Position in chronology
SAA 14 308. Fragment of a Conveyance Text (ADD 0589)
Translation · reference
High confidence(Beginning destroyed) (1) [He shall cont]est [in his lawsuit] and no[t succeed]. (2) [Witness Šarru-lu]-dari, son of Bel-[...]. (3) [Witness ...]ti, son of Lait[i-il]. (4) [Witness ...-hu]tni, son of Sin-ahu-iddina. (5) [Witness ...]nî, mayo[r]. (6) [Witness ...]ayu, citizen of Nine[veh]. (7) [Witness ...-d]ari, son of Bel-Harran-[...]. (8) [Witness ...]nu, son of Kusin[i, ...]. (9) [Witness ...]. Witness Sahrâ, [...] (10) [......]nî (11) [......]-ili (Rest destroyed)
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/P335511/
Why it matters
Transliteration
[ina de-ni-šú] ⸢DUG₄⸣.DUG₄ ⸢NU⸣ [TI] / [IGI mLUGAL—lu]—da-ri A m⸢EN⸣-[x x x] / [IGI mx x x x]-ti A mla-i-⸢ti⸣—[DINGIR] / [IGI mx x-ḫu]-⸢ut?⸣-ni A m30—PAB—⸢AŠ⸣ / [IGI mx x x]-ni-i LÚ.ḫa-za-[nu] / [IGI mx x x]-a.a DUMU—URU.⸢NINA⸣ / [IGI mx x x]—⸢da⸣-ri A mEN—KASKAL—[x x x] / [IGI mx x x x]-nu A mku-si-⸢ni?⸣ [x x] / [IGI mx x x x x] IGI msaḫ-ra-a [x x] / [x x x x x x x x x]-ni-i / [x x x x x x x x x]-x—DINGIR
Scholarly note
Neo-Assyrian legal transaction at the royal court of Nineveh, edited by Raija Mattila (SAA 14, 2002). ORACC text P335511.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P335511). 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/P335511/.
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The earliest historical document in human history.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.