SAA 16 034. Let Me Finish My Father’s Work in Calah (ABL 0885)
| Obverse | ||
| o 1o 1 | (1) [To] the crown prince, my lord: your servant Šumay[a. Good] health to the crown prince, m[y] lord! May Nabû and Marduk ble[ss] the crown prince, my lord. | |
| o 22 | ||
| o 33 | ||
| o 44 | (4) The king, your father, saw the work that I did in Tarbiṣu. I did it caref[ully], thinking: "May my name be good before [my] lord." | |
| o 55 | ||
| o 66 | ||
| o 77 | (7) Now, the scribe whom my father appointed to count the work done by the drunks, and the nobles of my father who were assigned to the work — the moment they heard that a scribe had been appointed, they quit the work and ran away. [The king], my [l]ord, did not give me [a hou]se (nor) silver for the rest of the work. | |
| o 88 | ||
| o 99 | ||
| o 1010 | ||
| o 1111 | ||
| o 1212 | ||
| o 1313 | ||
| o 1414 | ||
| o 1515 | (15) Now, if it is acceptable to the crown prince, let them settle my accounts, let the crown prince hand over the work, and let me do the work in Calah assigned to my father and deliver it to the crown prince. | |
| o 1616 | ||
| o 1717 | ||
| o 1818 | ||
| o 1919 | ||
| o 2020 | (20) Nobody listens to me. (Should) it come to pass that I become a nobody before the crown prince, I will die. If only the crown prince, my lord, would turn his attention to me, I'd perform the works of the crown prince and deliver them to the crown prince, my lord. If I did not do it, who would do and deliver (them) to the crown prince? Would the accountant (and) the drunks do it? | |
| o 2121 | ||
| o 2222 | ||
| o 2323 | ||
| o 2424 | ||
| Bottom | ||
| b.e. 25b.e. 25 | ||
| b.e. 2626 | ||
| b.e. 2727 | ||
| Reverse | ||
| r 1r 1 | ||
| r 22 | ||
| r 33 | (r 3) May the crown prince, my lord, live forever, (and) may I revere the crown prince, my lord, with my arms and feet! | |
| r 44 | ||
| r 55 | ||
| r 66 | (r 6) The crown prince, my lord, may enquire: Was my grandfather not assisted by the eunuch Aššur-belu-ka''in, (and) afterwards, when your grandfather ascended the throne, did he not appoint him to the position of a scribe? Now, may the crown prince, my lord, not forsake me! May the name of his grandfather and the position of my father not be lost from your house! | |
| r 77 | ||
| r 88 | ||
| r 99 | ||
| r 1010 | ||
| r 1111 | ||
| r 1212 | ||
| r 1313 | (r 13) My father (and) my grandfather stayed in your house. The king, your father, loves the son of one who worked for him, feels concern for the son of one who worked for him. What is my fault? I am a dog of the crown prince, [running abo]ut at the threshold of your house. May the crown prince, my lord, not forsake me! | |
| r 1414 | ||
| r 1515 | ||
| r 1616 | ||
| r 1717 | ||
| r 1818 | ||
| r 1919 | ||
| r 2020 | (r 20) [I] know (that) the crown prince, my lord, | |
| r 2121 | [x x] ri? ni? u ni a-di an-[x x] | |
| r 2222 | [x x]+⸢x⸣ TAv im DUMU—LUGAL ú-šab | |
| r 2323 | [x x] ni šú [x x] mu? li? [x] me u [x] | |
| r 2424 | [x x x x] li-is-[x x x] | |
| Right | ||
| r.e. 25r.e. 25 | (r.e. 25) [The crown prince], my lord, knows (that) [once ...] the master of the house is dead, the house (too) will perish after him. May the crown prince not fo[rsake me]! | |
| r.e. 2626 | ||
| Edge | ||
| e. 1e. 1 |
Adapted from Mikko Luukko and Greta Van Buylaere, The Political Correspondence of Esarhaddon (State Archives of Assyria, 16), 2002. Lemmatised by Mikko Luukko, 2012, 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/P334608/.