Position in chronology
SAA 13 176. Send Me Assistants for the Clothing Ceremony of Bel (ABL 0496)
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) [To] the king, my lord: your [servant], Rašil. [Goo]d health to the king, my lord. May Marduk and Zarpanitu grant you long days, everlasting years, happiness, and physical well-being. (8) The 3rd of Elul (VI) is the clothing (ceremony) of Bel; the 4th day is the grand opening of the gate. The king, my lord, knows (this). (12) Iddin-ahi and Ina-qibi-[Bel], the two clergymen about whom [they issue]d an or[de]r [to me], saying: "Send them" — they have gone to the king, my lord. Now let the king, my lord, send them back here so that they can serve with me at this clothing (ceremony). (r 8) The king knows that I myself am taking care of the clothing (ceremony) according to orders and that there is no one else with me. The king should do as he deems best.
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/P237815/
Why it matters
Transliteration
[a-na] LUGAL EN-ía / [ARAD]-ka mTUK-ši—DINGIR / [lu]-ú šu-lum a-na LUGAL EN-ía / dAMAR.UTU u dzar-pa-ni-tum / UD-mu GÍD.DA-MEŠ MU.AN.NA-MEŠ da-rat / ṭu-ub ŠÀ-bi u ṭu-ub UZU / li-qí-šu-nik-ka / UD 03-KÁM šá ITI.KIN / TÚG.lu-bu-uš-ti šá dEN / UD 04-KÁM pi-it—KÁ GAL-ú šu-ú / LUGAL EN-a i-di / mSUM-na—ŠEŠ / ù mina—qí-bi—d[EN PAB-šú] / LÚ.⸢TU⸣—É ki*-lal*-⸢le⸣-[e] / šá ⸢ṭè⸣-[e]-mu* ⸢iš⸣-[kun-u-ni] /…
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 P237815.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P237815). 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/P237815/.
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