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.

~850 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses

Shalmaneser III 087

“(1) I received the payment of Sūʾa of the land Gilzānu: silver, gold, tin, bronze casseroles, the staffs of the king’s hand, horses, (and) two-humped camels.”

Source: Royal Inscriptions of Assyria online (RIAo), Munich Open-access Cuneiform Corpus Initiative (MOCCI), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München; in association with the RINAP Project, University of Pennsylvania. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/riao/Q004692/

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~850 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses

Shalmaneser III 088

“(1) I received the payment of Jehu (Iāūa) of (Bīt)-Ḫumrî (Israel; lit. “son of Omri”): silver, gold, a gold bowl, a gold tureen, gold vessels, gold pails, tin, the staffs of the king’s hand, (and) spears.”

Source: Royal Inscriptions of Assyria online (RIAo), Munich Open-access Cuneiform Corpus Initiative (MOCCI), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München; in association with the RINAP Project, University of Pennsylvania. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/riao/Q004693/

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~850 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses

Shalmaneser III 089

“(1) I received the payment of Egypt: two-humped camels, a water buffalo (lit. “a river ox”), a rhinoceros, an antelope, female elephants, female monkeys, (and) apes.”

Source: Royal Inscriptions of Assyria online (RIAo), Munich Open-access Cuneiform Corpus Initiative (MOCCI), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München; in association with the RINAP Project, University of Pennsylvania. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/riao/Q004694/

Read the full tablet entry

~850 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses

Shalmaneser III 090

“(1) I received the payment Marduk-apla-uṣur of the land Sūḫu: silver, gold, gold pails, ivory, spears, byssus, garments with multi-colored trim, and linen (garments).”

Source: Royal Inscriptions of Assyria online (RIAo), Munich Open-access Cuneiform Corpus Initiative (MOCCI), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München; in association with the RINAP Project, University of Pennsylvania. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/riao/Q004695/

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~850 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses

Shalmaneser III 091

“(1) I received the payment of Qalparunda of the land Pattinu: silver, gold, tin, bronze compound (lit. “fast bronze”), bronze casseroles, ivory, (and) ebony.”

Source: Royal Inscriptions of Assyria online (RIAo), Munich Open-access Cuneiform Corpus Initiative (MOCCI), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München; in association with the RINAP Project, University of Pennsylvania. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/riao/Q004696/

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~850 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses

Shalmaneser III 092

“(1) Booty of the temple of the deity Šēru of the city Malaḫu, a royal city of Hazael of Damascus, (5) which Shalmaneser (III), son of Ashurnasirpal (II), king of Assyria, brought back inside the wall(s) of the Inner City (Aššur).”

Source: Royal Inscriptions of Assyria online (RIAo), Munich Open-access Cuneiform Corpus Initiative (MOCCI), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München; in association with the RINAP Project, University of Pennsylvania. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/riao/Q004697/

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~850 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses

Shalmaneser III 093

“(1) For the god Adad, his lord: Shalmaneser (III), appointee of the god Enlil, vice-regent of (the god) Aššur, son of Ashurnasirpal (II), vice-regent of (the god) Aššur, son of Tukultī-Ninurta (II), (who was) also vice-regent of (the god) Aššur. (3b) I dedicated (this) for my life, (for) the well-being of my seed (and) land, for the gods Anu (and) Adad, my lords.”

Source: Royal Inscriptions of Assyria online (RIAo), Munich Open-access Cuneiform Corpus Initiative (MOCCI), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München; in association with the RINAP Project, University of Pennsylvania. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/riao/Q004698/

Read the full tablet entry

~850 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses

Shalmaneser III 094

“(1) Fo the god Nergal, his lord: Shalmaneser (III), appointee of the god Enlil, vice-regent of (the god) Aššur, son of Ashurnasirpal (II), vice-regent of (the god) Aššur, son of Tukultī-Ninurta (II), (who was) also vice-regent of (the god) Aššur, dedicated (this) for his life, the well-being of his seed, (and) the well-being of his land. (3b) Booty from Marduk-mudammiq, the king of the land Namri. (4) At the Tabira Gate in the Inner City (Aššur).”

Source: Royal Inscriptions of Assyria online (RIAo), Munich Open-access Cuneiform Corpus Initiative (MOCCI), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München; in association with the RINAP Project, University of Pennsylvania. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/riao/Q004699/

Read the full tablet entry