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PBS 10/4, 8 (Letter)

SEAL no. 27667 · CBS 346 · Literary Letters · Sippar (mod. Tell Abu Ḥabbah) (uncertain) · 25 lines · 150 words · 292 signs · 3 Sumerograms · bilingual

ETCSL erroneously refers to a cuneiform source Ash 1922-163 (OECT 5 26), which represents another letter.

Transliteration

Obv.

1 [lugal-gu10-ra] ù-ne-⌈dug4

2 ⌈árad-gu10 árad-zu na-ab-bé⌉-[a]

3 lugal-gu10 inim-zu inim an-na níg nu-kúr-[ru-dam]

   a-wa-at-ka a-wa-at a-nim ša la⌉ [ut-ta-ka-ru]

4 nam tar-ra-zu dingir-gin7 šu-zu ĝar-⌈ra⌉-[(àm)]

  ši-ma-tu-ka ki-ma DINGIR šu-ut-lu-ma-[ni-kim]

5 bàd lugal-ĝu10 šu mu-un-gi4 kíg-bi ⌈ki⌉-b[i?-šè im-ma]-gar

   <> ⌈ša⌉ be-lí ú-ša-lim x NI? ši-pí-ir-šu a?⌉-[na aš-ri-šu aš]-ku-un

6 gìri lú kúr-e kakalam-šè ba-⌈kud!⌉-[(re6)]

   še-ep na-ak-ri a-⌈nama-tim pa-ar-⌈sa-at

7 ⌈mu⌉ maḫ lugal-gu10 ⌈sig⌉ igi-⌈nim⌉-ma

    šu-ma-am ṣi-rum ša be-lí-iaiš-tu⌉ ma-tim e-li-⌈tim⌉ a-na <>

dutu-è-ta u4-šú-uš zag-šè kalam til-la a mi-ni-in-túm-⌈túm⌉-mu

   ⌈⌉-tu <> a-na <> a-na pa-ṭe4gi⌉-mi-ir-ti ma-tim i-tam-mi-⌈ra

9 amurrum gú-érim bí-in-gar ní-bi ⌈im-ma⌉-x-x [. . .]

   ki-ša-tum šu? -x-al na-ak?-[ri . . .]

10 Ikur-gam-ma-bi ⌈dšul⌉-gi-ra túm-⌈mu?⌉ x [...] x (eras.) ḫar-ra-an-kalag igi ḫur-⌈sag⌉-[gá-ka . . .]

     ku-un-ši-ma-tum a-⌈na⌉ <> [. . .] a-na ḫal-ṣí ša pa-ni⌉ [ša-di-i . . .]

11 ⌈ù⌉ a-ba-àm-da-⌈sá⌉ [...]
<>
12 ⌈im-sar-re lugal-gu10⌉ [. . .]
     ⌈ṭup⌉-pí x (eras.) be-lí-⌈ia⌉ [. . .]

13 níg lugal-gu10 ab-[bé-na-(gu10 ga-ab-ak)]

     ⌈ša⌉ be-lí [i-qa-bu-ú (lu-pu-uš)]

14 [lugal]-⌈gu10⌉ [hé-en-zu]

 

Translation

1 Speak to my king,

2 saying (the words) of Aradmu, your servant.

3 My king, your pronouncements are as the pronouncements of An that cannot be changed.

4 Your destiny has been bestowed to you as to a god!

5 And as for the fortifications that my king commissioned me to finish, I have restored the work to its previous condition.

6 (As a result) the enemy’s access to the frontier territory has been blocked.

7-8  My king’s supreme name illuminates (everything) from North to South, from East to West, to the borders of the entire homeland.

9 The enemy Amorites were put down (?), they themselves (?)...

10 Kurgamabi is bringing (?) to Šulgi . . . the fortress Igiḫursaga

11 And Abaindasa . . .

12 The tablet that my king . . .

13 Whatever you, my king or[der me to do, (I will do)].

14 Now my king [is informed] (about all of this)!

Commentary

5 The sign lim in the Akkadian line is hardly seen in the present condition of the tablet. Hereupon there is one or two erased signs and a sign ni. Note another reconstruction of this line, both Sumerian and Akkadian, in ETCSL.

7-8 In the Sumerian phrase ⌈mu⌉ maḫ lugal-gu10 ... a mi-ni-in-túm-⌈túm⌉-mu it is not clear if the expression a túm could be used in a metaphorical sense ("to bring, provide wealth"), or -a is the part of the previous word. It is not entirely clear also if mu maḫ or lugal-gu10 is a subject, i.e. if the phrase is "My king’s supreme name... brings wealth" or "My king with (his) supreme name... brings wealth". The scribe seems to experience the same difficulties: in the Akkadian translation, we see case non-agreement (šu-ma-am ṣi-rum) and an inconsistent version of the verb.

10 The equivalence harran.kal =  ḫal-ṣu is attested lexically (CAD Ḫ, 51b, ḫalṣu). Note the verbatim translation of the PN and GN into Akkadian.

Michael P. Streck and Nathan Wasserman, Sources of Early Akkadian Literature (SEAL), seal.huji.ac.il. No commercial use is allowed. Published under CC BY-NC-ND (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives). Reproduced unmodified. Cite as SEAL no. 27667; view on seal.huji.ac.il.