YBC 03538

Letter of Imbia (I) to Nabû-mukīn-apli (/Nādinu//Dābibī, High Priest, šatammu) and Sîn-šarru-uṣur (Royal Overseer, ša rēš šarri bēl piqitti), "his lords", answering previous exchanges with the recipients. One was about flour: 199;0 of it have been passed on by Nabû-karābī-išme, Šamaš-aḫḫē-iddin, a scribe, Balāṭu, an Aramaic scribe (sēpiru), and the sender. I promises to send 10 bowmen and lances to replace 5 men who were abducted by Arabs. The letter also mentions a boat in broken context. The sender answers a quoted complaint by the recipients about silver and gold, reproaching the sender for holding back these goods as well as agricultural products. As an explanation, I states that there was not enough water for the last 5 years, so they sharecropped (ana errēšūtu) a temple field, but that the return was low this year, swearing by Šamaš (lū edû) that there are not much barley and dates in the storehouse. The sender suggests that the recipients' messenger should check what is left in the storehouse and take what is not needed for the regular offerings (ginû).