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 05 043. Fetching Beams (CT 53 283)

“(1) [To the king, my lord: your servant NN. Good health to the king], my lord! (4) As to the [...]ans [concerning whom] I appealed [to the Palace, saying]: "Let them fetch [the door-beam]s" — [...]-balliṭ the royal bodyguard [and NN have spok]en with them (as follows): (9) "[...] the beams [and do] whatever [...] said to you; (12) [... y]our commanders-of-fifty [......] (Rest too broken for translation)”

Source: Lanfranchi, G.B. & Parpola, S. 1990. The Correspondence of Sargon II, Part II: Letters from the Northern and Northeastern Provinces. SAA 5. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa05/P313698/

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

SAA 05 044. Troops in Hubuškia (CT 53 054)

“(1) The very [best of health] t[o the king, my lord! Your servant Hu]-Tešub. (3) A di[strict of Urarṭu] called [...] (Break) (7) [...... gove]rnors (Break) (r 1) [The cava]lry of the ki[ng of ...] (r 2) [have ...ed ag]ainst the palace herald. (r 3) On account of the troops which are in Hubuškia, outside (the border), I am sending this letter of mine to ....”

Source: Lanfranchi, G.B. & Parpola, S. 1990. The Correspondence of Sargon II, Part II: Letters from the Northern and Northeastern Provinces. SAA 5. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa05/P313469/

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

SAA 05 045. Urarṭian Offensive against Mannea and Zikirtu (ABL 0215)

“(1) The very best of health to the king, my lord! Your servant Hu-Tešub. (3) As to the news of the Urarṭians concerning which the king, my lord, wrote me: "[Write me] quickly whatever you have heard" — (6) (even) when I heard false ..., I wrote [to the kin]g, my lord! Now [...... on the ...th of] Marchesvan (VIII) (9) [...... the magn]ates (Break) (r 1) [......the to]wn A[...] (r 2) [...... have ...]ed the [...]s of the fort. (r 3) "If [things have gone badly] for him, he will be sta[ying] in Mannea; [i]f things have gone well for him, he will have attacked the Zikirteans." (r 8) This is what I have heard.”

Source: Lanfranchi, G.B. & Parpola, S. 1990. The Correspondence of Sargon II, Part II: Letters from the Northern and Northeastern Provinces. SAA 5. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa05/P334157/

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

SAA 05 046. A Wronged Vassal (CT 53 132)

“(Beginning destroyed) (1) "he does/they do not [......] (2) "at your right [......] (3) "Who [......]?" (4) Now, the king, [my] lord [......] (5) ...[......] (6) [They conquer] my towns [and] seize [my subjects] who [have gone to ...] for hired employment. He is chief [...]; on behalf of whom does he [...] from the presence of Ašipâ [...], conquer (my) towns and per[secute] my subjects? (12) I keep writing: "Where is [your] sense?" but he does not give any reason. [I have] many times over [sent] the kal[lāpu] whom the king ap[poin]ted in my service with my messenger, but to no avail. [He has…”

Source: Lanfranchi, G.B. & Parpola, S. 1990. The Correspondence of Sargon II, Part II: Letters from the Northern and Northeastern Provinces. SAA 5. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa05/P313547/

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

SAA 05 047. Having Mares Serviced (ABL 0757)

“(1) To the king, my lord: your servant Šarru-emuranni. Good health to the king, my lord! (4) The pack animals of the king, my lord, are well; the subjects of the king, my lord, are well; the land of Bit-Zamani is well. (9) I will have the m[ar]es serviced until [Tam]muz (IV); in between the urging of the herds to the mares, I am cutting hay. (r 1) On the 15th of Tammuz I would like to come and see the face of the king, my lord, (about) my work — (r 5) Perhaps I am lagging behind my colleagues; I should inspect my work i[n] Dur-Šarruken.”

Source: Lanfranchi, G.B. & Parpola, S. 1990. The Correspondence of Sargon II, Part II: Letters from the Northern and Northeastern Provinces. SAA 5. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa05/P334534/

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

SAA 05 048. Receiving a Shipment of Animals and Wagons (CT 53 058)

“(1) To the king, [my] lo[rd]: your servant Aššur-pa[tinu]. Good health t[o the king], my lord! (4) Ilu-illik[a, the] mule stable attendant [w]ho brings me [...], [has come], and I have checked and received from him 15 mules, 52 don[keys], [x] camels, 43 sheep, 2 carts, and 4 wagons. (10) He told me this: "My servants have left me and run away!" (13) [I have] now [wr]itten down the names of each of them, including the towns w[he]re they come from, and am herewith sending (this information) to the king, my lord. (r 1) [...] in the hand [of ...] (r 2) [...] the eunu[ch] (r 3) [...] ... (r 4)…”

Source: Lanfranchi, G.B. & Parpola, S. 1990. The Correspondence of Sargon II, Part II: Letters from the Northern and Northeastern Provinces. SAA 5. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa05/P313473/

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

SAA 05 049. (no title) (ABL 0922)

“(1) To the king, my lord: your servant Aššur-patinu. Good health to the king, my lord! (Rest destroyed or too fragmentary for translation)”

Source: Lanfranchi, G.B. & Parpola, S. 1990. The Correspondence of Sargon II, Part II: Letters from the Northern and Northeastern Provinces. SAA 5. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa05/P334625/

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

SAA 05 050. (no title) (CT 53 573)

“(1) [To the king, my lord]: your [se]rvant Aššur-[patinu. Go]od health t[o the king, my lord]! (4) A letter from [NN, a servant o]f the king, my lord, [has come to me]. (6) [The serv]ants of [......] (7) have made [them] stand on the feet [......] (Rest destroyed)”

Source: Lanfranchi, G.B. & Parpola, S. 1990. The Correspondence of Sargon II, Part II: Letters from the Northern and Northeastern Provinces. SAA 5. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa05/P313985/

Read the full tablet entry