Position in chronology
SAA 14 157. Purchase of a Vacant Lot (*627) (ADD 0352)
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) Seal of Ahu-[...], son of Harruṣ[u, ...] from the town of [......], owner of the vacant lot being sold. (stamp seal impressions) (6) vacant lot in [...] (7) [x cubits] long, 26 [cubits wide] (Break) (r 1) He shall return the money tenfold [to its owner]. He shall contest in his 'no-lawsuit' and not succeed. (r 4) Witness Rahim-Dadi, chariot driver ... (r 5) Witness Ša[rru-emu]ranni, 'third man' ditto ditto. (r 6) Witness [...]ramma, cohort commander. (r 7) [Witness NN], 'third man' ditto. (r 8) [Witness Na]dinu. Witness Manzarnê, ša šēpi guard of the crown prince. (r 9) [Witness…
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/P335296/
Why it matters
Transliteration
NA₄.KIŠIB mPAB-[x x x] / A mḫar-ru-⸢ṣu⸣ [x x x*] / TAv ŠÀ-bi URU.[x x x x] / EN kaq-qi-ri pu-⸢ṣe⸣-e / ta-da-a-ni / kaq-qir-ri pu-ṣe-e ina ⸢URU⸣.[x x x x] / [x ina 01 KÙŠ] GÍD.DA 26 ina [01 KÙŠ DAGAL] / [x x x x x x] ⸢x⸣+[x x x x x] / ⸢GAR*-an*⸣ kas-pu a-na 10-ME*-⸢te*⸣ [a-na EN-šú] / GUR-ra ina la de-ni-šu / DUG₄.DUG₄-ma la i-laq-qi / IGI mra-ḫi-mu—U*.U* LÚv.mu-kil—KUŠ.PA-⸢MEŠ⸣ [x] / IGI…
Scholarly note
Neo-Assyrian legal transaction at the royal court of Nineveh, edited by Raija Mattila (SAA 14, 2002). ORACC text P335296.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P335296). 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/P335296/.
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The earliest historical document in human history.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.