ABL 1202 (P334790)
Letter, Neo-Assyrian, Nineveh · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE
Open in the reader & map →See it among all tablets
| Designation | ABL 1202 |
|---|---|
| ID | P334790 |
| 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/saa10 · Via Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus (ORACC) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (ORACC)
| Line | English |
|---|---|
| Obverse [0:4] o 1o 1–o 44 | [To the king], my [lord]: your servant [Mar-Issar]. [Good health] to the king, my lord! May Nabû and Marduk bless [the king], my [lord]! May the [great] gods bestow lasting days, [well-being] and joy [upon the king], my lord! |
| Obverse [4:8] o 55–o 88 | The tiara of Nabû [is completed]; the name of the king, my lord, and the name of the crown prince [of Babylon], my [lord], have been [inscribed] on it; the appropriate (dedicatory) ritual has been performed. |
| Obverse [8:11] o 99–o 1111 | (9) (Break) |
| Obverse [11:13] o 1212–o 1313 | [......] Meanwhile, ašgikû-jewels [and ...] were obtained (as booty) [from] Egypt. |
| Obverse [13:18] o 1414–o 1818 | In the sp[ringtime the king, my lord], sent a [bo]dyguard to the commandant and the [prelate of] Borsippa (with the following orders): "Make an account of the bull[s and sh]eep belonging to Nabû. Supply, as [in ol]den times, the regular ram offerings from the estates of the citizens of Borsippa! The fattest rams should be [deliv]ered to Nabû!" |
| Obverse [18:29] o 1919– | The shepherds have (however) bribed both the commandant [and the] pr[elate]: up till now no account [of] the bulls and sheep has been made, nor have they supplied the regular ram offerings. They have not (even) sacrificed the king's offerings, the ungelded bulls, in the month Nisan (I), (but) do the bull herdsmen's bidding. They turn the blesser's ungelded bulls back from the (temple) gate, and have served (such bulls) on the table of Nabû. |
| Reverse [0:5] r 1r 1–r 55 | Of the blesser's ungelded bull which was sacrificed before the god Nanaya, I have heard that its right-hand kidney was missing. All the citizens of Borsippa are complaining: "The bulls and sheep of Nabû are being concealed from the country!" Why do they leave the shepherds on the loose! |
| Reverse [5:9] r 66–r 99 | I have heard that one of the magnates, whom the shepherds have been associated with has said to the commandant of [Borsippa]: "[The shepherds] are plotting [......]." The king, my lord, [should] know (this). |
| Reverse [9:15] r 1010–r 1515 | Perhaps they are telling the king, my lord: "In olden times, [no accounts] (of oxen and sheep) were made." (If so), they are lying. [In] an ordeal proverb attributed to [Burnabur]iaš, king of B[aby]lon, it is s[aid: "The (time of) accounting is] the ordeal of the sheph[erds]." I am dispatching [the relevant tablet to the king], my lord. |
| Reverse [15:16] r 1616–r 1616 | The shep[herds ... ever si]nce the Chal[d]eans [......] |
| Reverse [16:17] r 1717–r 1717 | [......] the delegate |
| Reverse [17:18] r 1818–r 1818 | [......] his testimony |
| Reverse [18:19] r 1919–r 1919 | [......] the shepherds have become powerful. |
| Reverse [19:20] r 2020–r 2020 | [The ...s have rece]ived bribes [from ...]. |
| Reverse [20:23] r 2121–r 2323 | I became afraid of the punishment [......] and [wrote] to the king, my lord. Let [the king], my lord, act as [it is suitable] to the king, my lord, and to his gods. |
| Reverse [23:31] r 2424– | [On the xth] of Iyyar (II) [the La]dy of Akkad will set out (in procession) and ta[ke up her residen]ce [in] the akītu-[temple]; many [...] are coming [to A]kkad. [The king, my lo]rd, should kn[ow] (this). |
| Edge [0:1] e. 1e. 1–e. 1e. 1 | Furthermore, I heard in Babylon [that ......]. It had 5 kidneys. It is a good omen; the king, my lo[rd, 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 EN]-ia₂ ARAD-⸢ka⸣ {1}DUMU—{d}15 | |
| 2 | [lu-u DI-mu] a-na MAN EN-ia₂ {d}PA u {d}AMAR.UTU | |
| 3 | [a-na MAN EN]-ia₂ lik-ru-bu UD-me da-ru-ti | |
| 4 | [ṭu-ub UZU] u hu-ud ⸢ŠA₃⸣-bi DINGIR-MEŠ [GAL]-MEŠ | |
| 5 | [a-na MAN EN]-ia₂ liš-ru-ku a-⸢gu⸣-u ⸢ša⸣ {[d]}PA | |
| 6 | [ga-am-mur] MU ša MAN EN-ia₂ u₃ MU ša DUMU—MAN DUMU—MAN | |
| 7 | [KA₂.DINGIR{ki} EN]-ia₂ ina UGU-[hi šaṭ-ru] dul-lu-šu₂ e-piš | |
| 8 | [x x x x]+⸢x⸣-MEŠ [x x x x] ⸢x x⸣ e-te-li | |
| 9 | [x x x x x x x x x] ⸢ina⸣ pa-an [x x]-e | |
| 10 | [x x x x x x x x x] ⸢x x⸣ [x x x]+⸢x⸣+[x] | |
| 11 | [x x x x x x x x x x x x x] a-na | |
| 12 | ⸢MAN be-li₂ x x⸣ [x x x x x x] ina ŠA₃-bi | |
| 13 | {na₄}AŠ₂.GI₃.GI₃-MEŠ ⸢x⸣+[x x x x x] {kur}mu-ṣur | |
| 14 | ka-aš₂-du ina pa-⸢an⸣ [MU.AN.NA MAN be-li₂ {lu₂v]}⸢qur⸣-bu-tu₂ | |
| 15 | TA@v {lu₂v}GAR—UMUŠ {lu₂v}GAR—UMUŠ u {lu₂v}[ŠA₃.TAM ša] bar-sip{ki} i-sap-ra | |
| 16 | ma-a NIG₂.ŠID ša GUD.NITA₂-[MEŠ] ⸢UDU⸣-HI.A-MEŠ ša {d}PA | |
| 17 | ep-ša₂ u₃ UDU.NITA₂-MEŠ gi-ne₂-e ki-i ša [ina la]-bi-ri | |
| 18 | ina E₂ DUMU-MEŠ bar-sip{ki} ⸢pa⸣-[aq]-qi-da UDU.NITA₂-MEŠ | |
| 19 | kab-ru-tu a-na {d}PA ⸢lu⸣-[qa]-⸢ar⸣-ri-bu {lu₂v}SIPA-MEŠ | |
| 20 | šul-ma-nu a-na {lu₂v}GAR—UMUŠ {lu₂v}GAR—UMUŠ [u {lu₂v]}⸢ŠA₃⸣.[TAM] it-tan-nu | |
| 21 | a-du-na-kan-ni NIG₂.ŠID [ša] GUD.NITA₂-MEŠ u₃ UDU-HI.A-MEŠ | |
| 22 | la ep-šu₂ u₃ UDU.NITA₂-MEŠ gi-ne₂-e la u₂-pa-qi₂-du | |
| 23 | ina {iti}BARAG {gud}šak-la-lu-te SISKUR-MEŠ ša MAN | |
| 24 | la e-pu-šu₂ IGI.2 ša {lu₂v}SIPA—GUD.NITA₂-MEŠ | |
| b.e. | ||
| 25 | i-dag-gu-lu {gud}šak-la-lu-tu₂ ša ka-ri-bi | |
| 26 | TA@v pa-an KA₂ u₂-sa-ha-ru-u-ni ina UGU-hi | |
| 27 | {giš}BANŠUR ša {d}PA u₂-se-li-i-u | |
| r | ||
| 1 | TA@v ŠA₃-bi {gud}šak-lu-lu ša ka-ri-bi | |
| 2 | ša pa-an {d}na-na-a e-piš-u-ni a-se-me ma-a | |
| 3 | BIR 15-šu₂ la-aš₂-šu₂ DUMU-MEŠ bar-sip{ki} gab-bu | |
| 4 | ut-ta-ta-zu-mu ma-a GUD-MEŠ UDU-MEŠ ša {d}PA | |
| 5 | pa-an KUR kat₃-mu a-ta-a {lu₂v}SIPA-MEŠ u₂-šap-hu-zu | |
| 6 | a-se-me ma-a TA@v ŠA₃-bi {lu₂v}GAL-MEŠ i-ba-ši | |
| 7 | ša {lu₂v}SIPA-MEŠ is-[se]-e-šu₂ i-zi-zu-u-ni | |
| 8 | a-na {⸢lu₂v}GAR—UMUŠ⸣ {⸢lu₂v}GAR—UMUŠ⸣ ša [bar-sip]{ki} iq-ṭi-bi ma-a | |
| 9 | ⸢x⸣ [x x x x x x x i]-⸢da⸣-bu-bu MAN be-li₂ | |
| 10 | [lu-u] u₂-di i—[su-ri a]-⸢na⸣ MAN EN-ia₂ i-qab-bi-i-u | |
| 11 | ma-a TA@v la-bi-⸢ri⸣ [NIG₂.ŠID-MEŠ] ⸢la⸣ u₂-pu-šu₂ | |
| 12 | i-sa-na-li-i-[u ina ŠA₃ ti]-il-ti | |
| 13 | ša hur-sa-an ⸢ša⸣ {1}bur-na—{d}bu]-⸢ri⸣-ia-aš₂ | |
| 14 | MAN ⸢KA₂.DINGIR⸣{ki} ⸢qa⸣-[bi ma-a] ⸢hur⸣-sa-an | |
| 15 | {⸢lu₂}SIPA⸣-[MEŠ NIG₂.ŠID-MEŠ ṭup-pu-šu₂ a-na MAN] EN-ia₂ u₂-se-bi-la | |
| 16 | {⸢lu₂v}SIPA⸣-[MEŠ x x x x x TA@v] ⸢be₂⸣-et {kur}kal-⸢da⸣-ni | |
| 17 | [x x x x x x x x x x]-ši {lu₂v}qe₂-e-pu | |
| 18 | [x x x x x x x x x x]+⸢x⸣-da ša pi-i-šu₂ | |
| 19 | [x x x x x x x x x x] {lu₂v}SIPA-MEŠ id-da-nu | |
| 20 | [x x x x x x x x x x x]+⸢x⸣ šul-ma-nu | |
| 21 | [x x x x x x e-tak]-lu ⸢TA@v⸣ pa-an ši-ip-ṭu | |
| 22 | [x x x x x x] ⸢ap⸣-ta-lah₃ a-na MAN EN-ia₂ | |
| 23 | [a-sap-ra ki]-⸢i⸣ ša UGU MAN EN-ia₂ u DINGIR-MEŠ-šu₂ | |
| 24 | [ṭa-bu-u-ni MAN] ⸢be⸣-li₂ le-pu-uš ina {iti}GUD | |
| 25 | [UD x-KAM₂\t {d]}⸢GAŠAN\t⸣ ša {uru}ak-kad ⸢tu⸣-[ṣa]-⸢a⸣ | |
| r.e. | ||
| 26 | [ina E₂]—a-ki-ti E₂]—a-ki-ti tu-⸢uš-šab⸣ | |
| 27 | [x x] ⸢ki⸣-ib-su ma-aʾ-du-[ti] | |
| 28 | [a-na {uru]}⸢ak⸣-kad il-lak-u-ni [o] | |
| 29 | [MAN be]-⸢li₂⸣ lu-u u₂-[di] | |
| e. | ||
| 1 | u₃ a-se-me ina KA₂.DINGIR{⸢ki⸣} [ma-a] ⸢x x⸣ [x x x x] | |
| 2 | 05 BIR-MEŠ-šu₂ du-un-qu šu-u MAN be-[li₂ lu-u u₂-di] | |
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.