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 05 285. Too Much Snow (CT 53 629)

“(Beginning destroyed) (2) I am sending [......]. (3) [Perhaps the king], my lord, will say: (4) "[Why was it not ...] until now?" (5) [The blanket of snow] is very thick, (6) [......] the month Adar (XII) (7) [......] to me (Rest too broken for transalation)”

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/P314041/

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

SAA 05 286. A Journey to Dur-Šarruken (CT 53 257)

“(Beginning destroyed) (2) [After ...] the Ukkean (3) had subjugat[ed ...], (4) [the governor] opposite him came from Ur[arṭu] (5) and they spen[t] the night together [in the town] Irmuna. (7) [No]w, both of them [...] (8) [...] to Dur-Šarruke[n ...] (9) [...] w[i]th 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/P313672/

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

SAA 05 287. Inspecting Bronze and Wooden Objects (CT 53 628)

“(Beginning destroyed) (2) [... has been rec]eived, and we will enter (it); (3) [there] are vessels of bronze [...] (4) [...] it is burnt red. (5) We shall see [...] (Break) (r 3) [...] of bronze (r 4) [...] we have weighed. (r 5) [...] beams [......] (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/P314040/

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

SAA 05 288. Keeping Watch with Exempted Men (CT 53 473)

“(Obverse destroyed) (r 1) of [......] (r 2) Now the ki[ng, my lord, ...] (r 3) should exercise [...]. And [......] (r 4) the king, my lord, should rep[rimand ......] (r 5) I shall keep watch [in ...] with the exempt[ed men ......] (r 7) behind [......] (r 8) let them do [......] (r 9) of Wa[......] (r 10) knows [......] (Break; side untranslatable)”

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/P313886/

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

SAA 05 289. Distributing Corn (CT 53 323)

“(Beginning destroyed) (1) [trans]ferring [......] the town Mu[...]. (2) For (any cohort commander) who has a bre[ad ration for on]e year and who has men, I [take] from the corn tax and provide it to him in his garrison. (6) Even where there is no entry, they come and tell me, and I give it, so they can cultivate their fields. (9) If I did not allot it, they would take [the corn] they have harvested [prev]iously and eat it, and would not cultivate the fields but turn to me [with]out a superior, saying: "Bread [is being with]held from us!" (r 4) The king, my lord, knows that [...] no [...]; (r 5) they have give[n ...] to the king, my lord. (r 6) [...] thei[r] countries [......] (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/P313738/

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

SAA 05 290. Ferrying Some Thresholds Without Boats (CT 53 030)

“(Beginning destroyed) (2) [......] they (3) [......] another mountain [...] (4) [......] he returns [...] (5) [......] great [...] in Šimu (6) [......] of large boats (7) [......] ..., as many as there are, (8) [are ...]. These boats are damaged. (9) [......]dadu will return, and (10) [......] their [...]. (11) Perh[aps the king, my lord, wi]ll say: (12) "[... th]ese [boats] (Break) (r 2) [......] the stone thres[holds] (r 3) [...... for the wa]tchtowers (r 5) I shall bring across [the thresholds] which [have been deposited on] the river bank, [and ... do] the work on the boats. [Wh]at does the king, my lord, [say]?”

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/P313445/

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

SAA 05 291. Giving Bricks to the Magnates (CT 53 038)

“(Beginning destroyed) (2) [...] 56 courses of bricks [...] (3) [...] he extracted [...]. (4) [He wrote t]o him: "Why did you extract [...]?" (6) [He said: "The re]st of the work that I am doing [is ...; I have receiv]ed from him [x] bricks, but he is still glazing [the kiln-fired bricks]." (10) I am [herewith] sending [the ...]s of the br[ickwork o]f his wall (assignment) [to the king], my lord. (12) [Perhaps the ki]ng, my lord, will say: "[To who]m have [you] given bricks [...]?" (15) [40,000] to (the governor of) Arpad, [40,000 t]o (the governor of) Sama[ria, 40,000 to] (the governor of)…”

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/P313453/

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

SAA 05 292. Building the City Wall of Dur-Šarruken (GPA 242)

“(1) [T]o the ki[ng], my lord: [yo]ur [servant] Šarru-e[mu]ranni. [Good] health to the king, my lord! (4) As to what the king, my lord, wrote to m[e]: "Šarru-emur[anni] keeps coming and tel[ling me] that the city wall of Du[r-Šarruken ...] (Break) (r 2) Marduk-remanni [...]. (r 3) I shall be there too and keep wa[tch] over Iqiša-Marduk and his associates, until the king inst[ructs me] otherwise. (r 7) I have heard that Šarru-emuranni [has] come; [he is] in [...], and is indeed do[ing] the work.”

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/P336169/

Read the full tablet entry