Aššur-bel-kala 01

• KUR.ḫi-me / KUR.ḫi?-x-[x] — The toponym is partially broken; 'Ḫime' is a tentative reading. Could refer to several northwest or eastern lands attested in Assyrian sources. The second occurrence (KUR.ḫi-me, line 6) is the clearest attestation.
• a-mi-lu-ta — Akkadian amīlūta, 'humanity / the human population'; here likely referring to the inhabitants of the conquered land. Could also be read as an accusative of specification.
• ša ki-ma MUL.MEŠ AN-e — 'Who are like the stars of heaven' — stock hyperbolic simile for vast numbers in Assyrian royal annals; not unusual but the referent (armies, people, cities?) is broken away.
• ul e-zib — 'I did not spare/leave' — standard annalistic formula (ezēbu G preterite 1cs with negative); well attested.
• a-ku-⸢uṣ⸣ — From akāṣu or possibly nakāsu, 'to cut down / kill'; the sign is damaged (hence Winckelhaken notation ⸢⸣). Both verbs occur in annalistic slaughter contexts. nakāsu ('to cut off / behead') is equally plausible.
• [šal-mat? ERIM.MEŠ] — Restoration by editor: šalmāt ṣābē, 'the total of (his) troops'; bracketed as restoration from parallel annalistic formulae. Not visible in photo.
• ḫal-ṣa-ni-šu-nu — From ḫalṣu, 'fortress / fortified district'; plural with 3mp possessive. Standard annalistic term.

Photo examined: the tablet is British Museum K.2817, a small fragment photographed from multiple angles. The obverse (upper centre image) shows approximately 7–8 lines of Neo-Assyrian cuneiform in generally fine wedge impressions, but the surface is significantly abraded and the fragment is broken on all edges. The right and left margins are lost. I can confirm the presence of multiple horizontal text lines and occasional vertical rulings, consistent with a royal annalistic or administrative document. At the photo resolution available, individual sign clusters are visible but too small and worn to read confidently against the transliteration sign by sign; however the general density and line count match the transliteration provided. The reverse and edges show no legible text — the reverse (K.2817 label visible) is heavily eroded. The transliteration-based translation is therefore the primary deliverable. The passage reads as a typical Neo-Assyrian royal annalistic excerpt describing campaigns against a land whose name begins Ḫi- (possibly Ḫime or a similar toponym), destruction of cities, and slaughter of their lords. The phrase 'like the stars of heaven' is a stock simile for vast numbers in Assyrian royal rhetoric (cf. CAD N/1 s.v. napḫaru; Luckenbill, ARAB).