Position in chronology
SAA 21 083. Proverbs and Sayings (ABL 1411)
Translation · reference
High confidenceBeginning destroyed (2) [......] fell and (3) [... ch]ecked (4) [... w]ere left for him and (5) [... fu]ll of blood (6) [...] in those places (7) [......] he fell into the [pit of] a lion (8) [......]... he took counsel with himself (9) [...]..., and in order to save his life, he directed his course towards an unknown land. Now you have been treated in accordance with this proverb. (13) Perhaps in your heart you think, "By going away I will rec[eive] justice." (15) What have you d[one]? (uninscribed space of two lines) (r 1) By walking we meet each other. (r 2) An exhausted soldier who has passed through a region of thirst does [not] measure water [in a d]rinking place. (r 5) [......] (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/P240197/
Why it matters
Transliteration
[x x x x x šu]-pa*-lu* ⸢šá* UR*⸣.BAR.RA / [x x x x ki-i] in-qu-tu-ma / [x x x x ú]-⸢ḫa*⸣-an-ni-qu / [x x x x x x] ri-ḫa-niš-šum-ma / [x x x x x ba]-la-ṭa-ma / [x x x x x] ⸢i*⸣-na áš-ri-ši-na / [x x x x x] ⸢x⸣ UR.MAḪ in-qu-tam-ma / [x x x x x] ⸢x⸣-ḫi uḫ*-tal-liq / [x x x x] ⸢x⸣-ma* a-na šu-zu-ub / ⸢ZI⸣-MEŠ-šú a-na KUR la i-de-e pa-ni-šú / il-ta-kan en-na at-ta ki-i pi-i / til-ti an-ni-tú…
Scholarly note
Royal correspondence under Assurbanipal, edited by Simo Parpola (SAA 21, 2018). ORACC text P240197.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P240197). 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/P240197/.
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