P236964: scholarly tablet
Neo-Assyrian Oracc
Obverse
_dumu_-_me_ szA (m)e-t,e-ru _kur_—tam-ti x#+[x x x x x x x x] _lugal_ it-ti-szu-nu ip-te-qid [x x x x x x x x] us,-s,ab-bi-tum um-ma a-mat _lugal_ szi#-[i um-ma x x x x x]
a-na _ad_-_me_-ku-nu szA# ni-is-hi id-di-nu bi-na-na(*)-a(*)-szi(*) _lu_(*)-_tin-tir-ki_-[_mesz_] U (m)u-ba-ru _lu_(*)-_gar_(*)—_umusz_ um-ma ul a-mat _lugal_ szi-i um#-ma szad-da-qad i-na _uru_-ka-lah a-na _ugu_ su-ud-du-nu [szA] hu#-bul-lu la-bi-ru-tu szA i-na szA-la-mi szA _tin-tir-ki_ [_lugal_ ki]-i tam-hu-ra _lugal sza_-ba-szu a-na _ugu_-hi-ku-nu il-te-eh-t,a [um-ma] i-na _tin-tir-ki_ mi-nu-u szA-kin um-ma _uru_ he-pu-u [szu-u um-ma] a-na-ku ul-te-szib u du-ra-Ar-szu al-ta-kan
[im-qu-ta] x a#-na x x# an-nu-ti _lugal_ in-da-ah-ru
The king appointed the sons of Eteru of the Sealand ...... with them. They captured ......, saying: "That is the word of the king, .
The Babylonians and Ubaru, the commandant, said to us: "It is not the king's word. He is not a king. He is a king who is referring to the savages in Kalah and the old savages in Babylon. The king has sinned against you, saying: "What is there in Babylon?" He is saying: "It is a city that has been destroyed." I settled him and have been slandered.
The king has returned ... to these ...s.
The king appointed Shillaya ... with the sons of Eteru of the Sealand, and they have seized ..., saying: "It is the king's order: Give us the ... which ... gave to your fathers as a nishu payment!"
The Babylonians and their commandant Ubaru said to them: "There is no such order of the king! Last year, in Calah, when you appealed to the king for the collection of old debts incurred while Babylon was still intact, the king lost his temper with you, shouting: 'What is there in Babylon to collect? The city was in ruins, and I have resettled it and established its freedom!' This was the word that came from the mouth of the king, our lord!"
... these ... appealed to the king, saying: "Let them appoint ...... with us," he gave .......
Reverse
[x x x x x x] it-tan-na t,a-ti _lu-tin-tir-ki_-_mesz_ [ma-la ul]-tu(*)# É(*) _lu_(*)-_dam_(*)-_qar_-_me lugal_ a-na _kug-ud_ u-pat,-t,i-ra [x x x] x#-_me_ ma-la ul-tu _kur-nim-ma-ki u kur_-ha-at-tum [_lugal_ u]-pah-hi-ram-ma ana (d)_en_ u (d)zar-pa-ni-tum u-zak-ku-u
[_lu-usz_-_me_] mi-tu-tu szA _lugal_ u-bal-li-t,u a-na _kug-ud_ i-nam-di-nu [U] ma-a-tum he-pi-tum szA _lugal en_ ik-szi-ru la _szu-2 lugal_
[u-sze]-lu#-u (m)s,il-la-a : a-szA-bu szA _tin-tir-ki_ ul s,i-bi [x x x] ki-i u-szad-ba-bu-szu-nu-ti _lugal en_ [le]-'u#-u mas-su-u mu-de-e a-ma-tum [ki]-i szA i-le-'u-u li-pu-usz
szA (m)za-kir
The king opened the ...s of the Babylonians, as many as had been sold from the merchants' house for silver. He ...ed all the ...s from Elam and the land Hatti and made them exempt from the god Bel Marduk and the goddess Zarpanitu.
The dead will repay the king's debts and give them for silver. Moreover, the land will be destroyed by the enemy of the king, my lord, without the king's permission.
Shillaya, the 'field' of Babylon, is not a friend. If he ... them, the king, my lord, should act as he deems best.
From Zakir.
All the gifts of the Babylonians, which the king has redeemed for silver from the moneylenders' house, all the ...s which the king has collected from Elam and Hatti and has cleared for Bel and Zarpanitu, the dead bodies whom the king has revived —
all this they are selling off, and are making the broken country which the king my lord restored drift apart from the king.
Shillaya does not wish the settling of Babylon. He has incited them ..., but the king my lord is an able and well-informed leader; let him do as he deems best.
From Zakir.