Position in chronology
SAA 16 078. The Matter of the ‘Third Man’ of the Palace Scribe (ABL 0211)
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) To the king, my lord: your servant [Mannu-k]i-Libbali. Good health to the king, my lord! May Bel (and) Nabû bless the king, my lord. (4) As to the matter of the 'third man' and the chariot driver of the palace scribe, about whom the king, my lord, wrote to his servant, saying: "Tell me the truth!" — how could I speak dishonestly to the king, my lord? What have I been able to give to my lord in exchange for this favour that the king, my lord, has shown his servant? Would the patronage of the palace scribe have had such an influence over me that I would still be obliged to him? (No), I…
Source: Luukko, M. & Van Buylaere, G. 2002. The Political Correspondence of Esarhaddon. SAA 16. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa16/P334154/
Why it matters
Transliteration
a-na LUGAL EN-ia ARAD-ka [mman-nu]—⸢ki⸣—URU.ŠÀ—URU / lu DI-mu a-na LUGAL EN-ia / dEN dPA a-na LUGAL EN-ia lik-ru-bu / ina UGU LÚv.03.U₅ LÚv.mu-kil—KUŠ.PA-MEŠ ša LÚv.A.BA—KUR / ša LUGAL be-lí a-na ARAD-šú iš-pu-ra-an-ni / ma-a ina ket-te qi-bi-a a-ke-<e> a-na-ku / TAv LUGAL EN-ia la ket-tu ad-da-bu-ub / ina ŠÀ MUN an-ni-te ša LUGAL be-lí a-na ARAD-šú e-pu-šú-u-ni / a-na-ku ina ku-me mi-i-nu a-na…
Scholarly note
Political letter at the court of Esarhaddon, edited by Mikko Luukko & Greta Van Buylaere (SAA 16, 2002). ORACC text P334154.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P334154). source
Translation excerpted from Luukko, M. & Van Buylaere, G. 2002. The Political Correspondence of Esarhaddon. SAA 16. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa16/P334154/.
Related tablets
Related sources
A window into the world's first total state. The Ur III administration tracked every animal, every worker, every shekel — for a population in the millions. The level of paperwork was not exceeded until the modern era.
Part of the earliest known body of international diplomatic correspondence. Akkadian, written in cuneiform on clay, was the lingua franca of Late Bronze Age statecraft — used between Egypt, the Hittites, Mitanni, Babylon, Assyria, and the Levantine vassals.