ABL 0896 (P393839)
Letter, Neo-Assyrian, Nineveh · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE
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| Designation | ABL 0896 |
|---|---|
| ID | P393839 |
| 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/saa21 · Via Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus (ORACC) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (ORACC)
| Line | English |
|---|---|
| Obverse [0:3] o 1o 1–o 33 | A tablet of Ea-zera-iqiša to Humbuštu, his mother: I am well, you may be glad. |
| Obverse [3:8] o 44–o 88 | They are now backbiting me in the presence of the king, saying, “He and Nabû-šezib are friends of the king of Babylon, they have from the beginning known these things with the king of Babylon.” |
| Obverse [8:12] o 99–o 1212 | (When) the king asked me (about it), I hesitated, (then) said: “I will undergo the ordeal (and) lift up the iron axe, but I swear I knew nothing nor was imparted of anything!” |
| Obverse [12:20] o 1313–o 2020 | Now when I heard that Nabû-šezib has removed his women and his family from Puqudu and settled them in Bit-Amukani, and now that the king of Babylon has been defeated — I have also heard that he has fled to Bit-Amukani —, |
| Obverse [20:26] o 2121– | I made a deal with the king, saying: “From all this the king may understand my heart, how loyal to the king I am: |
| Reverse [0:7] r 1r 1–r 77 | “If it is agreeable to the king, let me write to Bit-Amukani. If Nabû-šezib is there, I will have him and his people caught up by the hand of the king of the world; and if he is not there, I will put the people who are in Bit-Amukani in the king’s hands. |
| Reverse [7:11] r 88–r 1111 | “From this the king may understand that I am loyal to the king. And nobody in [the who]le Bit-Amukani is implicated in this (matter), they are totally devoted servants of the king.” |
| Reverse [11:19] r 1212–r 1919 | Now if you say: “May my son live,” let the treasurer along with his people and a message of the servitude of Bit-Amukani quickly reach the king’s presence, or I am lost, and have slipped from your hands. |
| Right [0:1] r.e. 1r.e. 1–r.e. 1r.e. 1 | [Should] I be [silent], you’d say: How are you doing in Assyria? |
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 | IM {1}{d}E₂.A—NUMUN—qi₂-ša₂ | |
| 2 | a-na {mi₂}hu-um-bu-uš-ti AMA-šu₂ | |
| 3 | DI-mu ia-a-ši ŠA₃-ki lu DUG₃-ki | |
| 4 | u₂-ma-a kar-ṣi-ia ina IGI LUGAL | |
| 5 | ak-lu ma-a šu-u TA@v\dm {1}{d}PA—še-zib | |
| 6 | EN—MUN EN—MUN ša₂ LUGAL KA₂.DINGIR{ki} šu₂-nu | |
| 7 | ma-a šu₂-nu TA@v\dm re-e-še dib-bi | |
| 8 | an-nu-te TA@v\dm LUGAL KA₂-i₃-li₂ | |
| 9 | u₂-du-u LUGAL is-sa-al-an-ni | |
| 10 | ana-ku ak-te-tir ma-a hur-sa-an | |
| 11 | lal-lik AN.BAR ka-la-pu la-an-tuh | |
| 12 | ma-a šum₂-mu u₂-du-u-ni u šum₂-mu | |
| 13 | šam-mu-a-ku-u-ni u₂-ma-a ki-i | |
| 14 | aš₂-mu-u-ni ma-a {1}{d}PA—še-zib ⸢MI₂⸣-ME-šu₂ | |
| 15 | u₃ qi-in-nu-šu₂ TA@v\dm ŠA₃-bi | |
| 16 | {lu₂v}pu-qud-di it-ta-sa-ah | |
| 17 | ina {lu₂}E₂—a-muk-a-ni us-se-šib | |
| 18 | u u₂-ma-a ki-i de-ek-tu₂ ša₂ MAN KA₂-i₃-li₂ | |
| 19 | de-kat₃-u-ni | |
| 20 | as-se-me-ma ma-a a-na {lu₂}E₂—a-muk-a-ni | |
| 21 | ih-ti-liq ana-ku TA@v\dm LUGAL | |
| b.e. | ||
| 22 | ur-tak-kis ma-a ina ŠA₃ ⸢DU₃⸣ | |
| 23 | LUGAL ŠA₃-bi li-ih-kim | |
| 24 | ki-i ša₂ TA@v\dm LUGAL ke-na-ku-u-⸢ni⸣ | |
| r | ||
| 1 | ki-i ina IGI LUGAL ma-hi-ir | |
| 2 | la-aš₂-pur a-na E₂—{lu₂v}a-muk-a-ni | |
| 3 | šum-mu {1}{d}PA—še-zib ina ŠA₃-bi šu₂-u | |
| 4 | ana ša₂-a-šu₂ EN UN-MEŠ-šu₂ ŠU.2 MAN ŠU₂ | |
| 5 | lu-šak-šid-su u šum₂-mu 0 | |
| 6 | la ina ŠA₃ šu₂-u UN-ME ša₂ i-na | |
| 7 | E₂—a-mu-kan ina ŠU.2 MAN GAR-un | |
| 8 | ina ŠA₃ MAN li-ih-kim ki-i | |
| 9 | TA@v\dm ⸢MAN⸣ GIN-ku-u-ni u E₂—a-mu-kan | |
| 10 | [mar gab]-⸢bu⸣-u-ni me-me-ni ina ŠA₃ | |
| 11 | la ⸢ZU⸣-MEŠ-u-ni ARAD-MEŠ ša₂ MAN | |
| 12 | gam-ru-u-te šu₂-nu-ni u₂-ma-a šum₂-mu | |
| 13 | ta-qab-bi-i ma-a ⸢DUMU⸣-a.a | |
| 14 | lib-laṭ {lu₂}{kuš}E.SIR₂ | |
| 15 | EN UN-MEŠ-šu₂ u ši-pir-ti | |
| 16 | e-pe-eš ARAD-u-te ša₂ E₂—a-⸢mu-kan⸣ | |
| 17 | ar₂-hiš ina IGI MAN lu tak-šu-da | |
| 18 | u₂-la-a hal-qa-ak | |
| 19 | TA@v\dm ŠU.2-ki e-te-li | |
| r.e. | ||
| 1 | ⸢x⸣+[x x]-⸢a⸣-ku ta-qab-bi-i mi₃-nu-u ṭe₃-en-ka | |
| 2 | ina KUR—⸢AN⸣.ŠAR₂ | |
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.