CDLI Literary 000581, ex. 003 (P346260)
Literary letter and letter-prayer, Old Babylonian, Ur · c. 1900 BCE–1600 BCE
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| Designation | CDLI Literary 000581, ex. 003 |
|---|---|
| ID | P346260 |
| Museum no. | BM — |
| Collection | British Museum, London, UK |
| Language | Sumerian |
| Period | Old Babylonian · c. 1900 BCE–1600 BCE |
| Genre | Literary letter and letter-prayer |
| Find spot | Ur (mod. Tell Muqayyar) |
| Coordinates | 30.9607, 46.1063 |
English translation
By Peterson, Jeremiah · Via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative · CDLI (reuse with citation)
| Line | English |
|---|---|
| After you speak to Enlilmassu, (the provider of) sweet words and good advice, the (possessor of) a “honey mouth, who ... speech | |
| To the son who serves his god, one who his father and mother | |
| obverse 5b | fears, after you repeat, |
| obverse 5b | My alad spirit, my lamma spirit, my valued (personal) god (Akkadian, the one of the side(?)), with good features and stature |
| obverse 5b | Embodiment of the scribal art, hero of the šatam officials, |
| obverse 9.b | ornament of the palace. Who restores commands to their place |
| obverse 9.b | Who sweetens the heart of the king, after you (say) a third time to him |
| obverse 9.b | Lugalnesage, the nu'eš priest of Enlil, the jester of the king |
| obverse 9.b | Son of Enlilalsag, master (scribe) of Nibru, your father, it is (him who) speaks (thusly) |
| reverse 7 | When I was abandoned, (I) was “cut down"(?) |
| reverse 7 | My heart fell, I am one whose (interest in) eating and drinking diminishes |
| reverse 7 | Your destiny? consumed me, your laughter! (Akkadian: complaint?) silenced me(?) |
| reverse 12 | Your greatness (i.e., arrogance) (Akkadian your lot(?)) has twisted(?) me |
| reverse 13 | (Your) slander/complaining(?) and (feigned) compassion(!?) has killed me |
| reverse 14 | (For the time being) I have abandoned (Akkadian cut off) my attentiveness (to you) |
| reverse 15 | When(?) I was afraid, my heart filled with blood and pus |
| reverse 16 | (I) have been distressed to inquire after (you) |
| reverse 17 | (But) because(?) ... has not yet ... it into the “place of fate"(?) |
| left 1 | By the command of Enlil, may I(?) see your face (again). |
Transliteration (ATF)
From Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative · CDLI: reuse of catalogue/transliteration data with citation of CDLI; images restricted (not fetched)
| Line | ATF | Machine English (draft) |
|---|---|---|
| obverse | ||
| 5b | ni2 te-ge26!?-ra u3-ne-de3-tah | |
| 9.b | he2-du7 e2#-gal-la a2 ag2 ki-bi gi4 | |
| reverse | ||
| 7 | u4 DA-na-gu10 ba-hu-hu-bu-usz2-en | |
| 12 | mah-zu ib2-sur-en is-qu2-ka | |
| 13 | [...] sag5 sza?-la su ib2-bu-usz2-en t,u-pu-ul-ka | |
| 14 | [...] ke#-gu10-ta szu be2-dagx(KA2) ab-tu-uq | |
| 15 | [...]-te-gu10-ne sza3-gu10 mud2 lugud2 ab-si | |
| 16 | [...] x-tar-de3 zi ba-ir a-ta-szu#?-[...] | |
| 17 | [...] nam# tar-ka nu-mu-ub-GA2 la ASZ-x-[...] | |
| left | ||
| 1 | du11-ga {d}en-lil2-ka musz2-me-zu igi he2#-[...]-du | |
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.