CDLI Literary 000604, ex. 003 (P346600)
Literary letter and letter-prayer, Old Babylonian, Ur · c. 1900 BCE–1600 BCE
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| Designation | CDLI Literary 000604, ex. 003 |
|---|---|
| ID | P346600 |
| 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 |
|---|---|
| obverse 4' | Like a bird ... in(?) a nest, I ... the branches of the ... tree(?) |
| obverse 5' | Like a fish a the edge of the water, my life has been carried (away) |
| obverse 6' | Like an orchard that is not watered by hand, I do not bear fruit |
| obverse 7' | The field is not worked by means of its plenty(?), the seed is not planted(!?) |
| obverse 8' | I sit watching, eating little(?), no one looks towards me |
| obverse 9' | My tiny ones, having learned about (where?) food and water (was?) fled alone |
| reverse 1' | Wailing and lamentation ... |
| reverse 2' | uplum lice, scabies(?) nābum lice(?) and parasites ..., I dry out/shrink from hunger and thirst(?) |
| reverse 3' | Misery gathers me up like grease, I cannot bear its commission(?) |
| reverse 4' | (I) cannot seek anyone empty-handedly, (I) do not have a listener |
| reverse 5' | My king, my back is being trampled, even though I am not a liar/criminal |
| reverse 6' | If it is pleasing to my king |
| reverse 7' | I should not die (because of) my unknown (i.e., non-existent?) crime |
| reverse 8' | (I) should not be drawn like water in the place of slaughter(?) |
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 | ||
| 1' | [...]-x | |
| 2' | [...]-en# | |
| 3' | [...]-x [...]-x-x-x-USZ | |
| 4' | muszen# gud3#-de3# [...] x pa {gesz}[...]-en#? | |
| 5' | ku6 a bar!(KIN?)#-ra# x-[...]-gu10#? mi-ni-ib2-il2-il2 | |
| 6' | {gesz}kiri6 a szu-ta# nu#?-[...] gurun# la#-ba#?-il2-en | |
| 7' | a-sza3 a-la-bi-ta kin2# [...]-ak#?-e u2#?-[...]-gar#?-x | |
| 8' | igi# la2 tur gu7-a ba-tusz#-[...] x x [...] | |
| 9' | di4#-di4-la2-gu10 u2#? [...] dili-[...] | |
| 10' | [...] x x [...] | |
| reverse | ||
| 1' | zarah#!? a-nir-[...] x [...] | |
| 2' | eh hur#?-[...] x eh# LA im#-x-[...] | |
| 3' | du-lum-e {uzu}szusz2-gin7 ba-de5-de5-[...] ak-bi nu-mu-e-da-il2-i | |
| 4' | szu sug4-ta lu2# nu-mu-da-kin2-ge26 gesztu2 de5-ge#? nu-tuku | |
| 5' | lugal#-gu10 a-ga-gu10 giri3#? zukumx(|ZI&ZI.MIN|)-e lu2-lul#-la nu-me-en | |
| 6' | tukumbi# lugal-ga2 an-na-du10 | |
| 7' | [...]-gu10 nam-ba-usz2-de3-en | |
| 8' | [...] nam#-ba-ra-bala-e | |
| 9' | [...]-x-ke4 [...]-x-e3# | |
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
Cite the original edition and translator. Page generated by Unread Atlas from the public corpus export of 2026-10-11.