ABL 0002 (P333954)
Letter, Neo-Assyrian, Nineveh · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE
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| Designation | ABL 0002 |
|---|---|
| ID | P333954 |
| 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/saa10 · Via Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus (ORACC) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (ORACC)
| Line | English |
|---|---|
| Obverse [0:4] o 1o 1–o 44 | To the king, [my lord]: your servant Adad-šumu-[uṣur]. Good health to the kin[g, my lord]! May Nabû and Marduk very greatly bless the king, my lord! |
| Obverse [4:8] o 55–o 88 | Aššur, [the king of the gods], called the name of [the king], my lord, to the kingship of Assyria, and Šamaš and Adad, through their reliable extispicy, confirmed the king, my lord, for the kingship of the world. |
| Obverse [8:15] o 99–o 1515 | A good reign — righteous days, years of justice; copious rains, huge floods, a fine rate of exchange! The gods are appeased, there is much fear of god, the temples abound; the great gods of heaven and earth have become exalted in the time of the king, my lord. |
| Obverse [15:20] o 1616–o 2020 | The old men dance, the young men sing, the women and girls are merry and rejoice; women are married and provided with earrings; boys and girls are brought forth, the births thrive. |
| Obverse [20:31] o 2121– | The king, my lord, has revived the one who was guilty and condemned to death; you have released the one who was imprisoned for many [ye]ars. Those who were sick for many days have got well, the hungry have been sated, the parched have been anointed with oil, the needy have been covered with garments. |
| Reverse [3:5] r 44–r 55 | Why then must I and Urad-Gula, amidst them, be restless and depressed? |
| Reverse [5:12] r 66–r 1212 | The king, my lord, has now displayed his love for Nineveh to (all) the people, in saying to the (family) heads: "Bring your sons to stay in my entourage!" Urad-Gula is my son; he too should stay with them in the entourage of the king, my lord. We too should, together with all the people, be merry, dance, and bless the king, my lord! |
| Reverse [12:18] r 1313–r 1818 | My eyes are fixed on the king, my lord. None of those who serve in the palace like me; there is not a single friend of mine among them to whom I could give a present, and who would accept it from me and speak for me. |
| Reverse [18:22] r 1919–r 2222 | May the king, my lord, have mercy on his servant; may I not di[e] (of shame) amidst all the people! May those who wish me ill not attain their heart's desire with regard to me! |
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 be-[li₂-ia] | |
| 2 | ARAD-ka {1}{d}IM—MU—[u₂-ṣur] | |
| 3 | lu DI-mu a-na ⸢LUGAL⸣ [be-li₂-ia] | |
| 4 | {d}AG u {d}AMAR.UTU a-na LUGAL [EN-ia] | |
| 5 | a—dan-niš a—dan-niš lik-ru-bu AN.⸢ŠAR₂⸣ [LUGAL DINGIR-MEŠ] | |
| 6 | a-na LUGAL-u₂-ti KUR—{d}aš-šur šu-mu ša [LUGAL] | |
| 7 | EN-ia iz-za-kar {d}UTU u {d}IM ina bi-ri-šu₂-nu | |
| 8 | ke-e-ni a-na LUGAL EN-ia₂ a-na LUGAL-u₂-ti | |
| 9 | KUR.KUR uk-tin-nu pa-lu-u₂ SIG₅ UD-MEŠ | |
| 10 | ke-nu-u₂-ti MU.AN.NA-MEŠ ša₂ me-ša₂-ri | |
| 11 | zu-un-ni ṭah₂-du-u₂-ti mi-i-li | |
| 12 | gap-šu-ti ma-hi-ru dam-qu DINGIR-MEŠ | |
| 13 | sa-al-mu pa-lah DINGIR ma-aʾ-da E₂.KUR-MEŠ | |
| 14 | ṭa-hu-da DINGIR-MEŠ GAL-MEŠ ša AN-e u KI.TIM | |
| 15 | ina tar-ṣi LUGAL EN-ia us-se-lu-u-ni | |
| 16 | {lu₂}par-ša-mu-te i-ra-qu-du | |
| 17 | {lu₂}TUR-MEŠ i-za-mu-ru MI₂-MEŠ {mi₂}TUR-MEŠ | |
| 18 | ha-⸢di-a⸣ ri-ša₂ MI₂-MEŠ eh-hu-zu | |
| 19 | qu-⸢da-ša⸣-a-te i-šak-ku-nu | |
| 20 | DUMU-MEŠ DUMU.MI₂-MEŠ u₂-šab-šu-u₂ ta-lit-tu | |
| 21 | aš₂-rat ša hi-ṭa-šu-u-ni a-na mu-a-te | |
| 22 | qa-bu-u-ni LUGAL be-li₂ ub-tal-li-su | |
| 23 | [ša MU].AN.NA-MEŠ ma-aʾ-da-ti | |
| b.e. | ||
| 24 | ⸢ṣa⸣-bit-u-ni tap-ta-ṭar | |
| 25 | ⸢ša⸣ UD-MEŠ ma-aʾ-du-u₂-ti | |
| 26 | mar-ṣu-u-ni ib-tal-ṭu | |
| r | ||
| 1 | ba-ri-u₂-ti is-sab-bu | |
| 2 | ub-bu-lu-ti us-sa-at-mi-nu | |
| 3 | mi-ri-šu-tu₂ ku-zip-pi uk-ta-at-ti-mu | |
| 4 | a-ta-a a-na-ku TA@v {1}ARAD—{d}gu-la | |
| 5 | ina bir-tu-šu₂-nu ik-ki-ni ku-ri lib-bi-ni | |
| 6 | ša₂-pil an-nu-rig LUGAL be-li₂ ra-a-mu | |
| 7 | ša {uru}NINA{ki} a-na UN-MEŠ uk-tal-lim | |
| 8 | a-na SAG.DU-MEŠ ma-a DUMU-MEŠ-ku-nu bi-la-a-ni | |
| 9 | ina pa-ni-ia li-iz-zi-zu {1}ARAD—{d}gu-la | |
| 10 | DUMU-a.a šu-u₂ is-se-šu₂-nu-ma ina pa-an LUGAL | |
| 11 | EN-ia li-zi-iz a-ni-nu TA@v UN-MEŠ-ma | |
| 12 | gab-bu lu ha-di-a-ni ni-ir-qud | |
| 13 | LUGAL be-li₂ ni-ik-ru-ub IGI.2-ia | |
| 14 | TA@v LUGAL EN-ia šak-na ša ina ŠA₃-bi E₂.GAL | |
| 15 | i-za-zu-u-ni gab-bi-šu₂-nu | |
| 16 | la i-ra-ʾu-mu-un-ni be-el—MUN-ia be-el—MUN-ia | |
| 17 | ina ŠA₃-bi-šu₂-nu la-aš₂-šu₂ ša šul-ma-an-nu | |
| 18 | a-da-na-aš₂-šu₂-un-ni i-mah-har-an-ni-ni | |
| 19 | ab-bu-ut-ti i-ṣab-bat-u-ni LUGAL be-li₂ | |
| 20 | re-e-mu ina UGU ARAD-šu₂ li-iṣ-bat-su | |
| 21 | ina bir-ti UN-MEŠ gab-bu a-na-ku lu la ⸢a-mu⸣-[at] | |
| 22 | ha-di-a-nu-te-ia mar ŠA₃-bi-šu₂-nu | |
| 23 | ina UGU-ia lu la i-ma-ṣi-u | |
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.