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Letter from a governor and temple administrator to a king (Q000577)
Literary, Old Babylonian, Nippur · c. 1900 BCE–1600 BCE
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| Designation | Letter from a governor and temple administrator to a king |
|---|---|
| ID | Q000577 |
| Language | Sumerian |
| Period | Old Babylonian · c. 1900 BCE–1600 BCE |
| Genre | Literary |
| Find spot | Nippur |
| Coordinates | 32.1271, 45.2300 |
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)
Machine draft. The right-hand column is machine English from ixmon/atf-to-english (atf-en-t5base-F, 2026-10-17), generated line by line from the transliteration. It is unreviewed and is not a scholarly translation.
| Line | ATF | Machine English (draft) |
|---|---|---|
| Ver.1, | ||
| 1 | lugal-me u₃-na-dug₄ | our king praised, |
| 2 | ensi₂ saŋŋa-ke₄ na-ab-be₂-a | “Speak to the governor of Sa’aba! |
| 3 | a-šag₄ da-ab-ta{ki} šar₂-šar₂-šar₂{iku}-bi | The field of Da’abbta, its kingship |
| eš₂-gar₃ {d}en-lil₂ u₃ {d}nin-urta {d}nin-lil₂ | Establisher of Enlil and Ninurta, Ninlil | |
| šag₄-bi-ta bur₃-bur₃-bur₃{iku}-am₃ šukur₂ lu₂ niŋ₂-dab₅-ba-ke₄-ne |U×KASKAL|-|U×KASKAL|-|U×KASKAL|{iku}-am₃ | The nadītu-priests of the niŋdab priests are the ones who are seized by the enemy. | |
| 6 | bur₃{iku}-am₃ sa-dur₂ a-šag₄-ga-bi | It is a bowl, its sadur-vessel is an arable tract |
| 7 | {m}iq-bi-sum₂ u₃ a-bi-qa₂-ti-e inim mu-da-an-ŋar-re-eš | Iqbi-šum and Abiqati spoke to me |
| 8 | tukum-bi lugal-me an-na-kam | If our king is here, |
| 9 | ra-gaba hu-mu-ši-in-gi₄-gi₄-ma | may the courier return, and |
| 10 | kiŋ₂ a-ak bulug a-šag₄ inim dug₄ hu-mu-ni-ib-x | May he/she say a good word to you in the place where the water flows, in the field |
| 11 | SU-bi-še₃ 2(aš) iku X bur₃ eše₃-eše₃{iku} gaba a-šag₄-ga-bi | Its ...: 2 iku, ... bur3 esveše-obiku, on the surface of the field |
| 12 | {ŋiš}al-ta ba-dub₂ kiŋ₂-še₃ ba-ak | he fell from the hoe, he went to the underworld |
| 13 | erin₂ tah-hu-um engar šag₄-gud lu₂ {ŋiš}apin-na nu-me-a | labor-troops of Taḫhum, plowman of the oxherds, who was not a Plowman |
| 14 | gud dili-dili-ta a-šag₄ ŋiš bi₂-ur₃ | From a single ox he cleared the field. |
| 15 | al i₃-ak-en-de₃-en lugal-me he₂-en-zu | We will do it together, may our king know it! |
| Ver.2, | ||
| 1 | a-šag₄ me-am₃{ki} šar₂-šar₂-šar₂{iku}-am₃ | The field of Me-am is a king of kings |
| 2 | eš₂-gar₃ {d}en-lil₂ u₃ {d}nin-urta | Establisher of Enlil and Ninurta |
| 3 | šag₄-bi-ta |U×KASKAL|-|U×KASKAL|-|U×KASKAL|{iku}-am₃ | From there it is a road |
| 4 | šukur₂ lu₂ niŋ₂-PAD-e-ne | The šukur priestess of the people |
| 5 | sahar 2(|AŠ.AŠ|) iku-ba me-a | 2 heaps of earth, where is the oil? |
| 6 | al-ta ba-dub₂ erin₂-ta he₂-X-a | May he ... from among the troops. |
| 7 | kiŋ₂-še₃ sar a-šag₄-ga lu₂ apin-bi nu-bi | At its base, a sar field, where the plowman does not exist |
| 8 | iq-bi-sum₂ u₃ a-bi-qa₂-ti | he said to him, and the apprehension |
| 9 | inim mu-e-de-ŋar-re-eš | you have spoken to me |
| 10 | tukum-bi lugal-ŋu₁₀ | If Lugal-bu |
| 11 | an-na-kam | of heaven. |
| 12 | ra-gaba hu-mu-un-gi₄-gi₄ | may the courier return. |
| 13 | kiŋ₂ ak bulug a-šag₄-ga-bi | The place where he did the plowing of the field |
| 14 | inim dug₄-ga₁₄ mu-ni-ib-X-ne | They ... good words for him. |
Sources & licences
- 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 2026-10-18.