Sumerian·Book

Position in chronology

SAA 17 083. Pardoning the Offences of Borsippa (ABL 1076)

~710 BCE·Neo-Assyrian·P240131

About this tablet

A fragment of a Neo-Assyrian letter (British Museum K. 64, published as ABL 1076) sent to the Assyrian king about the Babylonian city of Borsippa. The writer urges the king to investigate the offences of certain Borsippeans, to pardon those whose guilt is light, and to take the pardoned men into royal service or the palace guard — reminding him that the citizens of Borsippa hold kidinnu status, a charter of tax and legal privileges that Assyrian kings were careful to honour. He backs the plea with a precedent: what the king's own father once said to a man named Rimutu about the city-governor. It is a small window onto how Assyria managed its restive Babylonian cities in the seventh century BCE — with clemency as much as with force.

Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.

Written in modern English

The writer asks the king to look into the charges against a group of men — whatever offences there may be, let them be examined. Those whose guilt is minor should be pardoned, enrolled among the king's own servants, and assigned to the royal guard. He points out that the people of Borsippa hold protected citizen status; because mercy was once shown to one of them, they will bless the king for as long as he lives and will not offend again. He then cites a precedent: what the king's father said to Rimutu about the city governor — but the sentence about a dead team (or brand) breaks off, and the rest of the tablet is lost.

A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.

Translation — our engine

Our engine
Medium confidence
With [............] the king, my lord, ... 1 [............ as many as] there are — [their] of[fences] let me investigate [............]. As for those whose offence is pa[rdonable, let him show mercy], and let him count them among [his own servants], and [let him assign (them)] to the guard of the king. The Borsippeans [............] are kidinnu-people (holders of privileged status). Because [he] showed mercy to [him] for [his] offence, as long as he lives [they will bless him], and [they will] not [commit] another offence. The king, your father, said to Rimu[tu] as follows: "The city-governor (šākin ṭēmi) [......] his team/brand is dead [......] [............] [............]" (Remainder broken away.)

Our translation engine — Opus 5. Reads the photo, translates the cuneiform, and writes a plain-language interpretation. See methodology for limits.

Spotted an error? Suggest a correction — confirmed corrections feed the engine's knowledge base.

Engine notes

read from photo
7 uncertain terms ↓
  • LÚ.ki-di-nu-ú — The 'kidīnu' is a person enjoying special protected status, possibly a temple dependent or someone under divine/royal protection; the exact legal nuance remains debated in Assyriological literature (cf. Parpola, SAA 17 commentary).
  • pa-[a-ḫi re-e-ma] liš-kun-ma — Restoration: 'let him show mercy / grant clemency'. The restoration 're-e-ma' (mercy) is plausible given formulaic epistolary contexts but is not preserved in the photo.
  • ARAD-MEŠ-šú lim-ni — Literally 'his servants, the wicked/evil ones'; restoration of 'lim-ni' is uncertain — could also be restored differently. The passage may mean placement among condemned servants.
  • mri-⸢mu⸣-[tu] — Personal name Rimūtu, a known Neo-Assyrian name ('the one who has granted mercy / shown favour'); the second element is broken and restored.
  • LÚ.GAR—UMUŠ — Logographic writing for a governor or official title (šākin ṭēmi, 'governor'); the exact title and the signs following are broken.
  • ši-in-di-šú — 'His team' or 'his yoke-fellow / team-mate'; from šindu, referring to a chariot team or paired official; the meaning in this administrative context is uncertain.
  • lu-sa-an-niq — G-stem precative of sanāqu, 'to examine / check / verify'; here 'let me examine/verify [the offences]'.
Reasoning ↓

Photo examined directly. The tablet is a small, roughly triangular clay fragment photographed from multiple angles (obverse, reverse, left edge, right edge, and upper/lower surfaces). The obverse (top-centre image) shows approximately 8–10 lines of Neo-Assyrian cuneiform; individual wedges are visible but at this resolution many signs cannot be read with certainty — the left margin is partially intact while the right edge is broken away, consistent with the heavy lacunae in the transliteration. The second and third views (middle rows) show the reverse and lower surface: the reverse carries perhaps 5–6 more lines, also with the right side broken; the bottom view shows a largely eroded surface with only faint traces. The museum label 'No. 64' is visible on the left edge. The general sign density and tablet format (lenticular/elongated) are consistent with a Neo-Assyrian letter. I can confirm the presence of multiple lines with cuneiform sign clusters on the obverse and some signs on the reverse, but individual sign verification against the transliteration is not possible at this photo resolution — especially in the heavily broken right-hand portions. The transliteration itself (SAA 17 083) is a composite text drawing on several manuscripts. Key interpretive uncertainties include the meaning of 'kidīnu' status, the restoration of 'lim-ni' (evil/wicked), and the referent of 'Rimūtu'.

Generated by Claude Sonnet 4.6 · prompt 2026-05-11/v3-conventions · May 11, 2026 · 3444 in / 1063 out tokens

Transliteration

it-⸢ti⸣ [x x x x x x x x] / LUGAL be-lí-a ⸢x⸣ 01 ⸢x⸣+[x x ma-la] / i-ba-áš-šú-ú ḫi-[ṭu-šú-nu] / lu-sa-an-niq [x x x x x] / šá ḫi-ṭu-šú-nu pa-[a-ḫi re-e-ma] / liš-kun-ma it-⸢ti⸣ [ARAD-MEŠ-šú lim-ni] / ù a-na EN.NUN šá ⸢LUGAL⸣ [lip-qid] / LÚ.BÁR.SIPA.KI-MEŠ ⸢x⸣+[x x x] / LÚ.ki-di-nu-ú áš-šá ḫi-ṭu-[šú] / ir-te-mu-šú a-di bal-⸢ṭu⸣ [i-kar-rab-šú] / u ḫi-ṭu šá-nam-⸢ma⸣ [ul i-ḫaṭ-ṭu] / LUGAL a-bu-ka a-na mri-⸢mu⸣-[tu] / iq-ta-bi um-ma LÚ.GAR—UMUŠ ⸢x⸣+[x x] / ši-in-di-šú mi-i-⸢tu⸣ [x x x] / ⸢x⸣+[x x] ⸢x⸣+[x x x x x x x x]

Scholarly note

Babylonian-language letter to Sargon II or Sennacherib, edited by Manfried Dietrich (SAA 17, 2003). ORACC text P240131.

Attribution

Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.earth/artifacts, P240131). source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-opus-5 (2026-07-12/v7-evolved).

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