Sumerian·Book

Position in chronology

SAA 13 185. Threats and Beatings (ABL 1374+)

~665 BCE·Neo-Assyrian·P334871

Translation · reference

High confidence
(Beginning destroyed) (2) [... N]N, so[n of ...] (3) [...] his mouth and hands [...] (4) They should hand (him) over. His mouth [...] (5) [...] their wrists ...[...] (6) They should ..., and they should raise the ...[...] in their hands. (8) If he in fact did not attack [me] and they are not handing (me) over, then he should say so before the king! The threat to my person about which I testified against them in the king's presence is the fact that they daily take an oath against me, saying: "Let's kill him!" But because they couldn't kill me they are speaking to the king's magnates, their…

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/P334871/

Why it matters

Transliteration

[x x x x x]+⸢x⸣ [x x x x] / [x x] ⸢x x x⸣—AŠ ⸢DUMU⸣ [x x x] / [x x]+⸢x⸣ pi-i-šú u ŠU.2-šú ⸢x⸣+[x x x] / ⸢li⸣-im-nu-ú pi-i-šú [x x x] / [x] ri-it-ti-šú-nu gi-[x x x] / li-in-zu-ú u GIŠ.⸢x⸣+[x x x] / ina ŠU.2-šú-nu li-iš-šú-[ú x x] / mìn-de-e-ma ul it-ba-[a x x] / ul i-man-nu-⸢ú o* li-iq-ba*-ma*⸣ / ina pa-an LUGAL lu-mu-un / a-na UGU UZU šá ina pa-an LUGAL / ú-ki-in-nu-šú-nu-ti / UD-mu-us-su…

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 P334871.

Attribution

Image: BM 098993 (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P334871). 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/P334871/.

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