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 01 108. Straw and Fodder for the Horses (ABL 0995)

“(Beginning destroyed) (2) ......] for his eyes; he does not give any [str]aw or fodder [to] the horses. (6) Let a messenger of the king my lord come and have a look at the [...], and (then) go and inform the king, my lord.”

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/P334667/

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

SAA 01 109. (no title) (ABL 0481)

“(1) [To the ki]ng, my lord: your [servant] Ṭab-ṣill-Ešarra. [Good] health to the king, my lord! May [Aššur and M]ullissu bless 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/P334329/

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

SAA 01 110. Report on a Festival and on Bull Colossi (NL 016)

“(1) [To the king], my lord: [your servant M]arduk-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 at the ...s of the palaces and they are hewing them. We shall place the hewn colossi before the ... residence; they will trim the big ones and whe shall place them before the middlemost gate. (16) As to the [sto]ne bulls of which I spoke to the king, my lord, they will modify…”

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/P224487/

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

SAA 01 111. A Festival (CT 53 591)

“(1) [To the king, my lord: your servant Aššur-bani]. Good [health to the king, my lord! The temples are] well, [the city of Calah is] well, [the queen] is well, [the slaves are] well. (8) On the 17th [the god ...] emerged [from his temple] and saf[ely entered ...... (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/P314003/

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

SAA 01 112. Gods Go to a Festival (ABL 0236+)

“(1) To the king, my lord: your servant Aššur-bani. Good health to the king, my lord! (4) On the 2nd [......] the gods [......]; on the 3rd [...... (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/P334175/

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

SAA 01 113. Preparing for a Festival (CT 53 563)

“(1) To [the king, my lord]: your servant [Aššur-bani]. Good health [to the king, my lord]! (4) On the 8th [of ... the gods] are going to get up and [take residence in the akitu chapel; they will stay there] until the middle [of the month]. (7) Oil [...... (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/P313975/

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

SAA 01 114. Raising Materials for Repair Work on the temples (ABL 0578+)

“(1) T[o the king, my lord: your] servant [Aššur-bani]. (Break) (16) But [......] how are we supposed to do the work on [...]? Whence shall we raise the materials needed for the temple of Ištar, the Kidmuri temple, the Sebettu temple and the temple of Adad-of-the-Rain? (r 7) Let them write to Kiṣir-Aššur that he should make available the straw in the Merchant Town and Šitabni, so we can use it for the work.”

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/P334397/

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

SAA 01 115. (no title) (ABL 0232)

“(1) To the king, my lord: your servant Aššur-bani. Good health to the king, my lord! The temples are well, the city of Calah is well, the queen is well, the slaves are well. (8) [...] Dur-Šarruken [...... (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/P334171/

Read the full tablet entry