Position in chronology
SAA 21 020. He is Shut up in the City with All His Forces (ABL 1186)
Translation · reference
High confidenceBeginning destroyed (1) “tak[e prisoners …….]; I shall send you forces.” (3') But you, when you saw this, why did you not kill those who were to be killed and take prisoners those who were to be taken prisoners? Certainly (the troops) who came were not more numerous than you! (8') Now fear not, but guard my temples. He is shut up in the city with all his forces, and my army is surrounding him. (12') Now, wherever you see a messenger of his, kill those who are to be killed and take prisoners those who are to be taken prisoners. (rest (one line) uninscribed) (uninscribed) (beginning (two lines) broken away) (r 1') in [.......] (r 2') if [......] (r 3') ten [......] (r 4') d[o ……] (rest uninscribed)
Source: Parpola, S. 2018. The Correspondence of Assurbanipal, Part I: Letters from Assyria, Central Babylonia, and Vassal States. SAA 21. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa21/P424868/
Why it matters
Transliteration
ṣab-⸢bi⸣-[ta] ⸢x⸣+[x x x x x x x x] / e-mu-⸢qe⸣-e ⸢ú*-še*⸣-bal-⸢ú-nak-ku⸣-[nu] / ù at-tu-nu a-ta-a ki-i / an-ni-ú ta-mur-a-ni ša du-a-ki / la ta-du-ú-ka šá ṣa-ba-te / la ta-aṣ-ba-ta šá il-lik-ú-nin-ni / šu-nu-ú ina UGU-ḫi-ku-nu ma-aʾ-du / ú-ma-a la ta-pal-la-ḫa / EN.NUN ša É—DINGIR-MEŠ-ía uṣ-ra / šu-ú gab-bi-šú-ma ina ŠÀ URU e-sír / ù e-mu-qi-ia la-bi-ú-šú / ú-ma-a bé-et LÚ.A—KIN-šú /…
Scholarly note
Royal correspondence under Assurbanipal, edited by Simo Parpola (SAA 21, 2018). ORACC text P424868.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P424868). source
Translation excerpted from Parpola, S. 2018. The Correspondence of Assurbanipal, Part I: Letters from Assyria, Central Babylonia, and Vassal States. SAA 21. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa21/P424868/.
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