Basic Metadata
- NaBuCCo ID
- 7683
- Museum No.
- BM 075197
- Primary Publication
- Cyr 332
- CDLI P-Identifier
- P554343
- Place of issue
- Sippar city
- Regional setting
- Sippar region
- Archive
- Later Ebabbar temple
- Period
- Early Achaemenid
- Babylonian Date (year-month-day):
- Cyr. 08-xx-xx
- Inferred date
- 30.03.531-19.03.530
Digeanna
- Text Form
- Protocol (...)
- Legal Purpose
- Decision (parāsu, i.a.)
- Transaction Type
- not applicable
- Format of the tablet
- landscape
Navico
- Theme
- Slave/Oblate status
- Oblate/Slave Role
- Is dedicated (oblate) (passive)
Content
- Paraphrase
(Iddin-Nabû/(…) (IN) spoke (qabû) the following in the presence) of Bēl-uballiṭ (BU) (the City Priest (šangû) of Sippar):
“In year [x] of Nabonidus, Ḫašdāya/(…) and his wife (f)Ayartu (Ay) sold (nadānu) Mušēzib-Šamaš (MŠ), their slave (qallu), for [x] shekels of silver to Nūr-Šamaš/(…) (NŠ). NŠ marked the hand of MŠ with his name (as a sign of servitude). But in year 7 of Nabonidus, he transferred ownership of him to (f)Burāšu (B), his wife, instead of ½ mina of silver of her dowry. NŠ died, and after his death, B and Tabnēa (T), her second husband, pledged (maškanu) the slave to Appānu/Abi-nūr (Ap), in exchange for ¼ mina of silver. Afterwards, in year 6 of Cyrus, B and T sold MŠ to me for 1 mina 50 shekels of silver, and indicated (edu Š) in their contract (u’iltu): ‘Thereof, 50 shekels of silver are to be given for the payment of Ap!’ Now, it is in year 8 of Cyrus that Ay came (alāku) against me to lay a claim (paqāru) on MŠ. She said: ‘He is an oblate (širku) of Šamaš!’ I have come to you – judge my case with Ay!”
BU and the body of temple enterers (ērib bīti) of Šamaš initiated formal proceedings and summoned Ay for interrogation, asking her whether she had indeed previously not shown (kullumu) evidence for the status of oblate (širkūtu) and/or the status of a free man (mār banûtu) of MŠ. BU, the temple enterers of Šamaš and the city elders (šībūtu) read the contracts (riksātu) pertaining to the slave-status (ardūtu) of MŠ from year 6 of Nabonidus until year 8 of Cyrus, that IN had produced (našû), while Ay could not produce evidence of the status of oblate or free man of MŠ.
After deliberation (malāku) they decided (parāsu) to fine Ay 1 mina 50 shekels of silver, including the said 46 shekels of silver, to the benefit of IN because Ay had brought up a claim on the grounds of status as a free man of MŠ against IN.
The witness list of about 4 witnesses is largely broken. The scribe is Arad-Bēl/Bēl-ušallim//Adad-šamê, in Sippar.
Further Information
- created by
- Dylan Schimek, April 15, 2026, 3:20 p.m.
- last updated by
- Dylan Schimek, Oct. 6, 2026, 9:46 a.m.
- Mentioned in the following publication(s)
- BA 4 (1902), 1-77
- Bongenaar 1997
- Dandamayev 1984
- Peiser, BV (1890)
- RA 98 (2004), 101-108.
- Ragen 2006
- Roth 1989