Chapter 07 · 911 – 609 BCE

Neo-Assyrian

Empire, library, terror, scholarship.

Illustration: Scholars examining clay tablets in an Assyrian archive at Nineveh
An archive at Nineveh, around 650 BCE.

~715 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses

SAA 01 188. Festival of the Moon God (ABL 0134)

“(1) [To the king], my [lord: your servant Na[bû-pašir. [Good health to the ki]ng, my lord! [May Sin and] Nikkal bless [the kin]g, my lord! (7) On the 17th of [... Sin] came out and entered the akitu chapel. The sacrifices of the king my lord having been performed successfully, (r 1) Sin returned, entered his temple, took his seat in peace and blessed the king, my lord.”

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/P334081/

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~715 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses

SAA 01 189. The Priest of Nerab in Harran (ABL 1227+)

“(1) [To the king, my lord: your servant Nabû-pašir. Go]od he[alth to the king, my lord]! May Sin [and Nikkal] bless the king, my lord! (7) Se'-gabbari, the priest of Nerab, a servant of the king, together with Nur-S[in] the prefect and Dadi-ibni, a servant of the governor of A[rpa]d [......] fro[m M]elid [...... (Break) (r 1) Let them accept and assign [... where] the king my lord [a]sked, and let him go to his duty and invoke blessings upon the king my lord before Sin and Nikkal.”

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/P334807/

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~715 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses

SAA 01 190. Settling a Dispute (ABL 0131)

“(1) [To the ki]ng, my lord: yo[ur servant] Nabû-pašir. Good health to the king, my lord! May Sin and Nikkal bless the king, my lord! (6) (As to) the cousin(s) of Giri-Dadi, the city-ruler of Til-Turi, who petitioned the king, my lord, and about whom the king my lord wrote to me: "Give them back whatever Giri-Dadi has taken from them" — (15) I gave it back to them. (Now) Se'-lukidi, a cousin of Giri-[Dadi] has came [and said to me]: (Break) (r 2) "[......] Let them come and pluck out the [...] of Ta[bal], lest the king should return from Dur-Iakin and deport us; Giri-Dadi spoke nonsense, because he was afraid." (r 7) I am now sending Giri-Dadi and his cousin Se'-lukidi, who told us the things, to the Palace. What are the king my lord's instructions?”

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/P334079/

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~715 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses

SAA 01 191. Dadi-suri Denounces His Father (ABL 0132)

“(1) To the Vizier, my lord: your servant Nabû-pašir. Good health to the Vizier, my lord! May Sin and Nikkal bless the Vizier, my lord! (7) Dadi-suri son of Ra'sunu, from Til-Barsip, came to me in Harran and said to me: "Gabbi-amur said that Ra'sunu [......" (Break) (r 2) Two days later he came (again), saying: "I accused my father wrongly." (r 6) I have now arrested him and put him in irons, and am detaining his father in my presence. Let my lord write to me what the Vizier my lord commands. My lord should ask Remanni-Adad the recruitment officer; he heard his statement.”

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/P334080/

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~715 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses

SAA 01 192. Oil for the Governor of Dur-Šarruken (CT 53 020)

“(1) To the king, my lord: your servant Nabû-pašir. Good health to the king, my lord! May Sin and Nikkal bless the king, my lord! (6) [As to] what the king, my lord, [wrote to m]e: "Give 200 homers of oil [i]n Til-Barsip to Kiṣir-Aššur, governor of Dur- Šarruken," — [I set asi]de 200 homers of oil and delivered it. (13) I have now written the oil consumption and the oil remaining on a writing-board and am herewith sending it to the king, my lord.”

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/P313435/

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~715 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses

SAA 01 193. Distributing Cloaks to Soldiers (ABL 0642)

“(1) [To the king, my lord: your servant Nabû-pašir. Good health to the king, my lord! May Sin and Nikkal bless the king, my lord!] (6) [As to what the king, my lord, wrote to me]: "Give [cloaks to the men of] Arbai and Šamaš-ilai!" — (10) just as the king, my lord, wrote to me, I have sent 200 cloaks to the At[...eans] who are in the city of [...], and given 200 cloaks to the men of Epâ who are in Til-Barsip; [all together I have g]iven out 400 cloaks. (Rest destroyed or too broken for translation)”

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/P334443/

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~715 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses

SAA 01 194. The Royal Corps and Deportees at Harran (ABL 1073)

“(Beginning destroyed) (2) [Ever] since I [came ...], a runaway [......] Nani (and) A[...], the cupbearer [of ...], the son of the father-in-law of [...]. I have made them enter the [royal] corps [...] of Harran on account of the [missing] cavalry[men]. Let the king enquire and investigate (the matter), and let them return the men to the royal corps. (14) As to the people of Nani about whom the king my lord wrote to me: "Give any of his people back to him!" — (18) The day he was deported, the Commander-in-Chief and Zeru- ibni called him and questioned him, saying: "Perhaps there is still some…”

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/P334718/

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~715 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses

SAA 01 195. Reviewing Deportees (ABL 0701)

“(1) To the king, my lord: your servant Nabû-pašir. Good health to the king, my lord! May Sin and Nikkal [bless] the king, my lord! (6) As to [the king my lo]rd's command: "Review t[hese] persons whom the Commander-in-Chief b[rought forth] and ex[tract] men [from their mid]st" — (10) I [sec]retly [ask]ed and questioned the el[der]s [of] Tarqunani, saying: "Did the chief [......] from where you came forth?" They (replied): "[......] the city of Tas [from which] we ca[me ......]" (r 1) Nobody has died or escaped since I reviewed them. [Thanks to] the gods of the king, my lord, able-bodied men…”

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/P334496/

Read the full tablet entry