Writing a Cuneiform Letter Klaus Wagensonner

STEP 1 • Choose one or two recipients in your group you may want to send a letter to. • When the materials are prepared, take the tablet in your hand, the stylus in the other. • Letters consist of various parts, a letter head, followed by blessings, and the body of the letter. • A letter, or any text for that matter, usually covers more than just the front side or obverse. Scribes may also use the lower edge, the reverse, the upper edge, and finally the left edge as writing area. The following example from the Yale Babylonian Collection shows a letter, whose scribe used all sides of the tablet.

Translation

Speak to Marduk-muballit, thus says Sagila- mansum. May Shamash and Marduk keep you in good health.

Ten rams of the house of the fattener will travel to me in Babylon on my raft. Send me two fatteners with those ten rams. Also, have (enough) fodder to last until month VII transported to me.

I have sent my tablet to Sin-iddinam concerning the release of the distrainees of Mar-Sippar whom Sin-iddinam had distrained. Release his distrainees until Mar- Sippar comes to Isin and they give him satisfaction.

Also, send me a response to my tablet.

1 Writing a Cuneiform Letter Klaus Wagensonner

a) Letter head o First, take the signs A and NA from the syllable list to write the preposition ana, “to.” This preposition is followed by the name or names of the recipient(s). Try to represent the names with syllables, e.g., e-li-za-be-et for Elizabeth or pe-te-er for Peter. Not every name is easy to write! o It’s perfectly fine, if you cannot fit all signs into one line. Scribes often continued onto the edge of the tablet, but be aware that writing across the edge is challenging. Often scribes continued on a second line, but intended this line to show that it is a continuation. o Use your stylus to make a horizontal line below. These lines visually separate the writing space, line by line. o In the second line write the signs KI, BI, and MA for a verb qibima, “speak!”. As it only consists of three signs, spread them out across the line. Mesopotamian scribes tried to justify lines. You will notice in the syllable list that instead of the sign (BI) they use (NE). Each cuneiform sign has many readings. The latter has a reading /bi/ as well, which explains this writing convention in letters. o The third line contains the sender. Write the signs UM and MA for the particle umma, “thus,” followed by your own name written in syllables and finally the sign MA. You should get something like the following:

b) Blessing o You want to be polite. So continue with a blessing. In Mesopotamian letters the letter writer wishes the addressee often good health. Choose a god from the list (see Materials 3a) or even two gods who “may keep the addressee in good health.” If you choose more than one god, put “and” in between. Be careful, if you send the letter to a woman, or several people, it sounds different (see Materials 3b). o You may also add additional blessings (see Materials 3c and 3d). Again, be aware that it matters to whom you send the letter, as the Akkadian language differentiates between male and female as well as singular and plural.

c) Optional information o You may tell the person you send the letter to that you are doing well yourself. There are quite a few options, some of which you see on Materials 3e.

2 Writing a Cuneiform Letter Klaus Wagensonner

d) Body of the letter o Although letters are often formulaic, Mesopotamian scribes used a plethora of expressions depending on what they wanted to convey. Here and in Materials 4 are only a few options you may want to choose from. o Scenario 1 (No news!): § esh-ri-shu ash-ta-ap-ra-ak-ku-um u-ul ta-pu-la-an-ni I have written to you ten times, but you did not answer. o Scenario 2 (You need something!): § You can mention a commodity (see Materials 4b) followed by shu-bi-lam, “send!” o Scenario 3 (Informing!): § You can inform about a situation, e.g., some fled (ih-li-iq) (see Materials 4a) o Scenario 4 (Quoting): § Often letter writers quoting from an previous letter or from a report they received (see Materials 4c) e) Ways you can end your letter o Letters may end in various ways. Sometimes there is a wish involved in the final lines of a message. o (When you requested something from the addressee) § i-na an-ni-tim at-hu-ut-ka lu-mu-ur In this matter I want to see your fraternal relationship. o (When you want to hear news) § shum-ma i-na ki-it-tim a-hi at-ta shu-lu-um-ka shu-up-ra-am If you are truly my brother, send me news about your well-being. o (You want to hear a response) § me-he-er tup-pi-ia shu-bi-lam Send a response to my letter (lit. tablet).

• When you put everything together, your letter may look like the following:

3 Writing a Cuneiform Letter Klaus Wagensonner

Obverse a-na e-li-za-be-et To Elizabeth qi-bi-ma speak! um-ma pe-te-er-ma Thus (says) Peter: Shamash li-ba-al-li-it-ki May Shamash lu-u sha-al-ma-a-ti keep you in good bitum u alpu sha-al-mu health! ash-shum immeri shu-bu-lim May you be well. esh-ri-shu ash-tap-ra-ak-ki-im-ma Estate and oxen u-ul ta-pu-li-in-ni are well! ar-hi-ish 3 immeri shu-bi-lim Regarding sending sabu sha ma-ah-ri-ia the sheep I have written to you ten times, but you did not answer.

Quickly, send 3 sheep. The workers before me

4 Writing a Cuneiform Letter Klaus Wagensonner

Reverse u-ul ha-du-u are not happy! i-na an-ni-tim In this matter I at-hu-ut-ki want to see your lu-mu-ur fraternal relationship!

2) STEP 2 • After writing your letter, choose a messenger in your group to deliver it to the recipient(s). You will also be someone’s recipient. In antiquity letters were also wrapped in a clay envelope, but that’s an exercise for another time. In any case, here is an example of a letter and its envelope side by side. As it is a letter, only the addressee(s) are written on the envelope, which was also sealed by a cylinder seal.

5 Writing a Cuneiform Letter Klaus Wagensonner

• Decipher the letter using the signs and short expressions introduced on these pages. • Try to write a short answer. When people in Mesopotamia answered to a letter, they often quote from the letter they received. Examples are in Sheet 2. • Regarding the matter addressed above, you may want to say something like “I sent 3 sheep yesterday. Don’t pester me! (am-sha-li 3 immeri / usz-ta-bi-la-ak-kum / la tu-da- ab-ba-ba-an-ni)” which would look like this:

6 Writing a Cuneiform Letter Klaus Wagensonner

3) Letter head a) Deities (for blessing)

Shamash Marduk Shamash and Marduk Ishtar Zababa Ishtar and Zababa Enlil Ninurta Enlil and Ninurta

b) Blessing Addressed to DEITY DEITIES ♂ li-ba-al-li-it-ka li-ba-al-li-tu-ka may bless you! ♀ li-ba-al-li-it-ki li-ba-al-li-tu-ki may bless you! ♂♂/♂♀ li-ba-al-li-it-ku-nu-ti li-ba-al-li-tu-ku-nu-ti may bless you (pl.)! ♀♀ li-ba-al-li-it-ki-na-ti li-ba-al-li-tu-ki-na-ti may bless you (pl.)!

Example: , “May Shamash keep you (f.) in good health!”

c) Additional blessings Adressed to You may be well! You may be in good health! ♂ lu-u sha-al-ma-a-ta lu-u ba-al-ta-a-ta ♀ lu-u sha-al-ma-a-ti lu-u ba-al-ta-a-ti ♂♂/♂♀ lu-u sha-al-ma-tu-nu lu-u ba-al-ta-tu-nu ♀♀ lu-u sha-al-ma-ti-na lu-u ba-al-ta-ti-na

d) Optional parts of the blessings Adressed to I write regarding your well-being. Send me news about your well-being. ♂ a-na shu-ul-mi-ka ash-pu-ra-am shu-lu-um-ka shu-up-ra-am ♀ a-na shu-ul-mi-ki ash-pu-ra-am shu-lu-um-ki shu-up-ra-am ♂♂/♂♀ a-na shu-ul-mi-ku-nu ash-pu-ra-am shu-lu-um-ku-nu shu-up-ra-am ♀♀ a-na shu-ul-mi-ki-na ash-pu-ra-am shu-lu-um-ki-na shu-up-ra-am

7 Writing a Cuneiform Letter Klaus Wagensonner

e) Telling about your own situation Examples: , “The estate and the oxen are well.” , “I am well!” (sha-al-ma-a-ku) , “Do not be worried!” (mi-im-ma la ta-na-zi-iq) 4) Body of the Letter a) Introducing a topic

Adressed to ash-shum [COMMODITY] shu-bu-lim Regarding sending [COMMODITY] ♂ esh-ri-shu ash-tap-ra-ak-ku-um-ma I have written to you ten times. ♀ esh-ri-shu ash-tap-ra-ak-ki-im-ma ♂♂/♂♀ esh-ri-shu ash-tap-ra-ak-ku-nu-shi-im-ma ♀♀ esh-ri-shu ash-tap-ra-ak-ki-na-shi-im-ma

♂ u-ul ta-pu-la-an-ni (but) you did not answer me. ♀ u-ul ta-pu-li-in-ni ♂♂/♂♀/♀♀ u-ul ta-pu-la-ni-in-ni

Or you could say something like ha-ar-le-es ki-a-am u-la-am-mi-da-an-ni um-ma shu-u-ma

Charles thus informed me, saying as follows: (DIRECT QUOTE)

N.B. If you quote a woman, you write um-ma shi-i-ma instead.

Or you can inform the addressee of a situation, as in:

nuhatimmum sha i-na bit-ia wa-ash-bu ih-li-iq The cook, who lives in my house, fled.

8 Writing a Cuneiform Letter Klaus Wagensonner

A final situation

3 MA.NA KU.BABBAR shu-bi-la-am-ma 1 agram lugur

Send three minas of silver, so I can hire a hireling.

b) Commodities Singular Plural With number Sheep (immeru)

Ox (alpu)

Bird (issuru) Fish (nunu)

Silver (kaspu)

One mina of silver Gold (hurasu) 10 sheqels of gold Textile (subatu)

c) Quoting from an earlier letter / report

Adressed to ♂ ash-shum [COMMODITY] sha ta-ash-pu-ra-am um-ma at-ta-ma Regarding [COMMODITY], about which you wrote to me as follows: “...” ♀ ash-shum [COMMODITY] sha ta-ash-pu-ri-im um-ma at-ti-ma ♂♂/♂♀ ash-shum [COMMODITY] sha ta-ash-pu-ra-nim um-ma at-tu-nu-ma ♀♀ ash-shum [COMMODITY] sha ta-ash-pu-ra-nim um-ma at-ti-na-ma

9 Writing a Cuneiform Letter Klaus Wagensonner

You can also say

Adressed to ♂ a-na sha ta-ash-pu-ra-am um-ma at-ta-ma As to what you wrote to me as follows: “...” ♀ a-na sha ta-ash-pu-ri-im um-ma at-ti-ma ♂♂/♂♀ a-na sha ta-ash-pu-ra-nim um-ma at-tu-nu-ma ♀♀ a-na sha ta-ash-pu-ra-nim um-ma at-ti-na-ma

Or you can refer to a report someone had given to you personally

Adressed to [PERSON] ma-ah-ri-ia ki-a-am ish-ku-un um-ma shu-u-ma (< man) OR shi-i-ma (< woman) [PERSON] reported before me as follows: “...”

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