Chester Beatty Library: 3 (2023-03-12)

Created by: Wagensonner, Klaus

Dated letter regarding military operations; Old Babylonian period; CBL CT 123

Letters dating to the Old Babylonian period (ca. 1900-1600 BC) comprise a dense corpus of official and private communication. The Chester Beatty Library houses three such letters. The document at hand is a letter written the Babylonian king Ammi-saduqa. It is noteworthy, because it is one of the rare instances of a dated later; the date formula containing the year name for the 15th year of king Ammi-saduqa is written on its reverse. There is comparatively good evidence for royal letters in the Old Babylonian period. The most famous case are letters in the Šamaš-hazir archive from Larsa, among which many communications from Hammurabi of Babylon can be found. The letter deals with a rumor of a certain Etel-pî-Marduk, who mediates a story that troops venture towards Sippar-Jahrurum. Ammi-saduqa himself orders the addressees to enforce the guards on the city wall and: The city gate must not be opened as long as the sun has not risen. When the sun “stands”, it shall be closed! But the king is also concerned with the well-being of the people and animals outside the city walls. CDLI entry: P469474

credit: Wagensonner, Klaus