SAA 10 315. The Nature of the King’s Disease (ABL 0391) [from physicians]


Obverse
o 1o 1	a-na LUGAL be-lí-ia	(1) To the king, my lord: your servant Urad-Nanaya. The very best of health to the king, my lord! May Ninurta and Gula give happiness and physical well-being to the king, my lord!
o 22	ARAD-ka ^mARAD—^dna-na-a
o 33	lu-u DI-mu ad—dan-niš ad—dan-niš
o 44	a-na LUGAL EN-ia ^dMAŠ u ^dgu-la
o 55	ṭu-ub ŠÀ-bi ṭu-ub UZU
o 66	a-na LUGAL EN-ia lid-di-nu
o 77	ka-a.a-ma-nu LUGAL be-lí	(7) The king, my lord, keeps on saying to me: "Why do you not diagnose the nature of this illness of mine and bring about its cure?" — formerly I spoke to the king at the audience and could not clarify his symptoms. Now I am sealing and sending a letter; it should be read to the king, to inform the king, my lord. If it suits the king, my lord, let the haruspices perform an extispicy on account of this.
o 88	i-qab-bi-ia ma-a a-ta-a
o 99	ši-ki-in GIG-ia an-ni-iu-u
o 1010	la ta-mar bul-ṭe-e-šú la te-pa-áš
o 1111	ina pa-ni-ti ina pa-an LUGAL aq-ṭi-bi
o 1212	sa-kik-ke-e-šú la ú-šá-aḫ-ki-me
o 1313	ú-ma-a an-nu-rig e-gír-tú
o 1414	ak-ta-nak us-se-bi-la
o 1515	ina pa-an LUGAL li-si-iu-ú
o 1616	a-na LUGAL EN-ia lu-saḫ-ki-mu
o 1717	šum-ma ina pa-an LUGAL be-lí-ia
Bottom
b.e. 18b.e. 18	ma-ḫi-ir LÚ.ḪAL-⸢MEŠ^*⸣
b.e. 1919	dul-lu ina UGU-ḫi le-pu-[šú]
b.e. 2020	mar-ḫu-ṣu an-ni-⸢iu⸣-[u]	(20) Let the king apply this lotion (sent with the letter), and perhaps this fever will leave the king, my lord. I have prepared this lotion of oil for the king, my lord, (already) 2 or 3 times — the king knows it. If the king prefers, he may apply it tom[orrow]. It will remove the illness.
Reverse
r 1r 1	LUGAL le-pu-šú i—su-ur-ri
r 22	ḫu-un-ṭu an-ni-iu-u TA pa-an
r 33	LUGAL be-lí-ia ip-pa-ṭar
r 44	mar-ḫu-ṣu šu-ú ša Ì.GIŠ-MEŠ
r 55	02-šú 03-šú a-na LUGAL be-lí-ia
r 66	e-ta-pa-áš LUGAL ú-da-šú
r 77	šum-ma LUGAL i-qab-bi ina ši-⸢ia⸣-[a-ri]
r 88	le-pu-uš šu-ú mur-ṣu-um-ma
r 99	i-na-šar ki-ma ṣi-il-ba-ni	(r 9) When they bring the ṣilbānu-medication to the king, let them draw the curtain as they have done once and twice (before); I will enter and give instructions. Perhaps the king will sweat.
r 1010	ina pa-an LUGAL ú-še-rab-u-ni
r 1111	ki-i ša ma-a-la 02-šú e-pu-šu-u-ni
r 1212	pa-ri-ik-tú lip-ri-ku
r 1313	le-ru-ba lu-šá-aḫ-ki-im
r 1414	i—su-ur-ri zu-ú-tú LUGAL
r 1515	i-kar-ra-ra ina lub-bi	(r 15) In a bag, I am sending certain phylacteries to the king, my lord. The king should put them around his neck.
r 1616	me-e-li šu-nu a-na LUGAL EN-ía
r 1717	us-se-bi-la LUGAL ina UZU.GÚ-šú
Right
r.e. 18r.e. 18	lik-ru-ur nap-šal-tú	(r.e. 18) I am also sending a salve. The king should anoint himself on the day of [his] (acute) period (of illness).
r.e. 1919	⸢i^-se^⸣-niš us-se-bi-⸢la^*⸣
r.e. 2020	⸢UD⸣-mu ša e-da-ni-[šú]
r.e. 2121	LUGAL li-pi-ši-iš

Adapted from Simo Parpola, Letters from Assyrian and Babylonian Scholars (State Archives of Assyria, 10), 1993. Lemmatised by Mikko Luukko, 2016, as part of the research programme of the Alexander von Humboldt Chair in the Ancient History of the Near and Middle East at LMU Munich (Karen Radner, Humboldt Professorship 2015). The annotated edition is released under the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike license 3.0. Please cite this page as http://oracc.org/saao/P334266/.