Position in chronology
SAA 14 269. Purchase of an Estate (ADD 0511+)
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) [In]stead of his seal [he impressed his] fing[ernail]. (2) Fingernail of Abdi-Dadi, owner of the [estate] being sold. (fingernail impressions) (4) An estate [of x hectares] of land of [...] (5) [...] adjoining the short side of the field [...]... — (6) [NN], chie[f ...] has contracted and bought for half a mina 5 sh[ekels of silver]. (8) The money is paid completely. [That] field is acquired from its owner for a second time. Any re[vocation], lawsuit, or litigation is v[oid]. (11) Whoever [in the fu]ture, [at any time], (Break) (r 2) [Witness] Luteah[...]. (r 3) [Witness Qi]ti-muti,…
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/P335448/
Why it matters
Transliteration
⸢ku⸣-um NA₄.KIŠIB-šú ⸢UMBIN⸣-[šú iš-kun] / ṣu-pur mab-di—U.U EN [É] / ta-SUM-[ni] / É [x ANŠE A].ŠÀ.GA-MEŠ ša [x x x] / [x x x x]+⸢x⸣ SUḪUR SAG* A.⸢ŠÀ*⸣ [x x x] / [x x x x x]-⸢a⸣-ni ú-piš m⸢d⸣[x x x] / LÚv.⸢GAL⸣—[x] ina ŠÀ-bi 1/2 MA.NA 05* ⸢GÍN*⸣ [x x x] / il-⸢qi*⸣ kas-pu TIL-mur A.ŠÀ.⸢GA⸣ [šu-a-tu] / 02-šú TAv EN-šú la-qi ⸢tu⸣-[a-ru] / de-nu DUG₄.DUG₄-MEŠ ⸢la⸣-[áš-šú] / ⸢man-nu šá⸣ [ina]…
Scholarly note
Neo-Assyrian legal transaction at the royal court of Nineveh, edited by Raija Mattila (SAA 14, 2002). ORACC text P335448.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P335448). 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/P335448/.
Related tablets
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The earliest historical document in human history.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.