SAA 17 022. Sargon Invited to Intervene in Bab-Bitqi (ABL 0542)[via saao/saa17]
| Obverse | ||
| o 1o 1 | (1) Your servant Bel-iqiša: I would gladly die for Sargon, the king of the universe, my lord! May Nabû and Marduk bless the king! Say to the king, my lord: I pray daily to Bel and Nabû for the good health of the king, my lord. | |
| o 22 | ||
| o 33 | ||
| o 44 | ||
| o 55 | ||
| o 66 | (6) The king did not listen to any of the earlier reports that we sent to the king, my lord. Now after the delegates of Bit-Dakuri of one accord had written to Merodach-Baladan, and the šandabakku together with Nabû-le'i the governor and the troops of Bit-Yakin had marched to (Bab)-bitqi and the prefect had turned the charioteers of Bit-Dakuri, the Arameans and the men of Bit-Dakuri against him (= Merodach-Baladan), the delegates have been silent, because they have become afraid. The others, having heard (the news), have retreated. | |
| o 77 | ||
| o 88 | ||
| o 99 | ||
| o 1010 | ||
| o 1111 | ||
| o 1212 | ||
| o 1313 | ||
| o 1414 | ||
| o 1515 | ||
| o 1616 | ||
| o 1717 | ||
| o 1818 | ||
| o 1919 | (19) But the leading men who do not keep the land in order and to whose words the king has listened, after making their views public, are now incessantly sending deceitful messages and fortifying their cities. The king should not wait for the outcome! The army should come to Bab-bitqa. And before the army comes, the following message from the king should be brought to the prefect and Ana-Nabû-taklak: | |
| o 2020 | ||
| o 2121 | ||
| o 2222 | ||
| o 2323 | ||
| o 2424 | ||
| o 2525 | ||
| Reverse | ||
| r 1r 1 | ||
| r 22 | ||
| r 33 | ||
| r 44 | ||
| r 55 | (r 5) "According to what I have heard, Merodach-Baladan is doing repair work in Larak and is settling Hasinu, the Yašumean, with his family and his Arameans there. (That is why) I am now sending the army to you. Together with the army, lead Da'ini and his Larakeans, who are with you, to Larak so he can enter it, until I arrive personally." | |
| r 66 | ||
| r 77 | ||
| r 88 | ||
| r 99 | ||
| r 1010 | ||
| r 1111 | ||
| r 1212 | ||
| r 1313 | ||
| r 1414 | (r 14) They will listen carefully and not refuse, and the king will attain his objective. We for our part have written to the king what we know. The king may do as he wishes. | |
| r 1515 | ||
| r 1616 | ||
| r 1717 | (r 17) Should the king do thus, the king could also say: "I have made the land great again and have built a powerful fortress on the border of the lands." I have written to the king because I am desperate! The king should not hesitate, for we are now at our limits, and your servants and the land of Akkad threaten to slide out of your hand. The message is due to distressful danger. Now [...] Imr[a...] | |
| r 1818 | ||
| r 1919 | ||
| r 2020 | ||
| r 2121 | ||
| r 2222 | ||
| r 2323 | ||
| r 2424 | ||
| r 2525 | ||
| Right | ||
| r.e. 26r.e. 26 | ||
| r.e. 2727 | [x x x x]+⸢x⸣ az ⸢x⸣+[x x x x x x x] |
Adapted from Manfried Dietrich, The Neo-Babylonian Correspondence of Sargon and Sennacherib (State Archives of Assyria, 17), 2003. Lemmatised by Mikko Luukko, 2009-11, 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/P237783/.