SAA 10 352. Burial of the Substitute King (ABL 0437) [miscellaneous][via saao/saa10]
| Obverse | ||
| o 1o 1 | (1) [To the king], my [lord]: your servant [Mar-Issar]. [Good health] to the king, my lord! May [Nabû and Marduk] bless [the king], my lord! May [the great gods] bestow [long days], well-being and joy upon the king, my lord! | |
| o 22 | ||
| o 33 | ||
| o 44 | ||
| o 55 | (5) [Damqî], the son of the prelate of Akka[d], who had ru[led] Assyria, Babylon(ia) [and] all the countries, [di]ed with his queen on the night o[f the xth day as] a substitute for the king, my lord, [and for the sake of the li]fe of Šamaš-šumu-uki[n]. He went to his fate for their redemption. | |
| o 66 | ||
| o 77 | ||
| o 88 | ||
| o 99 | ||
| o 1010 | ||
| o 1111 | ||
| o 1212 | ||
| o 1313 | (13) We prepared the burial chamber. He and his queen were decorated, treated, displayed, buried and wailed over. The burnt-offering was made, all portents were cancelled, and numerous apotropaic rituals, Bīt rimki and Bīt salā' mê ceremonies, exorcistic rites, penitential psalms and omen litanies were performed to perfection. The king, my lord, should know (this). | |
| o 1414 | ||
| o 1515 | ||
| o 1616 | ||
| o 1717 | ||
| o 1818 | ||
| o 1919 | ||
| o 2020 | ||
| o 2121 | ||
| o 2222 | (22) [I] have heard that before these ceremonies a prophetess had prophesied, saying to the son of the prelate, Damqî: "You will take over the kingship!" The prophetess had also said to him in the assembly of the country: "I have revealed the polecat, the ... of my lord, and placed (him) in your hands." These apotropaic rituals which were performed succeeded well indeed; the king, my lord, can be glad. | |
| Bottom | ||
| b.e. 23b.e. 23 | ||
| b.e. 2424 | ||
| b.e. 2525 | ||
| Reverse | ||
| r 1r 1 | ||
| r 22 | ||
| r 33 | ||
| r 44 | ||
| r 55 | ||
| r 66 | ||
| r 77 | (r 7) The inhabitants of Akkad got scared, (but) we gave them heart and they calmed down. Moreover, I have heard that the prelates and delegates of Babylonia got scared, too. | |
| r 88 | ||
| r 99 | ||
| r 1010 | (r 10) Bel and Nabû and all the gods have lengthened the days of the king, my lord; still, during the (validity) period of the eclipse and the approach of the gods he may not go into open country. | |
| r 1111 | ||
| r 1212 | ||
| r 1313 | (r 13) If it suits the king, my lord, a common man should, as before, be appointed to the office of the prelate, to present the regular offerings in front of the dais and, on the day of the eššešu-festival and at the "Greeting of the temple" ceremony, to strew (the incense) for the Lady of Akkad on the censer. | |
| r 1414 | ||
| r 1515 | ||
| r 1616 | ||
| r 1717 | ||
| r 1818 | (r 18) When [an eclipse] afflicting Babylonia takes place, [he] may serve as a substitute for the king, my lord, and stand [......]. [The ...s] of the king, my lord, would succeed, [......] the people would be calm. | |
| r 1919 | ||
| r 2020 | ||
| r 2121 | [x x x x x x]-uš-šú li-zi-zi [o] | |
| r 2222 | [x x x x x x] ša MAN EN-ía liš-li-⸢mu⸣ | |
| r 2323 | ||
| Right | ||
| r.e. 24r.e. 24 | [x x x x]-MEŠ-šú ŠEŠ-MEŠ-⸢šú*⸣ | (r.e. 24) Let the king, my lord, appoint in his place anyone [......] who is acceptable to the k[ing, my lord, among] his [...]s, brothers, [and ...s]. |
| r.e. 2525 | [x x x x] ⸢i⸣-ba-áš-ši man-[nu] | |
| r.e. 2626 | ||
| Edge | ||
| e. 1e. 1 |
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/P334301/.