ABL 0023 (P333975)
Letter, Neo-Assyrian, Nineveh · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE
Open in the reader & map →See it among all tablets
| Designation | ABL 0023 |
|---|---|
| ID | P333975 |
| 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] Marduk-šakin-šumi. [Good he]alth to the king, my lord! May [Nabû and] Marduk bless the king, my lord! |
| Obverse [4:5] o 55–o 55 | 3 'hand-lifting' prayers (to be recited) before [Nusku], |
| Obverse [5:6] o 66–o 66 | 3 before the moon, 3 before the [Pleiades], |
| Obverse [6:7] o 77–o 77 | 2 before Sirius, |
| Obverse [7:8] o 88–o 88 | 2 b[efo]re Ma[rs], |
| Obverse [8:9] o 99–o 99 | 2 b[efore] V[ega], |
| Obverse [9:10] o 1010–o 1010 | 2 be[fore the st]ar [....], |
| Obverse [10:11] o 1111–o 1111 | 1 be[fore the star....], |
| Obverse [11:12] o 1212–o 1212 | 1 bef[ore the star....], |
| Obverse [12:15] o 1313–o 1515 | the incantation "Ea, [Šamaš and Asalluhi]" belonging to the apotropaic ritual against all kinds of evil, as well as the apotropaic ritual (called) "If the Moon and the Sun have become a grievance to the ruler and his country" — |
| Obverse [15:19] o 1616–o 1919 | (these) tablets, totalling 21, I have today performed on the river bank; Urad-Ea will perform (his share) on the roof of the palace tonight. |
| Obverse [19:29] o 2020– | (As) the king, my lord, knows, an exorcist has to avoid reciting a 'hand-lifting' prayer on an evil day: (therefore) I shall now look up, collect and copy numerous — 20 to 30 — canonical and non-canonical tablets, (but) perform (the prayers) (only) tomorrow evening and on the night of the 15th day. |
| Reverse [1:8] r 22–r 88 | On the 16th and 17th I shall perform those before Venus, Mullissu, Zarpanitu, Tašmetu, Gula and Nanaya as well. I have opened my fists and prayed to the gods: all is well, the gods have blessed the king, my lord, and his sons. |
| Reverse [8:13] r 99–r 1313 | Nevertheless, if it pleases the king, my lord, let them write to Calah and have the 'hand-lifting' prayers before the Moon god and the apotropaic ritual against evil of all kind performed for the crown prince and the prince of Babylon. What harm (would it do)? |
| Reverse [13:20] r 1414–r 2020 | I am also worried about the impending observation of the moon; let this be [my] advice. If it is suitable, let us put somebody on the throne. (When) the night [of the 15th day] comes, he will be afflicted [by it]; but he will sa[ve your life]. |
| Reverse [20:27] r 2121– | I am listening — [the king, my lord], knows the Babylonians and what they [pl]ot and [re]peat. (These) plotters should be af[flicted]! Tomorrow — if it seems good — I shall come to the audience and speak to the king. |
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 be-li₂-⸢ia⸣ | |
| 4 | {d}[PA u] {d}AMAR.UTU a-na LUGAL EN-ia₂ lik-⸢ru⸣-[bu] | |
| 5 | 03 ⸢ŠU⸣.IL₂.LA₂.KAM₂-MEŠ ša IGI {d}[PA.TUG₂] | |
| 6 | 03 ša IGI {d}30 03 ša IGI {d}7.BI] | |
| 7 | 02 ⸢ša⸣ IGI {mul}GAG.SI.SA₂ | |
| 8 | 02 ⸢ša IGI⸣ {mul}ṣal-⸢bat⸣-[a-nu] | |
| 9 | 02 ⸢ša⸣ [IGI] {⸢mul⸣}be-[lit—TI.LA] | |
| 10 | 02 ša [IGI] {⸢mul⸣}[x x x x] | |
| 11 | 01 ša [IGI {mul}x x x x] | |
| 12 | 01 ša ⸢IGI⸣ {[mul}x x x x] | |
| 13 | EN₂ {d}E₂.A {[d}UTU {d}ASAR.LU₂.HI] | |
| 14 | ša NAM.BUR₂.BI ⸢HUL⸣ [DU₃.A.BI] | |
| 15 | NAM.BUR₂.BI šum-ma 30 u 20 ana NUN u KUR-⸢šu₂⸣ | |
| 16 | zi-in-na-tu₂ ib-šu₂-u is-se-niš | |
| 17 | PAB 21 ṭup-pa-a-ni ina UGU ID₂ | |
| 18 | UD-mu an-ni-i e-ta-pa-aš₂ | |
| 19 | ina nu-bat-ti {1}ARAD—{d}E₂.A ina UR₃ E₂.GAL | |
| 20 | ep-pa-aš₂ LUGAL be-li₂ u₂-da | |
| 21 | {lu₂}MAŠ.MAŠ UD.HUL.GAL₂.E la DUG₃.GA | |
| 22 | ŠU.IL₂.LA₂.KAM₂ la i-na-aš₂-ši | |
| 23 | u₂-ma-a re-eš ṭup-pa-a-ni | |
| 24 | ma-aʾ-du-ti lu 20 lu 30 | |
| 25 | SIG₅-MEŠ a-hi-u₂-ti | |
| 26 | u₂-ba-ʾa a-na-aš₂-ši-a | |
| 27 | a-šaṭ-ṭar | |
| r | ||
| 1 | ina ši-a-ri ina nu-bat-ti mu-šu₂ | |
| 2 | ša UD 15-KAM₂\t ep-pa-aš₂ UD 16-KAM₂\t | |
| 3 | UD 17-KAM₂\t ša IGI {mul}dil-bat {d}NIN.LIL₂ | |
| 4 | {d}zar-pa-ni-tum {d}taš-me-tum {d}gu-la | |
| 5 | {d}na-na-a is-se-niš ep-pa-aš₂ | |
| 6 | up-ni-ia ap-te-ti DINGIR-MEŠ-ni | |
| 7 | us-sa-ar-ri-ir DI-mu a—dan-niš | |
| 8 | DINGIR-MEŠ-ni a-na LUGAL EN-ia₂ u DUMU-MEŠ-šu₂ ik-tar-bu | |
| 9 | ket-tu šum-ma ina IGI LUGAL EN-ia₂ ma-hir | |
| 10 | a-na {uru}kal₃-ha liš-pu-ru ŠU.IL₂.LA₂.KAM₂-MEŠ | |
| 11 | ša IGI {d}30 u₃ NAM.BUR₂.BI <HUL> DU₃.A.BI | |
| 12 | is-se-niš a-na DUMU—MAN DUMU—MAN u DUMU—MAN DUMU—MAN KA₂.DINGIR{ki} | |
| 13 | le-pu-šu₂ mi-i-nu hi-ṭu | |
| 14 | u₃ ina UGU ta-mar-ti an-ni-[ti] | |
| 15 | ša {d}30 šu-u₂ TA@v ŠA₃-bi-[ia] | |
| 16 | ad-du-bu-ub mi-il-[ki] | |
| 17 | lu-u šu-u₂ šum-ma DUG₃.GA [o] | |
| 18 | me-me-ni nu-še-ši-ib MI [ša UD 15-KAM₂\t] | |
| 19 | il-lak li-ip-tu-šu₂ [ina ŠA₃-bi] | |
| 20 | e-pi-iš u₃ u₂-⸢ba-al⸣-[laṭ-ka] | |
| 21 | ⸢as-sa-nam⸣-me DUMU—KA₂.DINGIR-[MEŠ] DUMU—KA₂.DINGIR-[MEŠ] | |
| 22 | [LUGAL be-li₂] ⸢u₂⸣-da mi₃-i-[nu] | |
| 23 | [i-da]-ba-bu-u-ni | |
| 24 | [u₂-ša₂]-an-nu-ni li-[ip-tu] | |
| 25 | [ša] ⸢da⸣-bi-ba-nu-ti le-⸢pu⸣-[šu₂] | |
| 26 | ina ši-a-ri | |
| e. | ||
| 1 | [šum]-ma a-na ṭu-bi ša₂-kin ki-ma e-tar-ba a-na LUGAL a-⸢qab-bi⸣ | |
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.