Position in chronology
SAA 14 088. Remanni-ilu Lends Two Homers and 5 Seahs of Grain (650-II-22) (ADD 1245)
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) 2 homers and 5 seahs of grain belonging to Remanni-ili, at the disposal of Enkû. (4) He shall pay at the threshing floor of the city of Argasu. If he does not pay, it shall increase by 5 seahs per homer. (8) Month Iyyar (II), 22nd day, eponym year of Bel-šadu'a. (r 1) Irisu-ilani and Šulmu-ahhe are the guarantors of the grain. (r 4) Witness Šar-Aššur. (r 5) Witness Rimu'a. (r 6) Witness Šep-šarri. (r.e. 7) Witness Bassî. (r.e. 8) Witness Šakil-Aya.
Source: Mattila, R. 2002. Legal Transactions of the Royal Court of Nineveh, Part II: Assurbanipal through Sin-šarru-iškun. SAA 14. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa14/P336008/
Why it matters
Transliteration
02 ANŠE 5(bán) ŠE*.šu-ʾu / ša mrém-a-ni—DINGIR / ina IGI men-ku*-u / ina ad-ri URU.ar-ga-su* / SUM-an šum-ma la i-din / a-na 01 ANŠE 5(bán)-šú-nu / i-GAL-bi / ITI.GUD UD 22-KAM / lim-me mEN—KUR-u.a / mi-ri-su—DINGIR-MEŠ / mDI-mu—PAB-MEŠ EN—ŠU.2 / ša ŠE*.šu-ʾu / IGI mIM—aš-šur / IGI mri-mu-u.a / IGI mGÌR.2—MAN / IGI m⸢ba*-si*-i*⸣ / IGI m⸢šá*⸣-kil*—ia
Scholarly note
Neo-Assyrian legal transaction at the royal court of Nineveh, edited by Raija Mattila (SAA 14, 2002). ORACC text P336008.
Attribution
Image: BM 098542 (British Museum, London, UK) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P336008). source
Translation excerpted from Mattila, R. 2002. Legal Transactions of the Royal Court of Nineveh, Part II: Assurbanipal through Sin-šarru-iškun. SAA 14. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa14/P336008/.
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Related sources
One of the earliest specimens of human writing. Not literature, not law — accounting. The need to keep track of grain in a temple bureaucracy is what pushed marks-on-clay into a system that could one day carry epics.
The earliest historical document in human history.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.