SAA 10 352. Burial of the Substitute King (ABL 0437) [miscellaneous]

Obverse
o 1o 1

[a-na MAN EN]-ía ARAD-ka m[DUMUd15]

(1) [To the king], my [lord]: your servant [Mar-Issar]. [Good health] to the king, my lord! May [Nabû and Marduk] bless [the king], my lord! May [the great gods] bestow [long days], well-being and joy upon the king, my lord!

o 22

[lu-u DI-mu] a-na MAN EN-ía [dPA u dAMAR.UTU]

o 33

[a-na MAN] EN-ía lik-ru-bu [UD-me ar-ku-te]

o 44

ṭu-ub UZU u ḫu-ud ŠÀ-bi [DINGIR-MEŠ GAL-MEŠ]

o 55

a-na MAN EN-ía liš-ru-ku m[SIG₅-i]

(5) [Damqî], the son of the prelate of Akka[d], who had ru[led] Assyria, Babylon(ia) [and] all the countries, [di]ed with his queen on the night o[f the xth day as] a substitute for the king, my lord, [and for the sake of the li]fe of Šamaš-šumu-uki[n]. He went to his fate for their redemption.

o 66

DUMU v.ŠÀ.TAM ša A.GA.[.KI]

o 77

ša KUR-šur.KI .DINGIR.KI :* [ù]

o 88

KUR.KUR ka-li-ši-na ib-il?-[u-ni šu-u]

o 99

ù É.GAL-šú MI ša [UD x-KÁM a-na]

o 1010

di-na-a-ni ša MAN EN-ía [ù a-na ba-laṭ] ZI*-MEŠ*

o 1111

ša mdGIŠ.NU₁₁MUGI.[NA im-tu]-tu

o 1212

a-na pi-di-šú-nu a-na šim*-ti* it-ta-lak

o 1313

ÉKI.MAḪ -ta-pa-áš šu-u É.GAL-šú

(13) We prepared the burial chamber. He and his queen were decorated, treated, displayed, buried and wailed over. The burnt-offering was made, all portents were cancelled, and numerous apotropaic rituals, Bīt rimki and Bīt salā' ceremonies, exorcistic rites, penitential psalms and omen litanies were performed to perfection. The king, my lord, should know (this).

o 1414

dam-mu-qu ka-an-nu-u tak-li-ta-šú-nu

o 1515

kal*-lu-mat qa-ab-ru ba-ki-i-u

o 1616

šu-ru-up-tu šar-pat GISKIM-MEŠ -ši-na

o 1717

pa-áš-šá NAM.BÚR.BI ma--du-te

o 1818

Érin-ki Éšá-lame-e -pe-e-še

o 1919

ša a-ši-pu- ÉR.ŠÀ.ḪUN.-MEŠ

o 2020

na-qa-ba-a-te ša ṭup-šar-ru-

o 2121

ú-sa-li-mu e-tap-šú MAN be- lu-<u> ú-di

o 2222

[a]-se-me ma-a pa-na-at -pe-še an-nu-ti

(22) [I] have heard that before these ceremonies a prophetess had prophesied, saying to the son of the prelate, Damqî: "You will take over the kingship!" The prophetess had also said to him in the assembly of the country: "I have revealed the polecat, the ... of my lord, and placed (him) in your hands." These apotropaic rituals which were performed succeeded well indeed; the king, my lord, can be glad.

Bottom
b.e. 23b.e. 23

.ra-gi-in-ti tar-tu-gu-mu

b.e. 2424

a-na mSIG₅-i DUMU v.ŠÀ.TAM taq-ṭi-[bi]

b.e. 2525

ma-a LUGAL-u-ti ta-na-áš-ši

Reverse
r 1r 1

[ù] ra-gi-in-tu ina UKKIN

r 22

ša KUR taq-ṭi-ba-áš-šú ma-a ka-ki-šu

r 33

sar-ri-iq- ša EN-ía uk-ta-lim

r 44

ina ŠU.2 a-sa-kan-ka NAM.BÚR.BI

r 55

an-nu-ti ša ep-šú-u-ni i-sa-al-mu

r 66

adan-niš ŠÀ-bu ša MAN EN-ía lu DÙG.GA-šú

r 77

v.ak-kad*-u*-a ip-tal-ḫu ŠÀ nu-sa-áš-kin-šú-nu

(r 7) The inhabitants of Akkad got scared, (but) we gave them heart and they calmed down. Moreover, I have heard that the prelates and delegates of Babylonia got scared, too.

r 88

it-tu-ḫu ù a-se-me ma-a v.ŠÀ.TAM-MEŠ

r 99

v.qe-pa-a-ni ša KURURI.KI ip-tal-ḫu-ma

r 1010

EN u dPA DINGIR-MEŠ ka-li-šú-nu UD-me

(r 10) Bel and Nabû and all the gods have lengthened the days of the king, my lord; still, during the (validity) period of the eclipse and the approach of the gods he may not go into open country.

r 1111

ša MAN EN-ía ú-sa*-ri-ku ù ina* ŠÀ* du-ri

r 1212

AN.MI d30 TE-ḫe-e DINGIR-MEŠ i-ba-áš-ši

r 1313

a-na ka-*-ri la il-lak šúm-ma pa-an

(r 13) If it suits the king, my lord, a common man should, as before, be appointed to the office of the prelate, to present the regular offerings in front of the dais and, on the day of the eššešu-festival and at the "Greeting of the temple" ceremony, to strew (the incense) for the Lady of Akkad on the censer.

r 1414

MAN EN-ía ma-ḫir ki-i ša ina pa-ni-ti

r 1515

sa-ak-lu a-na v.ŠÀ.TAM-u-ti lu-u

r 1616

pa-qi-di ina pa-an BARAG gi-nu-u lu-qar-rib

r 1717

ina UD ÈŠ.ÈŠ ina šá-lam É ina UGU NÍG.NA

r 1818

[a-na] dGAŠAN*ak-kad.KI lis-ru-qu ki-ma*

(r 18) When [an eclipse] afflicting Babylonia takes place, [he] may serve as a substitute for the king, my lord, and stand [......]. [The ...s] of the king, my lord, would succeed, [......] the people would be calm.

r 1919

[AN.MI] i-sa-kan KURURI.KI il-ta-[pat]

r 2020

[šu-u a-na] di-na-ni MAN EN-ía lil-lik*

r 2121

[x x x x x x]--šú li-zi-zi [o]

r 2222

[x x x x x x] ša MAN EN-ía liš-li-mu

r 2323

[x x x x x x x]+x UN-MEŠ lu -e-[ḫu]

Right
r.e. 24r.e. 24

[x x x x]-MEŠ-šú ŠEŠ-MEŠ-šú*

(r.e. 24) Let the king, my lord, appoint in his place anyone [......] who is acceptable to the k[ing, my lord, among] his [...]s, brothers, [and ...s].

r.e. 2525

[x x x x] i-ba-áš-ši man-[nu]

r.e. 2626

[x x x x]+x ša pa-an MAN [EN-ía]

Edge
e. 1e. 1

ma-ḫir-u-ni ina ku-mu--šú MAN be- lip-qi-di


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/P334301/.