ABL 0018 (P333970)
Letter, Neo-Assyrian, Nineveh · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE
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| Designation | ABL 0018 |
|---|---|
| ID | P333970 |
| 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 [0:2] o 1o 1–o 22 | To the king, my lord: your servant Marduk-šakin-šumi: |
| Obverse [2:4] o 33–o 44 | Good health to the king, my lord! May Nabû and Marduk bless the king, my lord! |
| Obverse [4:13] o 55–o 1313 | Concerning the ritual about which the king said yesterday: "Get it done by the 24th day" — we cannot make it; the tablets are too numerous, (god only knows) when they will be written. Even the preparation of the figurines which the king saw (yesterday) took us 5 to 6 days. |
| Obverse [13:20] o 1414– | Now, provided that the king, my lord, consents, the month Tebet (X) would be suitable for performing the counterspells. Let the crown prince [perform] (his part) during that (month), and let the people of the king too perform (their parts) [during it. What harm (would it do)?] |
| Reverse [0:12] r 1r 1–r 1212 | And concerning the Sumerian texts of the counterspells about which the king said: "Send (word)! They should be brought from Nineveh!" — I shall send Iddin-ahhe; he will go and bring them. He will also bring with him the other tablets of the 'refrain series.' Let the king perform (his part) on the 2nd of Tebet (X), the crown prince on the 4th and the people on the 6th. |
| Reverse [12:16] r 1313–r 1616 | Alternatively, we may perform (the ritual) on [ot]her days, if (the proposed schedule) is troublesome (or) not executable. |
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}AMAR.UTU—GAR—MU | |
| 3 | lu-u DI-mu a-na LUGAL EN-ia | |
| 4 | {d}PA u {d}AMAR.UTU a-na LUGAL EN-ia₂ | |
| 5 | lik-ru-bu ina UGU dul-li ša LUGAL | |
| 6 | ina ti-ma-li iq-bu-u-ni | |
| 7 | ma a-na UD 24-KAM₂\t ep-ša₂ | |
| 8 | la-aš₂-šu₂ la nu-ša₂-an-ṣa | |
| 9 | ṭup-pa-a-ni ma-aʾ-du-ti šu-nu | |
| 10 | im—ma-ti im—ma-ti ⸢i-šaṭ-ṭu-ru⸣ | |
| 11 | u₃ ša₂-aṣ-⸢bu⸣-[tu₂ ša₂] NU-MEŠ-ni | |
| 12 | ša LUGAL e-mur-[u]-⸢ni⸣ ina ŠA₃ UD-MEŠ | |
| 13 | 05 06 re-e-šu₂ ni-⸢it⸣-ti-ši | |
| 14 | u₂-ma-a šum-mu ⸢LUGAL⸣ be-li₂ i-qab-bi | |
| 15 | ina {iti}AB a-na UŠ₁₁.BUR₂.RU.DA-a-ni | |
| 16 | e-pa-še ṭa-[a-ba ina] ŠA₃-bi | |
| 17 | DUMU—MAN DUMU—MAN le-[pu-uš u₃] ⸢UN⸣-MEŠ | |
| 18 | ša LUGAL EN-[ia₂ ina ŠA₃-bi]-ma | |
| 19 | le-pu-šu₂ [mi-i-nu hi-ṭu] | |
| r | ||
| 1 | u₃ ina UGU šu-me-ra-ni | |
| 2 | ša UŠ₁₁.BUR₂.RU.DA-a-ni | |
| 3 | ša LUGAL be-li₂ iq-bu-u-ni | |
| 4 | ma-a šu-pur ⸢TA@v⸣ NINA{ki} | |
| 5 | lu-bi-lu-ni o {1}SUM—PAB-MEŠ | |
| 6 | la-aš₂-pur ⸢lil-lik⸣ lu-bi-la | |
| 7 | u₃ ṭup-pa-⸢a-ni⸣ am-mu-ti | |
| 8 | ša EŠ₂.QAR mi-⸢ih⸣-ri | |
| 9 | is-se-šu₂-ma [o] lu-bi-la | |
| 10 | a-na UD 02-KAM₂\t ⸢ša⸣ {iti}AB | |
| 11 | LUGAL le-pu-⸢uš⸣ o UD 04-KAM₂\t | |
| 12 | DUMU—MAN DUMU—MAN le-pu-[uš] UD 06-KAM₂\t | |
| 13 | UN-MEŠ le-pu-[šu₂] ⸢u₂⸣-la-a | |
| 14 | u₂-ma-a-⸢ti⸣ [ša₂-ni-a]-ti | |
| 15 | ne₂-ep-pa-aš₂ ⸢šum⸣-[mu] ⸢ma⸣-ri-iṣ | |
| 16 | ina pa-ni la ⸢e-pa⸣-šim-ma | |
| 17 | ša₂-ki-in | |
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.