₂ be₂-et e-lu-u-ni | |
| 10 | {d}DUMU.MI₂—{d}30 ša ERI.DUG₃ | |
| 11 | {d}DUMU.MI₂—{d}30 ša {uru}ne₂-med—la-gu-du | |
| 12 | {d}DUMU.MI₂—ERI.DUG₃ {d}U.GUR | |
| 13 | {d}MAR.TU {d}LUGAL.BAN₃.DA | |
| 14 | PAB 06 DINGIR-MEŠ an-nu-tu | |
| 15 | ina ŠA₃-bi 01-en E₂ kam-mu-su | |
| 16 | UN-MEŠ ša₂ ina ŠA₃-bi iq-ṭe₃-bu-ni | |
| 17 | ma-a DINGIR-MEŠ an-nu-tu | |
| 18 | ma-a TA@v AD-šu₂ ša LUGAL | |
| 19 | TA@v ŠA₃-bi {uru}01-tu₂ it-tal-ku-u-ni | |
| 20 | ma-a AD-šu₂ ša LUGAL iq-ṭe₃-bi | |
| 21 | ma-a TA@v {d}⸢EN⸣ a-na {uru}KA₂.DINGIR{ki} | |
| b.e. | ||
| 22 | a-šap-par-šu₂-nu | |
| 23 | me-me-ni ina IGI LUGAL | |
| 24 | la iq-bi ak-kan-ni | |
| 25 | ⸢TA@v⸣ {d}EN it-tal-ku-u-mu | |
| r | ||
| 1 | u₂-ma-a šum₂-mu LUGAL be-li₂ | |
| 2 | i-qa-bi {lu₂}A—KIN {lu₂}A—KIN ša LUGAL | |
| 3 | li-il-lik DINGIR-MEŠ an-nu-tu | |
| 4 | lu-bil-u-ni KASKAL.2 ina GIR₃.2-MEŠ-šu₂-nu | |
| 5 | liš-ku-nu i-na mi-i-ni | |
| 6 | an-na-⸢ak-ka⸣-a lu kam-mu-su | |
| 7 | ina ⸢UGU⸣ [ša] a-mur-u₂-ni | |
| 8 | a-⸢na⸣ [LUGAL EN]-ia as-sa-par | |
| 9 | ⸢u₃⸣ [a-ki la] ARAD ša LUGAL | |
| 10 | ina [UD-me] ⸢ša⸣ iš—ši-pir-ti iš—ši-pir-ti | |
| 11 | ⸢LUGAL⸣ EN-ia₂ al-lik-an-ni | |
| 12 | pa-ni ⸢ša⸣ LUGAL EN-ia₂ la a-mur | |
| 13 | <u₃ ina UGU dul-li-ia> | |
| 14 | a-ki ⸢x⸣+[x x x] a-ma-⸢qut⸣ | |
| 15 | ina IGI LUGAL ⸢EN⸣-[ia₂] ⸢la e⸣-ru-bu | |
| 16 | la ARAD-ka-a a-na-ku | |
| 17 | LUGAL be-li₂ pa-ni-ka | |
| 18 | am-mu-u-tu SIG₅-MEŠ la-mur | |
| 19 | a-⸢ta⸣-a ina bu-bu-tu₂ ša NINDA-MEŠ | |
| 20 | a-mu-at a-ki kal-bi | |
| 21 | a-sa-bu-u₂ a-du-u₂-a-la | |
| 22 | la E₂ | |
| 23 | la GEME₂ la ARAD | |
| r.e. | ||
| 24 | a-ki ša LUGAL be-li₂ i-da-gal-an-ni-ni ga-am-rak | |
| 25 | ⸢ina⸣ UGU min₃{in₆} ta-ta-ab-kan-ni LUGAL be-li₂ | |
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.