AAT pl. 39 (K 1551) (P334933)
Letter, Neo-Assyrian, Nineveh · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE
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| Designation | AAT pl. 39 (K 1551) |
|---|---|
| ID | P334933 |
| 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' | [... did not ap]pear, and the day [...]. |
| Obverse [2:4] o 3'3'–o 4'4' | [Last year], it became visible on the 22nd of Iyyar (II) in the constellation [Perseus]; it disappeared in Nisan (I) of the [present] year, on the 29th day. |
| Obverse [4:9] o 5'5'–o 9'9' | Jupiter [may remain invisible] from 20 to 30 days; now it kept itself back from the sky for 35 days. It appeared on the 6th of Sivan (III) in the area of Orion, exceeding its term by 5 days. The relevant interpretation is as follows: |
| Obverse [9:11] o 10'10'–o 11'11' | If Jupiter appears in Sivan: destruction of the land will be brought about, barley will become expensive. |
| Obverse [11:12] o 12'12'–o 12'12' | If Jupiter approaches Orion: the (pest) god will consume (the land). |
| Obverse [12:13] o 13'13'–o 13'13' | If Jupiter enters into Orion: the gods will consume the land. |
| Obverse [13:15] o 14'14'–o 15'15' | If Jupiter becomes visible in the path of the Anu stars: the crown prince will rebel against his father and seize the throne. |
| Obverse [15:19] o 16'16'– | The path of the Anu stars (means) Elam; it pertains to to Elam. Nevertheless, they should (strengthen) the guard and perform the relevant apotropaic ritual. |
| Bottom [2:7] b.e. 19'19'– | Furthermore, when it had moved onwards 5 days, (the same amount) by which it had exceeded its term, it completed 40 days. The relevant interpretation runs as follows: |
| Reverse [2:10] r 33–r 1010 | If Neberu drags: the gods will get angry, righteousness will be put to shame, bright things will become dull, clear things confused; rains and floods will cease, grass will be beaten down, (all) the countries will be thrown into confusion; the gods will not listen to pray[ers], nor will they ac[cept] supplications, nor will they an[swer] the queries of the haruspices. |
| Reverse [10:12] r 1111–r 1212 | [This interpretation I have ex]tracted and [sent] to the king, [my lo]rd, (exactly) as it was wr[itten] on the tablet. |
| Reverse [12:13] r 1313–r 1313 | [... t]o Nineveh [...] |
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 x] | |
| 2' | [x x la in]-⸢na⸣-mir u₃ UD-mu ⸢x⸣+[x x x x x x] | |
| 3' | [šad-daq-diš] UD 22-KAM₂\t ša {iti}GUD ina ŠA₃ {⸢mul⸣}[ŠU.GI] | |
| 4' | ⸢it-ta⸣-mar ina {iti}BARAG ša MU.AN.⸢NA⸣ [an-ni-ti] | |
| 5' | UD 29-KAM₂\t it-ta-bal {mul}SAG.ME.GAR ⸢x⸣+[x x x] | |
| 6' | šum₂-ma a-na 20 UD-MEŠ šum₂-ma a-na 30 UD-⸢MEŠ⸣ [x x x] | |
| 7' | u₂-ma-a 01 ITI 05 UD-MEŠ ina AN-e u₂-tu-hi-⸢ir⸣ | |
| 8' | UD 06-KAM₂\t ša {iti}SIG₄ ina kaq-qar {mul}SIPA.ZI.AN.NA | |
| 9' | {mul}SAG.ME.GAR it-ta-mar 05 UD-MEŠ ina UGU e-da-ni-[i-šu₂] | |
| 10' | u₂-se-ti-iq ki-i an-ni-i pi-šir₃-šu₂ 1 {mul}SAG.ME.GAR | |
| 11' | ina {iti}SIG₄ IGI-ir šal-pu-ut-ti KUR iš-šak-kan | |
| 12' | ŠE-im iq-qir 1 {mul}SAG.ME.GAR ana {mul}SIPA.ZI.AN.NA TE | |
| 13' | DINGIR ik-kal 1 {mul}SAG.ME.GAR a-na ŠA₃ {mul}SIPA.ZI.AN.NA | |
| 14' | i-ru-ub DINGIR-MEŠ KUR ik-ka-lu 1 {mul}SAG.ME.GAR | |
| 15' | ina KASKAL šu-ut {d}a-nim IGI-ir DUMU—LUGAL DUMU—LUGAL AD-šu₂ | |
| 16' | i-ba-ar-ma {giš}GU.ZA iṣ-ṣab-bat KASKAL šu-ut {d}a-nim | |
| b.e. | ||
| 17' | {kur}NIM.MA{ki} a-na {kur}NIM.MA{ki} id-da-gi-il | |
| 18' | u₃ a-na EN.NUN NAM.BUR₂.BI-e-šu₂ | |
| 19' | le-e-pu-šu u₃ 05 UD-MEŠ | |
| 20' | ša ina UGU e-da-ni-i-šu₂ u₂-še-ti-qu-u-ni | |
| r | ||
| 1 | ki-ma u₂-tu-uk-kiš 40 UD-MEŠ | |
| 2 | un-tal-li ki-i an-ni-i pi-šir₃-šu₂ | |
| 3 | 1 {mul}ne₂-bi-ru iš-du-ud-ma DINGIR-MEŠ | |
| 4 | i-ze-en-nu-u₂ me-še-er ib-ba-aš₂-ši | |
| 5 | nam-ra-a-ti iš-ša₂-a za-ka-a-ti | |
| 6 | id-da-al-la-ha A.AN-MEŠ u A.KAL-MEŠ | |
| 7 | ip-par-ra-su šam-mu im-mah-ha-aṣ | |
| 8 | KUR.KUR id-da-al-la-ha DINGIR-MEŠ ṣu-⸢le⸣-[e] | |
| 9 | ul <i>-še-mu-u₂ taṣ-li-ti ul i-⸢mah⸣-[ha-ru] | |
| 10 | te-re-e-te {lu₂v}HAL-MEŠ ul i-⸢ta⸣-[nap-pa-lu] | |
| 11 | ki-i ša ina ṭup-pi ša₂-[ṭir-u-ni pi-šir₃-šu₂] | |
| 12 | [at]-ta-as-ha a-na MAN ⸢EN⸣-[ia₂ u₂-se-bi-la] | |
| 13 | [x x a]-⸢na NINA⸣{ki} ⸢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.