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 19 204. Report on Stored Grain (CTN 5 p. 320)

“(1) [T]o the king, [my] lor[d]: your [se]rvant Šarru-ila'i. Good health to the ki[ng], my lord! (5) As to stored grain about which the king, my lord, wrote to me: "Inspect the crops under [......]. (11) The crop[s ...] whi[ch ......] (Break) (r 2) I am se[nding ......] to [the king, my lord]. (r 5) The crop[s ......] (r 8) [h]e/[i]t is on the border.”

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/P393708/

Read the full tablet entry

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

SAA 19 205. Let the King my Lord Ask Him (CTN 5 p. 311)

“(1) To the king, my lord: your servant [DN]-šarru-uṣur. The best of health to the k[ing, my lord]! (3) May the [...] be w[ell]! (Break) (r 1) [Let the king, my lord, a]sk him.”

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/P393683/

Read the full tablet entry

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

SAA 19 206. (no title) (CTN 5 p. 311)

“(1) To the k[in]g, [m]y lord: your servant QIzalayu. Good [he]alth to the [kin]g, m[y] lord! (4) Concerning what the [ki]ng, [my] lo[rd, wrote] to me: "[......] (Break) (14) [...]... I have sent [......], he will bring [......]. Thereaf[ter] the magnates went [...] (18) I and Sada-[... ......]. (r 1) Concerning the [...s] about whom the king, [my lord], wr[ot]e to me. [(They are)] in Sam’al. (r 4) As to the Isam[az]eans, [I have ...] as the king [wrot]e to me. They will return [...]. (Break) (r 12) [who s]et up for[ts] in your country and [...] there. He has not yet set out .......”

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/P393684/

Read the full tablet entry

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

SAA 19 207. Executing the King's Orders (CTN 5 p. 286)

“(1) To the kin[g, my lord]: your servant [NN]. The very best of health t[o the kin]g, my [lo]rd! (5) A sealed tablet of the king, my lord, came to me with the following message: "Receive carts with beds ... ... (and) take it with you; do not take (plain) carriages." (13) I shall (now) do as the king, my lord, commanded. (15) I have thickened/strengthened the [...]s of Gilû, [so]n of Hala[...], and am c[om]ing. (18) The men [...] (19) before [.....] (Rest 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/P224453/

Read the full tablet entry

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

SAA 19 208. Treasury Horses (CTN 5 p. 294)

“(Beginning destroyed) (2) is too much for me without protection. (4) There are 3-4 teams (of horses) in one house and no men! (6) Now, concerning the treasury horses about which I spoke to my brother (and about which) he said: "Let them be removed from me" (Break) (e. 1) As to [......] (e. 2) ... [......] (e. 3) [they should] stre[tch out ......].”

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/P393687/

Read the full tablet entry

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

SAA 19 209. Distributing Fields (CTN 5 p. 205)

“(Beginning destroyed) (1) [Concerning the ... whom I stati]oned in [...], we distributed [field]s to them as the king, my lord, [ord]ered, and I appointed a palace servant to lead them. (But now) Tardi[tu-Aššur] has dismissed him. He has referred the matter to the king, saying: "The king has exempted the fields for me." (10) [......] the fields [......] (Break) (r 1) [No]w then I am s[ending] t[he ...s] to the king, my lord. Let the king, my lord, ask them. (r 4) If the king, my lord, exempted the fields and gave them to Tarditu-Aššur [I am respo]nsible, (and) I will drop the fields of [Tarditu-Aššur] from the fields from which I exact state service.”

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/P393688/

Read the full tablet entry

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

SAA 19 210. Appointing King's Men (CTN 5 p. 281)

“(1) [To the king, my lord: your servant NN]. Go[od health to the king, my lord]! (4) A[s t]o the m[en about whom the king wrote me], I have assigned all the available king's men and entrusted them to the major-domo. (9) On the 20th of Sivan (III) they have set out and gone away.”

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/P224444/

Read the full tablet entry

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

SAA 19 211. Grain Store for Barley (CTN 5 p. 233)

“(1) [To the king, my lord: your servant NN]. The be[st of heal]th t[o] the king, my lord! (5) As to the grain st[ore] for barley about which the king wrote to me; let plenty of barley be brought and stored therein.”

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/P224481/

Read the full tablet entry