Position in chronology
SAA 14 107. A Court Decision on Behalf of Aššur-šallim (*638-IV) (ADD 0163)
About this tablet
This is a small Neo-Assyrian legal tablet recording the settlement of a court dispute over ownership of a slave named Šulmu-ēreš. A man named Aššur-šallim sued Ṣalmu-aḫḫē over the slave, and the case went before Šēp-šarri, an official called the 'sartinnu' — roughly, a royal chief judge or legal magistrate — who imposed a fine and arranged a cash settlement between the two parties. The document then adds the standard penalty clause threatening a much larger fine (10 minas of silver, payable to the gods Aššur and Šamaš) against whichever party later reopens the dispute, followed by a date and a list of witnesses. It is a routine but vivid glimpse into how ordinary Assyrians used the royal court system to resolve property disputes in the 7th century BCE.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Written in modern English
This tablet records a court case: Aššur-šallim sued a man named Ṣalmu-aḫḫē over a slave called Šulmu-ēreš, whom Aššur-šallim claimed as his own. The two men brought their dispute before Šēp-šarri, the royal judge, who fined them one and a half minas of silver. As part of the settlement, Ṣalmu-aḫḫē paid Aššur-šallim one mina of silver. The document warns that if either side later tries to reopen the case and break this agreement, that person must pay ten minas of silver to the gods Aššur and Shamash, who stand as guarantors of the verdict. It closes with the date — the month of Tammuz, in a named eponym year — and lists the men who witnessed the proceedings.
A modern paraphrase of the literal translation — same content, contemporary voice.
Translation — our engine
Our engineLawsuit of Aššur-šallim against Ṣalmu-aḫḫē concerning Šulmu-ēreš, his (Aššur-šallim's) slave, which they argued — (this case) was brought before Šēp-šarri, the sartinnu (chief judge). The sartinnu imposed (a penalty of) 1 1/2 minas of silver. Ṣalmu-aḫḫē gave 1 mina of silver to Aššur-šallim. Whoever among them breaches the peace (settlement) between them shall pay 10 minas of silver to Aššur (and) Šamaš, lord(s) of his lawsuit — to Aššur, the lord of his lawsuit. Month of Tammuz (IV), eponym year of Aššur-šuma-uṣur (?). Witness Libbūsu. Witness Nabû-aḫu-aḫu. Witness Išdi-Nabû (or) La-qēpu. Witness Ilqīsu. Nabûa (scribe?).
Our translation engine — Sonnet 5. Reads the photo, translates the cuneiform, and writes a plain-language interpretation. See methodology for limits.
Engine notes
read from photo6 uncertain terms ↓
- LÚ.<sar>-tin / sartennu — A high judicial official; conventionally rendered 'prefect' in SAA 14 translations, but 'chief justice' or 'vizier' appear in older literature. The angled brackets indicate the sar sign is restored or partly damaged in the transliteration.
- mDI-mu—KAM-eš — Personal name read Šulmu-šarreš; DI-mu = šulmu ('well-being'), KAM-eš = šarreš ('the king'). The identification is standard for this corpus but the name element KAM-eš is unusual orthography.
- ⸢DI*-mu* ina* bir*⸣-tú*-šú-nu GIL-u-ni — Heavily damaged line; restoration based on standard Neo-Assyrian legal formulae 'should one reopen the lawsuit between them.' The asterisks and half-brackets indicate uncertain/damaged signs. The verb GIL (turru/šanû, 'to turn back/reopen') is conventional in such penalty clauses.
- mSUḪUŠ—dPA — Personal name; SUḪUŠ = išdu ('foundation/root'); read Ištarēnu or Išdu-Nabû depending on interpretation of SUḪUŠ logogram in this context. Uncertain whether SUḪUŠ should be read as Ištar-ēnu or Išdu-Nabû.
- mdPA-u-a — Final name in witness list; read Nabû-aya (or Nabû-ûa). The name may also be Nabûaya, a scribe's subscription. It is not entirely clear whether this is a final witness or the scribe's colophon.
- TAv* — Uncertain sign; possibly an abbreviated or defective writing of itti ('with/against'), indicating the opposing party. The asterisk flags that the sign form is irregular in the source.
Reasoning ↓
Visual examination of the photograph (British Museum tablet, scale bar confirming small Neo-Assyrian case-tablet ca. 4–5 cm): The image shows a multi-face photograph of a small pillow-shaped clay tablet with an envelope or case visible in the upper portion and a rectangular inner tablet below. The upper face of the case shows dense cuneiform wedges in several lines consistent with a Neo-Assyrian legal caption; large circular seal impressions are visible on the case face, partially obscuring the text. The lower rectangular piece (inner tablet) shows tightly packed Neo-Assyrian cuneiform in approximately 13–15 lines, legible in general structure but too small at this resolution to verify individual signs with certainty. Partial signs consistent with KUG.UD (silver determinatives) and personal name signs can be detected in the middle lines. The reverse and lower edge images confirm witness formulae lines. Photo/transliteration agreement is plausible but most individual signs cannot be verified at this resolution. The text belongs to the well-documented SAA 14 corpus of Neo-Assyrian legal documents from Aššur; ADD 163 (P335114) is a standard lawsuit-resolution record. The term 'sartennu' (LÚ.sartin) has been rendered 'prefect' following standard SAA practice; some scholars prefer 'chief justice'.
Generated by claude-sonnet-4-6 · prompt 2026-05-11/v3-conventions · May 11, 2026 · 3394 in / 1183 out tokens
Transliteration
de-e-nu ša maš-šur—šal-lim / TAv* mṣal-mu—PAB-MEŠ / ina UGU mDI-mu—KAM-eš ARAD-šú / ša maš-šur—šal-lim / id-bu-bu-u-⸢ni⸣ / ina IGI mGÌR.2—MAN LÚ.<sar>-tin / iq-ṭar-bu 01 1/2 MA.NA KUG.UD / LÚ.<sar>-tin e-te-me-di / 01 MA.NA KUG.UD mṣal-mu—PAB-MEŠ / a-na maš-šur—šal-lim id-din / ⸢DI*-mu* ina* bir*⸣-tú*-šú-nu GIL-u-ni / aš-šur ⸢dUTU*⸣ EN de-ni-šú 10 MA.NA KUG.UD SUM-an / ⸢d*aš-šur⸣ EN—de-ni-šú / ITI.ŠU lim-mu maš-šur—ŠU—GUR / IGI mli-bu-su / IGI mdPA*—PAB—PAB / IGI mSUḪUŠ—dPA o* mla—qe-pu / IGI mil—qi-su / mdPA-u-a
Scholarly note
Neo-Assyrian legal transaction at the royal court of Nineveh, edited by Raija Mattila (SAA 14, 2002). ORACC text P335114.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.earth/artifacts, P335114). source
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-sonnet-5 (2026-05-28/v6-glossary-aware).
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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.