Sumerian·Book

Position in chronology

SAA 13 035. Performing a Ritual (ABL 0217)

~665 BCE·Neo-Assyrian·P334159

Translation · reference

High confidence
(1) [To] the king, [my] lord: y[our servant], Nabû-ašar[ed]. [May Aššur] and Ištar ble[ss] the king, my lord. (4) [Concerning what the kin]g, my lord, has written me, [saying: "Wh]y did [Nabû]-šezib without yo[ur] order sum[mon] Aššur-abu-uṣur? The priests [should perform] the ritual utterly" — we shall perform it. (8) Concerning what I wrote to the king, [my lord], namely: "[I ha]ve experienced an adversity [...]" — ... [...] has grown stronger, and Ubru-ahhe [and NN] have quit the work. (Break) (r 1) [......] Ubru-[ahhe ...] (r 2) [...] the treasurer [......] (r 3) [...] ... [......]

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/P334159/

Why it matters

Transliteration

[a-na] LUGAL be-lí-[ia] / [ARAD-ka] mdAG—SAG.[KAL] / [aš-šur d]15 a-na LUGAL be-lí-ia lik-[ru-bu] / [ša LUGAL] be-lí iš-pur-an-ni / [ma a]-⸢ta⸣-a ša la pi-⸢ka⸣ [o] / [mdx]—še-zib SAG maš-šur—AD—⸢PAB⸣ [iš-ši] / [ma-a LÚ].SANGA-MEŠ am—ma-la dul-lu / [le-pu-šú] né-pa-áš ša a-na LUGAL / [be-lí-ia áš]-pur-an-ni mu-uk ma-ḫír-tú / [x x x]-ta-mar TA ḫi-il-lu / [x x x] ⸢i⸣-di-ʾi-ni mSUḪUŠ—PAB-MEŠ / [x x x…

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 P334159.

Attribution

Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P334159). 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/P334159/.

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