ABL 0620 (P334429)
Letter, Neo-Assyrian, Nineveh · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE
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| Designation | ABL 0620 |
|---|---|
| ID | P334429 |
| 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/saa16 · Via Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus (ORACC) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (ORACC)
| Line | English |
|---|---|
| Obverse [2:10] o 3'3'–o 10'10' | I committed a serious crime against the house of my lords. I (deserved) to be killed, not to be kept alive. Yet the king, my lord, had mercy on his dog. What I have rendered to the king, my lord, instead? My heart, my arms (and) my feet are placed beneath the chariot of the king, my lord. My eyes are constantly fixed upon the king, my lord, and the crown prince, my lord, constantly encourages me. |
| Obverse [10:18] o 11'11'– | As long as the crown prince is here and not going for the audience to Nineveh, how should I act? I have not set up a wail to the king, my [lord], (but) the king, my lord, should h[ave] mercy on his people. |
| Reverse [0:3] r 1r 1–r 33 | As long as the crown prince is he[re], let him seize [...]. [May] yo[ur] gods [bless him] and may they let the king, my lord, see him prosper! |
| Reverse [3:10] r 44–r 1010 | May the king h[ave] mercy on his dog. I am a servant who loves his lords; I am a servant whose heart is entirely devoted to his lords. Have I not said to the king, my lord, as follows: "Even if all my colleagues curse me, what can they do to me? You are the king, my lord. Only [you] (are) with me." |
| Reverse [10:13] r 1111–r 1313 | The [...]s of the king, my lord, [......]. May the king, my lord, live forever! [May the king, my lord have mer]cy on this servant! |
| Reverse [13:15] r 1414–r 1515 | [Now, i]f it is acceptable [to the king, my lord, ...] to the Inner City. |
| Reverse [15:16] r 1616–r 1616 | [......] a man — the hem |
| Reverse [17:18] r 1818–r 1818 | [......] before Sîn |
| Reverse [18:20] r 1919–r 2020 | [... mer]cy |
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' | [x x x x x x x x x x x x]+⸢x⸣ sal ⸢x⸣ | |
| 2' | ⸢x⸣+[x x]+⸢x x⸣+[x x]+⸢x⸣ ka nu [x x]+⸢x x⸣ tu ub | |
| 3' | hi-ṭu dan-nu ina E₂—EN-MEŠ-ia E₂—EN-MEŠ-ia ah-ti-ṭi | |
| 4' | ša du-a-ki a-na-ku la-a ša₂ bal-lu-ṭi a-na-ku | |
| 5' | LUGAL be-li₂ re-e-mu a-na kal-bi-šu₂ is-sa-kan | |
| 6' | i—ku-me i—ku-me a-na-ku mi-i-nu a-na LUGAL EN-ia | |
| 7' | u₂-šal-lim ŠA₃-bi A₂.2-MEŠ-ia GIR₃.2-MEŠ-ia | |
| 8' | ina KI.TA {giš}mu-gir ša LUGAL EN-ia ša₂-kin₂ | |
| 9' | ka-a.a-ma-nu IGI.2-MEŠ-ia TA@v LUGAL EN-ia | |
| 10' | šak-na u₃ ka-a.a-ma-nu DUMU—LUGAL DUMU—LUGAL be-li₂ | |
| 11' | ŠA₃-bu i-ša₂-kan-an-ni a-du DUMU—LUGAL DUMU—LUGAL an-na-kan-ni | |
| 12' | a-na DI-me a-na {uru}NINA la-a il-lak-u-ni | |
| 13' | a-na-ku a-ke-e le-e-pu-uš | |
| 14' | a-na MAN [EN]-ia ki-il-lu la-a aš₂-kun | |
| 15' | LUGAL be-li₂ re-e-mu ina UGU UN-MEŠ-šu₂ | |
| b.e. | ||
| 16' | li-⸢iš⸣-[kun] | |
| r | ||
| 1 | a-du DUMU—LUGAL DUMU—LUGAL an-na-[kan-ni x x x] | |
| 2 | li-iṣ-bat DINGIR-MEŠ-⸢ka⸣ [lik-ru-bu-šu₂] | |
| 3 | ne₂-mal-šu a-na LUGAL EN-ia lu-[kal-li-mu] | |
| 4 | LUGAL re-e-mu ina UGU kal-bi-šu₂ li-⸢iš⸣-[kun] | |
| 5 | {lu₂v}ARAD ra-ʾi-mu ša EN-MEŠ-šu₂ a-na-ku | |
| 6 | {lu₂v}ARAD ša ŠA₃-bu-šu₂ a-na EN-MEŠ-šu₂ ga-mur-u-ni | |
| 7 | a-na-ku la-a a-ki an-ni-e a-na LUGAL EN-ia aq-bi | |
| 8 | mu-ku ki-na-ta-te-ia gab-bu li-iz-zi-ru-u-ni | |
| 9 | mi-i-nu ep-pa-šu-u-ni mu-ku at-ta LUGAL be-li₂ | |
| 10 | u₂-de-[e-ka] is-si-ia | |
| 11 | bi-[x x x x x]-a-te ša LUGAL EN-ia | |
| 12 | ⸢x⸣+[x x x x x x] LUGAL be-li₂ lu-u da₃-ri | |
| 13 | [LUGAL be-li₂ re-e]-mu ina UGU ARAD-šu₂ | |
| 14 | [li-iš-kun u₂-ma-a] ⸢šum₂⸣-ma ma-hir | |
| 15 | [ina IGI LUGAL EN-ia a-na] {⸢uru⸣}ŠA₃—URU | |
| 16 | [x x x x x x x] LU₂~v {tug₂}zi-zi-ik-tu₂ | |
| 17 | [x x x x x x x x]-ru-u-ni-ni | |
| 18 | [x x x x x x x x]+⸢x⸣ IGI {d}30 | |
| 19 | [x x x x x x x x x x]-⸢e⸣-mu | |
| 20 | [x x x x x x x x x 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.