Position in chronology
SAA 13 078. Preparations for the Sacred Marriage of Nabu (ABL 0065)
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) To the crown prince, my lord: your servant, Nabû-šumu-iddina. Good and abundant health to the crown prince, my lord. May Nabû and Marduk bless the crown prince, my lord. (7) On the 3rd day of Iyyar (II), in Calah, the bed of Nabû will be set up and Nabû will enter the bed chamber. The 4th is the wedding night of Nabû. (11) The crown prince, my lord, knows that I am the 'inspector' of the temple of Nabû, your god. I should therefore go to Calah. The god will set out from the threshing floor of the palace. From the threshing floor of the palace he will come to the garden. There a sacrifice…
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/P334016/
Why it matters
Transliteration
a-na DUMU—LUGAL be-lí-ia / ARAD-ka mdAG—MU—SUM-na / lu DI-mu a-na DUMU—LUGAL be-lí-ia / a—dan-niš a—dan-niš / dAG dAMAR.UTU a-na DUMU—LUGAL / be-lí-ia lik-ru-bu / UD 03-KÁM ša ITI.GUD URU.kal-ḫi / GIŠ.NÁ ša dAG tak-kar-ra-ar / dAG ina É—GIŠ.NÁ er-rab / UD 04-KÁM qur-šú ša dAG / DUMU—LUGAL be-lí ú-da / LÚ.ḫa-za-nu ša É—dAG / DINGIR-ka a-na-ku / la-al-lik [ina] ⸢URU⸣.kal-ḫi / DINGIR ina ŠÀ ad-ri…
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 P334016.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P334016). 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/P334016/.
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