BE 17/1, 040 (P261326)

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 05134

Period

Middle Babylonian (ca. 1400-1100 BC)

Provenience

Nippur (mod. Nuffar)

Artifact Type

Tablet

Material(s)

Clay

Genre / Subgenre(s)

Letter (Letter, from Ubarrum to King;(Obv)17x(LoE)1x(Rev)8 lines, 5.5x9.3x2.5)

Language(s)

-

Measurements

-

Text

tablet
obverse
1. _ARAD_-ka {disz}u-bar-ru3 a-na di-na-an be#-li2#-ia# lul#-lik#
 en: Your servant Ubāru: I shall go as my lord’s substitute!
2. um-ma-a a-na be-li2-ia-a-ma
 en: The following (say) to my lord:
3. ha-za-an-nu sza _bad3_-{d}pap-{szuk}sukkal!{ki}
 en: The ḫazannu of Dūr-Pap šukkal
4. nam-ga-ra is-se-[ke]-er a-di szi-it-ta
 en: has closed the namgāru irrigation canal. Until they will irrigate the two
5. ta-mi-ra-ti sza har#-pi i-sza-aq-qu-u2
 en: irrigated territories (belonging to the city) of (=for) the early (sowing)
6. u3 2(u) har-bu sza up-pu-li
 en: and (until) 20 ḫarbu of (=for) fields of the late (sowing)
7. [sza]-ak-nu u3 i-de-ek-ku-u2
 en: are placed (there) on standby, until then they are going to levy a workforce (for it).
8. [be]-li2 me-e a-a-u2-ti isz-qi2-ma
 en: With what kind of water my lord has irrigated,
9. [... lu]-u2 nam-gar-ra is-ki-ir
 en: ... if it is the case that he closed the namgāru irrigation canal
10. be-li2 lisz-pu-ra-am-ma ta-mi-ir-ta
 en: my lord shall write (this) to me. And he shall irrigate the irrigated territories (surrounding a city),
11. sza i-na lib3-bi-szu u2-ma-al-lu-u2 lisz-qi2
 en: which he has already filled out of his heart (= from his own stocks with seeds),
12. u3 up-pu-la li-sza-ak-li-ma
 en: but he shall prevent them from (doing the) late (sowing).
13. be-li2 mi-ik-ra u3 e-re-sza
 en: My lord shall not miss the irrigation and the seeding with a seeder-plow.
14. la i-ha-at,-t,i nam-gar-szu musz-szur
 en: His own(= of the ḫazannu) namgāru irrigation canal is flowing
15. u3 szu-u2 a-na pa-an nam-ga-ri
 en: and he is sitting in front of the namgāru irrigation canal (i.e. thereby blocking it)
16. sza be-li2-ia a-szi-ib mu-u2 i-na nam-ga-ri-szu2
 en: of my lord. The water in his own namgāru irrigation canal
17. ma-a'-du u3 szu-u2 a-na pa-an
 en: is filled up (= enough) and still he is sitting in front of
18. nam-ga-ri an-ni-i a-szi-ib
 en: this namgāru irrigation canal!
reverse
1. i-na nam-ga-ri-szu me-e lil-qi2-ma
 en: Out of his namgāru irrigation canal he shall take water and
2. nam-gar-ra sza be-li2-ia li-masz-szi-ir
 en: the namgāru irrigation canal of my lord he shall make flow (with it).
3. me-e _i7 dingir_-i-pu-usz
 en: (About) the water of the nāru canal of Ilu-ipuš
4. u3 me-e _i7_ na-la-ah
 en: and the water of the nāru canal Nalaḫ,
5. me-e zi-it-ti sza be-li2-ia
 en: which is the share of the water of my lord
6. be-li2 a-na _gu2-en-na_-ki li-iq-bi2-ma
 en: shall my lord speak to the šandabakku and
7. a-na qi2-pu-ti lisz-pu-ru-ni-im-ma
 en: he shall send for the qīpu officials.
8. lid-di-nu-ma e-re-szu la i-ma-at,-t,i
 en: They shall give (water) and the ploughing must not decrease!

Text content

Genre(s) Letter (Letter, from Ubarrum to King;(Obv)17x(LoE)1x(Rev)8 lines, 5.5x9.3x2.5)
Language(s)

Chronology

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

Record

LOD URI https://cdli.network/entity/P261326

Physical information

Artifact type Tablet
Dimensions
Weight
Material(s) Clay
Preservation
slightly damaged

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 05134
Accession Number

External resources

External Resource Identifiers
Penn Museum (Penn) 580020
Electronic Babylonian Library (eBL) CBS.5134

References

  • primary: BE 17/1,, 040

    [Radau1908BE17/1] Radau, Hugo. 1908. Letters to the Cassite Kings from the Temple Archives of Nippur. Babylonian Expedition 17/1.

Revisions and credits

Created Creator Type Authors Project Reviewer Status Action
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
2019-04-02 at 08:24:06 Dahl, Jacob L. Transliteration Zimmermann, Lynn-Salammbô CDLI Approved View
2019-04-02 at 08:22:02 Dahl, Jacob L. Transliteration Zimmermann, Lynn-Salammbô CDLI Approved View
2017-12-19 at 02:39:57 Dahl, Jacob L. Transliteration Zimmermann, Lynn-Salammbô CDLI Approved View
2017-11-08 at 22:57:33 Dahl, Jacob L. Transliteration Zimmermann, Lynn-Salammbô CDLI Approved View
2005-04-25 at 00:00:00 CDLI Artifact metadata Englund, Robert K.; Fitzgerald, Madeleine; Foxvog, Daniel A.; Frayne, Douglas R.; Peterson, Jeremiah; Veldhuis, Niek; Zimmermann, Lynn-Salammbô Penn Museum CDLI Approved View

Cite this Artifact

“BE 17/1, 040 Artifact Entry.” (2005) 2023. Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). February 1, 2023. https://cdli.earth/P261326.
BE 17/1, 040 artifact entry (No. P261326). (2023, February 1). Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). https://cdli.earth/P261326 (Original work published 2005)
BE 17/1, 040 artifact entry (2023) Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). Available at: https://cdli.earth/P261326 (Accessed: May 17, 2026).
@misc{2023BE,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2026-05-17]},
	year = {2023},
	month = {feb 1},
	title = {BE 17/1, 040 artifact entry},
	url = {https://cdli.earth/P261326},
	howpublished = {https://cdli.earth/P261326},
}


TY  - ELEC
DA  - 2023/2/1/
PY  - 2023
ID  - P261326
LB  - CDLI:P261326
M1  - 2026/5/17/
TI  - BE 17/1, 040 artifact entry
UR  - https://cdli.earth/P261326
ER  -

Cite this Artifact

“BE 17/1, 040 Artifact Entry.” (2005) 2023. Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). February 1, 2023. https://cdli.earth/P261326.
BE 17/1, 040 artifact entry (No. P261326). (2023, February 1). Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). https://cdli.earth/P261326 (Original work published 2005)
BE 17/1, 040 artifact entry (2023) Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). Available at: https://cdli.earth/P261326 (Accessed: May 17, 2026).
@misc{2023BE,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2026-05-17]},
	year = {2023},
	month = {feb 1},
	title = {BE 17/1, 040 artifact entry},
	url = {https://cdli.earth/P261326},
	howpublished = {https://cdli.earth/P261326},
}


TY  - ELEC
DA  - 2023/2/1/
PY  - 2023
ID  - P261326
LB  - CDLI:P261326
M1  - 2026/5/17/
TI  - BE 17/1, 040 artifact entry
UR  - https://cdli.earth/P261326
ER  -
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