Position in chronology
SAA 13 152. The Bearers of Ištar are All Common Men (ABL 1103)
Translation · reference
High confidence(Beginning destroyed) (2) The day when Ištar went up (in procession) on the w[all], the bearers came up and I saw them in the temple. They are all common men. There is not one from Nineveh's old families. Those who served your father are all in Calah. (r 4) Now then [I hav]e written to the king, my lord. To the chief [...] (r 7) (Rest destroyed)
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/P334738/
Why it matters
Transliteration
[x x x x x]+⸢x⸣+[x x x x x x x] / UD-mu ša d15 ina UGU ⸢É*⸣.[SIG₄] / te-lu-u-ni / LÚv.na-ši-ia-ni e-ta-lu-u-u-ni / ina É—DINGIR a-ta-mar-šú-nu / gab-bu sa-ak-lu-te šú-nu / me-me-ni TAv ŠÀ-bi qi-in-na-te / ša URU.NINA la-bi-ru-te / la-áš-šú ša ina ŠÀ-bi AD-ka / iz-zi-zu-u-ni / gab-bu ina URU.kal-ḫa šú-nu / ú-ma-a an-nu-rig a-na LUGAL EN-ía / [as]-⸢sap⸣-ra a-na LÚv.⸢GAL x⸣ [x]+⸢x⸣ / [x x x x]+⸢x⸣ ŠÀ ⸢x⸣+[x x x x] / [x x x x 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 P334738.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P334738). 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/P334738/.
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