ABL 0571 (P393854)
Letter, Neo-Assyrian, Nineveh · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE
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| Designation | ABL 0571 |
|---|---|
| ID | P393854 |
| 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 [0:1] o 1'1'–o 1'1' | [The king's word to the Babylonians: I am well]; you can be glad. |
| Obverse [1:13] o 2'2'–o 13'13' | [The day] you see this [letter], speak [with] your hearts, take with you any number of the Babylonians, your brothers, whose hearts you know and whom you can vou[ch for], and come over before Milki-r[am] the cohort commander and Aššur-da[''inanni], the commander-in-chief, because they are about to throw (their forces) agai[nst] Babylon, in accordance with what you said: |
| Obverse [13:23] o 14'14'– | "Let us go and speak to our brothers, rend our garments, take the obsidian knife, and discuss with them the matters by which they have destroyed themselves and through which we can snatch Babylon from the hands of the enemy; perhaps Babylon can still be saved from massacre." |
| Reverse [2:8] r 33–r 88 | Now then I am writing to you: Remember these words of yours, come, line up, speak with your brothers, and let us snatch the city from enemy hands so that it will not be subjected to plunder. |
| Reverse [8:12] r 99–r 1212 | If it requires friendly words, speak in friendly terms, and if it requires stern words, speak with them in stern terms. |
| Reverse [12:17] r 1313–r 1717 | If Marduk wants to keep them alive, let them open [the city gate] in friendly terms; if n[ot], I have prayed to Aššur and Marduk, my gods, and [my] gods [...]. |
| Reverse [17:20] r 1818–r 2020 | But let the city by itself not surrender [to] the enemy |
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' | lu-u DUG₃.GA-ku-nu ina [UD-me ša₂ ši-pir-tu₂] | |
| 2' | an-ni-tu tam-ma-ra [it-ti] | |
| 3' | ŠA₃-bi-ku-nu du-ub-⸢ba⸣ | |
| 4' | TA ŠA₃ {lu₂}TIN.TIR{ki}[MEŠ] | |
| 5' | ŠEŠ-MEŠ-ku-nu man-nu i-⸢ba⸣-[aš₂-ši] | |
| 6' | ša ŠA₃-ba-šu-nu ti-⸢da⸣-[a] | |
| 7' | u₃ pu-us-su-nu kal-aš₂-[šu₂-nu] | |
| 8' | ina ŠU.2-ku-nu ṣab-ta et-⸢qa⸣ | |
| 9' | al-ka ina IGI {1}mil-ki—⸢ra⸣-[am] | |
| 10' | {lu₂}GAL—ki-ṣir {lu₂}GAL—ki-ṣir {1}aš-šur—⸢KALAG⸣-[an-ni] | |
| 11' | {lu₂}tur-tan aš₂-ša₂-a ina ⸢UGU⸣ | |
| 12' | TIN.TIR{ki} i-nam-⸢du⸣-[u₂] | |
| 13' | ŠA₃-bu-u₂ ša₂ taq-ba-a um-[ma] | |
| 14' | ni-il-lik-ma it-ti ŠEŠ-MEŠ-⸢ni⸣ | |
| 15' | ni-id-bu-ub {tug₂}kab-ru-ti-i-ni | |
| 16' | nu-šar-riṭ ṣur-ru ni-iṣ-bat | |
| 17' | dib-bi ša₂ ina ŠA₃-bi ra-man-šu₂-nu | |
| 18' | ih-pu-u₂ u ša₂ ina ŠA₃-bi TIN.TIR{ki} | |
| 19' | la—ŠU.2 {lu₂}KUR₂ ni-ik-ki-mu | |
| 20' | it-ti-šu₂-nu nid-bu-ub | |
| r | ||
| 1 | min₃-de-e-ma TIN.TIR{ki} la—pa-an | |
| 2 | da-a-ki in-ne₂-ṭi-ir en-na | |
| 3 | a-du-u₂ al-tap-rak-ku-nu-ši | |
| 4 | hu-us-sa-ma dib-bi-ku-nu a-ga-nu-tu | |
| 5 | al-ka-ma šu-ud-dir-a-ma | |
| 6 | it-ti ŠEŠ-MEŠ-ku-nu du-ub-ba | |
| 7 | URU ina ŠU.2 {lu₂}KUR₂ ne₂-ki-ma | |
| 8 | la ib-ba-aš₂-ši hab-a-lu | |
| 9 | ki-i ša₂ dib-bi DUG₃.GA-MEŠ dib-bi | |
| 10 | DUG₃.GA-MEŠ du-ub-ba ki-i ša₂ dib-bi | |
| 11 | šip-ṣu-te dib-bi šip-ṣu-u₂-te | |
| 12 | it-ti-šu₂-nu du-ub-⸢ba⸣ | |
| 13 | ki-i {d}AMAR.UTU TIN-su-⸢nu⸣ | |
| 14 | ṣi-bu-u₂ ina KA DUG₃.GA [KA₂.GAL] | |
| 15 | lip-tu-u₂ u ki-i ⸢ia⸣-[aʾ-nu] | |
| 16 | AN.ŠAR₂ u {d}AMAR.UTU DINGIR-MEŠ-e-[a] | |
| 17 | u₂-ṣal-li-ma DINGIR-MEŠ-e-[a x x] | |
| 18 | u₃ URU ša\m ram-ni-⸢šu⸣ 0 | |
| 19 | ⸢ina⸣ [ŠU].2 {lu₂}KUR₂ la u₂-maš-⸢šar⸣ | |
| 20 | [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.