Position in chronology
SAA 13 161. Restoration Work on the Temples of Babylon (ABL 0471)
Translation · reference
High confidence(Beginning destroyed) (1) [May ......] Ma[rduk, .......], lord [of ...], [Zarpani]tu, Nabû, and Tašmetu greatly bless [the king, my lord]. May they lengthen [the days of the ki]ng, my lord. May [Nabû in Ezid]a and Bel in Esaggil show [prosperity] to the king, my lord. (8) [Concerning the lay]ing of the gate(s) in Babylon, [about which the king, my lo]rd, wrote to me, saying: "Go lay it," [it has been laid]. The gate of the temple of Ea [has been l]aid too, and we will lay those of the perimeter of Esaggil [and of ...]. (12) Furthermore, it is [ti]me to (begin) work [on the foundations] of the…
Source: Cole, S.W. & Machinist, P. 1998. Letters from Priests to the Kings Esarhaddon and Assurbanipal. SAA 13. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa13/P334324/
Why it matters
Transliteration
[x x x x x x] d⸢AMAR⸣.[UTU x x] / [x x x x x] EN ⸢x⸣+[x x x] / [dzar-pa-ni]-tum dPA dtaš-me-tum / [a-na LUGAL EN]-⸢ia⸣ a—dan-niš lik-ru-bu / [UD-me ša] ⸢LUGAL⸣ EN-ia lu-ur-ri-ku / [dPA ina É.ZI].⸢DA⸣ dEN ina É.SAG.ÍL / [né-ma-al-šú] a-na LUGAL EN-ía lu-kal-li-mu / [ina UGU ka]-⸢ra⸣-ri ša KÁ ša ina KÁ.DINGIR.RA.KI / [ša LUGAL be]-⸢lí⸣ iš-pur-an-ni-ni ma a-lik kur-ru* / [ik-ta-ar-ru] KÁ*-ma ša…
Scholarly note
Letter from a temple priest or ritual official to Esarhaddon or Ashurbanipal, edited by Steven Cole & Peter Machinist (SAA 13, 1998). ORACC text P334324.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P334324). source
Translation excerpted from Cole, S.W. & Machinist, P. 1998. Letters from Priests to the Kings Esarhaddon and Assurbanipal. SAA 13. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa13/P334324/.
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