ABL 0158 (P334104)
Letter, Neo-Assyrian, Nineveh · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE
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| Designation | ABL 0158 |
|---|---|
| ID | P334104 |
| 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/saa15 · 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 Issar-du[ri]. Good health to the king, [my l]ord! |
| Obverse [3:10] o 44–o 1010 | Nabû-zeru-ibni, the Ru'[uean] eunuch whom the king, my lord, retur[ned] from Damascus from the servi[ce] of Bel-duri and sent to Abdudu to Be[l-...] in the hope that the Ru'u[ean] and his people would co[me] to him — |
| Obverse [10:18] o 1111–o 1818 | (when) Merodach-Bal[adan] heard of his having come, he had all his brothers brought (before him), and spoke with them as follows: "Now that his brother has come, you will run aw[ay] to him!" They said to him, "Why should we run away? (This) brother of ours who has come is on the other side. He came, but he will go back again." |
| Obverse [18:23] o 1919–o 2323 | They are not assembled and have not yet sent their messenger and inten[tions] to him, (thinking), "(If) we sen[t it] and the king (then) defeat[ed] Merodach-Baladan, and (if) these words [reached the king's ears ...] |
| Reverse [0:1] r 1'1'–r 1'1' | the word[s ......] |
| Reverse [1:2] r 2'2'–r 2'2' | which I wro[te ......] |
| Reverse [2:7] r 3'3'–r 7'7' | I also [told Nabû-zeru-ibni]: "Now then [go gather] your people, [and take them] to the Pala[ce]! As long as Bel-duri [is] in the Pal[ace], go appea[l to him ...]!" |
| Reverse [7:15] r 8'8'–r 15'15' | So now then I am s[ending] the [Ru'uean] and his letter wi[th my messenger] to the presence of the king my lord. His staying here [in my presence] is totally unproductive. He and Nabû-ša[llim ...] are (just) p[laying] would-be-kings. |
| Reverse [15:20] r 16'16'–r 20'20' | The city-wall of Meturna has proceeded [x courses of brick]. The ... [...] of five tower[s] have been laid, and [the ...] of the remaining towers have been put in place. And I am h[ere too]. |
| Reverse [20:23] r 21'21'– | [...] how I pe[rform] the work and how I keep the ki[ng my lord's] watch. |
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\t LUGAL\d be-li₂-[ia₂] | |
| 2 | ARAD-ka {1}{d}15—du-[ri] | |
| 3 | lu-u DI-mu a-na\t LUGAL\d be-⸢li₂⸣-[ia₂] | |
| 4 | {1}{d}PA—NUMUN—DU₃ {lu₂v}SAG {kur}ru\t-⸢ʾu⸣-[a.a] | |
| 5 | ša\d TA@v {uru}di-maš-qi TA@v\p pa-[an] | |
| 6 | {1}EN—BAD₃ LUGAL\d be-li₂ u₂\m-sah-⸢hi⸣-[ru-šu₂-ni] | |
| 7 | ina {uru}ab-du-di ina UGU {1}d.⸢EN⸣—[x x] | |
| 8 | LUGAL\d be-li₂ iš-pur-u₂-šu₂-u-[ni] | |
| 9 | ma-a i—su-ri {kur}ru-ʾu-[a.a] | |
| 10 | UN-MEŠ-šu₂ ina UGU-hi-šu₂ il-⸢la⸣-[ku-ni] | |
| 11 | a-la-ku ša\m il-lik-u-ni {1}{⸢d}AMAR.UTU—A—AŠ⸣ | |
| 12 | i-se-me i-sap-ra ŠEŠ-MEŠ-šu₂ | |
| 13 | gab-bu it-tu\t-ub-lu i-se-šu₂-nu | |
| 14 | id-du-bu-ub ma-a an-nu-rig ŠEŠ-šu₂ | |
| 15 | it-tal-ka ma-a ina UGU-hi-šu₂ ta-hal-li-[qa] | |
| 16 | šu₂-nu iq-ṭi-bu-niš-šu₂ ma-a a-ta\p-a | |
| 17 | ni-hal-liq ma-a ŠEŠ-ni ša\d il-lik-an-[ni] | |
| 18 | ma-a a-hu-lam\d-ma šu₂-u it-tal-ka ma-a [o] | |
| 19 | i-sah-hur il-lak la pa-hu-ru [o] | |
| 20 | ah—hur {lu₂v}A—KIN-šu₂-nu {lu₂v}A—KIN-šu₂-nu u₃ ṭe₃-⸢en⸣-[šu₂-nu] | |
| 21 | la iš-pa-ru-niš-šu₂ ma-a ni-sap-[ra] | |
| 22 | ma\p a-pi-ik-te {1}{d}AMAR.UTU—A—AŠ ⸢LUGAL⸣ [i-sa-kan] | |
| 23 | [ma] ⸢a-bat⸣ an-⸢na-te⸣ [ina] ⸢ŠA₃ x⸣+[x x x] | |
| r | ||
| 1' | ⸢dib-bi⸣ [x x x x x x x x] | |
| 2' | ša aš₂-⸢pur⸣-[x x x x x x x] | |
| 3' | u₃ a-na-ku ⸢a-na⸣ {1}{d}PA—NUMUN—DU₃ (aq-ṭi-bi)] | |
| 4' | nu-uk\p an-nu-⸢rig⸣ [x x x x x] | |
| 5' | UN-MEŠ-ka ina E₂.⸢GAL⸣ [x x x x] | |
| 6' | a-du {1}EN—BAD₃ ina ⸢E₂⸣.[GAL šu-tu-u-ni] | |
| 7' | nu-uk\p a-lik mu-⸢hur⸣ [x x x x] | |
| 8' | u₃ an-nu-rig {lu₂v}[x x x x] | |
| 9' | u₃ e-gir₂-tu₂-šu₂ ⸢ina⸣ [ŠU.2 {lu₂v}A—KIN-ia] {lu₂v}A—KIN-ia] | |
| 10' | ina pa-an LUGAL EN-ia₂ ⸢u₂⸣-[se-bi-la] | |
| 11' | u₂\m-ša\m-bu an-ni-⸢u₂\m⸣ [ša ina pa-ni-ia] | |
| 12' | kam-mu-su-u-ni la-a [dul-lu] | |
| 13' | la me-ni-me-ni-ma e-⸢pa⸣-[aš₂ o] | |
| 14' | id-dan\d šu-u {1}{d}PA—⸢šal⸣-[lim x x] | |
| 15' | šar-ša\d-ru\d-ut-tu ⸢up⸣-[pu-šu] | |
| 16' | BAD₃ ša\d {uru}A-MEŠ—dur-⸢na⸣ [x tik-pi] | |
| 17' | it-ta-lak 05 i-si-ta-[ti x x x] | |
| 18' | pu-uh-tu₂ ik-tar-ru\d ⸢u₃⸣ [x x x] | |
| 19' | re-eh-ti\t i-si-ta-ti [x x x] | |
| 20' | i-sak-nu u₃ a-na-ku ⸢an⸣-[na-(kam)-ma] | |
| 21' | a-na-ku ki ša\m dul₆-lu ⸢e⸣-[pa-šu₂-u-ni] | |
| 22' | ki-i ša\m EN.NUN\m ša\m ⸢LUGAL⸣ [be-li₂-ia₂] | |
| r.e. | ||
| 23 | a-na-ṣar-u-ni [x x x] | |
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.