SAA 13 135. It Is Not an Ancient Ritual (CT 53 965)


Obverse
oo	beginning broken away	(Beginning destroyed)
o 1'1'	[x x x x] ⸢x⸣+[x x x x x]
o 2'2'	[x x x x]-e ⸢x⸣+[x x x x]
o 3'3'	[x x x]-ši ⸢x al⸣-lak [dul-lu]	(3) I will go to [...]. There is [a ritual]. In [the month of ...], on the 16th day, in the even[ing, Ištar] will g[o] through the great gate [and] descend into the cana[l ...]. There is a ritual [he will perform]. She will then come up from the canal, go under the gate of the temple of Nabû, and take a seat in the shrine's gate. [Th]ere is a [ritual] he will perfo[rm]. She will then go d[own] from the shrine's gate in[to the ...] of the palace which faces the [...] of the drinking place. He will fin[ish] 3 libation jars. This is not a ritual; this is nothing. It is not ancient — your father introduced [it].
o 4'4'	i-ba-áš-ši ina ŠÀ-bi [ITI x x]
o 5'5'	UD 16-KÁM ina sa-⸢ḫar^?⸣—[UD-me ^d15]
o 6'6'	ina ŠÀ ⸢KÁ⸣.GAL ra-⸢bi⸣-te tal-[lak x x]
o 7'7'	⸢tu-ra⸣-ad ina ŠÀ ḫi-ri-[te x x]
o 8'8'	dul-lu i-ba-áš-ši [e-pa-áš]
o 9'9'	TA^v UGU ḫi-ri-te ta-⸢la⸣-[ka]
o 10'10'	ina šap-la KÁ.GAL ša É—^dPA
o 11'11'	⸢tal-lak ina KÁ⸣ suk-ki tu-⸢šab⸣
Bottom
b.e. 12'b.e. 12'	[dul-lu i]-⸢ba⸣-áš-ši e-pa-[áš]
b.e. 13'13'	TA^v KÁ suk-ki ina ⸢ŠÀ⸣ [x x x]
Reverse
r 1r 1	ša É.GAL ša pa-⸢an⸣ [x x x]
r 22	ša maš-qe-e tu-[ra-ad^?]
r 33	03 pa-gi-li ú-gam-[mar]
r 44	la dul-lu la me-me-e-⸢ni⸣
r 55	la-a la-bi-ru šu-⸢ú⸣
r 66	AD-ú-ka us-se-li [x x]
r 77	UD 19-KÁM mu-da-ri-ik-⸢tu⸣	(r 7) On the 19th is the mudarriktu (ritual). Ištar will proceed to the temple of Gula in the countryside and si[t] on a brick. We will make an offering [...]
r 88	^d15 É—^dgu-la ša ṣe-e-[ri]
r 99	ta-al-lak ina UGU SIG₄ tu-⸢šab⸣
r 1010	⸢UDU⸣.SISKUR ni-na-sa-aḫ [x x]
	rest broken away	(Rest destroyed)

Adapted from Steven W Cole, Peter Machinist, Letters from Assyrian and Babylonian Priests to Kings Esarhaddon and Assurbanipal (State Archives of Assyria, 13), 1998. Lemmatised by Mikko Luukko and Silvie Zamazalová, 2011-13, as part of the AHRC-funded research project “Mechanisms of Communication in an Ancient Empire: The Correspondence between the King of Assyria and his Magnates in the 8th Century BC” (AH/F016581/1; University College London) directed by Karen Radner. The annotated edition is released under the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike license 3.0. Please cite this page as http://oracc.org/saao/P314374/.