Position in chronology
SAA 06 272. Pledge of a Woman (677-XII-7) (ADD 0072)
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) Seal of [...]-ereš. (space for stamp seal impressions) (2) [x shekels of silver belonging to] Nušku-naṣir, [first fruits of Ištar o]f Arbela, a[t the disposal of NN the br]ewer. (5) [The woman La-amaš]ši is placed [as a pledge]. (6) He shall pay within 10 days. If he does not pay, [the woman] is acquired and taken. (9) [Witness] Arbailayu. Witness Sagibî. (10) [Witness] Barruqu, scribe. (11) [Month] Adar (XII), 7th day, eponym year of Abi-ram, [grand] vizier. (Break) (r 1) at the disposal of [NN the brewer]. (r 2) The woman La-amašši is placed [as a pledge]. (r 3) He shall pay the silver…
Source: Kwasman, T. & Parpola, S. 1991. Legal Transactions of the Royal Court of Nineveh, Part I: Tiglath-Pileser III through Esarhaddon. SAA 6. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa06/P335024/
Why it matters
Transliteration
[NA₄.KIŠIB mx-x]—⸢KAM⸣-eš / [x GÍN? KUG.UD ša md]PA.⸢TÚG⸣—PAB / [SAG-MEŠ? ša d15] ⸢ša⸣ arba-ìl.KI / [ina IGI mx x x LÚ].⸢LUNGA⸣ / [MÍ.la—a-maš]-ši a-na šap-ri / [kam]-⸢mu⸣-sat a-di 10 UD-me / o* ⸢SUM⸣-an BE-ma la SUM-an / [MÍ] zar-pat na-ši-at / [IGI] mURU.arba-ìl-a.a IGI msa-gi-bi-i / [IGI m]⸢bar⸣-ruq-qu LÚ.A.BA / [ITI].ŠE UD 07-KÁM lim-mu mAD—ra-mu / [LÚv*].SUKKAL [GAL]-ú / ina IGI m[x x x…
Scholarly note
Neo-Assyrian legal transaction at the royal court of Nineveh, edited by Theodore Kwasman & Simo Parpola (SAA 6, 1991). ORACC text P335024.
Attribution
Image: Adapted from Theodore Kwasman and Simo Parpola , Legal Transactions of the Royal Court of Nineveh, Part I: Tiglath-Pileser III through Esarhaddon (State Archives of Assyria, 6), 1991. Lemmatised by Melanie Groß, 2010–2011, as part of the FWF-funded research project "Royal Institutional Households in First Millennium BC Mesopotamia" (S 10802-G18) directed by Heather D. Baker at the University of Vienna. The annotated edition is released under the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike license 3.0. Please cite this page as http://oracc.org/saao/P335024/..
Translation excerpted from Kwasman, T. & Parpola, S. 1991. Legal Transactions of the Royal Court of Nineveh, Part I: Tiglath-Pileser III through Esarhaddon. SAA 6. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa06/P335024/.
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.