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

~715 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses
SAA 15 017. I have no Scribe (ABL 0151)
“(1) To the king, my lord: your servant Sîn-na'di. Good health to the king, my lord! (5) I have no scribe where the king sent me to. (9) Let the king direct either the governor [o]f Arrapha or Aššur-belu-taqqin to send me a scribe.”
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/P334097/
Read the full tablet entry~715 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses
SAA 15 018. Captives in Arrapha (CT 53 217)
“(Beginning destroyed) (1) [These] c[ap]tives in Arrapha [...] are 4,100 in number. I asked [NN] and L[ansî] (who said): "[There are] 1,000 k[ing's] men among them." Their watch is v[ery] strict. (10) And right now the chief eu[nuch] will go [wi]th them to Urz[uhina]. He is reviewing [them]. Befo[re they go], Lan[sî ...] in 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/P313632/
Read the full tablet entry~715 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses
SAA 15 019. Bought Slaves and Captives (CT 53 202)
“(Beginning destroyed) (2) "[O]n the day when [Be]l-ila'i and Apl[aya bring the dependents] who [have been b]ought for money now, along with the (dependents) of [tho]se capti[ves] who [fe]ll to me from Arraph[a] (r 1) [...] Arrapha [...] (r 2) [...] ... two [...] (r 3) [...] will lea[ve ...] (r 4) [I ques]tioned [them] (r 5) [They said: "The da]y that [...] (r 6) [...] Apl[aya] (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/P313617/
Read the full tablet entry~715 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses
SAA 15 020. Fragment Concerning Mule Express in the Province of Arrapha (CT 53 503)
“(Beginning destroyed) (3) [...] mule express [...] (4) [...] my teams [...] (5) [...] I with [...] (6) [... the pr]ovince of Arrapha [...] (7) [... t]his [...] my team [...] (8) [...] my teams [...] (9) [...] teams ...[...] (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/P313916/
Read the full tablet entry~715 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses
SAA 15 021. Partitioning Fields in Arrapha (CT 53 887)
“(1) [To the king, my lord: your servant NN. Good health to] the king, m[y] lord! (4) [...] of Arrap[ha] (5) [...] in the cities [...] (6) [...] to the king, [my] lo[rd] (7) [NN the] bodyguard [...] (8) [...] ... [...] (9) [... The d]ay that [...] Arra[pha] (10) [...] he part[itioned] the fields (Break) (r 2) [...] one [...] (r 3) [... the king], my [lord] should know [......] (r 4) Let the king, my lord send (word) [to ... that they should br]ing me ...[...]. Let them [...] them wor[ds] and let them com[e here and do] their [work]! (r.e. 9) [Concerning ...]nanu [...] (r.e. 10) [...] ... [...] (r.e. 11) [...] bord[ers] (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/P314296/
Read the full tablet entry~715 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses
SAA 15 022. Fragment Mentioning Arrapha (CT 53 251)
“(Beginning destroyed) (1) [......] the king, my lord [...] (2) [......] Place! [...] (3) [......] before [NN] (4) [......] Arrapha [...] (5) [......] ...[...] (6) [......] ...[...] (7) [has en]tered but no[t ...]. (8) [As the king], my [lo]rd, commanded, [w]e shall pou[r ...] (10) [......] "From [...] (11) [......] in [...] (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/P313666/
Read the full tablet entry~715 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses
SAA 15 023. Hailstorm (CT 53 902)
“(Beginning destroyed) (r 1) [about which the king, my lord, wr]ote to me: "Let them excavate it and remove it downwa[rds]" — [on the x]th day it rained there for the first time, and just now hai[l] has fallen [fr]om the mid[st of the sky]. (r 9) [I have written t]o the king, [my lord ...] (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/P314311/
Read the full tablet entry~715 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses
SAA 15 024. Dispute over Ownership of Towns and Lands (ABL 0168)
“(1) To the king, my lord: your servant Nabû-belu-ka''in. Good health to the king, my lord! (4) Concerning what the king, my lord, wrote to me: "Why have you appropriated towns and fields of Il-yada' in the province of Arrapha and in Šamaš-naṣir?" — what towns of his have I taken in the province of Arrapha? (10) As to Šamaš-naṣir, did I not appeal to the king, my lord, that it be given to him? The king, my lord, (however) gave Šamaš-naṣir to me, saying: "[Gi]ve (him) a town in its stead." The town I gave him lies right [a]head of his city. Is Šamaš-naṣir (as much) [at] my disposal? And he is…”
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/P334114/
Read the full tablet entry