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

~730 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses
SAA 19 154. Specialists Reviving the Land (CTN 5 p. 239)
“(1) [The kin]g's [word to] Aššur-belu-taqq[in]: (3) The specialists of the Palace, whether Assyrian or Aramean, who have come to your land to revive it - send your messengers to the whole district, gather them all wherever they are and send them to me! (13) Entrust them to [c]avalry and the Itu'u, [wh]o will make them pass through Dur-Bel-ila'i to me. (r 1) Do [y]ou know that [the days] for imposing the [i]škāru dues have [a]rrived?”
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/P224386/
Read the full tablet entry~730 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses
SAA 19 155. Don’t be Negligent (CTN 5 p. 262)
“(1) The king's [wor]d [to NN]: I am [wel]l, y[ou can be glad]. (3) [(Concerning)] the ...[...] carts [wh]ich you are delivering to the Palace, [w]hy did [...]tu say: “There i[s a ma]tter; it concerns one [...], they [...] x talent(s) each and live. (8) Conc[erning ......] (11) He will not [... but ...] his [...], shares [and ...]s, which he ...[...], to the high-ranking officers wh[o] are missing from there (Break) (r 4) [...], the god should [n]ot hat[e me. ...] jug. Moreover, [...] impose them on me there. (r 8) I have written to you. [Don't b]e negligent, [don't b]e negligent, [don't b]e negligent, [......].”
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/P393709/
Read the full tablet entry~730 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses
SAA 19 157. Urarṭu After the Cimmerian Rout (CTN 5 p. 125; SAA 01 032)
“(1) [To the king, my lord: yo]ur [servant Sin-ahhe-riba. Good health to the king, m]y lord! Assyria [is well], the temples [are well], all the [forts o]f the king [are well; the king, my lord], can be glad indeed. (7) [......] of the Itu'ean [......] who [......] from the city of Ištahup has now been brought to me from [...]idratta. I inquired him [about the Urar]ṭians and he told me: "The Urarṭian [and his magnates were defeated] on their expedition [against] the Cimmerians, and they are very much afraid of the king, my lord. They tremble and keep silent like women, and nobody [...] the…”
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/X190157/
Read the full tablet entry~730 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses
SAA 19 158. Silver and Chariot Owners from the Household of the Queen (CTN 5 p. 200)
“(1) To the ki[ng, my lord]: your servant [Sin-ahhe-riba]. Good health t[o the king, my lord]! Assyria is well, the temples are well, all the king's forts are well. The king, my lord, can be glad indeed. (8) Concerning the silver to be collected from ...... [about which the king, my lord], wrote to me, (saying): "Withhold the silver!" - now the[n] I am se[nding] it to the king, my lord. I am also sending 10 chariot ow[ne]rs from the household of the queen. (16) 20 [......] (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/P393661/
Read the full tablet entry~730 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses
SAA 19 159. Report on a Festival and on Bull Colossi (CTN 5 p. 219; SAA 01 110)
“(1) [To the king, m]y lord: yo[ur servant] Marduk-rem[anni. Good health] to the king, [my] lord! (4) [The festi]val has been celebrated; the god [...] came out and returned in peace. May Nabû and Marduk bless the king! (8) As to the bull colossi about which the king, my lord, wrote to me, I have worked out their positions on (the pedestals of) the gates of the magnates and they are hewing them. We shall place the hewn colossi before the ... residence; they will trim the big ones and we shall place them before the middlemost gate. (16) As to the stone bulls of which I spoke to the king, my…”
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/X190159/
Read the full tablet entry~730 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses
SAA 19 160. A Team of Egyptian Horses (CTN 5 p. 317)
“(1) [T]o the gove[rnor, my brother: yo]ur [brother] Bel-e[riba. Good] health to m[y] bro[ther]! (4) The guard Nabû-eṭiranni and Issar-šumu-ereš, a recruit of the team commander, brought me a team of Egyptian horses, saying: "This is a royal order: ‘[Br]i[ng] the horse(s) into the city of [......] (r 2) [...] in the land of [...]. (r 3) [I]f it is a royal order, [let] my brother send word that I may receive the team.”
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/P224495/
Read the full tablet entry~730 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses
SAA 19 161. Mule Express not Available (CTN 5 p. 103; SAA 05 074)
“(1) To the king, my lord: your servant Mahdê. Good health to the king, my lord! (4) (As to) the mule express that we provide and the royal bodyguard who comes citing a royal order that he should go as far as Šabirešu – he has used up the [...] in my (possession)! (9) The king, my lord, knows that I do not main[tain] a team (to go) as far as Šabirešu; the ones that go do not return. My teams are used up; the king, my lord, should know (this). (r 2) We let the teams from Calah go by; my chariot, my team (and) [my dri]ver went (with) Nabû'a the bodyguard as far as Šabirešu, and those of Šabirešu le[t them g]o by. (r 8) Let the king, my lord, inve[stiga]te; let him send word that I come, and I shall come on foot! I have no chariot, no team, no driver!”
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/X190161/
Read the full tablet entry~730 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses
SAA 19 162. Problems in Maintaining the Express Service (CTN 5 p. 263)
“(1) To the king, [m]y lord: your [se]rv[a]nt Mahdê. [Good hea]lth to [the king], m[y] lo[rd]! (Break) (6) Concerning [......] (Break) (10) [Le]t them give me a t[eam of] she-camels (13) [......] ... (14) [......] (15) [Let the Ukk]aeans pass (and) [giv]e me [what they have coll]ected, (and) let the [...] who is [with] them go [posth]aste to the king, my lord. (r 3) I will harness [a tea]m for his use [in .... The king], my [lo]rd, should know (this). (r 6) Let the [k]ing, my lord, send word that they [shou]ld be punished (Break) (r 11) of the king, m[y] lo[rd ...] (r 12) [......] he mai[ntai]ns te[ams ...] (r 14) [N]o[w Il]a'i-Bel, [......], refu[ses to giv]e [them ...] (Rest destroyed or too broken for translation)”
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/P224416/
Read the full tablet entry