Chapter 07 · 911 – 609 BCE
Neo-Assyrian
Empire, library, terror, scholarship.
~715 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses
SAA 01 164. Master Builders to Work on a Bull Colossus (CT 53 465)
“(1) [To the king, my lord: your servant .... Good health] to [the king, my lord! (4) [As to the] master-buil[ders] about whom the king my lord [wrote to me]: "Let them come and work with the magnates [...]! Perhaps [...] they can change [... into] a bull colossus" — (10) I have right now [sent the master-builders] to the king, my lord. Perhaps [the magnates] will [say in] the Palace: "[...... (Rest destroyed)”
Source: Parpola, S. 1987. The Correspondence of Sargon II, Part I: Letters from Assyria and the West. SAA 1. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa01/P313878/
Read the full tablet entry~715 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses
SAA 01 165. Master Builders at Work (ABL 0955)
“(Beginning destroyed) (1) As to the work [on ... about which I wrote] to the king, [my] lord, I have gathered the master-builders who [...], and made them take up the first [cornerstone]. They go from the Gate of Šamaš to the no[rth] and then make a turn here. After they have finished these two directions, they will go and lay the limestone wherever we give it. (11) Perhaps the magnates will say in the Palace: "They have deprived us of master-builders." As [I wro]te to the king, my lord, the limestone sla[bs ...... (Rest destroyed)”
Source: Parpola, S. 1987. The Correspondence of Sargon II, Part I: Letters from Assyria and the West. SAA 1. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa01/P334644/
Read the full tablet entry~715 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses
SAA 01 166. On Bull Colossi (CT 53 451)
“(1) [To the king, my lord: your servant ... Good health to the king, my lord! (4) [As to what] the king, [my lord wr]ote to m[e: "After you] have fin[ished] the bull col[ossi, do your] work ......] work [...... (Break) (r 1) ......] I shall load up and bring in the [...]. (SPACER)”
Source: Parpola, S. 1987. The Correspondence of Sargon II, Part I: Letters from Assyria and the West. SAA 1. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa01/P313864/
Read the full tablet entry~715 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses
SAA 01 167. On Bull Colossi (GPA 245)
“(Beginning destroyed) (1) As to what the king [my] lord [wrote to me: "Why [......] the bull co[ossi ...... (Rest destroyed)”
Source: Parpola, S. 1987. The Correspondence of Sargon II, Part I: Letters from Assyria and the West. SAA 1. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa01/P336172/
Read the full tablet entry~715 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses
SAA 01 168. On Dur-Šarruken (CT 53 506)
“(Beginning destroyed) (r 3) ...] loaded [...] brought [... to the king] my lord [to] Dur-Šarruken.”
Source: Parpola, S. 1987. The Correspondence of Sargon II, Part I: Letters from Assyria and the West. SAA 1. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa01/P313919/
Read the full tablet entry~715 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses
SAA 01 169. Counting Broken [...] (CT 53 644)
“(Beginning destroyed) (2) of the ci[ty ......] (3) we have c[ounted ......] (4) there are 10 [......] (5) and the rest [......] (r 1) If the king, my lo[rd commands], (r 2) the bro[ken ......] (Rest destroyed)”
Source: Parpola, S. 1987. The Correspondence of Sargon II, Part I: Letters from Assyria and the West. SAA 1. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa01/P314056/
Read the full tablet entry~715 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses
SAA 01 170. Distributing Barley to the Magnates (CT 53 333)
“(Beginning destroyed) (1) [On the 12th and 13]th I delivered the (barley) of the governor [of ...] in the city of Issete, [on the 14th], 15th and 16th, [that of the gov]ernor of Arbela in [...]-Adad. (6) [On the 17th and] 18th [I delivered] the (barley) of the Palace Herald [in the town of ...]appi on [this] side of the city of Baqar; on the 19th and 20th [I delivered that of the governor of Ar]zuhina [......] Šamaš-belu-(uṣur) [...... (Five untranslatable lines) (r 2) [On the 21st and 22nd] I delivered [that] of the Chief of Granaries [in ...; on the 23rd] I delivered [that of] the governor…”
Source: Parpola, S. 1987. The Correspondence of Sargon II, Part I: Letters from Assyria and the West. SAA 1. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa01/P313748/
Read the full tablet entry~715 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses
SAA 01 171. Reclaiming Runaway Servants (NL 018)
“(1) To the king, my lord: your servant Bel-duri. (3) The king installed Ilu-mušezib, a baker of Bel-emuranni, in Hatarikka. When the king passed on, Ku[baba]-ereš a (member) of his community and the (members) of the community of his relatives [made] him run away. They should make inquiries and return the man to me. (14) When there was an [ep]idemic here, Ilu-bi'di a cohort [commander of the ... under] my jurisdiction killed a horse. I made up for the horse in his stead and he promised: "I'll give you the money." Now this Ilu-bi'di has died; his wife, as the king knows, has married a young boy…”
Source: Parpola, S. 1987. The Correspondence of Sargon II, Part I: Letters from Assyria and the West. SAA 1. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa01/P224447/
Read the full tablet entry