SAA 17 002. You May not Write your Messages in Aramaic (CT 54 010)[via saao/saa17]


Obverse
o 1o 1	a-na ^m^d30—SUM-na ⸢qí-bi⸣-[ma]	(1) Say to Sin-iddina: thus says the king. I am well, [you] can be glad.
o 22	um-ma LUGAL-ma šul-mu ia-a-⸢ši ŠÀ⸣-[ba-ka]
o 33	lu-ú ṭa-ab-ka šá É—DINGIR NINDA-ḪI.A lu-ú	(3) May the bread as well as the first quality beer of the temple be good! May the guard of Ur and my temples be very strong!
o 44	KAŠ.SAG lu-ú ṭa-a-bi EN.NUN ŠEŠ.UNUG.⸢KI⸣
o 55	É—⸢DINGIR⸣-MEŠ-e-a ma-aʾ-da lu-ú dan-na-⸢at⸣
o 66	[mim-ma] ⸢ma⸣-la ina ši-pir-ti-ka taš-pu-ra	(6) [Everything th]at you wrote in your letter [is ...].
o 77	[x x x x šá] ⸢taš⸣-pu-ra um-ma ki-i	(7) [As to what] you wrote: "If/since [the ...s] are finished, we will come up (for an audience) before Merodach-Baladan [...]" — now then [...] I will keep listening and [...]. (I swear) by [Aš]šur, Bel and Nabû, my gods, [that ...] ... is not gathered in.
o 88	[x x x x x] ⸢iq-ta⸣-tu-ú a-di ^m^dAMAR.UTU—A—MU
o 99	[x x x x x] ni-il-la-a a-du-ú
o 1010	[x x x x x] ⸢al⸣-te-nim-ma ù
o 1111	[x x x x AN].ŠÁR ^dEN u ^dAG DINGIR-MEŠ-e-a
o 1212	[ki-i x x x x]-⸢ga⸣-ar šá-bu-šú
o 1313	[šá taš-pu-ra um-ma] ⸢LÚ⸣.EME-MEŠ i-ba-áš-ši	(13) [As to what you wrote]: "There are informers [... to the king] and coming to his presence; if it is acceptable to the king, let me write and send my messages to the king on Aram[aic] parchment sheets" — why would you not write and send me messages in Akkadian? Really, the message which you write in it must be drawn up in this very manner — this is a fixed regulation!
o 1414	[a-na LUGAL x x]-⸢ka⸣ a-na pa-ni-šú il-lak-a-ni
o 1515	[um-ma] ⸢ki⸣-[i IGI] ⸢LUGAL⸣ maḫ-ru ina ŠÀ si-ip-ri
o 1616	[KUR].ár-⸢ma⸣-[a-a lu]-⸢us⸣-pi-ir-ma a-na LUGAL
o 1717	⸢lu⸣-še-bi-la mi-nam-ma ina ši-pir-ti
o 1818	ak-ka-da-at-tu la ta-šaṭ-ṭar-ma
o 1919	la tu-šeb-bi-la kit-ta ši-pir-tu
o 2020	šá ina ŠÀ-bi ta-šaṭ-ṭa-ru
o 2121	ki-i pi-i a-gan-ni-tim-ma i-da-at
o 2222	lu-ú šak-na-at ù áš-šú ^mú-bar—ḫar-ra-ni	(22) And as to Ubar-Harrani of whom you wrote, I have sent him to Hatti. As soon as he returns, [...] may ask him and he will sa[y ...]
o 2323	šá taš-pu-ra a-na KUR.ḫat-ti al-ta-⸢par⸣
o 2424	ki-i šá it-te-eḫ-⸢sa⸣ [x x x]
o 2525	liš-al-šú-ma i-⸢qab⸣-[bi x x x x]
		(Break)
o 2626	[x x x x x] ⸢x x x⸣ [x x x x]
Reverse
r 1r 1	⸢x x⸣ [x x x x x x x x x x]
r 22	dib-bi-šú i-[x x x x x x x x]	(r 2) his words [...]
r 33	šá mim-ma na-kut-[tu x x x x x x]	(r 3) of any critical situation [...]
r 44	ŠÀ-ba-ka ma-aʾ-[diš lu-ú ṭa-a-bi]	(r 4) [May] your heart [be] very [glad]!
r 55	EN.NUN-ka ú-⸢ṣur⸣ [x x x x x x]	(r 5) Keep your guard and be not negligent [regarding your ...]!
r 66	la ta-sel-li [x x x x x x x]
	rest uninscribed

Adapted from Manfried Dietrich, The Neo-Babylonian Correspondence of Sargon and Sennacherib (State Archives of Assyria, 17), 2003. Lemmatised by Mikko Luukko, 2009-11, as part of the AHRC-funded research project “Mechanisms of Communication in an Ancient Empire: The Correspondence between the King of Assyria and his Magnates in the 8th Century BC” (AH/F016581/1; University College London) directed by Karen Radner. The annotated edition is released under the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike license 3.0. Please cite this page as http://oracc.org/saao/P237990/.