Position in chronology
SAA 14 074. Inner Tablet of the Preceding Text (ADD 0153)
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) On the 22nd day of the month of Iyyar (II), Edu-šallim shall bring Apladad-killanni son of Reṣa. He shall give him to Gabbu-(ina)-qat-ili. If he is not brought n[or] handed over, he shall give a servant equal to his own servant. (7) [Mon]th Iyyar (II), 26th day, eponym year of Bel-na'id. (r 2) Witness Busi-ilani, court clerk. (r 4) Witness Uburaku. (r 5) Witness [Mi]nu-epuš-ilu. (r 6) Witness Nabû-dur-beli. (r.e. 7) Witness Nabû'a.
Source: Mattila, R. 2002. Legal Transactions of the Royal Court of Nineveh, Part II: Assurbanipal through Sin-šarru-iškun. SAA 14. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa14/P335104/
Why it matters
Transliteration
a-na UD 22*-KAM / ša ITI.GUD mDIL—šal-lim / md*A.10—kil-la-a-ni A mre-⸢ṣa⸣ ú-ba-⸢la⸣ / a-na mgab-bu—ŠU.2—DINGIR / SUM-an BE-ma la na-ṣa ⸢la⸣ SUM-ni / ARAD a-ki ARAD-i-šú SUM-an / ⸢ITI⸣.GUD UD 26-KAM / lim-me mEN—I / IGI mbu-si—DINGIR-⸢MEŠ*⸣ / ša*—IGI—de-na-ni / IGI [m]⸢ú⸣-bu-ra-⸢ki⸣ / IGI m[mu]-ni—e-pu-uš—DINGIR / IGI mdPA—BÀD—EN / IGI md.PA-u-a
Scholarly note
Neo-Assyrian legal transaction at the royal court of Nineveh, edited by Raija Mattila (SAA 14, 2002). ORACC text P335104.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P335104). source
Translation excerpted from Mattila, R. 2002. Legal Transactions of the Royal Court of Nineveh, Part II: Assurbanipal through Sin-šarru-iškun. SAA 14. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa14/P335104/.
Related tablets
Related sources
One of the earliest specimens of human writing. Not literature, not law — accounting. The need to keep track of grain in a temple bureaucracy is what pushed marks-on-clay into a system that could one day carry epics.
The earliest historical document in human history. Before this, we have lists, accounts, and dedications. Here, for the first time, a ruler tells us what happened — with names, places, and consequences.
The oldest surviving law code in human history. The principle that the state — not the wronged family — defines and enforces justice begins here.