Position in chronology
SAA 17 084. King of Assyria About to Enter Babylon (ABL 0588)
Translation · reference
High confidence(Beginning destroyed) (1) [The ...] will return 20 [...]. "The troops of the king of Akkad and the king of Elam did not stand up before the king of Assyria." (5) And if he goes to Babylon, let my brother not tarry entering and be not negligent but care for the future and enter Babylon quickly. When he has entered Babylon, he will have set foot on the centre of the lands. And after it, he will achieve his objective. (r 3) All the people of Bit-Dakuri have left the cities and gone into the marshes. Countless barley and dates have been left back. Horses should go and stay (there) because of this.
Source: Dietrich, M. 2003. The Babylonian Correspondence of Sargon and Sennacherib. SAA 17. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa17/P237978/
Why it matters
Transliteration
LÚ.⸢x⸣+[x x x x x x x x x] ⸢x⸣ / 20 ⸢ú?-tar*-ru?⸣ um*-ma ⸢ERIM⸣-MEŠ LUGAL KUR—⸢URI*.KI*⸣ / ⸢ù⸣ LUGAL KUR.NIM.MA.⸢KI⸣ i-na pa-an / LUGAL KUR—d<aš>-šur.KI ⸢ul⸣ iz-zi-zu / ù ki-i a-na KÁ.⸢DINGIR.RA⸣.KI / il-la-ka TU ba*-ṭa*-lu* / ù na-de-e a-⸢ḫi ŠEŠ⸣-ú-a / la i-raš-ši a-na ár*-ka*-a-a / liš-kun-ma ḫa-an-ṭiš a-na TIN.TIR.KI / li-ru-ba ki-i šá* a-na / KÁ.DINGIR.RA.⸢KI⸣ i-ter-ba / MURUB₄ šá KUR.KUR…
Scholarly note
Babylonian-language letter to Sargon II or Sennacherib, edited by Manfried Dietrich (SAA 17, 2003). ORACC text P237978.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P237978). source
Translation excerpted from Dietrich, M. 2003. The Babylonian Correspondence of Sargon and Sennacherib. SAA 17. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa17/P237978/.
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