ABL 0992 (P334666)
Letter, Neo-Assyrian, Nineveh · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE
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| Designation | ABL 0992 |
|---|---|
| ID | P334666 |
| 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 [0:9] o 1o 1–o 99 | [To the king] of the lands, my lord: [your] servant Itti-Šamaš-balaṭu. [Good h]ealth to the lord of the kings, my lord! May [Aššur, Sîn], Šamaš, Bel, Nabû, Nergal, [Ištar o]f Nineveh, Ištar of the Kidmuri temple (and) [Ištar] of Arbela give long days, everlasting [y]ears, happiness, physical well-being (and) joy to the king, my lord. |
| Obverse [9:12] o 1010–o 1212 | From where the sun rises to where it sets, he (= Šamaš) has brought (all lands) to submission before the feet of the king, my lord. |
| Obverse [12:24] o 1313– | The king, my lord, knows the nature of the land where the king, my lord, placed me. Ikkilû does not let the boats come up to the port of the king, my lord, but has turned the whole trade for himself. He provides for anyone who comes to him, but kills anyone who docks at the Assyrian harbour, and steals his boat. He claims: "They have written to me from the palace: 'Do only what is good for you!'". |
| Bottom [0:7] b.e. 24b.e. 24– | There is a man called Ilu-ma'adi, from Ṣimirra. He goes back and forth to Assyria, finds out in detail whatever matter (and) news there is, and goes and tells it to him. |
| Reverse [2:14] r 33–r 1414 | Perhaps the king, my lord, will say: "Why haven't you arrested him?" He is in his presence. I am afraid, I cannot seize him without the king, my lord's permission. The king, my lord, should know that there are many in the entourage of the king, my lord, who have invested silver in this house — they and the merchants are systematically scaring me. I (however) put my trust in the king, my lord. I don't give one shekel (or even) half a shekel to anybody but the king, my lord. The king, my lord, should know (this). |
| Reverse [14:23] r 1515–r 2323 | I am (but) a dead dog; the king, my lord, has revived me (from) a thousand pestilences. The king is my god and the king is my decor. [Res]cue me, do not let me die! May I know [the brooms in] the palace of the king! May I decorate [the interior of] the palace of the king, my lord! May [the gods of] heaven and earth bless [the king], my lord! |
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] KUR.KUR EN-ia | |
| 2 | ARAD-[ka] {1}KI—{d}UTU—TI.LA | |
| 3 | [lu-u] ⸢šul⸣-mu a-na EN LUGAL-MEŠ EN-ia | |
| 4 | [aš-šur {d}30 {d}UTU {d}EN {d}PA {d}U.GUR | |
| 5 | {[d}15 ⸢ša⸣ NINA{ki} {d}15 E₂—kid-mur-ra | |
| 6 | {[d}15 ša arba-il₃{ki} UD-mu GID₂.DA-MEŠ | |
| 7 | ⸢MU⸣.AN.NA-MEŠ da-ra-a-te | |
| 8 | ṭu-ub ŠA₃-bi ṭu-ub UZU hu-du-u₂ ŠA₃-bi | |
| 9 | a-na LUGAL EN-ia lid-di-nu | |
| 10 | TA@v be₂-et {d}UTU i-nap-pa-ha-an-nu | |
| 11 | a-du-u₂ i-rab-bu-u₂-nu | |
| 12 | ina sa-pal GIR₃.2 ša LUGAL EN-ia u₂-sak-niš | |
| 13 | KUR be₂-et LUGAL be-li₂ iš-ku-ni-ni | |
| 14 | a-ge-e ša ⸢ep⸣-sa-tu-ni LUGAL EN u₂-du | |
| 15 | {1}ik-ki-lu-u₂ la u₂-ra-am-mu {giš}MA₂-MEŠ | |
| 16 | ina ka-a-ru ša LUGAL EN-ia la e-la-a-ni u | |
| 17 | ka-a-ru gab-bi a-na pa-ni-šu₂ us-sah-hir | |
| 18 | ša a-na pa-ni-šu₂ il-la-kan-ni | |
| 19 | KASKAL.2 i-na GIR₃.2-šu₂ i-šak-kan | |
| 20 | ša a-na ka-a-ru ša KUR—aš-šur{ki} il-la-ni | |
| 21 | i-du-ak {giš}MA₂-šu₂ u₂-pa-ṣi | |
| 22 | ma-a TA@v ŠA₃-bi E₂.GAL is-sa-par-u-ni | |
| 23 | [o] ma-a ša ṭa-ba-kan-ni e-pu-⸢uš-ma⸣ | |
| b.e. | ||
| 24 | [o] {1}DINGIR—ma-a-di i-qab-bu-niš-⸢šu⸣ | |
| 25 | 01 {uru}ṣi-mir-a.a šu-u₂ | |
| 26 | šu-u₂ a-na KUR—aš-šur{ki} il-lak | |
| 27 | il-la-ka mi-i-ni | |
| r | ||
| 1 | ⸢ša₂⸣ a-ba-tu-ni mi-i-ni ša ṭe₃-mu-ni | |
| 2 | i-har-ra-ṣi il-la-ka i-qab-ba-šu₂ | |
| 3 | is—su-ru LUGAL be-li₂ i-qab-bi | |
| 4 | ma-a a-ta-a la ta-aṣ-bat-si | |
| 5 | i-na pa-ni-šu₂ šu-u₂ pal-ha-ak ša la LUGAL | |
| 6 | EN-ia la a-ṣab-bat-si LUGAL EN lu u₂-du | |
| 7 | ma-du-ti ina {lu₂}man-za-za—pa-ni {lu₂}man-za-za—pa-ni ša LUGAL EN-ia | |
| 8 | ša KUG.UD a-na E₂ an-ni-i id-di-nu-u-nu | |
| 9 | šu-nu TA@v {lu₂}DAM.QAR-MEŠ | |
| 10 | i-na bat-ta-ta-a.a u₂-pal-lah₃-u-ni | |
| 11 | a-na-ku a-na UGU LUGAL EN-ia tak-ku-lak | |
| 12 | 01 GIN₂ 1/2 GIN₂ a-na me-me-e-ni la ad-dan | |
| 13 | a-na LUGAL EN-ia ad-dan | |
| 14 | LUGAL be-li₂ lu-u₂ u₂-du | |
| 15 | kal-bi me-e-ti a-na-⸢ku⸣ | |
| 16 | i-na li-mu mu-ta-ni LUGAL EN ub-tal-[liṭ-a]-ni | |
| 17 | LUGAL DINGIR-a.a u₃ LUGAL ⸢du-ma-qi⸣ | |
| 18 | [še]-zib-an-ni u₃ lu la a-mu-⸢at⸣ | |
| 19 | [sa-a-ri ina] ŠA₃-bi E₂.GAL ša LUGAL EN-ia lu u₂-da | |
| 20 | [x x ŠA₃] ⸢E₂⸣.GAL ša LUGAL EN-ia lu-za-in | |
| 21 | [DINGIR-MEŠ ša] AN-e u₃ ša KI.TIM | |
| 22 | [a-na LUGAL] EN-ia lik-ru-bu | |
| 23 | [x x x] ⸢ŠA₃-bi ha ʾa ti u₃⸣ | |
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.