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Letter from Aradĝu (?) to Šulgi about bandits and Apillaša

Sumerian literature (ETCSL) · 3 - Literary letters and letter-prayers · 21 sections

1. gap

   (unknown no. of lines missing)

2. 1

   ⌈?⌉-e a dug4-ga !-da mi-ni-ĝar-ĝar id2 X [(…)] i3-dun i3-luḫ-⌈luḫ⌉

   The men (?) started irrigation work (?) on the watercourses, …… the watercourses …… and dug and cleaned them out thoroughly . These bandits and brigands applied their hoes to levelling the desert completely. As for their men and their women …… the road (?) …… : the man among them goes wherever he pleases, the woman among them the woman , holding a spindle and hair clasp in her hand, goes (?) …… going the way of her choice. In the vastness of the desert they set up they knock up animal pens, and after setting up their tents and camps they lie in (?) green meadows in their (?) tents and camps , their workers and agricultural labourers spend the day together on the fields.

3. 2

   lu2 la-ga lu2-sa-gaz-e edin sig9-si-ig-ga-bi {ĝiš}niĝ2-gul-bi bi2-ak

4. 3

   nitaḫ-be2-e-ne munus-be2-e-⌈ne⌉ ⌈?-?-an⌉ […] X nitaḫ-bi ki šag4-ga-na-še3 ?-du-⌈?⌉

5. 4

   munus-bi ⌈munus⌉-e {ĝiš}bal {ĝiš}kirid-da šu ba-e-si-ig ḫar-ra-an šag4-ga-na i3-DU tab-be2-X du-u3-de3

6. 5

   edin niĝ2-daĝal-la-ba ĝa2-rig7 mu-ni-in-ĝar mu-ni-si-ig

7. 6

   za-lam-ĝar maš-gana2-bi ki um-mi-ĝar-ĝar ⌈za⌉-lam-ĝar maš-gana2-bi-ta u2-sal mu-un-nu2-nu2

8. 7

   lu2 kiĝ2 ak-bi lu2 gud-apin la2 a-šag4-ga ud mu-un-di-ni-ib-zal-e

9. 8

   a2 aĝ2-ĝa2 {d}šul-gi lugal-ĝa2-ke4 gu2-ĝu10 nu-mu-da-šub

   I have not neglected the instructions of my lord Šulgi: both at night and in the noonday heat I …… my neck; I …… the workload (?) concerned. Since his childhood, Apillaša has …… has not …… . A man such as he knows my heart, as your eyes know have seen . My lord, with the open eye of a god, …… to (?) an evildoer …… you (?) know the evildoer . While the great …… official of all the foreign lands surpasses ……, my lord, you (?) surpass all great things, …… an equal.

10. 9

    gu2 bi2-X ĝi6-ba an-bar7-ba a2-bi X i3-ĝen-ne-en

11. 10

    {m}a-pi-il-la-ša ud tur-ra-ni-ta šu UŠ-ba mu-e-X X […] šu X-ba nu-e

12. 11

    lu2 al-me-a-gin7 šag4-ĝu10 i3-zu igi-zu um-mi-zu im-mi-du8

13. 12

    lugal-ĝu10 igi bar-ra diĝir-ra lu2 ḫul-la-? i-ni-TU-X lu2 ḫul bi2-i-!-in-zu

14. 13

    lu2-ĝarza2 gal kur-kur-ra-ke4 ugu-bi um-mi-dirig

15. 14

    lugal-ĝu10 niĝ2 gal-gal ba-e-dirig gaba-ri MU X-ni-in-[…]

16. 15

    dug4-ga ab-gi4 BI dug4-ga-dug4-ga ab-dug4 X […] inim-zu inim dugud-da niĝ2-zu niĝ2 gal-la-am3

    The report is returned (?) ……; Whatever statements have been made ……, your matter is an important matter, and your affairs are great affairs. His pleasant words are in your heart, ……. They (?) are the people. Your eyes ……. How could I bear a grudge? I am securing the foundations of the province, and making it obedient. My lord, no king can rival you; let your heart be glad!

17. 16

    inim sag9-ga-ni šag4-za i3-ĝal2 ud us2-sa i3-X X

18. 17

    lu2-u18-lu-am3 igi-zu an-X i3-in-⌈DU⌉ ḫe2-i

19. 18

    šag4-ĝu10 šag4 zu2 keše2 a-gin7 ḫe2-en-ĝa2-ĝa2

20. 19

    ma-da suḫuš bi2-ge-en gu3 teš2-a bi2-sig10-ge5

21. 20

    lugal-ĝu10 lugal nu-mu-e-da-sa2 šag4-zu ḫe2-eb-dug3-ge

The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature (ETCSL), Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford. Copyright holders: Jeremy Black, Graham Cunningham, Jarle Ebeling, Esther Flückiger-Hawker, Eleanor Robson, Jon Taylor and Gábor Zólyomi. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0. Source.