CT 53, 148 (P313563)
Letter, Neo-Assyrian, Nineveh · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE
Open in the reader & map →See it among all tablets
| Designation | CT 53, 148 |
|---|---|
| ID | P313563 |
| 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 [0:9] o 1o 1–o 99 | To the king, my lord, the righteous, sincere, and beloved of his gods: your servant Itti-Šamaš-balaṭu. Good health to the king, my lord! May Aššur, Šamaš, Bel, Nabû, Nergal, Ištar of Nineveh, Ištar of the Kidmuri temple, (and) Ištar of Arbela very generously give to the king, my lord, long days, everlasting years, happiness, physical well-being (and) joy. |
| Obverse [9:18] o 1010–o 1818 | Just as the king, my lord, is truthful to god and man, and the command of the king, my lord, is good to god and man (and) 'the black-headed people,' in the same manner the powerful gods of the king, my lord, who raised the king, my lord, from childhood till maturity, will fully carry out (these blessings) and render them to the king, my lord. And [they will brin]g all the enemies [of] the king, my lord, [to submission] before the feet of the king, [my] lord. |
| Obverse [18:23] o 1919–o 2323 | As [it is said] in the treaty: "[May iron swords consume him] who go[es] to the south [and may iron swords consume him] who g[oes] to the north. May your waterskins b[reak] in a place of [severe] t[hirst]" — |
| Obverse [23:27] o 2424–o 2727 | [by] the gods of the king, [I have don]e just as [it is said] in [the treaty] |
| Reverse [1:3] r 2'2'–r 3'3' | that beautiful face [of the king, my lord] |
| Reverse [3:4] r 4'4'–r 4'4' | and ... [......] |
| Reverse [4:5] r 5'5'–r 5'5' | [who] blessed [him ......] |
| Reverse [5:6] r 6'6'–r 6'6' | (and) filled him [......] |
| Reverse [6:7] r 7'7'–r 7'7' | be it a dead one [......] |
| Reverse [7:8] r 8'8'–r 8'8' | my lord to [......] |
| Reverse [8:9] r 9'9'–r 9'9' | now [......] |
| Reverse [9:10] r 10'10'–r 10'10' | the king, my lord [......] |
| Reverse [10:11] r 11'11'–r 11'11' | who with [......] |
| Reverse [11:12] r 12'12'–r 12'12' | and the face [......] |
| Reverse [12:14] r 13'13'–r 14'14' | mankind [......] repays his [lo]rds [......] |
| Reverse [14:15] r 15'15'–r 15'15' | [let] them [repa]y the fav[our ...] to him! |
| Reverse [15:16] r 16'16'–r 16'16' | And in wor[k ......], |
| Reverse [16:17] r 17'17'–r 17'17' | whenever [...] he performed [...] to its [...]s, |
| Reverse [17:18] r 18'18'–r 18'18' | [...] he made well [...] |
| Reverse [18:19] r 19'19'–r 19'19' | and revived the heart of [...]. |
| Reverse [19:20] r 20'20'–r 20'20' | The whole country blesses the king, my lord. |
| Reverse [20:23] r 21'21'–r 23'23' | What work has the king, my lord, done, that would have been repaired? All the work the king, my lord, performs, is well made! |
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 ke-e-nu ša₂-al-mu | |
| 2 | u₃ ra-a-mu ša DINGIR-MEŠ-šu₂ ARAD-ka {1}KI—{d}UTU—TIN | |
| 3 | lu-u šul-mu a-na LUGAL be-li₂-ia | |
| 4 | {d}aš-šur {d}UTU {d}EN {d}PA {d}U.GUR | |
| 5 | {d}15 ša NINA{ki} {d}15 ša E₂—kad-mu-ru | |
| 6 | {d}15 ša arba-il₃{ki} UD-mu GID₂.DA-MEŠ | |
| 7 | MU.AN.NA-MEŠ da-ra-a-ti ṭu-ub ŠA₃-bi | |
| 8 | ṭu-ub UZU hu-du-u₂ ŠA₃-bi a—dan-niš a—dan-niš | |
| 9 | a-na LUGAL be-li₂-ia lid-di-nu | |
| 10 | a-ki-i ša LUGAL be-li₂ TA@v DINGIR u LU₂-ti ke-nu-u-nu | |
| 11 | u₃ ṣi-it—pi-i ṣi-it—pi-i ša LUGAL EN-ia i-⸢na⸣ UGU-hi | |
| 12 | DINGIR u LU₂-ti i-na UGU-hi ṣal-mat—SAG.DU ṣal-mat—SAG.DU ṭa-bu-u-ni | |
| 13 | a-ki ha-nim-ma DINGIR-MEŠ ša LUGAL EN-ia dan-nu-ti | |
| 14 | ša TA@v ŠA₃-bi ṣe-he-ru a-du-u₂ ru-u₂-bu | |
| 15 | a-na LUGAL be-li₂-ia u₂-ra-bu-u₂-ni | |
| 16 | šu-nu-ma ep-pu-šu₂ u₂-gam-mu-ru a-na LUGAL EN-ia id-du-⸢nu⸣ | |
| 17 | u₃ ma-ri na-ga-ru-ti-ni [ša] LUGAL be-li₂-ia | |
| 18 | i-na sa-pal GIR₃.2 ša LUGAL EN-[ia u₂-šak-nu]-šu₂ | |
| 19 | a-ki-i ša i-na ŠA₃-bi a-de-⸢e⸣ [qa-bu-u-ni] | |
| 20 | ma-a ša a-na 15 il-la-⸢ku⸣-[u₂-ni GIR₂-MEŠ le-ku-la-šu₂] | |
| 21 | ma-a ša a-na 150 il-la-[ku-u₂-ni GIR₂-MEŠ le-kul-šu₂] | |
| 22 | ma-a ina kaq-qar ⸢ṣu⸣-[ma-mit lap-lap-tu₂] | |
| 23 | na-da-te-ku-ni lu ⸢ta⸣-[hi-bi] | |
| 24 | DINGIR-⸢MEŠ⸣ ša LUGAL [lu-u₂ u₂-du-u] | |
| 25 | [šum-ma] ⸢a⸣-ki-i ša ⸢i-na⸣ [ŠA₃-bi a-de-e qa-bu-u-ni] | |
| 26 | [la e-pu-šu]-ni šum-ma [x x x x x x x] | |
| 27 | [x x x]+⸢x x⸣+[x x x x x x x x] | |
| r | ||
| 1' | [x x]+⸢x x⸣+[x x x x x x x x x x] | |
| 2' | pa-ni am-mu-⸢ti⸣ [ša LUGAL be-li₂-ia] | |
| 3' | dam-qu-ti [x x x x x x x x x] | |
| 4' | u₃ ki bi ⸢x⸣+[x x x x x x x x x] | |
| 5' | ik-ra-bu-[šu₂-nu x x x x x x] | |
| 6' | u₂-ma-lu-šu₂-[nu x x x x x x x] | |
| 7' | lu-u me-tu ⸢x⸣+[x x x x x x x x x] | |
| 8' | be-li₂ a-na [x x x x x x x x x] | |
| 9' | a-ga-ni [x x x x x x x x x] | |
| 10' | LUGAL be-li₂ [x x x x x x x x x] | |
| 11' | ša TA@v i-[x x x x x x x x x] | |
| 12' | u₃ pa-ni [x x x x x x x x x]+⸢x⸣ | |
| 13' | a-me-lu-ti [x x x x x x x] ⸢EN⸣-MEŠ-šu₂ | |
| 14' | u₂-šal-lam [x x x x x x x x x]+⸢x⸣ | |
| 15' | šu₂-nu ṭa-⸢ab⸣-[tu₂ x x x x x x]+⸢x⸣-mu-šu₂ | |
| 16' | u₃ ina dul-[li x x x x x x x x x]-⸢i⸣ | |
| 17' | a-na ma-ti [x x x x x x x x]-⸢MEŠ⸣-šu₂ | |
| 18' | e-pu-su-nu [x x x x x] ⸢u₂⸣-da-mi₃-qa | |
| 19' | u₃ ŠA₃-bi ša ⸢x⸣+[x x x x] ub-tal-liṭ | |
| 20' | ma-a-ti gab-bi-šu₂ a-na LUGAL EN-ia i-kar-ru-bu | |
| 21' | a.a-i dul-lu ša LUGAL be-li₂ e-pu-su-su-nu | |
| 22' | u₃ ba-di-qu-nu ma-ri dul-lu-nu | |
| 23' | ša LUGAL be-li₂ ep-pa-su-nu | |
| 24' | gab-bi-šu₂ da-mu-qi | |
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.