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 01 076. Treaty With Gurdi (ABL 0090)

“(1) To the king, my lord: your servant Ṭab-ṣill-Ešarra. Good health to the king, my lord! May Aššur and Mullissu bless the king, my lord! (6) As to the treaty tablet of Gurdî about which the king, my lord, wrote to me, the adjutant of the Palace Superintendent came and picked it up on the 1st of Ab (V). (13) [As soon as] the emissaries [had ar]rived, they brought the tre[aty tablet to the Inner Cit]y; [the body]guard and the messenger of the Palace Superintendent went with them and introduced it into the courtyard of the temple. (r 8) The messenger of the Palace Superintendent who brought it said: "I am under orders to return the tablet", so he got it back (after the ceremonies). The city overseer, the temple steward and Kenî the temple scribe entrusted me [...].”

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/P334039/

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

SAA 01 077. On Bronze Panthers and a Wood Store (ABL 0091)

“(1) To the king, my lord: your servant Ṭab-ṣill-Ešarra. Good health to the king, my lord! May Aššur and Mullissu bless the king, my lord! (6) The stands of both bronze panthers are quite attractive; they are working on minor improvements in their finish. (10) As to the wood store for the iron brazier in the palace of the Inner City about which the king, my lord, wrote to me, I consulted the mayors, masons and elders (who told me this): (14) "The chief of public works will do the demolition and the brickwork; the sons of the palace maids will supply the materials needed and plaster its roof;…”

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/P334040/

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

SAA 01 078. Work on the Panthers, the Ziggurat and Boats (ABL 0483)

“(1) To the king, my lord: your servant Ṭab-ṣill-Ešarra. Good health to the king, my lord! May Aššur and Mullissu bless the king, my lord! (6) [We] overturned the ot[her] panther on the 1[st] and placed it on its face; twenty courses of bricks have been put under it; [its] feet are toward the seat of Lord-of-the-Crown. (12) [x] courses of bricks of the ziggurat have been laid. On the 6th they started building the boat[s], and they are building them (now). (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/P334331/

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

SAA 01 079. Building the Ziggurat (CT 53 724)

“(Beginning destroyed or too fragmentary for translation) (5) We shall go [... in Te]bet (X). [As to the work] on the ziggurat, [x cour]ses of bricks have been l[aid ...... (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/P314134/

Read the full tablet entry

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

SAA 01 080. Constructing Boats (ABL 0330)

“(1) [To] the king, [my lord]: your [servant] Ṭab-[ṣill-Ešarra. Good] health to [the king, my lord]! May Aššur and Mullissu bless [the king, my lord]! (5) As to the boats which the king, my lord, wrote me about: "They must be finished by the beginning of the month! Now all these months have been wasted, are there really no boats?" — (11) Did I not write to the king my lord like this: "They will finish three boats by the 1st of Nisan (I), the fourth will be ready by the 1st of Iyyar (II)?" At the moment [x] boats are finished [..... (Break) (r 2) six men [......] (r 3) and female [......] (r 4) the other side [......]”

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/P334213/

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

SAA 01 081. Constructing Boats (CT 53 639)

“(Beginning destroyed) (2) ... [......] (3) in the middle of the city [......] (4) now ...[.....] (5) alongs[ide ......] (6) the house which [......] (r 1) Did I not [....] to the king, [my lord]? As to the boats [on which] I wr[ote to 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/P314051/

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

SAA 01 082. The Problem of Hungry Arabs (ABL 0547)

“(1) [To] the king, [my lo]rd: your servant Ṭab-[ṣill-Ešarra]. Good health to [the king, my lord! May] Aššur and Mullissu [bless the king, my lord!] (5) As to the A[rabs concerning whom the king, my lord] wrote to me: "[Why] do they graze [their sheep and] camel[s in the desert where they must resort to plundering] when hungry?" — (10) [Rains have been sc]arce this [year]; ...[......] have been settling in [......]. (13) (As to) what the king, my lord, [wrote] to me: "Now, go to Hinzanu, and let them go and graze with you! There shall be no restrictions from the banks of the Tharthar river up…”

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/P334372/

Read the full tablet entry

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

SAA 01 083. Harvest in Hindanu (ABL 0093)

“(1) To the king, my lord: your servant Ṭab-ṣill-Ešarra. Good health to the king, my lord! May Aššur and Mullissu bless the king, my lord! (6) They finished the harvest in Hin[zanu] on the 11th. [......] was reaped [...]. As long as [I am] here [...... (Break) (r 2) They will not [agree] to trans[port it ...]; they are transporting it on your expense.”

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/P334042/

Read the full tablet entry