The Jewish garrison of Elephantine · a new plain-English translation from the Aramaic
Date| 13 Tebeth, year 12 (units doubtful) of King Darius
1| From Arsames to Wahpremahi. And now: worn out [is the boat of Psamsineith and his colleagues, the boatmen of the fortresses. When there sent]
2| to us Mithradates the boatman, saying: thus said Psamsine[ith … the boatmen of]
3| the fortresses, thus they said: The boat which we hold in charge, the time has come to d[o] its repair. [Concerning this I have sent, saying: the material(s)
4| let it be hauled up on[to dry] land, and let word be sent to the treasury's accountants; they, together with the foremen [Shamshillek and his colleagues, that boat]
5| [shall] inspect and make its assessment, and let there be sent the {arsenic} which … the material, the handunah, {and} other things; [and the accountants all the material]
6| shall give, and let its repair be done quickly, and other things which are sent by me to them. Concerning this they sent, {and} [thus said their servants: on]
7| the {hala} which is opposite the fortress, in[side the town], Mithradates the boatman showed the boat to us, we show(?) that which is in the hand of Psamsineith and …
8| both boatmen of the fortresses; it is hauled up on dry land, and we showed it to Shamshillek and his colleagues the foremen, Shamu [son of]
9| Kanufi, chief of the carpenters, the boatwright, and thus they said: The time has come to [d]o [its] re[pair]. {This} is the material which is required for its repair
10| to be done: timbers of cedar and ar-wood, new: taph, ten cubits; shim [for the] {b}atak, eighty cubits, by three handbreadths; within, segnin, ten cubits
11| and two; shaph, fifteen, [one per] twenty [cu]bits; saabal, seventy cubits; hinin for the hull, three; qalam for the mast, one;
12| hala timbers, sixty cubits; pahtamuni for the paarar, one per two cubits; apsi beneath the hala, five; nails of bronze and iron,
13| two hundred; cedar timbers, worn, strong, whole, twenty cubits: all of these, let their replacement be brought, and the worn and broken ones to the treasury; yarn
14| of flax, thick, one hundred and eighty karsh; fine, two hundred and fifty karsh; new cedar timbers: hinin, two, each five cubits,
15| three handbreadths by three handbreadths; for the ha[l]a: bronze nails, one hundred and fifty, each three handbreadths; two hundred and seventy-five,
16| each ten fingers; all the nails, four hundred and twenty-five; plates of bronze, twenty cubits; their nails, two hundred.
Reverse| (Reverse)
17| Worn cedar timbers: reshut mesan, one talent, ten minas in all; an addition: sulfur, ten karsh; and for the handunah, arsenic, one hundred karsh.
18| And let them add to the timbers that are to be given: on the taph, in length, each three handbreadths hapush, and on the width and thickness two fingers; and on
19| the shim, in length, each three handbreadths hapush, and on the width two fingers; and on the shaph and the hinin, in length, each one handbreadth; and on
20| the saabal, hala timbers, dari, whole, in length, each three handbreadths hapush, and on the width one finger. The flax yarn, the fine ones,
21| the arsenic and the sulfur shall be given by the Persian weight; let word be sent, saying: this material shall be given into the hand of Shamu son of Kanufi, chief
22| of the carpenters, the boatwright; before our eyes let him repair that boat and do it quickly, as the order has been issued. Now Arsames says thus: You, act
23| in accordance with what the accountants say, as the order has been issued. Anani the scribe is in charge of the [ord]er. Nabuaqab wrote.
24| Wahpremahi … … … … … …
25| As the order has been issued … … wrote … (blank)
26| (Demotic)
27| (Address:) {From} Arsames, who is in …
28| Nabuaqab the scribe. On 13 [of] Tebeth, year 12 (units doubtful) of Dari[us the king].
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