ABL 0046 (P333998)
Letter, Neo-Assyrian, Nineveh · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE
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| Designation | ABL 0046 |
|---|---|
| ID | P333998 |
| 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 Akkullanu. Goo[d health] to the king, my lord! May Nabû and [Marduk] bless the king, my lord! |
| Obverse [4:13] o 55–o 1313 | Concerning the substitute image about which the king, [my lord], wrote to his servant: "It was sitting (on the throne) in the city of Akkad from the 14th of Tammuz (IV) till the 5th of Ab (V)" — for what purpose did they act in this way? And why did they enthrone it in Akkad? Had they done it in the city of your father where you yourself are living, it would have removed your evil! Why you? And why an evil of Babylonia? |
| Obverse [13:23] o 1414–o 2323 | Have they (perhaps) said to you on this matter: "Your father en[throned] (his substitutes) there." These (words) are rubbish! Why did the ki[ng] not say to them like this: "[The evil] of my father [was in on]e region, mine is in [another]; [the evil] of Assyria and Babylonia [are not interrelated]: when a sign pertaining to [Assyria appears, (the ritual) should be performed here], and when a sign pertaining to [Babylonia appears, it should be done there]." Now the king of Babylonia [is well ......] You are still [......] |
| Reverse [6:16] r 7'7'–r 16'16' | Per[haps the king s]ays: "What is the subst[itu]te (then)?" — the Ser[ie]s itself has said (as follows) in connection with this Nisan (I) eclipse: "If during the eclipse, Jupiter stands there: well-being for the king, a famous noble will die in his stead." Has the king paid attention (to this)? A full month had not yet passed (before) his sartinnu was dead. Now the king has (already) twice performed an apotropaic ritual for him; (but) when have you actually performed one for yourself? |
| Reverse [16:20] r 17'17'–r 20'20' | If I had not addressed the king today, wouldn't the king say to his servant tomorrow: "You were a servant of my father; why didn't you advise and instruct me?" |
| Reverse [20:30] r 21'21'– | That is also (why) I cho[se] thes[e] very words from my heart: "I shall spe[ak] in the king's presence about directing away the e[vil] of the land of Su[bartu]." I sent these words to the king, my lord, already as early as on the 12th of Tammuz (IV); (but) I saw the answer (only) on the 8th of Ab (V). Why, O king, my lord? — |
| Edge [2:3] e. 33–e. 33 | May the king, my lord, write to his servant that the king is well and happy. |
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-ia₂] | |
| 2 | ARAD-ka {1}ak-kul-la-nu lu-[u DI-mu] | |
| 3 | a-na LUGAL EN-ia₂ {d}AG u {[d}AMAR.UTU] | |
| 4 | a-na LUGAL EN-ia₂ lik-ru-[bu] | |
| 5 | ina UGU ṣa-lam pu-u-hi ša LUGAL [be-li₂] | |
| 6 | a-na {lu₂}ARAD-šu₂ iš-pur-a-ni ma-a TA@v ŠA₃ UD 14-KAM₂ | |
| 7 | ša {iti}ŠU a-di UD 05-KAM₂ ša {iti}NE | |
| 8 | ina ŠA₃ {uru}ak-ka-di it-tu-šib | |
| 9 | pu-ut mi-i-ni ki-i an-ni-i e-pu-šu₂ | |
| 10 | u₃ a-ta-a ina ŠA₃ {uru}ak-ka-di u₂-še-ši-bu | |
| 11 | ⸢ina ŠA₃⸣ E₂—AD-ka E₂—AD-ka be₂-et at-ta kam-mu-sa-ka-ni | |
| 12 | lu-u e-pu-šu HUL-ka lu-u iš-ši | |
| 13 | a-ta-a at-ta u₃ a-ta-a lum-nu ša KUR—URI{ki} | |
| 14 | ina UGU a-be₂-te-e an-ni-ti iq-ṭi-bu-ni-ka | |
| 15 | ma-a AD-ka ina ŠA₃-bi u₂-[še-šib si]-⸢li⸣-a-te ši-na | |
| 16 | a-ta-a ki-i an-⸢ni-i LUGAL⸣ [la] iq-ba-aš₂-šu₂-nu | |
| 17 | ma-a ša AD-⸢ia₂⸣ [HUL-šu₂ ina 01-⸢et⸣ ba-⸢at⸣-te | |
| 18 | ia-u ina ba-at-⸢ti⸣ [ša₂-ni-tim-ma šu-u lum-nu] | |
| 19 | ša KUR—aš-šur u KUR—URI{[ki} la x x x x x] | |
| 20 | ki-ma it-tu ša ⸢KUR⸣—[aš-šur ta-tal-ka an-na-ka le-pu-šu₂] | |
| 21 | ki-ma it-tu ša KUR—[URI{ki} ta-tal-ka am-ma-kam-ma le-pu-šu₂] | |
| 22 | u₂-ma-a LUGAL KUR—URI{[ki} DI-mu x x x x x x] | |
| 23 | at-ta ah—hur [x x x x x x x x x x] | |
| r | ||
| 1' | a-⸢x⸣+[x x x x x x x x x x x x x] | |
| 2' | ⸢x⸣+[x x x x x x x x x x x x x x] | |
| 3' | ši-[x x x x x x x x x x x x x] | |
| 4' | ⸢x⸣+[x x x x x x] ⸢x x⸣ [x x x x x x] | |
| 5' | [x x x x x x] la-a ⸢x⸣+[x x x x x x] | |
| 6' | [x x x x x x] ⸢ta⸣-aš₂-pu-[ra x x x x] | |
| 7' | is—[su-ri LUGAL] ⸢iq⸣-qa-bi ma-a mi₃-i-nu | |
| 8' | pu-u-⸢hu⸣ EŠ₂.⸢QAR šu⸣-u-tu₂ ina ŠA₃ AN.MI | |
| 9' | an-ni-e ša {iti}BARAG iq-ṭi-bi | |
| 10' | 1 ina AN.MI {mul}SAG.ME.GAR GUB-iz ana LUGAL DI-mu | |
| 11' | ki-mu ⸢LUGAL⸣ DUGUD SIG-am BA.UŠ₂ | |
| 12' | LUGAL be-li₂ uz-nu is-sa-ka-a-na | |
| 13' | u₂-di-na ITI UD-MEŠ la-a il-la-ka | |
| 14' | {lu₂}sar-tin-nu-šu₂ me₂-e-te u₂-ma-a | |
| 15' | ša₂-nu-te-e-šu₂ NAM.BUR₂.BI-šu₂ LUGAL e-ta-pa-aš₂ | |
| 16' | ik-ku-u im—ma-te im—ma-te i-ba-aš₂-ši te-e-pu-uš | |
| 17' | ki-ma ana-ku u₂-ma-a a-na LUGAL EN-ia₂ la-a aq-bi | |
| 18' | ina ši-a-ri LUGAL a-na {lu₂}ARAD-šu₂ la i-qa-bi-i | |
| 19' | ma-a {lu₂}ARAD ša AD-ia₂ at-ta a-ta-a | |
| 20' | la ta-am-li-kan-ni la tu-šah-kim-a-ni | |
| 21' | u₃ šu-u-tu₂ ana-ku di-ib-bi-im-ma ⸢an⸣-nu-[te] | |
| r.e. | ||
| 22 | TA@v ŠA₃-bi-ia₂ u₂-ta-⸢si⸣-[iq] | |
| 23 | mu-uk ina IGI LUGAL a-da-⸢bu⸣-[ub] | |
| 24 | ina UGU a-ba-ki ša ⸢HUL⸣ | |
| 25 | ša {kur}SU.[BIR₄{ki]} | |
| 26 | ana-ku ina IGI-[ti] | |
| e. | ||
| 1 | lu UD 12-KAM₂ ša {iti}ŠU di-ib-bi an-nu-u-te a-na LUGAL be-li₂-ia₂ | |
| 2 | as-sap-ra UD 08-KAM₂ ša {iti}NE gab-ru-u a-ta-mar | |
| 3 | a-ta-⸢a⸣ LUGAL be-li₂ šul-mu u ŠA₃-bu ša LUGAL ṭa-ab šu-u | |
| 4 | ⸢LUGAL⸣ be-li₂ a-na {lu₂}ARAD-šu₂ liš-pu-ra | |
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.