Position in chronology
SAA 19 069. The Works of Šarru-iqbi (CTN 5 p. 147)
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) To the king, [my lord]: your servant [Šamaš-ila'i]. The very best of health to the kin[g, my lord]! (5) All the forts are well, the land of the treasurer is well, the land of the chief cupbearer is well. (8) I am performing the works of Šarru-i[qb]i about which the king commanded me. (10) The report on Urarṭu is still the same. (12) [They] have pl[undered] the sheep of the Il[...eans] and the Tunaeans. (14) [...] ... to [...] (15) [......] ga[ve ...] (16) I have s[ent ......] (Break) (r 2) [...] have been plo[tting] (r 3) [...] has been il[l] (r 4) I am now sending them off with [my] mes[senger]. (r 6) All is well; we are doing our work. The king, my lord, can be glad indeed.
Source: Luukko, M. 2012. The Correspondence of Tiglath-pileser III and Sargon II from Calah/Nimrud. SAA 19. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa19/P393630/
Why it matters
Transliteration
a-na LUGAL [EN-ia] / ARAD-ka m⸢d⸣[UTU—DINGIR-a.a?] / lu DI-mu a-na ⸢LUGAL⸣ [EN-ia] / a—dan-niš a—dan-niš / DI-mu a-na KUR.bi-rat gab-bu / a-na KUR ša LÚ.IGI.DUB DI-mu / ina KUR LÚ.GAL—KAŠ.LUL DI-mu / dul-la-ni ša URU.⸢LUGAL—iq-bi⸣ / ⸢ša⸣ LUGAL iq-ba-ni ⸢ep-pa⸣-áš / ṭé-e-mu ša KUR.⸢ú⸣-ra-ar-ṭi / šu-tú-ma šu-⸢ú⸣ / UDU-MEŠ ša URU.il-[x x x] / ⸢URU.tu?⸣-na-a-a ⸢iḫ⸣-[tab-tu] / [x x]+⸢x x⸣+[x x]-⸢e⸣…
Scholarly note
Royal correspondence from Kalḫu (Nimrud) under Tiglath-pileser III or Sargon II, edited by Mikko Luukko (SAA 19, 2012). ORACC text P393630.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Kalhu (mod. Nimrud) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P393630). source
Translation excerpted from Luukko, M. 2012. The Correspondence of Tiglath-pileser III and Sargon II from Calah/Nimrud. SAA 19. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa19/P393630/.
Related tablets
Related sources
A window into the world's first total state. The Ur III administration tracked every animal, every worker, every shekel — for a population in the millions. The level of paperwork was not exceeded until the modern era.
Part of the earliest known body of international diplomatic correspondence. Akkadian, written in cuneiform on clay, was the lingua franca of Late Bronze Age statecraft — used between Egypt, the Hittites, Mitanni, Babylon, Assyria, and the Levantine vassals.