SAA 19, 183 (P393663)
Letter, Neo-Assyrian, Kalhu · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE
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| Designation | SAA 19, 183 |
|---|---|
| ID | P393663 |
| Museum no. | BM — |
| Collection | British Museum, London, UK |
| Language | Akkadian |
| Period | Neo-Assyrian · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE |
| Genre | Letter |
| Find spot | Kalhu (mod. Nimrūd) |
| Coordinates | 36.1022, 43.3385 |
English translation
By ORACC project saao/saa19 · Via Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus (ORACC) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (ORACC)
| Line | English |
|---|---|
| Obverse [0:3] o 1o 1–o 33 | To the king, m[y] lord: your servant Nabû-uṣalla. Good health to the king, my lord! |
| Obverse [3:14] o 44–o 1414 | As to what the king, my lord, wrote to me: "Glaze bricks in Sardu[r]iani ti[ll the 5th] of Ab (V) and then drop it! Appoint Ukkaeans and scouts to supervise the work and let them guard the bricks! You yourselves go glaze bricks in Elizkun for ten days! If the Urarṭian[s] come [t]o Sarduriani to cru[s]h the bricks, let an express messe[nger] come and tell you: 'Revert from Elizkun and overwhelm them!'" |
| Obverse [14:20] o 1515–o 2020 | I sent spies to reconnoit[re]: Three [go]vernors with their forces are encamped opposite us. Zawu[... is] in Arṣua atop Mount [GN.... The ...] of the kin[g ...] from S[arduriani] |
| Reverse [1:2] r 2'2'–r 2'2' | we shall s[ee ......] |
| Reverse [2:3] r 3'3'–r 3'3' | in the city [......] |
| Reverse [3:5] r 4'4'–r 5'5' | We shall leave (out) [everything that] until the days of the king, [my] lord, [...] and [construct] a magazine i[n ...]. |
| Reverse [5:6] r 6'6'–r 6'6' | On the 5th of Ab (V) [we ...ed] on [...]. |
| Reverse [6:7] r 7'7'–r 7'7' | All the [...] who [...] the for[t] |
| Reverse [7:8] r 8'8'–r 8'8' | [...] in Eliz[kun ...]. |
| Reverse [8:12] r 9'9'–r 12'12' | [We control] El[izk]un (and) the heart of the town and do what we [w]ant (there). Guards are entering it, everything has been put under guard, and the guard is very strong. |
| Reverse [12:16] r 13'13'–r 16'16' | I sent my messenger to the Ukkaean but he refused to come. He sent ten master builders and 100 men, but they returned and ran away in a matter of days. |
| Reverse [16:21] r 17'17'–r 21'21' | I have (now) sent another messenger of mine (with the message): "Let 500 (regular) spearmen come!" My messenger has not yet come back; as soon as comes, I shall write to the king, my lord, w[hat]ever news there is. |
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 be-⸢li₂-ia₂⸣ | |
| 2 | ARAD-ka {1}{d}PA—u₂\pm-ṣal-⸢la⸣ | |
| 3 | lu DI-mu a-na LUGAL be-⸢li₂-ia₂⸣ | |
| 4 | ša\m LUGAL EN iš-pur-an-ni ma-a a-⸢di⸣ [UD 05-KAM] | |
| 5 | ša\m {itit}NE SIG₄-MEŠ ina {uru}{d}15—⸢BAD₃⸣-a-⸢na⸣ | |
| 6 | šu-hu-ṭu\m ra-a-me ma-a {kur}u₂\p-ka-a.a | |
| 7 | {lu₂vy}da\d-a.a-li\d ina pa-ni\d pi-qid-di ma-a EN.NUN | |
| 8 | ša\d SIG₄-MEŠ li\d-iṣ-ṣu\dm-ru ma-a at-tu₂-nu | |
| 9 | ina {uru}el\d-iz-ki tal\d-⸢la-ka⸣ 10 UD-MEŠ\m SIG₄-MEŠ\m ⸢šu-uh⸣-ṭa\d | |
| 10 | ma-a ki-ma {kur}URI\d-⸢a⸣.[a] ⸢ina⸣ {uru}{d}15—BAD₃\m-a-ni\d | |
| 11 | ina UGU SIG₄-MEŠ ma-⸢ra-qi\m⸣ i-tal\d-ku-ni\d | |
| 12 | ⸢ma⸣-a ša\d—ki-⸢li⸣ lil-⸢li\d⸣-ka li\d-iq\d-ba\t-ku-nu | |
| 13 | ma-a at-tu₂-[nu] ⸢TA@v\m⸣ ŠA₃ {uru}el-iz-kun | |
| 14 | di-iʾ-⸢pa⸣ ka-te-ma-šu₂\d-nu | |
| 15 | {⸢lu₂vy}da\d⸣-a.⸢a⸣-li\d ⸢a⸣-sap-ra e-ta-am-⸢ru⸣ | |
| 16 | 03 {⸢lu₂v}EN⸣.NAM-MEŠ\m a-di e-mu-qi\tm-šu₂\d-nu | |
| 17 | ina pu-tu₂-ni\d ⸢ša\m⸣-ak\t-nu {1}za-u₂\pm-⸢x⸣+[x] ⸢x⸣ [x] | |
| 18 | ina ŠA₃ {uru}⸢ar-ṣu⸣-a SAG\m {kur}[x x x] | |
| 19 | ⸢ša\m LUGAL TA@v\m ŠA₃ {uru}15—[BAD₃-a-ni] | |
| 20 | [x x]+⸢x x x⸣ [x x x x x] | |
| r | ||
| 1' | ⸢x⸣ [x x x x x x x x x] | |
| 2' | ne₂-⸢mur⸣ [x]+⸢x⸣ [x x x x x x] | |
| 3' | ina ŠA₃ {uru}⸢x⸣+[x x] ⸢x⸣ [x x x x x] | |
| 4' | ⸢a-di⸣ UD-⸢MEŠ⸣ ša ⸢LUGAL EN⸣-[ia x x x] | |
| 5' | nu-⸢ra⸣-ma ur-⸢su⸣-tu₂ ⸢ina⸣ [x x x x] | |
| 6' | UD 05-⸢KAM ša\m⸣ {itit}NE ina ⸢UGU⸣ [x x x] | |
| 7' | [x]+⸢x x am\y⸣—mar ša\m {uru}bir-⸢ti⸣ [x x x] | |
| 8' | ⸢x x x⸣ ina ŠA₃ {uru}el-iz-[kun x x] | |
| 9' | {⸢uru⸣}el-[iz]-⸢kun⸣ ŠA₃-bi ⸢URU x⸣+[x x x] | |
| 10' | ⸢u₃⸣ ki-⸢i ŠA₃⸣-bi-ni ne₂-⸢pa-aš₂⸣ | |
| 11' | EN.NUN-⸢MEŠ⸣ ina UGU er-ra-ba\t-⸢ni⸣ gab-bu | |
| 12' | ša\d-an-ṣu-ra EN.NUN dan-nat a—dan-niš | |
| 13' | {lu₂vy}⸢A—KIN-ia⸣ {lu₂vy}⸢A—KIN-ia⸣ ina UGU {lu₂vy}u₂-⸢ka⸣-a-a ⸢a-sa⸣-par | |
| 14' | la-a ⸢im⸣-ma-gur₂ a-na a-la-ki | |
| 15' | 10 {lu₂vy}TIN-MEŠ\m 01 me {lu₂vy}ERIM-MEŠ\m u₂\pm-se-bi-la | |
| 16' | i-su\t-uh-⸢ru⸣ am—mar UD-me-šu₂ ih-⸢tal⸣-qu | |
| 17' | 02-u₂\pm {lu₂v}A—KIN\m-ia {lu₂v}A—KIN\m-ia a-sap-ra | |
| 18' | nu-uk 05 me {lu₂vy}ERIM-MEŠ\m ša\d—{giš}a-ri-te | |
| 19' | ⸢lil⸣-li\d-ku-ni\d u₂-di-ni\d {lu₂vy}A—KIN\tm-⸢ia⸣ {lu₂vy}A—KIN\tm-⸢ia⸣ | |
| 20' | la i-la-ka ki-ma i-tal-ka ⸢mi⸣-[nu o] | |
| 21' | ⸢ša⸣ ṭe₃-mu-⸢ni⸣ a-na LUGAL be-li₂-ia₂ [o] | |
| 22' | ⸢a⸣-šap-pa-ra [o] | |
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.