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.

~715 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses

SAA 01 043. News of the King of Urarṭu (ABL 0488)

“(1) To the king, my lord: your servant Ṭab-šar-Aššur. Good health to the king, my lord! (5) [On the ...th ...] brought me [a letter] from Aššur-reṣuwa in which it was written [as follow]s: "[The king of] Urarṭu is in the city of ...arda; the [...]s of [......" (Rest destroyed)”

Source: Parpola, S. 1987. The Correspondence of Sargon II, Part I: Letters from Assyria and the West. SAA 1. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa01/P334335/

Read the full tablet entry

~715 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses

SAA 01 044. A Message from Mitunu (CT 53 082)

“(1) [To the king], my lord: yo[ur servant] Ṭab-šar-Aššur. [Good he]alth to the king, my lord! (4) [A messe]nger of Mitunu [whom Aššur]-reṣuwa [had sent] to me says: "[...... (Rest destroyed)”

Source: Parpola, S. 1987. The Correspondence of Sargon II, Part I: Letters from Assyria and the West. SAA 1. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa01/P313497/

Read the full tablet entry

~715 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses

SAA 01 045. In the Land of Habhu (ABL 0173)

“(1) To the king, my lord: your servant Ṭab-šar-Aššur. Good health to the king, my lord! (4) A cohort commander of the Chief Eunuch delivered me the king's sealed message in the city of Anisu on the 27th. (7) The messenger of the commander of the fort came to me in Anisu; I asked him about the news, and he told me this: "The city of Birate and the whole land of Habhu are well; everybody is doing his work." (13) All is well; the king, my lord, can be glad. (r 1) On the 28th I shall be in the city of Ieri. (SPACER)”

Source: Parpola, S. 1987. The Correspondence of Sargon II, Part I: Letters from Assyria and the West. SAA 1. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa01/P334118/

Read the full tablet entry

~715 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses

SAA 01 046. Undesirable Business in Kumme (CT 53 144)

“(Beginning destroyed) (2) ...] has sent me [his messenger ...]; (4) he told me [as follows]: (5) "[...] has given orders [......] (6) "the governor of [......] (7) "who set [......] (8) "the town of Saraga [......] (9) "the town of Saraga [......] (10) "the Pa[lace Her]ald ......] (Break) (r 2) [...... from] the city of Arzabia [is residing] in the centre of Kumme and doing business with articles of value to Assyria; if the Treasurer commands, I will arrest him and bring him over." (r 8) I said him as follows: "I'll write to the Palace." Whatever has been told to him [...... (Break) (e. 1) [......] let me write [......] to the king, my lord [...... who we]nt [to ...], their brothers [......] have come [......]”

Source: Parpola, S. 1987. The Correspondence of Sargon II, Part I: Letters from Assyria and the West. SAA 1. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa01/P313559/

Read the full tablet entry

~715 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses

SAA 01 047. Moving the Army Across a River (ABL 0100)

“(1) To the king, my lord: your servant Ṭab-šar-Aššur. Good health to the king, my lord! (4) As to what I wrote to the Palace: "Let them [...] the rivers, get together and do the crossing at ... the c[am]p," — Arbailai the 'third man' came to me today, reporting: "The river is [floodin]g, I was not able to pass [...] to the [other] side." (14) That is exactly why I wrote to the Palace. Let them now do the crossing at that very place outside the ca[mp]. (r 1) And here — (when) they come [......], half of the [......] ... here; I went by a cart and had a look; it's excellent, and Arbailai showed…”

Source: Parpola, S. 1987. The Correspondence of Sargon II, Part I: Letters from Assyria and the West. SAA 1. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa01/P334049/

Read the full tablet entry

~715 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses

SAA 01 048. Levying Horses (ABL 0630)

“(Beginning destroyed) (1) I am [right now] sending Šauška-[..., the ...] of Lilî [...] to the king my lord in the hands of Aššur-nadin-ahhe the [royal bodyguard]. (6) As to what the king, my lord, wrote to me: "[...] to the horses of [...] on the 20th of Adar (XII)!" — (9) The king my lord knows that the day I arrive in the king my lord's presence, I (must) come back here posthaste! Now, should the team-commanders, be it the prefects or the recruitment officers who are leaving for their levy [come] straight [to me]? Or [will the king (rather) say]: "The [prefects] and re[cruitment officers] should [come] straight to me [...]?" (r 8) I [......] from the ci[ty of ......]; right now [......] the river [...... (Rest destroyed)”

Source: Parpola, S. 1987. The Correspondence of Sargon II, Part I: Letters from Assyria and the West. SAA 1. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa01/P334435/

Read the full tablet entry

~715 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses

SAA 01 049. Mustering the Chariotry of the Magnates (CT 53 112)

“(1) [To the king, my lord: your servant Ṭab-šar-Aššur. Good heal]th to [the king, my lord!] (4) [As I wrote] to the ki[ng, my lord], I am [receiving] the chariots of the magnates on the afternoon of the 16th and they are giving them over to me — the Comm[ander-in-Chief], the Sartinnu, the Vizier, the Palace Herald, the Chief [Cupbearer], the Treasurer, and the governor of [Calah]; in all 1[00] chariots capable of carrying ...[...]. (12) The chariots of the C[hief Eunuch] and the governor of Nineveh [...] are missing; what does the king my lord say? (Rest destroyed or untranslatable)”

Source: Parpola, S. 1987. The Correspondence of Sargon II, Part I: Letters from Assyria and the West. SAA 1. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa01/P313527/

Read the full tablet entry

~715 BCE · Reconstructed composite — see ORACC entry for manuscript witnesses

SAA 01 050. The Emblem of the Moon God (ABL 0489)

“(1) To the king, my lord: your servant Ṭab-šar-Aššur. Good health to the king, my lord! (4) As to the emblem of the moon god of Harran of which the king, my lord, wrote to me, (7) there are two good ones which [......] for the watch of [...] of the king, my lord [...... (Rest destroyed)”

Source: Parpola, S. 1987. The Correspondence of Sargon II, Part I: Letters from Assyria and the West. SAA 1. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa01/P334336/

Read the full tablet entry