THE SCENE: This is the kind of letter you write when you know your boss messed up, but you don’t want to tell him what to do.
THE TEXT: To the king, my lord, from your servant Bel-iqisa:
May the gods Nabu and Marduk bless Your Majesty. The servants of my lord’s household to whom Your Majesty has given out new assignments to this very day, to wit: Tabalay, the son of Bel-Harran-aha-usur whom Your Majesty has elevated to the rank of commander of a regiment, Nabu-sakip whom Your Majesty has elevated to the permanent rank of third-man-on-the-chariot, and Amri-Maduk whom Your Majesty has elevated to the rank of a royal attendant – these three men are all drunkards! When they are intoxicated, nobody can make them turn their iron daggers away from an adversary.
I have written herein to Your Majesty what I know about the matter. Your Majesty should act as he likes.
– Letters from Mesopotamia, edited &translated by A. Leo Oppenheimer, 7th Century BC
