Position in chronology
SAA 14 112. Sin-aplu-iddina Buys 15 Hectares of Field (*634-I-6) (ADD 0384+)
Translation — scholar edition
SAA 14(1) Seal of [NN], [from] the town of [...]. (Break) (finger nail impressions) (1') Adad-bani, s[on of Ešrayu]. (2') An estate of 15 hectares of sow[n field ...] in cultivation, well[s ...] belonging to Adad-bani, son of Ešrayu — (5) he has contracted and given it legally to Sin-aplu-iddina, [...] for 30 min[as of silver]. (8) The money is completely paid. (9) The field is purchased, acquired, paid off and cleared. (10) Any revocation (or) litigation is void. (12) In the future, amongst the son[s of] (13) Adad-bani, whether [...] (14) or [his] brothers [...] (15) or [his] nep[hews] (16)…
State Archives of Assyria, volume 14 — scholar edition (ORACC).
Transliteration
NA₄.KIŠIB [x x x x x] / URU.[x x x x] / mdIM—DÙ ⸢DUMU*⸣ [mUD-20-KÁM-a-a] / É 15 ANŠE ŠE.⸢NUMUN⸣ [x x x x] / ina ma-za-ru-te bu-⸢ra*-a*⸣-[te x x x] / ša mdIM—DÙ DUMU m⸢UD-20?-KÁM⸣-[a-a] / ú*-tap*-piš* ina ŠÀ-bi 30* MA.⸢NA⸣ [KUG.UD] / a*-na* md30—A—SUM-na LÚ.⸢x⸣+[x x] / i-zi-rip it-ti-⸢din⸣ / kás*-pu ga-mur SUM-[ni] / A.ŠÀ.GA za-rip la-a-qi / a-pil za-a-ku tu-a-⸢ru⸣ / da-ba-a-bu la-a-⸢šu⸣ / ina…
Scholarly note
Neo-Assyrian legal transaction at the royal court of Nineveh, edited by Raija Mattila (SAA 14, 2002). ORACC text P335328.
Attribution
Image: Adapted from Raija Mattila, Legal Transactions of the Royal Court of Nineveh, Part II: Assurbanipal Through Sin-šarru-iškun (State Archives of Assyria, 14), 2002. Lemmatised by Melanie Groß, 2010–2011, as part of the FWF-funded research project "Royal Institutional Households in First Millennium BC Mesopotamia" (S 10802-G18) directed by Heather D. Baker at the University of Vienna. The annotated edition is released under the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike license 3.0. Please cite this page as http://oracc.org/saao/P335328/..
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/P335328/.
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The earliest historical document in human history.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.