Position in chronology
SAA 12 078. Fragment of a Decree Concerning Distribution of Meat (NARGD 52)
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) [NN, ..., mighty king, king of the world, king of Assyria, overseer]; [son of NN, mighty king, king of the world], king of [As]s[yria, overseer]; [son of NN, mighty king, king of the world], king of Assyr[ia, likewise overseer]. (4) [......, the chos]en one of En[lil ...]. (Space with royal seal impressions) (5) [......] from the sheep offerings of the fi[fth] day. (6) [......] its head, its belly, [its] liver. (7) [......] complete[ly] (8) [......]s of the go[d ...] (Rest destroyed)
Source: Kataja, L. & Whiting, R. 1995. Grants, Decrees and Gifts of the Neo-Assyrian Period. SAA 12. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa12/P336288/
Why it matters
Transliteration
[x x x LUGAL dan-nu LUGAL ŠÚ LUGAL KUR—aš-šur.KI PA-lum] / [x x x LUGAL dan-nu LUGAL ŠÚ] ⸢LUGAL⸣ [KUR]—⸢aš⸣-[šur.KI PA-lum] / [x x x LUGAL dan-nu LUGAL ŠÚ] LUGAL KUR—aš-⸢šur⸣.[KI PA-lum-ma] / [x x am-ru ni-iš] IGI.2-MEŠ dEN.[LÍL x x x] / [x x x]+⸢x⸣ TAv ŠÀ UDU.SISKUR-MEŠ ša UD 05-⸢KÁM⸣ / [x x x] ⸢SAG.DU-šú⸣ kar-ši-šú ka-bat-ti-[šú] / [x x x x x x x] ⸢a-na?⸣ gi-mir-ti-[šú] / [x x x x x x x] ⸢x⸣-MEŠ ⸢DINGIR?⸣ [x x]
Scholarly note
Royal grant, decree or gift inscription of the Neo-Assyrian period, edited by Laura Kataja & Robert Whiting (SAA 12, 1995). ORACC text P336288.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P336288). source
Translation excerpted from Kataja, L. & Whiting, R. 1995. Grants, Decrees and Gifts of the Neo-Assyrian Period. SAA 12. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa12/P336288/.
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The earliest historical document in human history.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.