Sumerian·Book

Position in chronology

SAA 13 033. Officers Turned Criminal (ABL 0419)

~665 BCE·Neo-Assyrian·P334287

Translation · reference

High confidence
(1) To the king, my lord: your servant, Mutakkil-Aššur, deputy priest, and your servant, Issar-na'di, mayor. Good health to the king, my lord. May Aššur and Ešarra bless the king, our lord. (9) Bibiya, the prefect of the Itu'eans, and Tarditu-Aššur, the prefect of the Itu'eans, his deputy, sit outside the Inner City, in front of the gate, eating [bread] together, drinking wine, and squandering the exit-dues of the Inner City. (r 5) When I opened negotiations with them, they grabbed the best things, molested me, and let my garments go back to me. (r 11) I am not strong enough to fall upon…

Source: Cole, S.W. & Machinist, P. 1998. Letters from Priests to the Kings Esarhaddon and Assurbanipal. SAA 13. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa13/P334287/

Why it matters

Transliteration

a-na LUGAL EN-i-ni / ARAD-ka mmu-tak-kil—aš-šur / LÚ.SANGA 02-ú / ARAD-ka m15—I / LÚ.ḫa-za-nu / lu DI-mu a-na LUGAL BE-i-ni / aš-šur É*.ŠÁR.RA a-na LUGAL / EN-i-ni lik-ru-bu / mbi-bi-ia LÚ.šak-nu / ša LÚ.i-tu-ʾa-a-a / mtar-di-tú—aš-šur LÚ.šak-nu / ša LÚ.i-tu-ʾa-a-a / 02-šú qa-an-ni URU.ŠÀ—URU / IGI KÁ.GAL / [kam]-mu-su / [NINDA] is-sa-ḫe-iš / e-kul-lu / GIŠ.GEŠTIN i-šá-ti-u / a-ṣi-tú ša…

Scholarly note

Letter from a temple priest or ritual official to Esarhaddon or Ashurbanipal, edited by Steven Cole & Peter Machinist (SAA 13, 1998). ORACC text P334287.

Attribution

Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P334287). source
Translation excerpted from Cole, S.W. & Machinist, P. 1998. Letters from Priests to the Kings Esarhaddon and Assurbanipal. SAA 13. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa13/P334287/.

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