Position in chronology
SAA 19 144. Family Affairs (CTN 5 p. 234)
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) A tablet of Datâ to her brother Šumu-iddina. (3) May Mulliltu and Ištar of Babylon decree the well-being of my brother's land. I pray daily to Mulliltu and Ištar of Babylon for the good health of my brother. (8) Why have I not seen your messenger until this very day? Now, if you are alive, let me forgive the shortcomings of your character and dance. (13) The lady Gagâ has died and your brother is troubled. Come to see him! I have written to you out of desperation. Come quickly! (r 3) By Mulliltu and Ištar of Babylon, he is every day among my concerns. Do not [tr]ust [in the b]laze of your heart! Oh my god! (r 10) Šullumâ asks about the health of his [b]rother Šumu-idd[ina].
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/P224382/
Why it matters
Transliteration
IM MÍ.da?-ta-a / a-na mMU—MU ŠEŠ-šú / dMÍ.NIN.LÍL u d.INNIN TIN.TIR.KI / šu-lum KUR šá ŠEŠ-ia / ⸢liq-ba-aʾ⸣ UD-mu-us-su / ⸢dMÍ.NIN.LÍL⸣ u d.INNIN TIN.TIR.KI / a-na TIN ZI-MEŠ šá ŠEŠ-ía / ú-ṣal-la am—mì-ni ma-la / a-ga-a UD-mu LÚv.A—šip-ri-ka / la a-mur en-na ki-i / bal-ṭa-a-tum i-da-ti-ka / mi-ṭe-e-ti ⸢lu⸣-ram-ma / lu-ur-qud MÍ.ga-ga-a / mi-ta-at u ŠEŠ-ku / da-li-iḫ / al-kám-ma / a-mur-šú / ki-i…
Scholarly note
Royal correspondence from Kalḫu (Nimrud) under Tiglath-pileser III or Sargon II, edited by Mikko Luukko (SAA 19, 2012). ORACC text P224382.
Attribution
Image: Adapted from Mikko Luukko, The Correspondence of Tiglath-Pileser III and Sargon II from Calah/Nimrud (State Archives of Assyria, 19), 2012. Lemmatised by Mikko Luukko, 2012, as part of the AHRC-funded research project “Mechanisms of Communication in an Ancient Empire: The Correspondence between the King of Assyria and his Magnates in the 8th Century BC” (AH/F016581/1; University College London) directed by Karen Radner. The annotated edition is released under the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike license 3.0. Please cite this page as http://oracc.org/saao/P224382/..
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/P224382/.
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.