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 01 204. Tracking a Ninevite Scribe (ABL 0706+)

“(1) To the king, my lord: your servant Zeru-ibni. Good health to the king, my lord! (4) As to Erra-gamil, the Ninevite scribe about whom the king, my lord, wrote to me: "He is there; summon him, get hold of him and send him to [the revi]ew!" — (10) I summoned him, and thoroughly questioned Nabû-šumu-uṣur and the scribes from Nemed-Ištar and Laqê, servants of the king my lord, (who told me): (r 1) "He came two years ago, got a position with Ilai-Bel, and worked for a year on his behalf. Last year, while Ilai-Bel still was alive, a tracker came and took him away. They deported him to the Land beyond the River."”

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/P334499/

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

SAA 01 205. The Best Chariot-Fighters in Town (ABL 0154)

“(1) To the king, my lord: your servant Zeru-ibni. Good health to the king, my lord! (4) As to Marduk-eriba about whom the king, my lord, wrote to me, if I have put Marduk-eriba in irons, let them release his shackles and put them on my own feet! If not, let them pull the tongue out of the throat of the man who lied to the king, my lord! (11) The brother of Marduk-eriba serves as a palace chariot fighter, and he himself has been with me as a recruit. The deputy of the rab-mūgi officer transferred his elder brother to Arrapha because of [...], and last year he took Marduk-eriba as a…”

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/P334100/

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

SAA 01 206. Sending Borers to the King (ABL 0155)

“(1) To the king, my lord: your servant Zeru-ibni. Good health to the king, my lord! (4) As to the (stone) borers about whom the king, my lord, wrote to me, I have just sent five borers to the king, my lord. (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/P334101/

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

SAA 01 207. (no title) (ABL 0156)

“(1) [To the king, my] lord: yo[ur servant] Zeru-ibni. [Good h]ealth to the king, my lord! (4) The king, my lord, knows that ... [...... (Break) (r 2) ...] about whom/which the king my lord wr[ote to me], Zarî has just left [for] the king, my lord. Let the king, my lord, ask [him].”

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/P334102/

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

SAA 01 208. A Visit to Hindanu (CT 53 094)

“(1) To [the king, my lord]: your servant [PN]. Good health to the king, my [lord]. May Adad and Buru bless the king, my lord! (6) Having left the king my lord's presence on the 23rd of Iyyar (II), I entered the city of Hindana on the 30th. Hindana is well, the land of Suhu is well, the forts of the king my lord are well. The king, my lord, can be [glad]. (Break) (r 2) ...] did not s[ay ...] like t[his ...] (r 4) On the 3rd of [Sivan] (III) I left Hindana on my chariot and drove off. May Nabû-dur-makie not succeed in ousting me from the king my lord's presence!”

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/P313509/

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

SAA 01 209. (no title) (CT 53 090)

“(1) [To the king, my lord]: your servant [PN]. Good health to [the king, my lord]! May Adad and Buru bless [the king], my lord! (6) On the 10th Dadâ [bro]ught me a sealed order of the king [my lo]rd concerning the news of [...... Ad]ad-ir[i ...... (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/P313505/

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

SAA 01 210. Measuring the Patti-Illil Canal (ABL 0621+)

“(1) To the king, [our lord]: Your servants [Nabû-pašir] and Nabû-dur-ma[kie]. Good health to [the king, our lord]! May Sin and N[ikkal] bless the king, our lord! (4) As to the ditch about which the king wrote to us, we made a start on the ditch on the 10th, and on the 8th, as soon as we had got the men organized, we started measuring the Patti-Illil canal. As soon as we have found out its measurements and where it is easy and where difficult (to navigate), we shall write again to the king, my lord. (r 6) Right now Nabû-bel-šumate of Birat is going to appeal to the king about Galṣabri, a town of his; [...] (grain) depots [......] in his hands. The king [our] lord [......] men [......] with us [...... (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/P393866/

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

SAA 01 211. (no title) (CT 53 494)

“(Beginning destroyed) (2) [......] in Hin[dana] (3) [......] you listen to him [...] (4) [......] from the city of [...] (5) [......] Hinda[na ...] (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/P313907/

Read the full tablet entry