AO 19536

Madānu-aḫḫē-iddin/Gimillu//Šigûa, chief brewer (rab sīrāšî) of Ištar of Uruk, and Balāṭu/Sîn-ibni, scribe of Eanna, brought (abālu) (f)Nanāya-ḫussinni ((f)NḪ), her son Tattannu/(f)Nanāya-ḫussinni, and Nūrea/Kabtia (N) before the royal judges of Nabonid. They state that (f)NḪ, whose hand is marked with the star symbol and inscribed (šaṭāru) with the words “for Nanāya”, serves as a slave for N, although she is dedicated to Nanāya. N claims that (f)NḪ is a slave, who was legally bought by him, and that she marked herself as a dedicated person when she fled from his house about 20 years ago during the reign of Amēl-Marduk. Upon being questioned by the judges, (f)NḪ declares that N had bought her, after her previous owner Mār-Esagil-lūmur had dedicated her to Nanāya. The judges bring in an alphabetic scribe (sepīru), who reveals (wadû D) the meaning of the marks on (f)NḪ’s hand. He says that there is one inscription from distant days with the words “for Nanāya” and another one with the words “for Ištar of Uruk”. The judges then deny Nʼs claim (rašû) on (f)NḪ and her son, asking N why he bought a dedicated slave, marked with the star symbol, whose hand show inscriptions for Ištar of Uruk and Nanāya, and also why he neither brought her to court to establish facts ((w)arkatu parāsu) nor litigated (diānu) against the man who inscribed her hand. After discussing (malāku), they advise him to initiate a lawsuit (dīnu dabābu) against the “backer” (arkû) of the man who sold him (f)NḪ, and they assign (f)NḪ and her son to a troop (ummānu) of Eannaʼs basket carriers (zābil tupšikki).

6 judges: Nabû-balāssu-iqbi//Amīlû, Mušēzib-Bēl//Eppēš-ilī, Rēmūt-Bēl//Miṣirāya, Nabû-etel-ilāni//Adad-šammê, Marduk-šumu-iddin//Esagilāya, Balāssu//Malāḫu.

3 scribes: Nabû-šumu-iškun//Rab-banê, Bēl-kāṣir//Atkuppu, Bēl-iddin//Atû.  

The tablet shows the accompanying inscriptions of seal impressions of the 6 judges, but not the seal impressions themselves.