CT 53, 160 (P313575)
Letter, Neo-Assyrian, Nineveh · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE
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| Designation | CT 53, 160 |
|---|---|
| ID | P313575 |
| 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 [0:3] o 1o 1–o 33 | [To the king, my lord: your servant Ša-Aššur-dubbu. The best of health to the king, my lord]! |
| Obverse [3:6] o 44–o 66 | [The forts and the land of the king, my lord, are well. The king, my lord, can be gl]ad. |
| Obverse [7:8] o 88–o 88 | [......] my messenger |
| Obverse [8:9] o 99–o 99 | [......] my [mes]senger |
| Obverse [10:11] o 1111–o 1111 | [... they s]tay [...] his [...] |
| Obverse [11:12] o 1212–o 1212 | [......] day(s) |
| Obverse [12:13] o 1313–o 1313 | [......] they come |
| Obverse [13:14] o 1414–o 1414 | [...... has been se]rving [...]. |
| Obverse [14:16] o 1515–o 1616 | Now that my messenger wanted to make him leave, they protected him with axes and [...]. |
| Obverse [16:22] o 1717–o 2222 | I a[sk]ed the [Šubria]n: "Why do you seize deserters [f]rom the Urarṭian (king) fleeing to Assyria, and [settle them in] the city? Why do you [protect dese]rters and not give them to us?" His reply: "I fear the gods." |
| Obverse [22:29] o 2323–o 2929 | A s[cout] commander of the Urarṭian [enter]ed [the town ...] with 50 mules. They took the mules from him, put iron shackles to his arms and feet and returned him to the [Urarṭi]an. |
| Obverse [29:33] o 3030– | I wrote [him]: "Why are you not afraid of the gods, (you) abati, calf of the Urarṭ[ian]!" |
| Bottom [0:2] b.e. 33b.e. 33–b.e. 3434 | Emissaries of the [Ur]arṭian keep coming and going to him. |
| Bottom [2:10] b.e. 3535– | When I was visiting the king my lord [in] Kanun (X), 10 soldiers, (all) cavalrymen, deserted there; [recently], 40 soldiers from [...]ri took their people with them, pulled out their grinding slabs, and went there. |
| Reverse [6:11] r 77–r 1111 | I heard that he had been very ill, so I asked him about those soldiers. He sent me a letter, saying: "Tebal ada — I shall send you yo[ur] men." |
| Reverse [11:15] r 1212–r 1515 | As to the bou[ght] slave concerning whom the king, my lord, wrote me, [he has now turned up] in the domain of his servant, and I am sending [the ...]s to the king, [my lord]. |
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] | |
| 2 | [ARAD-ka {1}ša—aš-šur—du-bu] | |
| 3 | [lu DI-mu a-na LUGAL EN-ia a—dan-niš] | |
| 4 | [DI-mu a-na {uru}bi-ra-a-ti] | |
| 5 | [a-na KUR ša LUGAL EN-ia] | |
| 6 | [ŠA₃ ša LUGAL EN-ia lu DUG₃].GA | |
| 7 | [x x x x x x x x x]+⸢x⸣-ru | |
| 8 | [x x x x x x x {lu₂vy]}A—šip-ri-ia {lu₂vy]}A—šip-ri-ia | |
| 9 | [x x x x x x {lu₂vy}A]—šip-ri-ia {lu₂vy}A]—šip-ri-ia | |
| 10 | [x x x x x x x x x]-me | |
| 11 | [x x] ⸢iz⸣-za-zu [x x x x x]-e-šu | |
| 12 | [x x x]+⸢x⸣ [x x x x x x]+⸢x⸣ UD-me | |
| 13 | ⸢x⸣+[x x x x x x x i]-⸢la⸣-ku-u-ni | |
| 14 | a-[x x x x x x x x i]-du-al | |
| 15 | u₂-ma-a {lu₂vy}A—šip-ri-⸢ia {lu₂vy}A—šip-ri-⸢ia u₂⸣-sat-bi-šu | |
| 16 | TA {giš}UL-MEŠ\m TA {⸢giš⸣}[x-x]-⸢ti⸣ | |
| 17 | i-na\t-ṣu-ru-šu a-[na {kur}šub-ri-a].a a-[sa]-⸢al⸣ | |
| 18 | [nu]-uk\dp a-ta-a a-⸢na {lu₂vy}ha-al-qu-te⸣ | |
| 19 | ⸢ša⸣ {kur}URI\dd-a.a ⸢ša⸣ ina KUR—aš-šur{[ki]} ha-la-qu-ni-ni | |
| 20 | tu-ṣa-bat {uru}[x x x x x x x] | |
| 21 | nu-uk\dp a-ta-a [hal]-⸢qu⸣-te ⸢ta⸣-[x x]+⸢x⸣ | |
| 22 | la ta-da\d-na-na-a-ši ma-a TA ⸢IGI⸣ | |
| 23 | DINGIR-MEŠ pal-ha-ku {lu₂vy}GAL—⸢da\d⸣-[a.a-li] {lu₂vy}GAL—⸢da\d⸣-[a.a-li] | |
| 24 | ⸢ša\m⸣ {kur}URI\dd-a.a a-na ŠA₃ {[uru}x x x]+⸢x⸣ | |
| 25 | 50 {anšed}GIR₃.NUN\m.NA ⸢i⸣-si-⸢šu⸣ [e-tar]-⸢ba⸣ | |
| 26 | {anšed}GIR₃.NUN\m.NA\t-MEŠ i-ta-ah-ru-šu | |
| 27 | a-na\t ša₂-a-šu a-hi GIR₃.2-MEŠ | |
| 28 | si-pa-ri AN.BAR i-sa-ak-nu-šu | |
| 29 | u₂-sa-hi-ru\d a-na\t {[kur}URI\dd]-a.a | |
| 30 | i-ta-nu-šu a-sa-par-a-[šu nu]-⸢uk\dp⸣ a-ta-a | |
| 31 | a-ba-ti\t mu-ru ⸢ša⸣ {kur}⸢URI\dd⸣-[a.a] | |
| 32 | TA IGI DINGIR-MEŠ la pal-ha-⸢ka⸣ | |
| b.e. | ||
| 33 | {lu₂vy}ṣi-ra-a-ni ša\d {kur}⸢URI\dd⸣-a.a | |
| 34 | ina UGU-hi-šu i-lu-ku | |
| 35 | i-la-ku-u-ni a-ki [ina] {⸢iti⸣}AB | |
| r | ||
| 1 | ina IGI LUGAL EN-ia₂ a-li-⸢ku⸣-u-⸢ni⸣ | |
| 2 | 10 {lu₂vy}ERIM-MEŠ ša\yd—BAD-HAL-⸢a⸣-[te] ⸢šu⸣-nu | |
| 3 | a-na ŠA₃-bi ih-tal-qu [x x]+⸢x⸣ | |
| 4 | 40 {lu₂vy}ERIM-MEŠ\m TA ŠA₃ {⸢uru⸣}[x]+⸢x⸣-ri | |
| 5 | UN\d-MEŠ\m-šu₂-nu ina ŠU.2-šu₂-nu i-ṣab-tu₂ | |
| 6 | {na₄}a-ru-a-ti-šu₂-nu i-ta-as\dt-hu | |
| 7 | a-na\t ŠA₃-bi i-tal-ku a-se-e-me | |
| 8 | ma-a ma-ri-ṣi a—dan-niš ina UGU | |
| 9 | {lu₂vy}ERIM-MEŠ\m an-nu-u-te a-⸢sa-al⸣-šu | |
| 10 | e-gir-tu₂ ina UGU-hi-ia i-sa-⸢par⸣ | |
| 11 | ma-a te-bal a-da\d ma-a ERIM-⸢MEŠ\m⸣-ku-[nu] | |
| 12 | a-ša₂-par-a-ka ina UGU {lu₂vy}⸢ŠAM₂⸣ | |
| 13 | ⸢ša LUGAL⸣ be-li₂ iš\d-pur-a-ni [o] | |
| 14 | [an-nu-rig] ina E₂ {lu₂v}ARAD-šu₂ ⸢x⸣+[x x] | |
| 15 | ⸢x⸣+[x x x x]+⸢x⸣-MEŠ\m ina IGI | |
| 16 | ⸢LUGAL⸣ [EN-ia₂] ⸢u₂⸣-se-bi-la | |
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.