SAA 13 078. Preparations for the Sacred Marriage of Nabu (ABL 0065)
Obverse | ||
o 1o 1 | (1) To the crown prince, my lord: your servant, Nabû-šumu-iddina. Good and abundant health to the crown prince, my lord. May Nabû and Marduk bless the crown prince, my lord. | |
o 22 | ||
o 33 | ||
o 44 | ||
o 55 | ||
o 66 | ||
o 77 | UD 03-KÁM ša ITI.GUD URU.kal-ḫi | (7) On the 3rd day of Iyyar (II), in Calah, the bed of Nabû will be set up and Nabû will enter the bed chamber. The 4th is the wedding night of Nabû. |
o 88 | ||
o 99 | ||
o 1010 | ||
o 1111 | (11) The crown prince, my lord, knows that I am the 'inspector' of the temple of Nabû, your god. I should therefore go to Calah. The god will set out from the threshing floor of the palace. From the threshing floor of the palace he will come to the garden. There a sacrifice will be performed. | |
o 1212 | ||
o 1313 | ||
o 1414 | ||
o 1515 | ||
o 1616 | ||
o 1717 | ||
o 1818 | ||
o 1919 | ||
o 2020 | (20) The chariot-driver of the gods will go (with) the team of horses of the gods. He will bring the god out and back in again. He himself will then move on. | |
o 2121 | ||
Reverse | ||
r 1r 1 | ||
r 22 | ||
r 33 | ||
r 44 | ||
r 55 | ||
r 66 | (r 6) Of the apprentice priests, whoever has a sacrifice to make will do so, and whoever brings even one seah of food may eat it in the temple of Nabû. For the sake of the life of the crown prince, my lord, they should perform the rites of their gods to perfection. | |
r 77 | ||
r 88 | ša 01 qa ak-li-šú ú-še-el-la-a | |
r 99 | ||
r 1010 | ||
r 1111 | ||
r 1212 | ||
r 1313 | ||
r 1414 | (r 14) What are the written instructions of the crown prince, my lord? May Bel and Nabû, who are betrothed in the month of Shebat (XI), protect the life of the crown prince, my lord. May they extend your kingship to the end of time. | |
r 1515 | ||
r 1616 | ||
r 1717 | ||
r 1818 | ||
r 1919 | ||
r 2020 | ||
r 2121 |
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/P334016/.