Position in chronology
SAA 02 007. Oath of Loyalty to Esarhaddon (JCS 39 174)
Translation — scholar edition
SAA 2(Beginning destroyed) (1) ..[......] (2) to the ci[ty ......] (3) to Esarh[addon ......] (4) you shall [......] (5) standing [......] (6) his seed and his fa[mily ......] (7) you shall ...[......] (8) has sacrificed yo[u ......] (9) fumigant[s ......] (10) you shall ...[......] (11) king of Assyria [......] (Break) (r 2) not [......] (r 3) you s[hall ......] (r 4) what you [......] (r 5) whol[eheartedly ......] (Rest destroyed)
State Archives of Assyria, volume 2 — scholar edition (ORACC).
Spotted an error? Suggest a correction — confirmed corrections feed the engine's knowledge base.
Transliteration
⸢lu⸣ [x x x x x x x] / a-na ⸢URU⸣.[x x x x x x] / a-na maš-šur—⸢PAB⸣—[AŠ LUGAL KUR—aš-šur x x] / šum-ma LÚ.[x x x x x x] / iz-za-zu-u-⸢ni⸣ [x x x x x] / NUMUN-šú ù ⸢UN⸣-[MEŠ-šú x x x] / la tu-raq-⸢qa⸣-[x x x x] / iq-qu-u-⸢kun?⸣-[u-ni x x x] / qu-ta-a-⸢ri⸣ [x x x x] / la tu-raq-⸢qa⸣-[x x x x] / LUGAL KUR—aš-šur [x x x x x] / ⸢x x⸣ [x x x x x] / i-[x x x x x x] / la [x x x x x x] / šum-⸢ma⸣ [x x x x x] / šá at-⸢tu⸣-[nu x x x x] / ina gu-⸢mur⸣-[ti x x x x] / an [x x x x x]
Scholarly note
Neo-Assyrian treaty or loyalty oath, edited by Simo Parpola & Kazuko Watanabe (SAA 2, 1988). Binding agreement invoking divine sanction. ORACC text P336218.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Sippar-Yahrurum (mod. Tell Abu Habbah) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.earth/artifacts, P336218). source
Translation excerpted from Parpola, S. & Watanabe, K. 1988. Neo-Assyrian Treaties and Loyalty Oaths. SAA 2. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa02/P336218/.
Related tablets
Related sources
An early example of administrative writing from Uruk. Its fragmentary numerical entries and commodity signs document record-keeping during the formative period of writing.
An early witness to systematic administrative notation at Kish. Its signs and numerals can be catalogued, but that does not establish a full translation or prove that it is the world's first writing.
An early surviving historical monument that joins named rulers, a territorial dispute and religious oaths. It shows how a city-state turned victory into a lasting public claim, without establishing that this was the first recorded conflict.