Position in chronology
SAA 14 437. Mukin-ahhe Redeems His Nephew (669-VII-21) (TIM 11 18$)
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) Seal of Nabû-iqbi, (2) seal of Nurtî. (seal impressions) (3) [One min]a of silver by the mi[na of] the king [Kin-a]hhe has [given] to Nabû-iqbi and [t]o Nurtî, and has redeemed Nabû-rehtu-uṣur, [the so]n of his brother, and cleared him (from claim). (8) No-one shall litigate with him. [Wh]oever breaks the contract, shall [gi]ve 10 minas of silver. (r 2) Month Tishri (VII), 21st day, [e]ponym year of Šamaš-kašid-ayabi. (r 4) [Wi]tness Hašanu. (r 5) Witness Labaṭî. (r 6) [Wi]tness Daddî. (r 7) [Witne]ss Ṭab-Daddî, Dur-Adad. (r 8) [Witne]ss Dugul-a(na)-ili. (r 9) [Wi]tness Ululayu. (r 10) [Wi]tness Mutakkil-Marduk, scri[be].
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/P337157/
Why it matters
Transliteration
⸢NA₄⸣.KIŠIB mdAG—iq-bi / [NA₄].KIŠIB mnu-úr-ti-i / [01 MA].⸢NA⸣ KUG.UD ina 01 MA.[NA ša] MAN / [mGIN]—⸢PAB⸣-MEŠ a-na mdAG—iq-bi / [a]-na mnu-ur-ti-i ⸢it?⸣-[ti]-⸢din?⸣ / [m]dAG—re-eḫ-tu—PAB / ⸢DUMU⸣ ŠEŠ-šú ip-ta-ṭar ú-zak-ki / ⸢me⸣-me-ni is-se-šú la DUG₄.DUG₄ / ⸢man⸣-nu šá GIL-u-ni 10 MA.NA KUG.UD / ⸢SUM⸣-an ITI.DU₆ UD 21-KAM / ⸢lim⸣-mu mdUTU—KUR—a.a-bi / ⸢IGI⸣ mḫa-šá-na / IGI mla-ba-ṭí-i / ⸢IGI⸣ mdi-di-i / ⸢IGI⸣ mDÙG.GA—U.U mBÀD—10 / ⸢IGI⸣ mdu-gul—a—⸢DINGIR?⸣ / ⸢IGI⸣ mITI.KIN-a.a / ⸢IGI⸣ mmu-tak-kil—dŠÚ A.⸢BA⸣
Scholarly note
Neo-Assyrian legal transaction at the royal court of Nineveh, edited by Raija Mattila (SAA 14, 2002). ORACC text P337157.
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/P337157/..
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/P337157/.
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.