Position in chronology
SAA 02 004. Accession Treaty of Esarhaddon (JCS 39 187)
Translation · reference
High confidence(Beginning destroyed) (r 1) [...... t]ower[s ...] I shall tell [...] to [... and] trav[ellers, I shall send messengers] to the south and [the north ...]. (r 4) Should I he[ar an ug]ly word about him [from the mou]th of his progeny, [should I hear it] from the mouth of one of the magnates or [governors], [from the mouth of one o]f the bearded or from the mouth of [the eunuchs], I will tell it to Esarhaddon, my lord; (r 8) I [will] be [his servant] and speak good of him, I [will be] loyal to him and [... the fa]ce of Esarhaddon my lord, [...]; (r 10) I will [keep] the oath [of this treaty…
Source: Parpola, S. & Watanabe, K. 1988. Neo-Assyrian Treaties and Loyalty Oaths. SAA 2. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa02/P314346/
Why it matters
Transliteration
[x x x x x x x x x x]-⸢lu-ni⸣ [x x x x] / [x x x x x x x x] ⸢i⸣-si-⸢ta⸣-[te x x x]+⸢x⸣ a-na ⸢LÚ⸣.[x x x] / [x x x a-na a]-⸢lik⸣ ḫu-li a-qab-bi [x x x x a]-na ZAG ⸢ù⸣ [KAB a-šap-par] / [ù šúm-ma a-na]-⸢ku⸣ a-bat-su la ⸢de-iq-tú⸣ [TAv pi]-i NUMUN-šú a-šam-mu-[u-ni] / [ú-la-a šúm-ma] TAv pi-i ša 01-en ⸢TAv⸣ [ŠÀ] ⸢LÚ⸣.GAL-MEŠ [LÚ.NAM-MEŠ] / [TAv pi-i 01-en] ⸢TAv⸣ ŠÀ LÚ.šá—ziq-ni ú-la-a TAv pi-⸢i⸣…
Scholarly note
Neo-Assyrian treaty or loyalty oath, edited by Simo Parpola & Kazuko Watanabe (SAA 2, 1988). Binding agreement invoking divine sanction. ORACC text P314346.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P314346). source
Translation excerpted from Parpola, S. & Watanabe, K. 1988. Neo-Assyrian Treaties and Loyalty Oaths. SAA 2. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa02/P314346/.
Related tablets
Related sources
The earliest historical document in human history. Before this, we have lists, accounts, and dedications. Here, for the first time, a ruler tells us what happened — with names, places, and consequences.
The oldest surviving law code in human history. The principle that the state — not the wronged family — defines and enforces justice begins here.
Not the first law code, but the most complete and the most famous. Inscribed on a black diorite stele over two meters tall, displayed in a public place — law made visible, law made monumental.