ABL 0916 (P334623)
Letter, Neo-Assyrian, Nineveh · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE
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| Designation | ABL 0916 |
|---|---|
| ID | P334623 |
| 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 king], my lord: your servant Mardî. May [Ninurta], Zababa, Nergal, Madanu [and Nabû] bless the strong and righteous [kin]g, my lord. |
| Obverse [3:8] o 44–o 88 | [From the beginn]ing I have been his servant. My brother tried to make Bel-zeru-ibni kill me, (but) I grasped [the feet of the crown prince], saved myself from it in darkness and hunger, and fled to the tower [with the crown prince], my [l]ord. Compassion took hold of the king; [at my return], the crown prince sent a messenger with me, [saying], "You are to give him back [the things] that the governor of Barhalza owes him." |
| Obverse [8:11] o 99–o 1111 | I constantly prayed to [B]el, Nabû and Šamaš for the king, my lord, saying, "May the crown prince, my lord, seize the royal throne of his father's house! I am his servant and his dog, who fears him; may I see light under his protection!" |
| Obverse [11:18] o 1212– | Bel, Nabû and Šamaš heard (this) prayer for you, and they gave the king, my lord, an everlasting kingship (and) a long reign. And like sunshine, all the countries are illuminated by your light. But I have been left in darkness; no one brings me before the king. My outstanding debts, because of which I appealed to the crown prince, my lord, and (because of which) the king, my lord, sent (his messenger) with me, saying, "Give his outstanding debts back to him!" — |
| Reverse [0:1] r 1r 1–r 1r 1 | now Se'-rapa', the governor, refuses to give them (back), saying, "Appeal to the king!" |
| Reverse [1:2] r 22–r 22 | [......] the Barhalzeans hate me |
| Reverse [2:3] r 33–r 33 | [......] "Do you not give the field and orchards back to him!" |
| Reverse [3:4] r 44–r 44 | [......] have been done [without] listening to [...] |
| Reverse [5:6] r 66–r 66 | [......] he has not given |
| Reverse [6:7] r 77–r 77 | [...... Lu]-šakin. May the king ask him! |
| Reverse [13:14] r 1414–r 1414 | [...... which] he gave to you |
| Reverse [14:15] r 1515–r 1515 | [...... The king, my lord, should] know [this]. |
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 ARAD-ka {1}mar-di-i | |
| 2 | {[d}NIN.URTA] {d}ZA.BA₄.BA₄ {d}U.GUR {d}DI.KUD | |
| 3 | {[d}AG a-na] ⸢LUGAL⸣ dan-nu u ki-i-nu be-li₂-ia₂ lik-ru-bu | |
| 4 | [TA@v re-e]-⸢ši⸣ {lu₂v}ARAD-šu₂ a-na-ku ŠEŠ-u-a a-na {1}EN—NUMUN—DU₃ uš-mat-tan-ni | |
| 5 | [GIR₃.2 DUMU—LUGAL] DUMU—LUGAL] a-ṣa-bat ina e-kel-ti bu-bu-ti la—pa-ni us-se-zib | |
| 6 | [TA@v DUMU—LUGAL DUMU—LUGAL be]-li₂-ia₂ a-na ŠA₃ {uru}i-si-ti ah-tal-qa re-e-mu a-na LUGAL iṣ-ṣa-bat | |
| 7 | [x x x {lu₂v]}A—KIN {lu₂v]}A—KIN DUMU—LUGAL DUMU—LUGAL is-si-ia is-sap-ra | |
| 8 | [ma-a hi-bi-la-te]-šu₂ ša {lu₂}EN.NAM ša₂ {kur}bar-hal-za ih-bil-šu₂-ni tu-sa-har ta-dan-aš₂-šu₂ | |
| 9 | {[d]}⸢EN⸣ {d}PA u {d}UTU ka-a.a-man ina UGU LUGAL EN-ia u₂-ṣal-li | |
| 10 | ⸢mu⸣-uk DUMU—LUGAL DUMU—LUGAL be-li₂ {giš}GU.ZA LUGAL-u₂-tu₂ ša₂ E₂—AD-šu₂ E₂—AD-šu₂ li-iṣ-bat | |
| 11 | a-na-ku ARAD-su UR.KU-šu₂ u pa-lih-šu₂ i-na GIŠ.MI-šu₂ la-mur nu-u₂-ru | |
| 12 | {d}EN {d}PA u {d}UTU ṣu-le-e-ka ki-i iš-mu-u₂-ni | |
| 13 | LUGAL-ti ša₂ da-ra-a-ta BALA-e GID₂.DA-MEŠ a-na LUGAL be-li₂-ia₂ it-tan-nu | |
| 14 | u₃ ki-ma ṣe-e-ta {d}UTU-ši KUR.KUR gab-bi ina ṣe-e-ti-ka nam-ru | |
| 15 | u₃ a-na-ku ina ŠA₃ e-ṭu-ti kar-rak me-me-ni a-di pa-an LUGAL la-a u₂-qar-rab-an-ni | |
| 16 | ha-ba-la-ta-ia ša a-na DUMU—LUGAL DUMU—LUGAL EN-ia₂ ah-hur-u-ni LUGAL be-li₂ is-si-ia iš-pur-u-ni | |
| 17 | ma-a hi-bil-a-te-šu₂ sa-ha-ra di-na | |
| r | ||
| 1 | u₂-ma-a {1}se-eʾ—ra-pa-aʾ {lu₂}EN.NAM la i-ma-gur₂ la id-dan ma-a LUGAL mu-hur | |
| 2 | [x x x x x x x x x x x x]+⸢x⸣-an-ni {kur}bar-hal-za-a.a i-zi-ru-u-ni | |
| 3 | [x x x x x x x x x x x ma]-⸢a⸣ A.ŠA₃ {giš}SAR-MEŠ la tu-sa-har la ta-dan-aš₂-šu₂ | |
| 4 | [x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x] ša₂-me-e ep-šu₂ | |
| 5 | [x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x]+⸢x⸣ ir-bu-uʾ | |
| 6 | [x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x]+⸢x⸣ la i-di-na | |
| 7 | [x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x {1}lu]—ša₂-kin₂ LUGAL liš-al-šu₂ | |
| 8 | [x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x]-⸢ia⸣ | |
| 9 | [x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x]+⸢x⸣ | |
| 10 | [x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x]-⸢aš₂⸣ | |
| 11 | [x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x]-sa-ak | |
| 12 | [x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x]+⸢x⸣-bu | |
| 13 | [x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x]-ni | |
| 14 | [x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x] id-din-ak-kan-ni | |
| 15 | [x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x LUGAL be-li₂ lu] u₂-da | |
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.