Position in chronology
SAA 16 181. Nobody Knows What is in Balṭaya’s Presence (ABL 0695)
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) To the king, my lord: your servant Nabû-ahhe-šallim. Good health to the king, my lord! May Nabû (and) Marduk bless the [king, my lord]. (5) As to [what the king, my lord], (6) [wrote] to [his] servant: (7) "If [......], (8) "when t[o ......] (9) "he [......] (10) "from the house of [...] (r 1) "pro[vide ...]. (r 2) "If n[ot], (r 3) "she may stay as is!" (r 5) Who knows what is in Balṭay[a]'s presence? Nobody knows! I swear by the gods that (at least) I do not know for whom she is.
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/P334492/
Why it matters
Transliteration
a-na LUGAL EN-ia / ARAD-ka mdPA—PAB-MEŠ—DI / lu-u DI-mu a-na LUGAL EN-ía / dPA dAMAR.UTU a-[na LUGAL EN-ía] / lik-ru-bu ina UGU [ša LUGAL be-lí] / a-na LÚv.ARAD*-i-[šú iš-pur-an-ni] / ma-a šum-ma ⸢x⸣+[x x x x x] / ki-i a-⸢na⸣ [x x x x x x] / šu-ú ⸢x⸣+[x x x x x x x] / ma-a TAv ⸢É⸣ [x x x x] / šá-aṣ-[x x x x] / ma-a ú-⸢la⸣-[a] / ši-i-ti-i-[ma] / lu ši-i [o] / ša ina IGI mbal-ṭa-a.[a] / man-nu ú-da me-me-ni / la ú-da ina ŠÀ DINGIR-⸢MEŠ⸣ / at-ta-ma šum-ma / a-na-ku-ma ú-du-ni / a-na man-ni ši-⸢ti⸣-[ni]
Scholarly note
Political letter at the court of Esarhaddon, edited by Mikko Luukko & Greta Van Buylaere (SAA 16, 2002). ORACC text P334492.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P334492). 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/P334492/.
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