CDLI Literary 000604, ex. 003 (P346600)

Literary letter and letter-prayer tablet excavated in Ur (mod. Tell Muqayyar), dated to the Old Babylonian (ca. 1900-1600 BC) period and now kept in British Museum, London, UK

Metadata / catalogue

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Text / annotations

Text data

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Related publications

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Chemical Data

Seal Chemistry

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Metadata history Transliteration history
Lineart

Museum Collection(s)

British Museum, London, UK

Museum Number

BM —

Period

Old Babylonian (ca. 1900-1600 BC)

Provenience

Ur (mod. Tell Muqayyar)

Artifact Type

Tablet

Material(s)

Clay

Genre / Subgenre(s)

Literary > Literary letter and letter-prayer (ETCSL 3.03.32 Letter from Nabi-Enlil to Iterpisha (witness) Letter from Nabi-Enlil to Iterpisha)

Language(s)

Sumerian

Measurements

-

Witness

tablet
obverse
  beginning broken
1'. [...]-x
 en: ...
2'. [...]-en#
 en: ...
3'. [...]-x [...]-x-x-x-USZ
 en: ...
4'. muszen# gud3#-de3# [...] x pa {gesz}[...]-en#?
 en: Like a bird ... in(?) a nest, I ... the branches of the ... tree(?)
5'. ku6 a bar!(KIN?)#-ra# x-[...]-gu10#? mi-ni-ib2-il2-il2
 en: Like a fish a the edge of the water, my life has been carried (away)
6'. {gesz}kiri6 a szu-ta# nu#?-[...] gurun# la#-ba#?-il2-en
 en: Like an orchard that is not watered by hand, I do not bear fruit
7'. a-sza3 a-la-bi-ta kin2# [...]-ak#?-e u2#?-[...]-gar#?-x
 en: The field is not worked by means of its plenty(?), the seed is not planted(!?)
8'. igi# la2 tur gu7-a ba-tusz#-[...] x x [...]
 en: I sit watching, eating little(?), no one looks towards me
9'. di4#-di4-la2-gu10 u2#? [...] dili-[...]
 en: My tiny ones, having learned about (where?) food and water (was?) fled alone
10'. [...] x x [...]
 en: ...
  rest broken
reverse
  beginning broken
1'. zarah#!? a-nir-[...] x [...]
 en: Wailing and lamentation ...
2'. eh hur#?-[...] x eh# LA im#-x-[...]
 en: uplum lice, scabies(?) nābum lice(?) and parasites ..., I dry out/shrink from hunger and thirst(?)
3'. du-lum-e {uzu}szusz2-gin7 ba-de5-de5-[...] ak-bi nu-mu-e-da-il2-i
 en: Misery gathers me up like grease, I cannot bear its commission(?)
4'. szu sug4-ta lu2# nu-mu-da-kin2-ge26 gesztu2 de5-ge#? nu-tuku
 en: (I) cannot seek anyone empty-handedly, (I) do not have a listener
5'. lugal#-gu10 a-ga-gu10 giri3#? zukumx(|ZI&ZI.MIN|)-e lu2-lul#-la nu-me-en
 en: My king, my back is being trampled, even though I am not a liar/criminal
6'. tukumbi# lugal-ga2 an-na-du10
 en: If it is pleasing to my king
7'. [...]-gu10 nam-ba-usz2-de3-en
 en: I should not die (because of) my unknown (i.e., non-existent?) crime
8'. [...] nam#-ba-ra-bala-e
 en: (I) should not be drawn like water in the place of slaughter(?)
9'. [...]-x-ke4 [...]-x-e3#
 en: ...
  rest 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):
  • Weight:
  • Artifact Preservation:
  • Condition Description:
  • Join Information:
  • Seal no.:
  • Seal information:
  • Artifact comments:

  • history: NABU 2014/040

    [Attinger2014NABU40] Attinger, Pascal. 2014. “Nabu-Enlil-Īterpīša (ANL 7).” NABU, Nouvelles Assyriologiques Brèves et Utilitaires 40 (2).

  • history: UET 6, 0563

    [Gadd1963] Gadd, Cyril J., and Aaron Shaffer. 1963, 1966.

  • history: ZA 103 (2013) 154-161, 154-161

    [Kleinerman2013ZA103] Kleinerman, Alexandra, and Alhena Gadotti. 2013. Zeitschrift Für Assyriologie 103: 154–61.

  • Composite No.:
  • Museum No.: BM —
  • Accession No.:

  • Provenience: Ur (mod. Tell Muqayyar)
  • Elevation:
  • Stratigraphic Level:
  • Excavation No: U —
  • Findspot Square:
  • Findspot Comments:

Created Creator Type Authors Project Reviewer Status Action
2024-09-17 at 08:07:12 Firth, Richard Artifact, Other Entity Firth, Richard Firth, Richard approved View
2024-09-04 at 07:27:27 Firth, Richard Artifact, Other Entity Firth, Richard Firth, Richard approved View
2023-06-15 at 20:34:30 Rattenborg, Rune Artifact Rattenborg, Rune Geomapping Landscapes of Writing Rattenborg, Rune approved View
2019-06-11 at 16:07:10 Englund, Robert K. Atf Englund, Robert K. CDLI approved View
2019-05-29 at 21:01:59 Englund, Robert K. Atf Peterson, Jeremiah CDLI approved View
2006-11-02 at 00:00:00 CDLI Artifact Foxvog, Daniel A.; Guerra, Dylan; Peterson, Jeremiah; Veldhuis, Niek; Wolfe, Jared N. 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 000604 (Letter from Nabi-Enlil to Iterpisha) composite (P473755) View the score

General Notes: -
CDLI Notes: -

Cite this Artifact

“CDLI Literary 000604, Ex. 003 Artifact Entry.” (2006) 2024. Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). September 17, 2024. https://cdli.earth/P346600.
CDLI Literary 000604, ex. 003 artifact entry (No. P346600). (2024, September 17). Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). https://cdli.earth/P346600 (Original work published 2006)
CDLI Literary 000604, ex. 003 artifact entry (2024) Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). Available at: https://cdli.earth/P346600 (Accessed: August 24, 2025).
@misc{2024CDLI,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2025-08-24]},
	year = {2024},
	month = {sep 17},
	title = {CDLI {Literary} 000604, ex. 003 artifact entry},
	url = {https://cdli.earth/P346600},
	howpublished = {https://cdli.earth/P346600},
}


TY  - ELEC
DA  - 2024/9/17/
PY  - 2024
ID  - P346600
LB  - CDLI:P346600
M1  - 2025/8/24/
TI  - CDLI Literary 000604, ex. 003 artifact entry
UR  - https://cdli.earth/P346600
ER  -

Cite this Artifact

“CDLI Literary 000604, Ex. 003 Artifact Entry.” (2006) 2024. Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). September 17, 2024. https://cdli.earth/P346600.
CDLI Literary 000604, ex. 003 artifact entry (No. P346600). (2024, September 17). Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). https://cdli.earth/P346600 (Original work published 2006)
CDLI Literary 000604, ex. 003 artifact entry (2024) Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI). Available at: https://cdli.earth/P346600 (Accessed: August 24, 2025).
@misc{2024CDLI,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2025-08-24]},
	year = {2024},
	month = {sep 17},
	title = {CDLI {Literary} 000604, ex. 003 artifact entry},
	url = {https://cdli.earth/P346600},
	howpublished = {https://cdli.earth/P346600},
}


TY  - ELEC
DA  - 2024/9/17/
PY  - 2024
ID  - P346600
LB  - CDLI:P346600
M1  - 2025/8/24/
TI  - CDLI Literary 000604, ex. 003 artifact entry
UR  - https://cdli.earth/P346600
ER  -
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