All tablets.

SAA 10 144. Report on the Moon (ABL 1037) [from astrologers]

(1) [To the king, our lord]: your servants, the scribes of Kilizi. Good health to the king! May Nabû and Marduk bless the king! (7) [We] watch[ed] the moon [...] (Remainder lost)

~670 BCE

·Neo-Assyrian

SAA 10

SAA 10 146. New Moon Observed Despite Clouds (CT 53 234) [from astrologers]

(Beginning lost) (1) [May Nabû and Marduk bles]s [the king]! (2) We kept wa[tch on the 29th day]; there were clouds, and we did not see the moon. T[od]ay, on the 30th, there were c[lou]ds again; when they di[spersed], we saw [the mo]on. [It] was [(not) like the] moon of the 29[th day]. Three days [...]. (r 1) Per[haps ...] ... [...] (Remainder lost)

Astronomy & Mathematics·Religion & Myth

SAA 10 147. Eclipse Observed Despite Clouds (ABL 1392) [from astrologers]

(Beginning lost) (1) Concerning the watch for the eclipse about which the king, our lord, wrote — we kept the watch; the clouds were dense. On the 14th day, during the morning watch, the clouds dispersed, and we were able to see. The eclipse took place. (Rest destroyed)

Astronomy & Mathematics·Religion & Myth

SAA 10 148. Partial Solar Eclipse at Sunrise (ABL 0470) [from astrologers]

(1) May [Nabû and Marduk] bless the k[ing]! (3) A certain Akkullanu has written: "The sun made an eclipse of two fingers at the sunrise. There is no apotropaic ritual against it, it is not like a lunar eclipse. If you say, I'll write down the relevant interpretation and send it to you."

SAA 10 150. Lunar Observations (CT 53 293) [from astrologers]

(Too fragmentary for translation)

SAA 10 151. Clouds; No Crescent Seen (CT 53 915) [from astrologers]

(Beginning destroyed) (1) [There were] clouds. We did not [see] the moon here, probably because of the cl[ouds]. The king, my lord, should send messeng[ers] to the Inner City and Arbela, find out about the m[atter], and quickly [inform] the king, my lord. (r 3) The report of Calah [......] (Rest destroyed)

SAA 10 152. Rising of Aries (CT 53 945) [from astrologers]

(Beginning lost) (1) [Concerning ... about which the king wrote]: "What (month) do you h[ave wh]en it became vis[ible]?" — [it appeared] in the month Adar (XII). And as to what was s[aid to the king]: "[It is visible] in the constellation Ar[ies]" — Aries will app[ear] in the east [either] tomorrow or the day af[ter tomorrow]. It is not Mercury. (Mercury) itself is visible [as evening star]. (Remainder lost)

SAA 10 153. Choosing a Day for a Visit (CT 53 768) [from astrologers]

(1) [To the king, my lord: your servant] Nabû-ahhe-šallim. [Good heal]th [to the king], my lord! [May Nabû and Mar]duk [very grea]tly [bless the king], my lord. (Break) (r 2) [The moment] is good [for ent]ering [into the presence of the king], my [lord]. [If the king], my lord, [says, let] him enter, and may he (= the king) see [him prosper]!

SAA 10 154. Messenger of Bel Goes with the King (ABL 0324) [from astrologers]

(1) To the queen mother, my lady: your servant Aplaya. May Bel and Nabû bless the queen mother, my lady! (5) Now then I am daily praying to Nabû and Nanaya for the maintenance of the life and the extension of the days of the king of the lands, my lord, and of the queen mother, my lady. (r 3) The queen mother, my lady, can be of peaceful mind. A gracious angel (lit. messenger) of Bel and Nabû has gone with the king of the lands, my lord.

SAA 10 155. A Tablet from the Time of Hammurapi (ABL 0255) [from astrologers]

(1) To the king, my lord: your servant Ašaredu. May Nabû and Marduk bless the king of the lands, my lord! (5) The tablet which the king is using is [defe]ctive and not whole. Now then I have written and fetched from Babylon an ancient tablet made by King Hammurapi and an inscription from before King Hammurapi. (14) [Let] the king [...] the ritual according to [...] (Break) (r 2) From A[šaredu] the Youn[ger]. (r 4) Long [since] I [......]. They should believe me.

SAA 10 156. Appeal to the King (ABL 0743) [from astrologers]

(1) To the king, my lord: your servant Ašaredu. May Nabû and Marduk [bless the king of the lands, my lord]! (Break) (r 2) Having received [...], he stood upon a table and said: "He will die; appeal to the king." (r 5) They eat my bread, and I ...

SAA 10 157. Averting the Evil of an Eclipse (CT 54 221) [from astrologers]

(1) [To the king, my lord: yo]ur [servant] Ašar[edu]. May [Nabû and Marduk for ... many] years establish [......] give [......] to [......]! (6) [......] the lord of kings [...] (7) [......] year [...] (Break) (r 1) [......] sign [...] (r 2) [......] (r 3) [......] heart to your presence [...] (r 4) [......] I about it [...] (r 5) [......] will get scared [...] (r 6) [......] will ave[rt] the [...] of the eclipse. (r 7) [......] very [...] to the king. (r 8) Ma[y the lord of kings] be everlasting! (r 9) [From Ašar]edu.

SAA 10 158. Years of Alulim (ABL 0796) [from astrologers]

(1) To the king, my lord: your servant Aša[redu] the younger. (2) The moon will not make an eclipse; the king of the lands, my lord, can be happy. (4) May Bel and Nabû grant the years of Alu[lim to the king], my lord! (5) To whom [...] can I tell all the things [that the king, my lord], has given us? The king [......]. (8) Let them give me [.......] (9) to the king [......]

SAA 10 159. Eclipse Update (ABL 0765) [from astrologers]

(1) [To the king], my lord: your servant Bel-naṣir. (2) [In Tishri (VII)] there was no watch for the moon. (3) [On] the 28th of [Tishri (VII)] the sun made an eclipse; in Marchesvan (VIII) the moon [let] the eclipse [pass] by. (5) Now then, in Nisan (I), (6) [... pr]evious [...] (7) [... pr]evious [...] (Break) (r 1) [... on the x]th [...] (r 2) [...] I shall not write (r 3) [...] If (r 4) [... ga]thered (r 5) The king should dispel [unfavourable] thoughts from his heart.

SAA 10 160. Twenty Able Scholars, Fit for Royal Service (CT 54 057+) [from astrologers]

(1) [To the ki]ng of the lands, the strong king, the king of the world, his lord: your servant Marduk-šapik-zeri, the dead body, the leprous skull, the constricted breath whom the king, my lord, raised up and appointed from among corpses. May I die as the substitute of the king, my lord! May Nabû and Marduk bless the lord of kings, my lord! (6) I have now been kept in confinement for two years and, for fear of the king, my lord, though there have been good and bad portents for me to observe in the sky, I have not dared to report them to the king, my lord. (9) Now, however, afraid that it…

SAA 10 161. Petition Concerning a Lawsuit (ABL 0928) [from astrologers]

(1) [To] the king, my lord: your [ser]vant Munnabitu. Good health to the king, my lord! [May] Nabû and Marduk bless the king, my lord! (5) Aššur-eṭir, the son of Ṣillaya, who informed the king claiming that Nabû-apla-iddin has killed his servants, is speaking to the king falsely and untruly. He has devised a cunning plan: "[...] of the king [...] (Break) (r 2) not [......] (r 3) where [......] (r 4) has not [...]. The [...]s who [info]rmed with [him] have got afraid. (r 6) Though the king has decided their case, nobody is giving them anything, and they are worried about their lives. (r 9) Now,…

SAA 10 162. (no title) (CT 54 196) [from astrologers]

(1) [To the king of the world, my lord: your servant Na]bû-iqb[i. May Nabû and Marduk bless] the king of the world, [my lord]! (3) [Concerning] Erešu [..., about whom the king], my lord, [gave me] o[rders, ... he h]as entered [...], saying: "[...] (7) [......] Dari-[šarru] (8) [...... t]o the king, [my] lord (Rest destroyed)

SAA 10 163. Petition Concerning Lost Property (CT 54 463) [from astrologers]

(1) To the king of the world, my lord: your servant Nabû-iqbi. May Nabû and Marduk bless the king of the world, my lord! (5) (While) I am here keeping the king my lord's watch, the commandant of Cutha, Aš[ar]edu, has given my father's house to a nayālu tenant and ousted my brothers from t[heir] home. (11) When my brother was approaching Cutha, at his feet which [......] to Cutha (Break) (r 1) [...] said to my [...]: "I hate the country in which your brother is living, along with you." (r 4) My legal adversary who took 50 minas of silver and a mina of gold from my father's house, has been…

SAA 10 164. The Commandant is Robbing Me (CT 54 510) [from astrologers]

(1) [To the ki]ng of the wo[rld, my lord: your servant Nabû-iqbi. May Nabû and Marduk bless the king of the world, my lord]! (5) [......] (6) While [I am] keeping the king my lord's watch [here in Nineveh], the commandant of Cutha, Ašaredu, is giving my father's house to a nayālu tenant and turning [al]l my assets into his possession. (13) [x mi]nas of silver belonging to y[ou] (14) [......] of mine (15) [......] of the city [...] (Break) (r 1) ... [......] (r 2) He has seized Commagenean [......] in lieu of 15 m[inas ......]. (r 5) I speak t[o ......], but nobody [listens to me]. (r 6) [...]…

SAA 10 165. Petition Concerning Lost Property (ABL 0228) [from astrologers]

(1) To the king, my lord: your servant Nergal-eṭir. Good health to the king, my lord! May Nabû and Marduk bless the king, my lord! (6) For 6 years I have been guarding Aššur-etel-šamê-erṣeti-muballissu, and Bel and Nabû have provided good health. (Break) (r 2) (By) Bel and Na[bû ...], your gods: the king, my lord, is merciful. Let the king send a bodyguard with me, so I may go and bring out my brother and retrieve my fortune. Let me go and come back quickly! (r 9) Was it not when I was living in his country, in the land of Yašubu, that the son of Ahu-leʾi ...? Why [......] on the servants? (e.…

SAA 10 166. Merciful King (ABL 0499) [from astrologers]

(1) To the king of the lands, my lord: your servant Rašil. Good health to the king, my lord! May Nabû and Marduk bless the king, my lord! (6) The king, my lord, has reared me from my childhood until the present day, and ten times has the king, my lord, taken my hand and saved my life from my enemies. (13) You are a merciful king. You have done good to all the four quarters of the earth and [placed] the plant of life in their nostrils. (r 4) Now, [...... are pl]otting (r 5) [......] (r 6) I am [......]. (r 8) May the king, [my lord, n]ot abandon me! May I not drift apart from the king, my lord!…

SAA 10 167. Petition Concerning a Field (ABL 0500) [from astrologers]

(1) [To the c]rown prince, my lord: your servant Rašil. May Nabû [and Marduk] bless the crown prince, my lord! (4) Why is Aššur-na[tkil], the cohort commander of Adin, on his own hook dissolving a contract that the king, [my lord], has made? (8) Two horses (and) tenant farmers cultivated my field; I sent two of my apprentices there, but Aššur-natkil arrested them and threw them into prison. He has destroyed the barley [...], and they have put my apprentices too in [...]. (r 7) [...] a favour for me. If [it is acceptable] to [the king], these [......]. (r.e. 10) There is [...] (r 11) all [...]…

SAA 10 168. Eclipse Predicting the Fall of the Westland (ABL 0137) [from astrologers]

(1) To the king of the lands, my lord: your servant Zakir. May Nabû and Marduk bless the king of the lands, my lord! May Bel and Nabû keep you alive for long days of happiness and physical well-being, and may they deliver your enemy into your hands! (6) The moon made an eclipse on the 15th of Tebet (X), in the middle watch. It began in the east and shifted to the west — a decidedly evil portent concerning the king of the Westland and his country. (11) Its evil is definite; its evil will befall the king of the Westland and his country. If there is an enemy of the king, my lord, in the West,…

SAA 10 169. Ṣillaya Does not Wish the Rebuilding of Babylon (ABL 0702) [from astrologers]

(1) The king appointed [Ṣillaya ...] with the sons of Eṭeru of the Sealand, and they have seized [...], saying: "It is the king's order: Give us [the ... which ...] gave to your fathers as a nishu payment!" (4) The Babylonians and the(ir) commandant Ubaru (said to them): "There is no such order of the king! Last year, in Calah, when you appealed to the king for the collection of old debts (incurred) while Babylon was still intact, the king lost his temper with you, (shouting): 'What is there in Babylon (to collect)? The city was in ruins, and I have resettled it and established its freedom!'…

SAA 10 170. Predicting an Eclipse of the Sun (ABL 0477) [from astrologers]

(1) Concerning the solar eclipse about which the king wrote to me: "Will it or will it not take place? Send a definite word!" (6) An eclipse of the sun, like one of the moon, never escapes me; should it not be clear to me and should I have failed (to observe it), I would not find out about it. (r 5) Now since it is the month to watch the sun and the king is in the open country, for that reason I wrote to the king: "The king should pay attention, whether it occurs or not."

SAA 10 171. Teaching Astrology (ABL 0954) [from astrologers]

(1) [May] Nabû and Marduk [ble]ss the king, [my lord]! (3) Your servant [NN]. (4) [As] the king last year summoned [his scholars, he did not] summon me with [them], (so) I wrote to the palace: "The apprentices whom the king appointed in my charge have learned Enūma Anu Enlil; what is my fault that the king has not summoned me with his scholars?" (13) The king said: "Have no fear, I will summon you." But when I departed from there, up to now the king has not summoned me. (r 1) Now the king has summoned scribes great and small, but the king has not sum[moned] me, not with the [...] nor with [the…

SAA 10 173. The Governor has Taken my Field (ABL 0421) [from diviners]

(1) To the king, my lord: your servant Marduk-šumu-uṣur. Good health to the king, my lord! May Nabû and Marduk bless the king, my lord! (6) The father of the king, my lord, gave me 10 homers of cultivated land in Halahhu. For 14 years I had the usufruct of the land, and nobody disputed it with me. (But) now the governor of Barhalzi has come and mistreated the farmer, plundered his house and appropriated my land. (17) The king, my lord, knows that I am a poor man, that I keep the watch of the king, my lord, and am guilty of no negligence within the palace. Now I have been deprived of my field.…

SAA 10 174. The Conqueror Goes to Egypt (ABL 0923) [from diviners]

(1) To the king, lord of kings, my lord, and Aššur, the highest [god], [who] by his holy and unchangeable command [... has ordered] a thousand years of life for the king, my lord: your servant Marduk-šumu-uṣur. (4) [May] Sin and Šamaš [attend to] the health of the king, my lord! May Nabû and Marduk [give] name and seed to the king, my lord! May the Lady of Nineveh and Ištar of Arbela guide [you] like a mother and sister! (7) Aššur, in a dream, called the grandfather of the king, my lord, a sage; the king, lord of kings, is an offspring of a sage and Adapa: you have surpassed the wisdom of the…

SAA 10 175. Deciding about an Extispicy Report (ABL 0773) [from diviners]

(1) To the king, my lord: your servant Marduk-šumu-uṣur. Good health to the king, my lord! May Nabû and Marduk bless the king, my lord! (7) Concerning the haruspex appointed to the service of Arbayu who last year made a report to the king, [my] lord, and said: "When A[rbayu] comes, [let them question him] and decide about [the re]port [concerning him]," (r 4) Arbayu is now here — let the king question [him] and decide about the report of his servant.

SAA 10 176. A Moment’s Relief, Please (ABL 0181) [from diviners]

(1) To the king, our lord: your servants Marduk-šumu-uṣur, Naṣiru and Aqaraya. May Nabû and Marduk bless the king, our lord! (8) We have rites to perform in the qirsu. Let the king, our lord, give an order to Sasî (that) they should let us go. Nobody will release us, and we cannot go out.

SAA 10 177. Revising the Curriculum (ABL 0722) [from diviners]

(1) To the king, our lord: your servants Marduk-šumu-uṣur, Naṣiru and Tabnî. Good health to the king, our lord! [May] Aššur, Šamaš, [Bel] and Nabû [bl]ess the king, our lord! (8) (Too broken for translation) (15) The series should be rev[ised]. Let the king command: two 'long' tablets containing explanations of antiquated words should be removed, and two tablets of the haruspices' corpus should be put (instead). (r 6) Two rams should be sacrificed before Nabû and before Šamaš; Šamaš and [Na]bû [...] days [...] (Remainder lost)

SAA 10 179. Will the Chief Eunuch Take over the Kingship? (ABL 0755+) [from diviners]

(1) [To the king of the lands, my lord]: your [servant] Kudurru. [May Aššur, Šamaš, Bel and Nabû bless] the king of the lands, my lord! (3) [Ever si]nce the day when the king my lord [dep]orted me, I have sat in confinement, praying to the king, my lord, [every day], (until) [Nabû-kill]anni the chief cupbearer sent [a cohort commander] to release me. (8) As I was walking [with him], he says to me: "You are an expert in [scrib]al lore? [NN] tells me [you] are an expert in scribal lore." (11) It was the month of Marchesvan (VIII) when Nabû-killanni fetched me, and I ended up standing in the…

SAA 10 180. Give me a House! (ABL 1261) [from diviners]

(1) To the crown prince, my lord: your servant Naṣiru. May Nabû and Marduk bless the crown prince, my lord! I pray daily to Nabû, Šamaš and Marduk for the sake of the life of the crown prince, my lord! (8) Why am I dying for lack of means and of cold? Five days ago the king said, "Give Naṣiru a house," but nobody has given a house to me. (17) Let me remind the crown prince my lord about it, and let them give me the house which the king promised so that I may not die of cold. (r 6) May Šamaš and Marduk bless the crown prince, my lord! (r 9) May the crown prince my lord remind them about it, and…

SAA 10 181. (no title) (ABL 0737) [from diviners]

(1) [To the king], my [lo]rd: [your servant T]abnî. [Good health to] the king, my lord! [May Nabû and Marduk bless] the king, my lord! May [Aššur] and Šamaš make your royal sceptre good [for Assyria]! [May ... subdue your enemies] beneath your feet! (Break) (r 2) The village managers bring [...]; we shall let [the king, my lord], hear [whatever] we have to report. [Now, wh]at is it that the king, my lord, [or]ders?

SAA 10 182. Petition to the Crown Prince (CT 53 139) [from diviners]

(1) [To the crown prince], my lord: [your servant Tabn]î. [Good health to the crown prince], my lord! May [Nabû and Marduk] bless the crown prince, my lord! (5) [From] his [chi]ldhood till his maturity, [my father] took [care of] the father of the crown prince. [Steadily] he stood in his presence; he [shared the ...] of his basket with the king, his lord; he e[xperienced] the [da]ys of misfortune with the king, his lord. (10) [The k]ing, our lord, [......] kindness [......]; he dre[ssed him] in purple [...] and ap[pointed him] the chief haruspex. Among the servants [of the king ...] and the…

SAA 10 183. Extispicy on the Roof of the Temple of Marduk (ABL 1278) [from diviners]

(1) Concerning the hoopoe about which you said: "It has been sent as a message" — and concerning the temple of Marduk, we shall see a good month, and it (the ritual) should be performed; he does not know. (3) Elul (VI) is a good month. (4) Also, concerning the ritual of the haruspex, he does not know about the 2nd day; again, it is good. Let it be performed and let us be confident. (6) Also, if it is feasible, why don't the guards and Perhu keep watch there, on account of a matter like this? (r 1) Alternatively, if it is not good to let the men go to the roof of the temple at dawn, some…

SAA 10 184. Extispicy Omens (CT 53 411) [from diviners]

(Beginning destroyed) (3) The 'base of the throne' was firm; [......]; (4) the base of the right-hand surface [of the 'finger' ...]; (5) the 'path' is present; ...[......] (6) the wide part of the left side of the 'finger' [......] (7) the wide part of the left side of the 'finger' ...[......] (8) [...] the 'pouch' ...[......] (Break) (r 3) [...] the 'station' [......] (r 4) ... the upper part [......] (r 5) and the lower part is elevated; [......] (r 6) is not twisted; the 'cap' is 'loose'; (r 7) As to what the king, my lord, sa[id]: "Did Nabû-nadin-šumi son of [NN] become clean?" — the pur[i…

SAA 10 186. Blessings to the Crown Prince (ABL 0010) [from exorcists]

(1) To the crown prince of Assyria, my lord: your servant Adad-šumu-uṣur, who constantly blesses you. [Good heal]th to the crown prince [of the "Success]ion" [palace], my lord! (7) [May Aššur, Si]n, Šamaš, [Nabû and Marduk, and the great gods of heaven and earth bless the crown prince, my lord. (Break) (r 1) May they gi]ve [happin]ess [and heal]th [to the crown pri]nce [of the Succes]sion [Palace], my lord!

SAA 10 188. The Ghost of the Queen (ABL 0614) [from exorcists]

(Beginning destroyed or too fragmentary for translation) (r 1) [The crown prince] explained [it to] my [... as follows]: (r 3) "Aššur and Šamaš ordained me to be the crown prince of Assyria because of her (= the dead queen's) righteousness." (And) her ghost blesses him in the same degree as he has revered the ghost: "May his descendants rule over Assyria!" (r 9) Fear of the gods creates kindness, fear of the infernal gods returns life. Let the [king, my] lord, give the order (Remainder lost)

SAA 10 189. Royal Insignia for the Substitute King (ABL 0653) [from exorcists]

(1) To the king, my lord: your servant Adad-šumu-uṣur. Good health to the king, my lord! May Nabû and Marduk bless the king, my lord! (6) Concerning the substitute king of Akkad, the order should be given to enthrone (him). (9) Concerning the clothes of the king, my lord, and the garments for the statue of the substitute king, concerning the necklace [of go]ld, the sceptre and the throne, [... ba]th (Break) (r 1) We shall beg[in with ...] and enthrone (him) [...]. Now the order should be given, so we can ... and go. What is it that the king, my lord, commands?

SAA 10 191. A Drug for the Crown Prince (ABL 0003) [from exorcists]

(1) To the king, my lord: your servant Adad-šumu-uṣur. Good health to the king, my lord! May Nabû and Marduk bless the king, my lord! (5) Concerning the drug about which the king, my lord, wrote to me, what the king, my lord, said is quite right. (11) Let us make those slaves drink first, and let the crown prince drink only afterwards. What am I to speak, an old man who has got no sense. (By contrast) what the king, my lord, said is as perfect as (the word) of the god.

SAA 10 192. The Crown Prince Should not Ride a Horse (CT 53 088) [from exorcists]

(Beginning lost) (r 1) The crown prin[ce, my lord], should not ride a horse, nor should he [draw] a bow. (However), let him do as [he] deems best. (Remainder lost)

SAA 10 193. Curing the Crown Prince (ABL 0439) [from exorcists]

(1) [To the king, my lord: your servant Adad-šumu-uṣur. Good health to the king, my lord! May Nabû and Marduk bless the king, my lord!] (6) [The prince NN] is doing ve[ry, very] well; the fever has l[eft him]. (9) The god has stood in the prayer bowl of the king — the king, my lord, should have himself shaved this (very) day. (13) Šamaš-šumu-ukin is doing well. We shall perform (the ritual entitled) "A substitute to Ereškigal" for the crown prince; we need not perform it for Šamaš-šumu-ukin at the same time. What is it that the king, my lord, orders?

SAA 10 194. Medical Tablets for the King (ABL 0012) [from exorcists]

(1) To the king, my lord: your servant Adad-šumu-uṣur. Good health to the king, my lord! May Nabû and Marduk bless the king, my lord! (6) The charge of the 'Lady of Cults' is doing very well; the king, my lord, can be happy. May the great gods of heaven and earth let the king, my lord, see him prosper! (Break) (r 1) for his sons [...]; (r 2) the incantation "Iš[tar, lady of war], who makes man and wom[an] submit in battle." — These 3 tablets I have sealed and dispatched to the king, my lord. (r 8) A maid of the king has written to me from the palace: "Urad-Gula has said: 'Get me the girl Ṣuhru…

SAA 10 195. At the Crown Prince’s Service (ABL 0654) [from exorcists]

(1) [To] the great crown prince, the son of the king of the whole world, my lord: your servant Adad-šumu-uṣur. Good health to the son of the king of all lands! [May] Aššur, Sin, Šamaš, Nabû [and] Marduk, [and the great god]s of heaven [and] earth very greatly bless the [son of the k]ing of all lands, my [lord]. (r 3) [Because] I was sent for, [I have come n]ow. [The son] of the king of all lands, my lord, [can] be happy.

SAA 10 196. A King may not Stay in the Dark! (ABL 0005) [from exorcists]

(1) To the king, my lord: your servant Adad-šumu-uṣur. Good health to the king, my lord! May Nabû and Marduk, and the great gods of heaven and earth bless the king, my lord, and give happiness and physical well-being to the king, my lord! (10) The charge of the 'Lady of Cults' is doing very well; the king, my lord, can be happy. (14) Why, today already for the second day, is the table not brought to the king, my lord? Who (now) stays in the dark much longer than Šamaš, the king of the gods; stays in the dark a whole day and night, and again two days? The king, the lord of the world, is the…

Religion & Myth·Daily Life

SAA 10 197. Blessing the King (ABL 0007) [from exorcists]

(1) To the king, my lord: your servant Adad-šumu-uṣur. Good health to the king, my lord! (4) The charge of the 'Lady of Cults' is doing very well; the king, my lord, can be very happy indeed. (7) May Aššur, Sin, Šamaš, Adad, Nu[sku], Jupiter, Venus, Marduk, [Zarpanitu], Nabû, Tašmetu, Sa[turn], Mercury, Lady [of Nineveh], Lady of Kidmuri, [Lady] of Arbela, Ninurta, [Gula], Nergal and Laṣ, the great gods of heaven and earth, the gods dwelling in Assyria, [the gods] dwelling in Akkad, and all the gods of the world [very greatly bless the ki]ng, [my lord], and may they give [the king], my [lord,…

SAA 10 198. Continuing the Previous Letter (ABL 0435) [from exorcists]

(1) This is a continuation of the words of the previous letter. (4) May the rule of the king, my lord, be as pleasant as water and oil upon the peoples of all the countries! May the king, my lord, be their shepherd for ever! (10) I, (nothing but) a dog, blessing the king, his lord, have blessed the king, my lord (with) these blessings. May the gods whose names I have invoked, accept and hear them, and grant these blessings to the king, my lord, a thousandfold! (r 1) And may I, blessing the king, my lord, stand before the king, my lord, and revere (him) wholeheartedly with my arms (lifted in…

SAA 10 199. Revealing a Plot (ABL 0656) [from exorcists]

(1) To the king, my lord: your servant [Ad]ad-šumu-uṣur. Good [health to the king], my lord! May [Nabû and Marduk] bless [the king], m[y lord]! (5) [......] (6) [...... Sin-per'u]-ukin (Break) (9) [......] "Say [in the presence of the ki]ng (Break) (r 2) [...] will reco[ver]; all the [...] are weep[ing], [...] will recover. (r 5) He said [as] follows: "The god told me, 'If you do not tell, you will die; and if you tell it to somebody belonging to the entourage of the king, and he does not make it known in the palace, he will die.' (r 11) "My mother was charged to go, (but) she did not tell…

SAA 10 200. Anti-Witchcraft Rituals for the Queen Mother (ABL 0660) [from exorcists]

(1) To the king, my lord: your servant Adad-šumu-uṣur. Good health to the king, my lord! May Nabû and Marduk bless the king, my lord! May the great gods assign the very best of health to the mother of the king, my lord! (10) [When] Bel took away the illness of the king [...] (Break) (r 3) [Concerning t]hat [... who] got ill, [...] rituals [against the loss of f]lesh are being performed. We are performing numerous effective counterspells. The king, my lord, can be at ease.