PBS 01/2, 057 (P265132)

Letter tablet excavated in Nippur (mod. Nuffar), dated to the Middle Babylonian (ca. 1400-1100 BC) period and now kept in Penn Museum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Museum Collection(s)

Penn Museum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Museum Number

CBS 09818

Period

Middle Babylonian (ca. 1400-1100 BC)

Provenience

Nippur (mod. Nuffar)

Artifact Type

Tablet

Material(s)

Clay

Genre / Subgenre(s)

Letter (Letter; (Obv)20x(LoE)3x(Rev)16 lines)

Language(s)

-

Measurements

-

Text

tablet
obverse
  beginning broken
1'. [...] ga#? [...]
 en: ...
2'. u3 [...] sza _i7_ [...]
 en: and ... of the river ...
3'. a-na# _e2 {disz}{d}3(u)_-ma-[gi-ir]
 en: to Bīt-Sîn-māgir
4'. _erin2-mesz_-szu-nu i-na _ka2 i7#_ a-[da-at-tu4? ...]
 en: Their ṣabu workers in the gate of the nāru canal .../of the town Adattu? ...
5'. u3 tak-ki-ra sza be-li2-[ia ...]
 en: and the takkīru canal of my lord ...
6'. _erin2-mesz_ na-sza-ku _ka2_ tak-[ki-ri ...]
 en: I am raising ṣabu workers. The gate of the takkīru canal...
7'. [_{disz}e2_]-sag-il2-s,u2-ri-[ia ...]
 en: Esagil-ṣūrīja ...
8'. [...] _{disz}{d#}iszkur-lugal-dingir-[mesz_ ...]
 en: ... Adad-šar-ilāni ...
9'. a-na _{disz}en_-ka-la-{d}marduk qi2#-bi#-[ma ...]
 en: Speak to Bēl-kala-Marduk [...]
10'. um-ma-a sza _e2_ {disz}{d}en-lil2-ki-di#-[ni ...]
 en: the following: “Because those of the house of Enlil-kidinnī ...
11'. gi-na-ti gu-un-nu-nu el#-la#-[a]
 en: are confined in confinements, (because of that) I will come up (?).
12'. a-na me2-ke-ri ma-am-ma ul i-nam#-din-na-an-ni
 en: No one gives (them) to me for irrigating!
13'. ri#-da-am-ma ki-la-a-ti sza e-pu-szu
 en: Lead them here and do thoroughly inspect each kilâtu dam, which they have made,
14'. i-ta-am-mar-ma t,e-em-ka a-na _e2-gal_ te-er
 en: and make your report for the palace return (here)!”
15'. ki-i ir-da-a _ka2_ tak-ki-ri i-ta#-ta-mar
 en: After he had led them here, the gate of the takkīru canal he inspected.
16'. _{disz}du3_-a-sza-_{d}marduk_ u3 _ARAD-gaszan_
 en: (Them, that is) Banâ-ša-Marduk and Arad-Bēlti
17'. _{disz}en_-ka-la-_{d}marduk_ u2-si-niq-szu-nu-ti
 en: did Bēl-kala-Marduk interrogate,
18'. um-ma-a szu-u2-ra am-mi-na-an-na-a
 en: (saying) the following: “Why now
19'. ta-ki-sa-ma gi-na-ti am-mi-ni
 en: did you cut the reed, and (in) the confinements why
20'. gu-un-nu-na-tu-nu-ma
 en: are you all confined?
21'. ni-ri-ib szar-ri am-mi-ni tu#-sza#-da-a
 en: Why have you all let them remove the entrance way of the king?”
22'. {disz}asz-ta-ba lu-tu-ra asz-a-bu#
 en: Aštaba may return here. The resident (?)
23'. _ka2_ ip-te pi-ta sza ip-tu-[u2]
 en: opened the gate. The opening, which they opened,
24'. _en_-szu2 _ki_-ia i-la-ka
 en: —whenever his lord will come here together with me—
reverse
1. a-na-ku i-na t,u2-bi-ia e-pe-he
 en: then I will gladly block it (and)
2. lu-masz-szir9 i-na-an-na _{iri}kin_-li{ki}
 en: I may release (you). Now, the town Niggallu
3. ul mi-ki-ir sza gi-na-a-ti
 en: is not irrigated. Regarding the confinements,
4. gu-un-nu-na-a-tu-nu ta-kul-ta
 en: which you are confined in,
5. szar-ra man-nu u2-sza-ak-kal
 en: who will let the king eat the banquet?”
6. u3 i-na-an-na szu-u2-ra a-na s,a-pe-e-ma
 en: And now, the reed for the flooding and
7. tak-ki-ra a-na si-ki-ir
 en: for damming up the canal,
8. a-na-ku _{disz}ARAD-gaszan {disz}du3_-a-sza2-_{d}marduk_
 en: when I, Arad-Bēlti, Banâ-ša-Marduk,
9. {disz}ki#-lam-di-szi-pak sza _e2_ {disz}mu-bar-ri-i
 en: Kilamdi-Šīpak of the house of Mubarrû,
10. u3 {disz}mar-tu-ku _{lu2}hal_
 en: and Martukku, the diviner,
11. i-na mu-uh tak-ki-ri ki#! ni#-nam#?-din#?
 en: when we gave it for the takkīru canal,
12. mu-u2 i-na _ka2_ tak-ki-ri {disz}{d}[en]-lil2#-ki#?-din-ni#
 en: there was water in the gate of the takkīru canal of Enlil-kidinni (?).
13. a-na na-de-e mi-ih#-ri
 en: For the erecting of a miḫru dam
14. sza [_e2 {disz}{d}]3(u)_-ma-gir-ma#
 en: of Bīt-Sîn-māgir and
15. [...] la [...]
 en: ... not ...
16. [...]
 en: ...

Text content

Genre(s) Letter (Letter; (Obv)20x(LoE)3x(Rev)16 lines)
Language(s)

Chronology

Period Middle Babylonian (ca. 1400-1100 BC)
Accounting Period

Record

LOD URI https://cdli.network/entity/P265132

Physical information

Artifact type Tablet
Dimensions
Weight
Material(s) Clay
Preservation fragment

Provenance

Provenience Nippur (mod. Nuffar)
Written In
Archive
Excavation Number
Findspot
Stratigraphic Level
Elevation

Collections

Collection(s) Penn Museum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Museum Number CBS 09818
Accession Number

External resources

External Resource Identifiers
Penn Museum (Penn) 584010
Electronic Babylonian Library (eBL) CBS.9818

References

  • primary: PBS 1/2, 057

    [Lutz1919PBS1/2] Lutz, Henry F. 1919. Selected Sumerian and Babylonian Texts. Publications of the Babylonian Section 1/2. University of Pennsylvania.

Revisions and credits

Created Creator Type Authors Project Reviewer Status Action
2024-08-30 at 08:49:45 Firth, Richard Artifact metadata, Other metadata Firth, Richard Firth, Richard Approved View
2023-01-19 at 10:20:17 Pagé-Perron, Émilie Artifact metadata Földi, Zsombor J.; Jiménez, Enrique; Pagé-Perron, Émilie Electronic Babylonian Library Pagé-Perron, Émilie Approved View
2017-12-19 at 02:26:49 Dahl, Jacob L. Transliteration Zimmermann, Lynn-Salammbô CDLI, CDLI Approved View
2017-12-09 at 08:32:45 Dahl, Jacob L. Transliteration Dahl, Jacob L. CDLI, CDLI Approved View
2017-11-08 at 22:57:32 Dahl, Jacob L. Transliteration Dahl, Jacob L. CDLI, CDLI Approved View
2005-04-25 at 00:00:00 CDLI, CDLI Artifact metadata Englund, Robert K.; Fitzgerald, Madeleine; Foxvog, Daniel A.; Frayne, Douglas R.; Peterson, Jeremiah; Veldhuis, Niek; Zimmermann, Lynn-Salammbô Penn Museum CDLI, CDLI Approved View

Cite this Artifact

“PBS 01/2, 057 Artifact Entry.” (2005) 2024. Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). August 30, 2024. https://cdli.earth/P265132.
PBS 01/2, 057 artifact entry (No. P265132). (2024, August 30). Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). https://cdli.earth/P265132 (Original work published 2005)
PBS 01/2, 057 artifact entry (2024) Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). Available at: https://cdli.earth/P265132 (Accessed: October 31, 2026).
@misc{2024PBS,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2026-10-31]},
	year = {2024},
	month = {aug 30},
	title = {PBS 01/2, 057 artifact entry},
	url = {https://cdli.earth/P265132},
	howpublished = {https://cdli.earth/P265132},
}


TY  - ELEC
DA  - 2024/8/30/
PY  - 2024
ID  - P265132
LB  - CDLI:P265132
M1  - 2026/10/31/
TI  - PBS 01/2, 057 artifact entry
UR  - https://cdli.earth/P265132
ER  -

Cite this Artifact

“PBS 01/2, 057 Artifact Entry.” (2005) 2024. Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). August 30, 2024. https://cdli.earth/P265132.
PBS 01/2, 057 artifact entry (No. P265132). (2024, August 30). Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). https://cdli.earth/P265132 (Original work published 2005)
PBS 01/2, 057 artifact entry (2024) Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). Available at: https://cdli.earth/P265132 (Accessed: October 31, 2026).
@misc{2024PBS,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2026-10-31]},
	year = {2024},
	month = {aug 30},
	title = {PBS 01/2, 057 artifact entry},
	url = {https://cdli.earth/P265132},
	howpublished = {https://cdli.earth/P265132},
}


TY  - ELEC
DA  - 2024/8/30/
PY  - 2024
ID  - P265132
LB  - CDLI:P265132
M1  - 2026/10/31/
TI  - PBS 01/2, 057 artifact entry
UR  - https://cdli.earth/P265132
ER  -
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