ABL 0885 (P334608)
Letter, Neo-Assyrian, Nineveh · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE
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| Designation | ABL 0885 |
|---|---|
| ID | P334608 |
| 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 [0:3] o 1o 1–o 33 | [To] the crown prince, my lord: your servant Šumay[a. Good] health to the crown prince, m[y] lord! May Nabû and Marduk ble[ss] the crown prince, my lord. |
| Obverse [3:6] o 44–o 66 | The king, your father, saw the work that I did in Tarbiṣu. I did it caref[ully], thinking: "May my name be good before [my] lord." |
| Obverse [6:14] o 77–o 1414 | Now, the scribe whom my father appointed to count the work done by the drunks, and the nobles of my father who were assigned to the work — the moment they heard that a scribe had been appointed, they quit the work and ran away. [The king], my [l]ord, did not give me [a hou]se (nor) silver for the rest of the work. |
| Obverse [14:19] o 1515–o 1919 | Now, if it is acceptable to the crown prince, let them settle my accounts, let the crown prince hand over the work, and let me do the work in Calah assigned to my father and deliver it to the crown prince. |
| Obverse [19:31] o 2020– | Nobody listens to me. (Should) it come to pass that I become a nobody before the crown prince, I will die. If only the crown prince, my lord, would turn his attention to me, I'd perform the works of the crown prince and deliver them to the crown prince, my lord. If I did not do it, who would do and deliver (them) to the crown prince? Would the accountant (and) the drunks do it? |
| Reverse [2:5] r 33–r 55 | May the crown prince, my lord, live forever, (and) may I revere the crown prince, my lord, with my arms and feet! |
| Reverse [5:12] r 66–r 1212 | The crown prince, my lord, may enquire: Was my grandfather not assisted by the eunuch Aššur-belu-ka''in, (and) afterwards, when your grandfather ascended the throne, did he not appoint him to the position of a scribe? Now, may the crown prince, my lord, not forsake me! May the name of his grandfather and the position of my father not be lost from your house! |
| Reverse [12:19] r 1313–r 1919 | My father (and) my grandfather stayed in your house. The king, your father, loves the son of one who worked for him, feels concern for the son of one who worked for him. What is my fault? I am a dog of the crown prince, [running abo]ut at the threshold of your house. May the crown prince, my lord, not forsake me! |
| Reverse [19:20] r 2020–r 2020 | [I] know (that) the crown prince, my lord, |
| Reverse [20:21] r 2121–r 2121 | [...] ... until [...] |
| Reverse [21:22] r 2222–r 2222 | [...] ... the crown prince will ascend (the throne) |
| Reverse [22:23] r 2323–r 2323 | [...] him [...] ... [...] ... [...] |
| Reverse [23:25] r 2424– | [...] let [...] |
| Right [0:3] r.e. 25r.e. 25– | [The crown prince], my lord, knows (that) [once ...] the master of the house is dead, the house (too) will perish after him. May the crown prince not fo[rsake me]! |
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] DUMU—LUGAL DUMU—LUGAL EN-ia ARAD-ka {1}šu-ma-⸢a⸣.[a] | |
| 2 | [lu-u] šul-mu a-na DUMU—LUGAL DUMU—LUGAL EN-⸢ia⸣ | |
| 3 | {[d]}PA u {d}AMAR.UTU a-na DUMU—LUGAL DUMU—LUGAL EN-ia lik-⸢ru⸣-[bu] | |
| 4 | dul-lu ša {uru}tar-bi-ṣi ša e-pu-šu-[u-ni] | |
| 5 | LUGAL AD-ka e-ta-mar at-ta-ah-[rid] | |
| 6 | e-ta-pa-aš₂ mu-uk šu-mi₃ ina pa-an EN-[ia] | |
| 7 | lu-u de-e-iq u₂-ma-a {lu₂v}A.BA | |
| 8 | ša AD-u₂-a a-na ma-ne₂-e ša dul-li | |
| 9 | TA@v ŠU.2 {lu₂}šak-ru-te ip-qi₂-du-u-ni | |
| 10 | u₃ {lu₂}A—SIG₅ {lu₂}A—SIG₅ ša AD-ia ša ina dul-li | |
| 11 | pa-qu-du-u-ni qa-an-ni iš-mu-u-ni | |
| 12 | ma-a {lu₂}A.BA pa-qi₂-id dul-lu it-ta-ṣu | |
| 13 | ur-ta-am-me-u ih-tal-⸢qu E₂⸣ KUG.UD | |
| 14 | ša re-eh-te dul-li [LUGAL] ⸢be⸣-li₂ | |
| 15 | la id-di-na u₂-ma-a šum-⸢ma pa-an DUMU⸣—LUGAL DUMU⸣—LUGAL | |
| 16 | ma-hi-ir NIG₂.ŠID-ia liš-ku-nu DUMU—LUGAL DUMU—LUGAL be-li₂-ia₂ | |
| 17 | dul-lu lip-qid u₃ a-na-ku dul-lu | |
| 18 | ša ina {uru}kal-ha ša ina UGU AD-ia | |
| 19 | le-e-pu-uš a-na DUMU—LUGAL DUMU—LUGAL la-ad-din | |
| 20 | me-me-e-ni la-aš₂-šu₂ la-a i-ša₂-man-ni | |
| 21 | il-la-ka a-na la LU₂ ina pa-an DUMU—LUGAL DUMU—LUGAL | |
| 22 | a-tu-ar a-mu-at šum-ma DUMU—LUGAL DUMU—LUGAL be-li₂ | |
| 23 | pa-ni-šu₂ ina UGU-hi-ia us-sa-hi-ra | |
| 24 | dul-la-ni ša DUMU—LUGAL DUMU—LUGAL ep-pa-aš₂ | |
| b.e. | ||
| 25 | a-na DUMU—LUGAL DUMU—LUGAL EN-ia ad-dan | |
| 26 | ki-ma a-na-ku la-a e-pu-uš | |
| 27 | man-nu-um-ma le-e-pu-uš | |
| r | ||
| 1 | a-na DUMU—LUGAL DUMU—LUGAL li-id-din | |
| 2 | {lu₂v}IGI—ma-ne₂-e {lu₂v}⸢šak-ru⸣-te | |
| 3 | le-e-pu-šu₂ DUMU—LUGAL DUMU—LUGAL be-li₂ lu-u da-ra | |
| 4 | a-na-ku ina ŠA₃ a-hi-ia GIR₃.2-ia | |
| 5 | a-na DUMU—LUGAL DUMU—LUGAL EN-ia la-ap-lah₃ | |
| 6 | DUMU—LUGAL DUMU—LUGAL be-li₂ liš-al TA@v AD—AD-ia AD—AD-ia | |
| 7 | {1}aš-šur—EN—GIN {lu₂v}SAG la-a iz-zi-zi | |
| 8 | id—da-te id—da-te ki-i AD—AD-ka AD—AD-ka ina {giš}GU.ZA | |
| 9 | u₂-si-ib-u-ni a-na {lu₂v}A.BA-[u₂]-te | |
| 10 | la iš-kun-šu-u u₂-ma-a DUMU—LUGAL DUMU—LUGAL be-li₂ | |
| 11 | lu la u₂-ra-man-ni šu-mu ša AD—AD-šu₂ AD—AD-šu₂ | |
| 12 | ma-za-as-su ša AD-ia TA@v E₂-ka | |
| 13 | lu la i-hal-liq AD-u-a AD—AD-ia AD—AD-ia | |
| 14 | ina E₂-ka it-ti-ti-is-su LUGAL AD-ka | |
| 15 | DUMU EN—dul-li EN—dul-li i-ra-am pa-ni-šu₂ | |
| 16 | ina UGU DUMU EN—dul-li EN—dul-li ia-u mi-i-nu | |
| 17 | hi-iṭ-ṭa-a.a UR.KU ša DUMU—LUGAL DUMU—LUGAL | |
| 18 | a-na-ku ina as-ku-pe-te ša E₂-ka | |
| 19 | [a-du]-⸢al⸣ DUMU—LUGAL DUMU—LUGAL be-li₂ lu la u₂-ra-man-ni | |
| 20 | [a-na-ku] u₂-da DUMU—LUGAL DUMU—LUGAL be-li₂ | |
| 21 | [x x] ri ni u ni a-di an-[x x] | |
| 22 | [x x]+⸢x⸣ TA@v im DUMU—LUGAL DUMU—LUGAL u₂-šab | |
| 23 | [x x] ni šu₂ [x x] mu li [x] me u [x] | |
| 24 | [x x x x] li-is-[x x x] | |
| r.e. | ||
| 25 | [DUMU—LUGAL] [DUMU—LUGAL] ⸢be-li⸣ u₂-da [o] | |
| 26 | [x x] EN—E₂ EN—E₂ me-e-te | |
| e. | ||
| 1 | E₂ i—da-tu-uš-šu₂ i—da-tu-uš-šu₂ i-hal-liq DUMU—LUGAL DUMU—LUGAL la-a u₂-⸢ram⸣-[man-ni] | |
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.