Position in chronology
SAA 14 095. Inner Tablet of the Preceding Text (ADD 0024)
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) One mina of silver by (the mina) of Carchemish belonging to Amurrî, at the disposal of Zabinu, horse trainer of the rab-mugi. (6) The silver will increase by a fourth. (8) Month Tammuz (IV), 9th day, eponym year of Nabû-šar-ahhešu. (r 2) Witness Issar-duri. (r 3) Witness Indû. (r 4) Witness Nusku-ila'i, eunuch. (r 5) Witness Našuh-ayali, witness Ahi-le'i, viziers.
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/P334976/
Why it matters
Transliteration
01 MA.NA KUG.UD / ina ša URU.gúr-ga-mis / ša mIM.04-i / ina IGI mza-bi-nu / LÚv.GIŠ.GIGIR LÚv.GAL—mu-gi / KUG.UD a-na 04-tú-šú / GAL-bi / ITI.ŠU UD 09-KÁM / lim-mu mdPA—MAN—PAB-MEŠ-šú / IGI m15—BÀD / IGI min-du-u / IGI mdPA.TÚG—DINGIR-a.a LÚv.SAG / IGI mna-áš-ḫu—a.a-li / IGI mPAB—li-i / LÚv.SUKKAL-MEŠ
Scholarly note
Neo-Assyrian legal transaction at the royal court of Nineveh, edited by Raija Mattila (SAA 14, 2002). ORACC text P334976.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P334976). 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/P334976/.
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Related sources
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The earliest historical document in human history.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.