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.

~730 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses

SAA 19 026. Digging a Moat; Pursuit to the Mountain (CTN 5 p. 166)

“(Beginning destroyed) (1) [...] which [...] (2) [which] in the town of [...] (3) they sel[ec]ted the [...]s that are on [... and put them] in irons; they are diggi[ng] a moat on [{ithis}] side of the outer wall. (7) Those approximately 400 Gurreans had been sen[t out] to raid [the steppe]. A guard sa[w] (this and) a cry was sounded. We pursued the[m], and they took to the snowy mountain in front of them. We caught them from the town of Yauna and R[e]š-ṣurri. (16) I have sent 200 men to the commander-in-chief, who says that they should be brought to the Palace. 24 men have died here. There are…”

Source: Luukko, M. 2012. The Correspondence of Tiglath-pileser III and Sargon II from Calah/Nimrud. SAA 19. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa19/P393614/

Read the full tablet entry

~730 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses

SAA 19 027. Tabal, Que and Captives (CTN 5 p. 187)

“(1) [To] the kin[g], my l[o]rd: yo[ur servant] Q[urd]i-Aššu[r]-lam[ur]. (3) [Conc]erning [... fr]om Ta[ba]l [a]nd Que [ab]out whom they wrote to me from the Palace - let [A]ššur, Bel (and) Na[bû] come into the presence of the ki[n]g as soon as they lay their [...] in Ṭurušpâ and their [...]s from [...] are visiting the crown prince in Assyria. (15) [The one] in charge of the captives [of] the town [...] to the people of the Palace. (r 1) [......]... [...] (r 2) [...] ... [...] (r 3) [they] should go [with the b]odyguard (r 4) [......] should s[e]t out (r 5) [...], oil (and) water (r 6)…”

Source: Luukko, M. 2012. The Correspondence of Tiglath-pileser III and Sargon II from Calah/Nimrud. SAA 19. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa19/P393613/

Read the full tablet entry

~730 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses

SAA 19 028. The Ashdodite Appealing to the King because of a Treaty (CTN 5 p. 153)

“(1) [To the king], my [lo]rd: your servant Qurdi-Aššu[r-lamur]. (2) [The Ashdo]dite (king) has written to me: "The king has placed (the cities) Qadarua, Lidu [and H]adidu in the treaty. (5) I have [se]nt [...] and appealed to the k[in]g; (6) [the ... of H]adid[u ......] is dead (Rest destroyed)”

Source: Luukko, M. 2012. The Correspondence of Tiglath-pileser III and Sargon II from Calah/Nimrud. SAA 19. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa19/P224451/

Read the full tablet entry

~730 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses

SAA 19 029. Qedarites Defeating Moab (CTN 5 p. 160)

“(1) [T]o the king, my lord: your servant Qurdi-Aššur. Good health to the king, my lord! (4) A messenger of the Dibonite Aya-nur[i], his name is Ezazu, is bringing a sealed document to the Palace. The words in the sealed document of his concern the Moabites. It is about the fact that the Qedarites went straight away to Moab and defeated it. (r 3) Now then I have entrusted him in the hands of my messenger. He will bring him to the Palace. They will leave on the 27th of Shebat (XI).”

Source: Luukko, M. 2012. The Correspondence of Tiglath-pileser III and Sargon II from Calah/Nimrud. SAA 19. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa19/P224492/

Read the full tablet entry

~730 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses

SAA 19 030. Orchards of the Villages of Helbon (CTN 5 p. 158)

“(1) [To] the king, my lord: [yo]ur [servant] Qurdi-Aššur. Go[od he]alth to the kin[g], my lord! (4) [Ever since the kin]g, my lord, appointed me here, the [...s] appointed [...] ov[er m]e. (6) [...... DN]-ila'i (7) [...... A]s to what I wrote to him: "[...] the town of Helbon (9) [......]... refused [to ...... but w]e[n]t (Break) (16) [......] Nabû-bani says: "[...] I am not involved in it. (18) [...] read(s) now [...] the king (19) [......] towers [...] (Break) (r 1) [...]... says: "The town of [......] (r 2) [I swear] I do not give [t]he orchards of the villages [of] Helb[on to a]nybody! If…”

Source: Luukko, M. 2012. The Correspondence of Tiglath-pileser III and Sargon II from Calah/Nimrud. SAA 19. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa19/P224472/

Read the full tablet entry

~730 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses

SAA 19 031. Sending Four Deserters to the King (CTN 5 p. 272)

“(1) To the king, [my] lord: your servant Qurdi-Ašš[ur]. Good health to the ki[n]g, my lord! (5) Ṣallaya, Burua-[...], Babê-šumki, Waru; in all four deserters (whom) [I am herewith sen]ding [t]o the king, [my lord. Let the king, my lord, question th]e[m].”

Source: Luukko, M. 2012. The Correspondence of Tiglath-pileser III and Sargon II from Calah/Nimrud. SAA 19. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa19/P224426/

Read the full tablet entry

~730 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses

SAA 19 032. (no title) (CTN 5 p. 245)

“(1) [T]o the king, [my lo]rd: your [ser]vant Qurd[i-Aššur]. Good health to the kin[g, my lord]! (4) Concerning what the king wrote [to me]: "Why [did] the men [...] like [this]?" (7) That the men [......] (Rest destroyed)”

Source: Luukko, M. 2012. The Correspondence of Tiglath-pileser III and Sargon II from Calah/Nimrud. SAA 19. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa19/P393693/

Read the full tablet entry

~730 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses

SAA 19 033. Horses, Oxen and Sheep from Tabal (CTN 5 p. 290)

“(1) [To the k]ing, my lord: yo[ur servant] Inurta-belu-uṣur. Good health to the king, my lord! (4) As to Inurta-aplu-iddina about whom my lord wrote to me: "How many horses, oxen (and) sheep that he brought from Tabal has he entrusted to you? Why have you not written (about this)?" (10) I have already written to my lord twice: 46 horses, 165 oxen, 4,635 sheep are in my charge (and) 33 horses, 135 oxen are in the charge of Aššur-naṣir. (16) I have given him orders, written a sealed document and given it to him, and he has left for my lord. (19) Aya-neri has fetched 16 logs that came from…”

Source: Luukko, M. 2012. The Correspondence of Tiglath-pileser III and Sargon II from Calah/Nimrud. SAA 19. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa19/P393615/

Read the full tablet entry