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Document on land and tithes (BCHP 16)

BCHP 16: Land and tithes (obv)
(British Museum).**

The Document concerning a tithe of arable land and shatammu Nergal-ina-teši-etir is one of the historiographical texts from ancient Babylonia. It can be dated to 75-90 SE (or 236-222 BCE) and therefore belongs to the reigns of the Seleucid kings Seleucus II Callinicus, Seleucus III Keraunos, and Antiochus III the Great. For a very brief introduction to the literary genre of chronicles, go here.

The cuneiform tablets (BM 33020 = 78-10-15,1 + BM 33028 = 78-10-15,9) are in the British Museum. On this website, a reading is proposed by Bert van der Spek of the Free University of Amsterdam (Netherlands) and Irving Finkel of the British Museum.* Please note that this is a preliminary version of what will be the chronicle's very first edition. This web publication is therefore intended to invite suggestions for better readings, comments and interpretations (go here to contact Van der Spek).

Babylonian Chronicles
Description
Text and translation
Commentary

Literature

BCHP 16: Land and tithes (rev)
(British Museum).**

Description of the tablet

The tablet consists of two pieces, joined by Irving Finkel. It is the lower left side of a tablet, of which at least half is lost, probably more. The height of the tablet is 6.5 cm; the length of line 13’ is 7 cm. The bottom line of the obverse and the first line of the reverse are nearly completely preserved. The lower edge is uninscribed. The lower edge is 2 cm thick, the upper edge 2.5 cm.

TEXT: Obverse	TRANSLATION
line numbers with link refer to commentary
1' [.. ..] /x\ [ .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .....]	[.. ..] /x\ [ .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .....]
2' še.numun.meš šá l[ugal^? .. .. .. .. .. .. .....]	the arable land which the k[ing^? had given .....]
3' ù 10-ú šá še.n[umun .. .. .. .. .. .. .....]	and a tithe of the arable [land for the] regular^4’ [offerings]
4' ki-nu ù pad.^din[nin .. .. .. .. .. .. ..]	and food of[ferings .. .. .. .. .. .. ..]
5' lid-din-nu-’ u lugal x[ .. .. .. .. .. .. ..]	may they give. The king x[ .. .. .. .. .. .. ..]
6' an-na-a ù mim^?-ma ^?šá [.. .. .. .. .. .. ..]	aforementioned and whatever [.. .. .. .. .. .. ..]
7' i-na šá-&ár.meš šá é.[lugal^? .. .. .. .. .. ..]	in the documents of the [treasury^?] house [.. .. .. .. .. .. ..]
8' iq-bi ù ^lúE.k[i.meš .. .. .. .. .. ..]	he designated and the Bab[ylonians.. .. .. .. .. for]
9' ^lúUD lugal gu₄.hi.a [.. .. .. .. .. ..]	the philos^?? of the king, cattle [for the satraps of]
10' šá kur Uri.ki kur Šu-šá-[an .. .. ..] /..\ [..]	of the land Akkad, the land Susi[ana .. .. ..] /..\ [..]
11' kur ZIB-tum kur Rap^?-x[ .. .. ..] x [..]	the land Zibbatum^?, the land Rap^?-x[.. for the x offerings]
12' u gi.na-né-e [šá] /é^?\.dingir.meš /ù\ [.. ..]	and the regular offerings [of] the temples and [the ...]
13' šá é.dingir.meš an-na-/a\ [..] x-šá-di-n[am^?? ..]	of the temples aforementioned /apportioned^???.\
Reverse	Reverse
1 /u₄\-mu šu-ú ^mdU.gur.sùh.sur-r[u]	That [d]ay Nergal-(ina-)teši-etir
2 [^lúš]à.tam šá É.sag.gíl [a-na] ^mTe-mi-l[i^? ..]	[the sh]atammu of Esagila [to] Theomel[es^? ..]
3 šá lìb-bu-ú šá [^kušši-pir-tum šá] ^lúgal.[ukkin^?]	who in accordance with [a letter of] the sat[rap]
4 šá ^m&i-mug-ra-[te .. .. .. .. .. ..]	which Timokra[tes had brought, had received a tract of land]
5 da kur ti-amat [.. .. .. .. .. .. ..]	adjacent to the Sealand^? [.. .. .. .. .. .. ..]
6 a-na ku-um é [.. .. .. .. .. .. ..]	instead of the [...] estate^? [.. .. .. .. .. .. ..]
7 i-na bi-rit íd.[.. .. .. .. .. .. ..]	between the river [ .. .. .. .. .. ..]
8 mu-a-tim it-ti x [.. .. .. .. .. .. ..]	aforementioned with x [.. .. .. .. .. .. ..]
9 ^lúpaq-du ù di^?-k[ud^? .. .. .. .. .. ..]	the commissioner and the jud[ges ^? .. .. .. .. .. ..]
10 mu-a-tim ul-t[u .. .. .. .. .. .. ..]	aforementioned fr[om .. .. .. .. .. .. ..]
11 ù gi.na-né-e [.. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..]	and regular offerings [.. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..]
12 šá ina ma^? [.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..]	which in ma^? [.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..]
Remainder lost	Remainder lost

to part two (commentary)

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