CDLI Literary 000573, ex. 012 & 000574, ex. 017 & 000575, ex. 014 (P256971)

Literary letter and letter-prayer tablet excavated in Nippur (mod. Nuffar), dated to the Old Babylonian (ca. 1900-1600 BC) period and now kept in Penn Museum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Metadata / catalogue

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Text / annotations

Text data

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Chemical Data

Seal Chemistry

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Metadata history Transliteration history
Photo

Museum Collection(s)

Penn Museum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Museum Number

UM 29-16-480

Period

Old Babylonian (ca. 1900-1600 BC)

Provenience

Nippur (mod. Nuffar)

Artifact Type

Tablet

Material(s)

Clay

Genre / Subgenre(s)

Literary > Literary letter and letter-prayer (ETCSL 3.03.01 Letter from Ur-saga to a King (witness); ETCSL 3.03.02 Letter from Literary letters)

Language(s)

Sumerian

Measurements

51.0 mm × 54.0 mm × 25.0 mm

Witness

tablet
obverse
  beginning broken
1'. [inim-zu im] an#-ta# [szeg3-ge26-gin7] szid# nu-du12-du12-dam#
2'. [{disz}ur]-sa6#-ga# ARAD2-zu na#-ab#-be2#-a#
3'. [lugal-mu] bar-ga2 en3 bi2-in#-[tar dumu] uri2{ki}-ma-me-en#
4'. [tukum]-bi lugal#-mu an#-[na-kam]
5'. [e2 ad-da]-ga2# lu2# [nam-ba-ab-tum3]
6'. [ki-ur3 e2 ad-da]-ga2# lu2#? [nam-mu-da-an-kar-re]
7'. lugal-mu# [he2-en-zu]
8'. [lugal] {d}utu#-[gin7 sza3 kalam-ma mu-un-zalag-ga]
9'. u3-[na-du11]
10'. i-{d}utu [ab-sin2 ib2-ta-an-zi-ga]
11'. GIR3 [ti-id-nu-um{ki}-e szu bi2-in-gar ...]
  rest broken
reverse
  broken

Consult previous versions and their differences
Consult sign list of Old Babylonian (ca. 1900-1600 BC)
Consult word list of Old Babylonian (ca. 1900-1600 BC)

  • Artifact type: Tablet
  • Material: Clay
  • Measurements (mm): 51.0 high × 54.0 wide × 25.0 thick
  • Weight:
  • Artifact Preservation: fragment
  • Condition Description: chip
  • Join Information:
  • Seal no.:
  • Seal information:
  • Artifact comments:

  • history: BPOA 9, 275

    [Peterson2011BPOA9] Peterson, Jeremiah. 2011. Sumerian Literary Fragments in the University Museum, Philadelphia. Biblioteca Del Próximo Oriente Antiguo 9. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas.

  • Composite No.:
  • Museum No.: UM 29-16-480
  • Accession No.:

  • Provenience: Nippur (mod. Nuffar)
  • Elevation:
  • Stratigraphic Level:
  • Excavation No:
  • Findspot Square:
  • Findspot Comments:

Created Creator Type Authors Project Reviewer Status Action
2023-06-15 at 19:55:18 Rattenborg, Rune Artifact Rattenborg, Rune Geomapping Landscapes of Writing Rattenborg, Rune approved View
2023-01-19 at 10:20:17 Pagé-Perron, Émilie Artifact Földi, Zsombor J.; Jiménez, Enrique; Pagé-Perron, Émilie Electronic Babylonian Library Pagé-Perron, Émilie approved View
2018-06-01 at 05:06:07 Pagé-Perron, Émilie Atf Pagé-Perron, Émilie CDLI approved View
2016-08-23 at 17:19:30 Englund, Robert K. Atf Englund, Robert K. CDLI approved View
2016-08-23 at 17:11:25 Englund, Robert K. Atf Englund, Robert K. CDLI approved View
2016-08-23 at 08:37:33 Englund, Robert K. Atf Englund, Robert K. CDLI approved View
2014-11-21 at 08:56:23 Englund, Robert K. Atf Englund, Robert K. CDLI approved View
2011-10-07 at 07:38:48 Wagensonner, Klaus Atf Wagensonner, Klaus CDLI approved View
2005-02-24 at 00:00:00 CDLI Artifact Fitzgerald, Madeleine; Peterson, Jeremiah CDLI approved View

Consult this artifact as presented on the website of collections and projects:

This artifact is a witness to the following composite(s):

Composite Score
CDLI Literary 000573 (Letter from Ur-saga to a King) composite (P473736) View the score

General Notes: -
CDLI Notes: -
Cite this Artifact
“CDLI Literary 000573, Ex. 012 & 000574, Ex. 017 & 000575, Ex. 014 Artifact Entry.” (2005) 2023. Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). June 15, 2023. https://cdli.earth/P256971.
CDLI Literary 000573, ex. 012 & 000574, ex. 017 & 000575, ex. 014 artifact entry (No. P256971). (2023, June 15). Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). https://cdli.earth/P256971 (Original work published 2005)
CDLI Literary 000573, ex. 012 & 000574, ex. 017 & 000575, ex. 014 artifact entry (2023) Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). Available at: https://cdli.earth/P256971 (Accessed: July 19, 2025).
@misc{2023CDLI,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2025-07-19]},
	year = {2023},
	month = {jun 15},
	title = {CDLI {Literary} 000573, ex. 012 & 000574, ex. 017 & 000575, ex. 014 artifact entry},
	url = {https://cdli.earth/P256971},
	howpublished = {https://cdli.earth/P256971},
}


TY  - ELEC
DA  - 2023/6/15/
PY  - 2023
ID  - P256971
LB  - CDLI:P256971
M1  - 2025/7/19/
TI  - CDLI Literary 000573, ex. 012 & 000574, ex. 017 & 000575, ex. 014 arti
fact entry
UR  - https://cdli.earth/P256971
ER  -
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