Sumerian·Book

Position in chronology

SAA 13 038. The Work is Too Difficult for Us, They Say (ABL 0479)

~665 BCE·Neo-Assyrian·P334327

Translation · reference

High confidence
(1) To the king, [my] lord: your servant, Nabû-[...]. Good health to the king. May Nabû and Marduk bless the king, my lord. (7) I turned in a report to the king, my lord, and he sent me to the Inner City for the sacrifices. (13) (Now) the [...] has written: "Come, the work is hard for us." I have appointed here two servants of the king who are acceptable to me. If the king, my lord, comm[ands ...].

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/P334327/

Why it matters

Transliteration

a-na LUGAL EN-[ia] / ARAD-ka mdPA—[x x] / lu-u DI-mu a-na LUGAL / dPA dAMAR.UTU / a-na LUGAL EN-ia / lik-ru-bu / ṭè-e-mu / ina pa-an LUGAL EN-ia / ú-te-re / ina UGU UDU.SISKUR-MEŠ / a-na URU.ŠÀ—URU / is*-⸢sa*⸣-ap*-⸢ra*⸣-an*-ni* / ⸢LÚ?⸣.[x] ⸢x⸣ [x] / is-sap-ra / ma-a al-ka / dul-lu da-an / ina UGU-ḫi-ni / 02 LÚ.ARAD-MEŠ-ni / ša LUGAL / šá a-na a-a-ši / dam-qu-u-ni / ḫa-an-na-ka / ap-ti-qi-di / šúm-mu LUGAL / ⸢be*⸣-lí ⸢i*-qa⸣-[bi] / [x x 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 P334327.

Attribution

Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P334327). 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/P334327/.

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