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 05 156. Inspecting Deportees (ABL 0988+)

“(1) [To the king, our l]ord: [yo]ur [servan]ts [Aššur-a]lik-pani and [Nerg]al-šarrani. Good health to the k[ing, our lord]! (6) As to what the king, [our lord], wrote to us: "When the gov[ernor] arrives, [...] th[e]re with the capti[ves]" — (12) [NN] arrived in Šu[...] on the 6th; we have [now] inspec[ted] the captiv[es] and are herewith writing to the king, [our lord]. (r 1) The people are ve[ry] we[ak]; weather has eaten up [their] loo[ks] and the mountains have crushed them. They are coming ague-stricken. (r 8) [The ki]ng, our lord, should know (this).”

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/P334664/

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

SAA 05 157. (no title) (CT 53 470)

“(1) [T]o [the king, our lord: your serv]ants [Aššur-alik-pani and] Nergal-ša[rrani]. Good [health to the king, our lord]! (5) The king having s[ent us] for good relations [and peace] to Bit-A[bdadani], (8) [we stayed] two days in [... but no]body [...ed] with [us] (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/P313883/

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

SAA 05 158. Fragment of a Military Report (ABL 1359)

“(1) To the king, [our] lo[rd]: your servants [Aššur-alik-pani] and Nergal-ša[rrani]. Good health t[o the king, our lord]! (5) As to the tr[oops] about [wh]om the king, [our] lord, [wrote us, no] news of them [......] (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/P334863/

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

SAA 05 159. Fragment Concerning a Royal Utterance (ABL 0785)

“(1) [To] the king, [my] lo[rd: your servant] Aššur-alik-[pani. Good] health to the king, [my lord]! (4) [When] the king, my lord, [se]nt me [to the ho]use of the palace her[ald, the king], my [lo]rd, said [to me]: (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/P334556/

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

SAA 05 160. Guarding the Camp (CT 53 914)

“(Beginning destroyed) (2) [......] from [...] (3) [......] Later, the w[ork] (4) [...... o]f the forts [...]. (5) We en[tered sa]fely, and are [encam]ped [...]. The guard [is strong]. (7) [What orders] does [the king my l]ord, sen[d me]? (8) [...] the wall of the camp [...]. (9) [...I] know that the king, [my] l[ord ...] (10) [...] on leather [...] (11) [...] the palace herald [...] (12) the palace herald and we [...], (13) [... fi]nished [...] (14) [...] sa[y ...] (15) [The gu]ard of the c[amp is strong]; (16) the king, [my lord, can be glad]. (17) [...] the king, my lord, [...] (18) [...] they ... [...] (19) [the Hubušk]ian from [...] (20) [...] servant of [...] (21) the king, [my] lo[rd ......] (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/P314323/

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

SAA 05 161. (no title) (ABL 0783)

“(1) To the king, my lord: your servant Aššur-alik-pani. Good health to the king, m[y] lord! (4) As to what the king, [my] lo[rd], wr[ote] me: "The [...]ean who [......] (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/P334554/

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

SAA 05 162. Zaba-iqiša Joins the Camp of Rusa (ABL 0441)

“(1) [T]o the king, [my] l[ord]: your [ser]vant Upa[q-Šamaš]. Good health to the ki[ng, my lord]! (4) The magnates departed from Yeri on the 20th of [Tam]muz (IV) and went to Fort Adad-remanni; Ea-Šarru-ibni went with them. I am in Yeri, [keepin]g watch over Zaba-iqiša, as the king, my lord, [told] me. (14) As to the news [of] Zaba-iqiša, [a mes]senger [of] the Hubuškian has come and told the sartinnu: "He has been made to depart, and he is on his way [t]o Rusa." (r 4) It is a substantiated rumor; [I have he]ard it [reported] like this ma[ny] times. I am keeping an eye on [him] now.”

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/P334305/

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

SAA 05 163. Settling a Complaint by the Augurs (ABL 0410)

“(1) To the king, my lord: your servant Upaq-Šamaš. Good health to the king, my lord! (5) As to the guard with the augurs, about whom the king, my lord, wrote me: "He should be tried in your presence, and he must give back whatever he took from the augurs" — (r 1) I have carried out a thorough investigation; he has taken nothing from them, [[though they complained about him]]. (r 7) Now, I have kept the reserve guard in their service, as the king, my lord, commanded; the other one has gone back to his garrison.”

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/P334281/

Read the full tablet entry