SAA 10 253. Postponing New Year’s Festival in Babylon (ABL 0956) [from exorcists]


Obverse
o 1o 1	[a-na LUGAL be-lí-ia]	(1) [To the king, my lord: your servant Marduk-šakin-šumi. Good health to the king, my lord! May Nabû and Marduk bless the king, my lord! May Aššur, Sin, Šamaš, Bel, Nabu, Nergal, Ištar of Nineveh and Ištar of Arbela] call [vigour, heal]th, [happiness], physical [well-being and lasting da]ys [for the king, my lord]! May they sate [the ki]ng, my lord, with [old age] and fullness of life!
o 22	[ARAD-ka ^m^dAMAR.UTU—GAR—MU]
o 33	[lu-u DI-mu a-na LUGAL EN-ía]
o 44	[^dAG ù ^dAMAR.UTU]
o 55	[a-na LUGAL EN-ía lik-ru-bu]
o 66	[aš-šur ^d30 ^dUTU ^dEN ^dPA]
o 77	[^dU.GUR ^d15 ša NINA.KI]
o 88	[^d15 ša URU.arba]-⸢ìl⸣
o 99	[ba-lá-ṭu šá-la]-⸢mu⸣
o 1010	[ḫu-ud ŠÀ-bi ṭu-ub] UZU
o 1111	[ù du-ur UD]-me
o 1212	[a-na LUGAL EN]-⸢ía^* li^*⸣-bi-u
o 1313	[ši-bu-tú] lit-tu-tú
o 1414	[a-na] ⸢LUGAL⸣ EN-ía lu-šab-bi-u
o 1515	[ina] ⸢UGU⸣ da-re-e	(15) [Concerni]ng the intercalation [of] the year [about which the k]ing said as follows: "Let us add an intercalary Elul (VI)!" — the matter is (now) settled. [May the kin]g, my lord, live forever on account of that!
o 1616	[ša] MU.AN.NA
o 1717	[ša] ⸢LUGAL⸣ iq-bu-ni
o 1818	[ma]-a ITI.KIN nid-ri
o 1919	[a]-bu-tu^* ku-⸢un^*⸣-na-ta
o 2020	⸢LUGAL⸣ be-lí
o 2121	[ina] ⸢UGU⸣-ḫi
Reverse
r 1r 1	[lu-u] ⸢da⸣-a-ir^*
r 22	[LUGAL be]-⸢lí^*⸣ ú-da	(r 2) [The king, my lo]rd, knows that Bel is dressed (for the festival) [on the 7]th of Tishri (VII); on the 8th day the gate (of the temple) is kept open, and the procession of Bel sets out as in the month Nisa[n (I)].
r 33	[UD 07]-⸢KÁM⸣ ša ITI.DU₆
r 44	^dEN^* il-lab-biš
r 55	⸢UD⸣ 08-KÁM KÁ pa-a-ti
r 66	⸢ki⸣-i šá ITI.⸢BARAG⸣ [^dEN]
r 77	[a]-⸢na⸣ KASKAL.2 ú^-nam-[mu]-šu^
r 88	[par]-⸢ṣi^*⸣ šá BÀD.⸢DINGIR.KI⸣	(r 8) [The cerem]onies of the city of Der are conducted in the same way. [In fa]ct, [the king], my lord, should (now) decide what t[o d]o (with these ceremonies) [and send word] (about it).
r 99	[ki]-i an-nim-ma ⸢e⸣-[pu]-šú
r 1010	[ket]-tú mi-i-nu ⸢ši⸣-[ti]-ni
r 1111	[LUGAL] be-lí lip-ru-⸢us⸣
r 1212	[liš-pu]-⸢ra^*⸣ ^m^dAMAR.UTU—MAN—PAB-ma
r 1313	⸢LÚ^v⸣.qur-bu-tú LÚ tak-lu	(r 13) The bodyguard Marduk-šarru-uṣur is a trustworthy and reliable man. Let him come [...]
r 1414	⸢ú⸣-mu-ru šu-ú
r 1515	⸢šu⸣-tu^-ma lil^-⸢li^⸣-ka^
	rest broken away	(Remainder lost)

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/P334645/.