Chapter 07 · 911 – 609 BCE
Neo-Assyrian
Empire, library, terror, scholarship.

~715 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses
SAA 15 009. The Palace Manager of Arrapha and Writing-Boards (ABL 0160)
“(1) [To] the king, [my] lo[rd]: yo[ur servant] Issar-du[ri. Good he]alth to [the king, my lord]! (4) Concerning the [palace] manager of Arrapha ab[out whom the king, my lord], ga[ve me] orders, now then [...] (8) 1 writing-boa[rd ...] (9) 1 writing-boa[rd ...] (10) which he [...] (11) 1 writ[ing-board ...] (12) 1 writ[ing-board ...] (13) which I [...] (14) [I have ...ed] the palace manager (15) and [...] to the pres[ence of ...] (Rest destroyed)”
Source: Fuchs, A. & Parpola, S. 2001. The Correspondence of Sargon II, Part III: Letters from Babylonia and the Eastern Provinces. SAA 15. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa15/P334106/
Read the full tablet entry~715 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses
SAA 15 010. Distributing Barley Rations (CT 53 481)
“(Beginning destroyed) (2) according t[o ......] (3) in the cit[y ......] (4) a writing-board [......] (5) to the palace [......] (6) in the domestic quarters [......] (7) They should have sen[t me a sealed order] according to the wr[iting-board], and I would have gi[ven] the barley accordingly, wherever it i[s]. (r 3) The barley which is in the town Ša[bbu ...]. (r 4) The rest which is in [...] (r 5) indeed [......] (Rest destroyed)”
Source: Fuchs, A. & Parpola, S. 2001. The Correspondence of Sargon II, Part III: Letters from Babylonia and the Eastern Provinces. SAA 15. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa15/P313894/
Read the full tablet entry~715 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses
SAA 15 011. Providing for Bel-iqiša (ABL 0161)
“(1) [T]o the king, [my lo]rd: your [servant] Issar-[duri]. Good health to [the king, my lord]! (4) [Concer]ning Bel-iqi[ša ... ab]out whom the king, my lord, wr[ote to me]: "Give him prov[isions!" — now then I have given to him] four oxen [...], [x] hundred (homers) of barley [...], [x hect]ares of land i[n ...] (Break) (r 1) [The re]st of [..., everything] that the king, [my lor]d, commanded, [is ... at] my disposal.”
Source: Fuchs, A. & Parpola, S. 2001. The Correspondence of Sargon II, Part III: Letters from Babylonia and the Eastern Provinces. SAA 15. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa15/P334107/
Read the full tablet entry~715 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses
SAA 15 012. Escorting Captives to [Dur]-Šarrukin (ABL 0552)
“(1) To the king, [my] lord: your servant Issar-[duri]. Good health to the king, my lord! (4) The captives entrusted to the bodyguard Guhuru are on their way to [Dur]-Šarrukin. [On the x]th [day ...] (8) (Break) (14) [...... we]nt (15) [... the] captives (Break) (r 1) [...] in [...] (r 2) [...] ... [......] (r 3) I wrote as follows [to] the bodyguard accompanying them: "[Bring th]em to Baqarru and let them stay there. [Give the]m bread and water and send [a report] about them to the Palace. Whatever they write to you from the Palace, you shall do accordingly!"”
Source: Fuchs, A. & Parpola, S. 2001. The Correspondence of Sargon II, Part III: Letters from Babylonia and the Eastern Provinces. SAA 15. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa15/P334377/
Read the full tablet entry~715 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses
SAA 15 013. Captives (ABL 0164)
“(1) [To the ki]ng, [my l]ord: [your servant Is]sar-du[ri. Good heal]th to the ki[ng, my lord]! (4) [Concerning the cap]tives [about whom the king], my [lord], wrote to me, the former [...] (Rest destroyed or uninscribed)”
Source: Fuchs, A. & Parpola, S. 2001. The Correspondence of Sargon II, Part III: Letters from Babylonia and the Eastern Provinces. SAA 15. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa15/P334110/
Read the full tablet entry~715 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses
SAA 15 014. Itu’eans Working in Dur-Šarrukin (ABL 0711)
“(1) To the king, my lord: your servant Is[sar]-duri. Good health to the [ki]ng, my lord! (4) [Concerning what] the king, my lord, [wro]te to me: "[The] I[tu'ean ...s] who [are do]ing work [in Dur-Šarru]k[in ...] (Break) (r 2) Let him return [...]. My guard is strong. The king, my lord, [can] be glad.”
Source: Fuchs, A. & Parpola, S. 2001. The Correspondence of Sargon II, Part III: Letters from Babylonia and the Eastern Provinces. SAA 15. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa15/P237089/
Read the full tablet entry~715 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses
SAA 15 015. Exempting the Recruits of the Chief Eunuch (ABL 0709)
“(1) [To the king], my [lord]: your servant Issar-duri. [Good health t]o the king, my lord! (3) [Concerning the recrui]ts of the chief eunuch [about whom the king, my lord], wrote: "They are to be exempt; [no]body may litigate [against them] (and) [no]body may exact [corn taxes from them]!" — (7) [... the coho]rt [commander]s and the recruits (8) [...] his sons (9) [...] ... their [...]; their sons (10) [...] are [e]xempt. The rest of (11) [...] the campaign of the king, my lord (12) [...] Previously (Break) (r 1) [who appe]aled [...], the king, my lord, [...]. (r 2) [Those who] appealed [to…”
Source: Fuchs, A. & Parpola, S. 2001. The Correspondence of Sargon II, Part III: Letters from Babylonia and the Eastern Provinces. SAA 15. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa15/P334502/
Read the full tablet entry~715 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses
SAA 15 016. Entering Deportees into Fortified Places in Arrapha (ABL 0443)
“(1) To the king, my lord: your servant Bel-le'i. (4) The people with whom I am coming — I and the dišanu-official [are brin]ging them into fortified places. (9) [...] for their protection (10) [... Arr]apha (11) [... I shall se]nd.”
Source: Fuchs, A. & Parpola, S. 2001. The Correspondence of Sargon II, Part III: Letters from Babylonia and the Eastern Provinces. SAA 15. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa15/P334307/
Read the full tablet entry