ABL 1214 (P334797)
Letter, Neo-Assyrian, Nineveh · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE
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| Designation | ABL 1214 |
|---|---|
| ID | P334797 |
| 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 [1:2] o 2'2'–o 2'2' | wrote "[......]." |
| Obverse [2:11] o 3'3'–o 11'11' | [There are] shi[ps lined up] across the Borsippa river. In the days of Sargon and the father of the k[ing, my lord], as the Borsippa river was narrow, they trod a ra[mp] on them, (but) it did not stay in good condition. N[ow] in the times of the king, my lord, the river has swollen much; they have improved the ramp, but it will not stay in good condition. Let the bridge of ships be kept as it is; wh[en] the king, my lord, comes, they will put in an improved filling, (so that) the king, my lord, can cross over it in his chariot. |
| Obverse [11:16] o 12'12'–o 16'16' | This year the waters have increased and risen up to the wall of Ezida. There are oblates of Išum available; if it pleases the king, my lord, let them glaze kiln-fired bricks and brick up the quay-wall of Ezida and let me put the inscription of the king, my lord, therein. They should cut the waters off. |
| Obverse [16:20] o 17'17'–o 20'20' | Concerning the wall of the Nergal temple of Cutha about which [I wr]ote to the kin[g, my lord]: |
| Reverse [0:3] r 1r 1–r 33 | [If] it pleases [the king, my lord], let us build the temple of [DN, ......] and let the inscrip[tion of the king, my lord], be put therein. However, let the king, [my] lord do as it pleases him. |
| Reverse [3:8] r 44–r 88 | The bodyguard Nergal-šarru-uṣur came with the deputy of the Lahirite (major-domo); they invoked the king's word, dismissed the delegates of the temples of Sippar, Cutha, Hursagkalama and Dilbat and appointed others. The king, my lord, should know this. |
| Reverse [8:10] r 99–r 1010 | In the night of the 10th of Tammuz (IV), the constellation Scorpius approached the moon. Its interpretation is as follows: |
| Reverse [10:14] r 1111–r 1414 | If at the appearance of the moon Scorpius stands by its right horn: in th[at year] locusts will rise and consume the harvest, variant: [The king of] Elam will be killed in that year, his reign will be brought to an end, and an en[emy] will attack and plunder the interior of his country. |
| Reverse [14:16] r 1515–r 1616 | For the king of Akkad: go[od l]uck. His reign will become long, and the enemy who attacks him will be defeated. |
| Reverse [16:17] r 1717–r 1717 | On the 10th of Tammuz (IV), Venus was visi[ble] in Leo: |
| Reverse [17:18] r 1818–r 1818 | The king of Akkad [...] wherever [...] |
| Reverse [18:19] r 1919–r 1919 | [...] in the land of Akkad [......] |
| Reverse [19:21] r 2020–r 2121 | [...] in the land of Akkad [......] |
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 x] | |
| 2' | [is]-sap-ra ma-⸢a⸣ [x x x x x x x x x] | |
| 3' | ⸢ina⸣ UGU ID₂ BAR₂.SIPA{⸢ki} {giš}MA₂⸣-[MEŠ sa-ad-ra] | |
| 4' | ina ŠA₃ UD-MEŠ ša {1}MAN—GI.NA AD-šu₂ ša ⸢MAN⸣ [EN-ia₂] | |
| 5' | ki-i ID₂ BAR₂.SIPA{ki} sa-qu-u-ni ti-[tur-ru] | |
| 6' | ina UGU-hi ik-tab-su la iš-li-im ⸢u₂⸣-[ma-a] | |
| 7' | tar-⸢ṣi⸣ MAN EN-ia₂ ID₂ a—dan-niš ir-ti-⸢piš⸣ [ti-tur-ru] | |
| 8' | ⸢u₂-ṭib⸣-bu u₃ la i-šal-lim gi-iš-⸢ru⸣ | |
| 9' | ša {[giš]}MA₂-MEŠ ki-i ša ṣa-bit-u-ni lu-u ṣa-bit | |
| 10' | ki-[ma] MAN be-li₂ it-tal-ka tam-li-ti u₂-ma-al-lu-u | |
| 11' | u₂-⸢ṭa⸣-ab-bu MAN be-li₂ ina ŠA₃ {giš}GIGIR-šu₂ ina UGU-hi e-ti-iq | |
| 12' | šat-⸢tu⸣ an-ni-tu₂ A-MEŠ id-da-an-nu ina UGU E₂.SIG₄ | |
| 13' | E₂.ZI.DA e-te-li-i-u {lu₂v}še-er-ki ša {d}ALAD | |
| 14' | i-⸢ba⸣-aš₂-ši šum₂-ma pa-an MAN EN-ia₂ ma-hir e-bir-tu₂ | |
| 15' | liš-⸢hu⸣-ṭu ka-a-ri E₂.ZI.DA li-ir-ṣi-pu | |
| 16' | mu-šar-ru-u ša MAN EN-ia₂ ina ŠA₃-bi la-aš₂-kun | |
| 17' | A-MEŠ li-pu-gu ina UGU E₂.SIG₄ ša E₂—{d}U.GUR | |
| 18' | ša GU₂.DU₈.A{ki} ša a-na ⸢MAN⸣ [EN-ia₂ aš₂]-⸢pur⸣-an-ni | |
| 19' | nu-uk a-⸢na x⸣+[x x x x x x x x]-⸢ru⸣ | |
| 20' | i-⸢da⸣-[x x x x x x x x x x x x] | |
| r | ||
| 1 | ma-hir E₂—{⸢d⸣}[x x x x x x x x x] | |
| 2 | ni-ir-ṣip mu-šar-⸢ru⸣-[u ša MAN EN-ia₂ ina ŠA₃-bi] | |
| 3 | liš-ši-ki-in ki-i ša ina ⸢pa-an MAN EN⸣-[ia₂] | |
| 4 | ma-hir-u-ni le-e-pu-šu {1}{d}U.GUR—MAN—PAB | |
| 5 | {[lu₂v]}qur-bu-tu₂ TA@v {lu₂v}02-i ša {lu₂v}{uru}la-hi-ra-a.a | |
| 6 | it-tal-ka a-bat LUGAL iz-zak-ru {lu₂v}qe-e-pa-a-ni | |
| 7 | ša E₂—DINGIR-MEŠ E₂—DINGIR-MEŠ ša sip-par{ki} GU₂.DU₈.A{ki} HUR.SAG.KALAM.MA{ki} | |
| 8 | dil-bat{ki} up-ta-at-ti-i-u ša₂-ni-i-u-te | |
| 9 | ip-taq-du MAN be-li₂ lu-u u₂-di ina {iti}ŠU MI | |
| 10 | ša UD 10-KAM₂\t {mul}GIR₂.TAB a-na {d}30 TE-hi | |
| 11 | a-ki an-ni-i pi-šir₃-šu₂ 1 30 ina IGI.LAL-šu₂ {mul}GIR₂.TAB | |
| 12 | ina SI ZAG-šu₂ GUB-iz [ina MU] ⸢BI⸣ BURU₅-HI.A ZI-ma | |
| 13 | {še}BURU₁₄ KU₂ ša₂-niš [LUGAL] NIM.MA{ki} ina MU BI GAZ-šu₂ | |
| 14 | BALA-šu₂ ig-gam-mar ⸢KUR₂⸣ ZI-ma ŠA₃-bi KUR-šu₂ i-maš-ša₂-aʾ | |
| 15 | a-na LUGAL URI{ki} ⸢du-un⸣-qu BALA-šu₂ i-ri-ik | |
| 16 | {lu₂v}KUR₂ ša i-te-[eb]-⸢ba⸣-aš₂-šu₂ mi-qit-ti {lu₂v}KUR₂-šu₂ | |
| 17 | iš-šak-kan ina {⸢iti⸣}ŠU UD 10-KAM₂\t {mul}dil-bat ina ŠA₃ {mul}UR.⸢GU.LA⸣ | |
| 18 | it-ta-[mar] LUGAL URI{ki} a-šar ṭe₃-⸢x⸣+[x x x x x] | |
| 19 | [x x]-⸢kan⸣ ina KUR—URI{ki} ta-⸢x⸣+[x x x x x x x] | |
| 20 | [x x] ⸢ina⸣ KUR—URI{ki} te-[x x x x x x x x x] | |
| 21 | [x x]+⸢x⸣ tu [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.