ABL 0408 (P334279)
Letter, Neo-Assyrian, Nineveh · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE
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| Designation | ABL 0408 |
|---|---|
| ID | P334279 |
| 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/saa05 · 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 Šamaš-belu-uṣur. Good health to the king, my lord! |
| Obverse [3:6] o 44–o 66 | As to the express service about which the king, my lord, wrote me through Arbailayu: "Why isn't there any express service?" — |
| Obverse [6:13] o 77–o 1313 | When he came to me with the royal bodyguard Ubru-Harran, I harnessed before their coming two mules in Arzuhina for the use of Ubru-Harran. He took them to Arrapha, harnessed two mules for the use of Arbailayu, and went on to Mazamua. |
| Obverse [13:20] o 1414–o 2020 | Let the king, my lord, a[sk whet]her I did not station a team of [mules] in Dur-Taliti and another one in Tagalagi! When he departed from Arzuhina, there were two mules for his use from one express-station to another, as far as Arrakdi. |
| Obverse [20:30] o 2121– | As he now came, (going) to where the king, my lord, had sent him, I harnessed two mules in Arzuhina for [his] use as far as Dur-Taliti (...). |
| Reverse [3:14] r 44–r 1414 | The king, my lord, knows that Arzuhina is situated at a crossroads; the stage from Arzuhina to Arrakdi is a strain for the animals. The king, my lord, should give orders that a mule-express be stationed in Dur-Atanate, so we can strengthen each other. |
| Reverse [14:20] r 1515–r 2020 | As to the criminals about whom the king, my lord, wrote me: "They have fallen upon the menservants of the chief confectioner in Babiti" — I have asked and enquired, but there is nothing, and we have not heard anything. |
| Reverse [20:24] r 2121–r 2424 | The king, my lord, wrote me: "If you do not catch the criminals, be sure you will have to pay" — |
| Reverse [24:30] r 2525– | the criminals of Arrapha (and) of the domain of the palace herald have banded together and are making raids there. I have now moved [troops] up to keep watch; if they catch them, they will bring them t[o the king, my lord]. |
| Edge [1:3] e. 22–e. 33 | For now [I am sending] to the king, [my] lord, the criminals of the house of the [sartinnu] who fell (into my hands) near Arzuhina. |
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\td LUGAL EN-ia | |
| 2 | ARAD-ka {1}{d}UTU—EN—PAB | |
| 3 | lu DI-mu a-na\td LUGAL EN-ia₂ | |
| 4 | ina UGU ka-li-ie ša\dm LUGAL be-li₂ | |
| 5 | ŠU.2 {1}{uru}arba-il₃-a.a iš-pur-an-ni | |
| 6 | ma a-ta-a ka-li-iu-u la-šu₂ | |
| 7 | ki-i TA@v\m {1}SUHUŠ\t—KASKAL {lu₂vy}qur-bu-te | |
| 8 | i-li-kan-a-ni a-na\td-ku ina {uru}ur-zu\t-hi-na\td | |
| 9 | i—pa-na\td-tu₂-šu₂-nu i—pa-na\td-tu₂-šu₂-nu 02 {anše}ku-din | |
| 10 | ina KI.TA {1}SUHUŠ\t—KASKAL ar-ta-kas | |
| 11 | ina {uru}arrap-ha i-ṣa-bat 02 {anše}ku-din | |
| 12 | ina KI.TA {1}{uru}arba-il₃-a.a ir-ta-kas | |
| 13 | a-na\td {kur}ma-za-mu i-ta-lak | |
| 14 | LUGAL be-li₂ liš\d-⸢al šum₂⸣-ma la | |
| 15 | u₂-ru-u ša\d {⸢anše⸣}[ku-din] ina {uru}BAD₃—ta-li-ti\t | |
| 16 | u₂-ru-u ša\d {anše}⸢ku-din⸣ ina {uru}ta-ga-la-gi | |
| 17 | u₂-ša₂-zi-zu\t-u₂\m-ni | |
| 18 | TA@v\m {uru}ur-zu\t-hi-na\td i-tu₂-ṣi | |
| 19 | 02 {anše}ku-din ina KI.TA-šu₂ ka-li-iu-u | |
| 20 | a-na\dt ka-li-e a-di {uru}a-ra-ak\t-di | |
| 21 | ki-i u₂-ma-a i-li-kan-a-ni | |
| 22 | E₂ LUGAL be-li₂ iš-pur-šu-u-ni | |
| 23 | a-na-ku ina {uru}ur-zu\t-hi-na\td | |
| 24 | 02 {anše}ku-din ina KI.⸢TA⸣-[šu₂] | |
| b.e. | ||
| 25 | ar-ta-kas [o] | |
| r | ||
| 1 | ⸢a⸣-di {uru}BAD₃\p—ta-li-⸢ti\t⸣ | |
| 2 | <$hu x x nu x ši$> | |
| 3 | <$hu ma x x x x$> | |
| 4 | LUGAL be-li₂ u₂-da | |
| 5 | ki-i {uru}ar-zu\t-hi-na\td | |
| 6 | ina ŠA₃ is-pi-lu-ur-te | |
| 7 | ka-ri-ru\d-u-ni mar-di\d-tu₂ | |
| 8 | TA@v\m {uru}ur-zu\t-hi-na\td a-di | |
| 9 | {uru}a-ra-ak-di a-na\td u₂-ma-me | |
| 10 | ta-da-in LUGAL be-li₂ | |
| 11 | a—ṭe₃-mu a—ṭe₃-mu liš-kun | |
| 12 | ka-<$ša₂ ka$>-li-iu-u₂ | |
| 13 | ina {uru}BAD₃—{mi₂}ANŠE-MEŠ\t-te | |
| 14 | lu-ša₂-zi-zu\t a-he-ii-ši | |
| 15 | nu-ti\t-in ina UGU {lu₂vy}LUL-MEŠ | |
| 16 | ša LUGAL be-li₂ iš-pur-an-ni | |
| 17 | ma-a ina UGU {lu₂vy}TUR-MEŠ\t-ni | |
| 18 | ša {lu₂vy}GAL-SUM\m.NINDA {lu₂vy}GAL-SUM\m.NINDA ina {kur}ba\t-bi-ti\t | |
| 19 | i-tu₂-uq-tu a-sa-al | |
| 20 | u₂-ta-ṣi-ṣi me-me-<ni> la-šu₂ | |
| 21 | u₃ la ni-iš-me LUGAL be-li₂ | |
| 22 | i-sap-ra ma-a šum₂\m-ma {lu₂vy}LUL-MEŠ | |
| 23 | la tu-ṣa-bit ma-a lu tu-da | |
| 24 | ki-i at-ta tu-šal-lum-ni | |
| 25 | {lu₂v}pa-ri-ṣu-u-te | |
| r.e. | ||
| 26 | ša {uru}arrap-ha | |
| 27 | ša E₂ {lu₂vy}ŠU₂.NIGIR₂—E₂.GAL {lu₂vy}ŠU₂.NIGIR₂—E₂.GAL | |
| e. | ||
| 1 | up-ta-at-hu-ru ina ŠA₃ i\p-za-qu-pu u₂-ma-[a x x x] | |
| 2 | u₂-se-li i-na\td-ṣur šum₂-ma u₂-ṣa-bit-u-ni ina ⸢IGI⸣ [LUGAL EN-ia] | |
| 3 | u₂-bal-u-ni-šu₂-nu a-nu-rig {lu₂vy}LUL-MEŠ-te ša\dy E₂ {lu₂v}[sar-tin-ni] | |
| 4 | ša qa\d-an-ni {uru}ur-zu\t-hi-na\td in-qut-u-ni ina IGI LUGAL EN-[ia₂ u₂-se-bi-la] | |
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.