All tablets.

SAA 20 015. Rituals in the Akitu House on Nisan 7-8, and Temple Service Rites (KAR 215 + PKT 16)

(beginning (about 2-6 lines) lost) (i 1') [They] en[ter] the Akitu House. The king com[es]; they give the gods around the king’s neck. He goes and lights the censer, and steps upon the stand. (i 6') The man-woman raises the weapons and shouts, opposite Ištar: “Ebirna, ebirna!” (i 8') The king goes to the spring. He performs sheep offerings and offers blood to the spring. He throws a fish and a crab into the spring, pours oil, honey, and wine into the spring. He swings the purification device, and appears (to the public). (i 14') From the spring the king enters the Akitu House. He kisses the…

SAA 20 016. Rituals in the Equ House (AsT 43)

(beginning broken away) (i 1') [...] Ištar [......] (i 2') [He burns] female kids as on the 6t[h day]. (i 3') [Hav]ing finished his ritual, the k[ing retires] to the [side]room (and) removes the jewellery. He comes out and [prostrates himself] before Ištar. They lay down [the ...]... [He kisses] the ground at the right and left of Ištar. Using a lance, he giv[es ...] before Nikkal, [...]. (i 7') The king comes out, [...s] under [..., and sits down] on the couch before the left-hand door. They [place] a table before the king. One cupbearer steps to the right of the king, p[laces an…

SAA 20 017. Rituals in the House of the Assyrian Ištar (PKT 19 + OrSP 23, 115)

(1) At the da[wn] of the [xth] day [o]f Nisan (I), the king rises early in the m[orni]ng and goes to the house of the Assyrian Ištar. He per[for]ms a sheep offering before [Tašmetu], before Belat-šarri, before Ber, before Uraš, and before Kutatati. [The king] (then) goes straight to the palace. He does (all) this in the morning. (7) [At the pa]ssing of the eve[ning] the king puts on the jewellery and goe[s] to the house of the Assyrian Ištar. The king halts in the courtyard. The priest of [Aššur pours out] one libation bowl of wa[ter and another one [of ...] in the courtyard before the…

SAA 20 019. Rituals for Ninitu and Kulittu (KAR 146)

(i 1) When the king performs the nāṭu of [Ninittu], the king g[oe]s and brin[gs in] Ištar. (i 4) He p[erforms] a sheep offering [before Aššur], and go[es to] feed [the ṣīp]u before Ištar. He strews [salt], and swings [the purif]ication device. He go[es] to swing the purification device on the censer, gives incense thrice, pours out a libation bowl. He gives incense [three] times, performs a sheep offering, burns [ho]ney and oil, completes his [liba]tions, and appears (to the public). (i 16) [He goes] to strew [salt] before the Seven Gods, feeds [the ṣīpu], and completes [libations] of beer,…

SAA 20 020. Fragment of a Ritual for Ištar (CA pl. 6)

(beginning broken away) (i 1) [......] ... [......] (i 2) [......] of the bed which in [......] (i 3) [......] He cuts off [......] the bed (i 4) [......] ritual arrangement before the be[d ...] (i 5) [the ...]s of the bed [...] (i 6) [...]. He performs a sheep offering before Aššur. He b[rings in] Ištar. (i 7) He [goes] to fe[ed] the ṣīpus [before I]štar. (i 8) [He places] the head and the feet [up]on huhhurtu-bread [......]. (i 9) He pours [wine and beer] on the head and the feet [...]. (i 10) He performs [a sheep offering before] Ištar. (i 11) He provides [......] (and) goes to the…

SAA 20 021. Ritual for the Lady-of-the-Mountain (PKT 12-13)

(1) [......]...[...] (2) [...] eye [......] (3) [...... the La]dy-of-the-Mountain before the [bed]room (4) [...] the bed [i]nside [...]. (5) [...] se[ts the tab]le of Aššur. (6) He comes out [of] the palace. He pours water and beer and three times [throws] balussu on [...]. (8) The king strews salt before Aššur. He sacrifices a ram [before Aššur], sacrifices a [r]am before the Lady-of-the-Mountain. He s[trew]s salt [o]n the terrace before the Seven Gods, and sp[li]ts [...]. (13) He pours a [lib]ation of beer and wine, provides cooked [me]at before Aššur, provides roast [me]at before the…

SAA 20 030. The Banquet of Gula (PKT 21 + 22b)

(beginning broken away) (1') [......] sweet oil [...] (2') [......] you anoint [the hands] and feet [......]. (3') The master of the banquet and the officiant [k]iss [the ground before DN] and stand up. (4') They [......] Šarrat-eqi. [The officiant] fills a masrahu vessel with wine [....... The officient] offers (it) to [the master of the ban]quet, saying: “It is (wine) of fame and offspring, [......]. May she give you [well-bein]g, life, fame and offspring!” ... [......]. (8') He thus blesses him and gives him to drink. The officiant [and the master of the banquet] kiss [the gr]ound [before…

SAA 20 032. Ritual for the Daughter-of-River (KAR 141)

(1) [Wh]en [you perform the n]āṭu of the Daughter-of-the-River before [...], at the 5/6th double-hour of [the d]ay you go to the river and pitch a [ten]t on the river bank. You place the front of the tent towards the desert. (4) You collect seeds, pulling the sufferer of the punishment, (while) the singer keeps reciting: “I know the sinner” — a second time like this, a third time like this. You throw the things pulled out into the river. He throws the ‘solvents’ before Šamaš. (9) You put up a bed in the tent. [You place] on the be[d] a habannutu-jar of haršu and a habannutu-jar of…

SAA 20 035. Fragment of a Ritual Mentioning the Dais of Destinies (CT 53, 980)

(beginning broken away) (3') [......] the sheep offerings of the palace (4') [... the Da]is of Destinies (5') [... t]he high priest offers (6') [... up]on the lock (7') [......] on the 19th day (8') [......] they say accordingly (9') [...] ... Neberu (10') [......] the stool (11') [......] the priest (12') [......]s, opening the ear (rest broken away) (beginning broken away; then traces at the end of lines) (r 1') [...... ris]es (r 2') [......] is seated (rest broken away)

Daily LifeEconomy

SAA 20 037. Temple Service Rites for All Assyria (PKT 10-11)

(1) [When you are to provide for the House of Aššur, (and) to strew salt], you say: “[Aššur and Mullissu, Adad and Mašmaš, accep]t [life]!” (3) [When] you are to swing [the purification device over the table, you say: “The hand is released.” You repeat it] and swing it in the centre of the house, [saying: “The centre of the house is released].” You go and swing it in the area of the censers, [saying: “The centre of the house is seized].” You return and swing it over the censers, [saying: “May Fire purify]!” (7) When you are to put combustibles on the censer, [you giv]e incense [thri]ce and…

SAA 20 038. Takultu for Sennacherib and Temple Service for Nineveh (STT 088)

(i 1) [Aššur-Enlil]; Mašmaš; Aššur-[Adad] in front of Aššur-d[ugul]; Aššur-Adad in front of Aššur-Conqueror; Enlil-Anu; Ea-šarru; Sîn, Adad, Šamaš; Ištar, the Queen of Heaven of Kar-Tukulti-Ninurta, Šerua; the Great Gods; [Taš]metu, [Ninurta, Nu]sku; Kippat-mati, Kippat-mati-image, Kutatati; Enlil, Dagan, Aššur-Tiara, Sun-image, Aššur-Lahmus, Aššur-Judges, Kittu, Sîn, Šamaš, Aššur-Conqueror; Ea, Kittu (and) Mišaru, Dibar; Ninurta and Aššur, [Aššur-Šakkan-Tišpak, Aššur-Judges; Lubelim, Gimagan], Il-pad[a]; (i 30) the Couch, Sun-of-the-Lands, the Rivers (and) Usumû, the Images, Kunuš-kadru; the…

SAA 20 039. Takultu for Esarhaddon(?) (STT 374)

(beginning broken away) (1') [......], Si[...], (2') [...], Hip-rag[gu], (3') [...], the Weapons, the Stand[ard], (4') [...], the Sun-image, [...], (5') [...], Uraš, (6') [..., Be]lat-ekalli, (7') [..., I]štar of Egypt, (8') [..., H]umbaba, (9') [......] image [...] (rest broken away)

SAA 20 041. Duplicate of No. 40 (KAV 057)

(left-hand columns lost) (ii 1) [Ebh, Adad], Šala, Taramuwa, [Nisaba], Adad-Lightning, [Niphu-image], Fire-light[ning], (ii 6) Light-ima[ge, Ningirsu] (rest broken away) (r i 2') [......] light (rest broken away) (completely broken away)

SAA 20 042. Takultu for Aššur-etel-ilani (KAR 214)

(i 1) [Aššur], drink! Enlil, drink! Anu, drink! Ea-šarru, drink! Queen of the [Gods], drink! Sîn, drink! Šamaš, drink! Adad, drink! Ištar, drink! (i 4) May the Great Gods, the Seven Gods (and) the Narudi drink! Ber, drink! Assyrian Ištar, drink! (i 7) May the Igigi (and) the Anunnaki, Ereškigal (and) the gods of earth, Eṭirtu (and) Ugurta; Šerua, Tašmetu, Nusku, Kippat-mati; Enlil (and) Da[gan], the Judges of the Imag[e, Sîn (and) Šamaš], the Lahmus, the Niphu-im[age], Nubalu, [......], Ea, [...], Maliku, [...], ...; (i 17) the House of Aš[šur] (and) its [..., ...], the Upper Lamassu,…

SAA 20 043. Duplicate of No. 42 (KAV 083)

(beginning broken away) (1') [N]eš-ili-mati, N[eš-igigani, the St]eps and the Lahm[us of the Eastern Gate; Nus]ku, the Bull-Son-of-Šamaš [and the Judges behind (the God)]; (4') [the image]s of the tem[ple] and the ima[ges of the House of Aššur], the great holy of holies, [the treasuries], the holy of holies without ex[it, ...], the [Cou]rt of Lead, the A[psû and everything (in it)], the [C]ourt of Mul[lissu and everything (in it)], the Court of Nam[ru and everything (in it)] (rest broken away)

SAA 20 044. Duplicate of No. 42 (KAR 325)

(beginning broken away) (1') [the four gates] and [their] doors, [the gods of the fo]ur [houses] and itself [..., the doorjamb and the lo]ck, Ehursag[kurkurra (and)] its [inhabitants], the divine It[tu, the paveme]nt, the hiburnu (vats) [and the sacred outlet conduits], (6') Anu and Antu, the Great Gods, [Šunipuru, the Narudi], Šalimtu, [Enlil] (and) Mullissu, Ninurta (and) [Nusku, Ea-šarru (and) Dam]kina, Usum[û ...] (rest broken away) (totally destroyed)

SAA 20 045. Takultu for Sin-šarru-iškun(?)

(beginning broken away) (i 1') [Aššur-Adad in front of Aššur-dugu]l, [Aššur]-Adad [in front of Aššur-Conq]ueror, [Enlil]-Anu, [Ea]-šarru, [Sîn, Adad], Šamaš, Ištar, [the Queen of Heaven of] Kar-Tukulti-Ninurta, [Šeru]a, (rest broken away) (beginning broken away) (ii 1') Bel-[šarru], Da[glanu], Siu[sa], Šeru[a, Mullissu], Ištar [...]: the gods of [the House of Aššur]. (ii 7') The divine Sta[g ...]; (ii 8') you [invoke] their names. (ii 9') The [Image], (rest broken away)

SAA 20 048. Fragment of a Takultu(?) Text (STT 088B)

(beginning broken away) (i 1') (Too broken for translation) (beginning broken away) (rest broken away) (rest broken away)

SAA 20 049. The Gods, Shrines and Holy Palaces of Assur (KAV 042 +)

(1) Aššur, Lord Tiara, Aššur of Reading; Šerua, Kippat-mati, the Window of Tašmetu; Sîn, Šamaš; Šulpaamaša, Šulpaguna; three gods of the room; the Conquerors, the Weapon, the Axe, Kunuš-kadru; image of Tiglath-Pileser: total (of gods) in the holy of holies. (14) Ninurta and Kakka in the right side room of the portico. (16) Nusku in the left side room of ditto. (17) Seven Sons-of-Truth of bronze before the window openings of the roof. (19) Mullissu, Mullissu of Reading, Tambaya, Šamšaya, Ulaya: total (of gods) in the house of Mullissu. (22) Enlil, Dagan, Bel-labria, the Judges of the dais,…

SAA 20 050. Duties of Priests of the Aššur Temple (PKT 36-38)

(i 1) [To ... ... the House of A]ššur [and to ... the ... for s]etting [the table and per]forming [the sheep offerings] is the responsibility of [the hig]h [priest and the assistant priest]. (i 8) [To illuminat]e the face, [to ...] ..., [to ...] the golden purification device, to wipe [the kettle], to bind [... and the na]pkin [on the k]ing’s [shoulders] is [the responsib]ility of the [...]. (i 15) To lo[ok after ...], to [he]at [...], and to [bu]rn [...] [is the responsibility] of the [...]. (i 19) To [lo]ok after [the table, the c]ouch, [the bed and the throne is the responsibility of the…

SAA 20 051. Royal Decrees Concerning the Clergy of Ešarra (PKT 39-40)

(i 1) The [...] cup[s] of the House of [Aššur which] Shalmaneser, king of [Assy]ria, established: (i 5) The priest of Aššur. (i 6) The assistant priest, the scribe of the House of God, the steward, the priest of Šerua, the chief gatekeeper, the chief chanter. (i 12) The priest of Bel-tarbaṣi, the warden of the House, the warden of the šahūru anteroom, the chief chanter of the House of Aššur, the cupbearer, the [...] (rest broken away) (beginning broken away) (ii 2') Two [...]s of [......]. (ii 4') Three [...]s (and) two revenue collectors ... the table. (ii 7') A revenue collector ge[t]s 1.5…

SAA 20 052. Cultic Reforms and Religious Practices at Assur (CA pl. 1-2)

(columns i-iii destroyed) (beginning (about 50 lines) broken away) (iv 2) [...... Sennach]erib (iv 3) [......]... (iv 4) [......] of silver (iv 5) [...... he stati]oned (iv 6) [......] the chariot (iv 7) [...... on the x]th (iv 8) [...... Ad]ad (iv 9) [...... is fa]vourable (iv 10) [......]... (iv 11) [......] to him and (iv 12) [...... he recei]ved (rest (about 13 lines) broken away) (beginning (about 50 lines) broken away) (v 1') [Ada]d, [Nisaba, Šala]; Zababa, Babu, [E]a, [Belet]-ili, Damkina, Ninurta. (v 4') The Chariot, the W[eapo]n, Amurru, Haya, Kusu, Ninurta of the Wall, Tišpak,…

SAA 20 054. Fragment of a Text Similar to No. 52 (KAV 049)

(beginning broken away) (i 1') [Sîn, Nikkal; Šamaš], Aya; [Anu, Antu; Kippat-mati], Enlil; [Adad, Šala; Iš]tar of Heaven, [Ištar of Nineveh; Ištar] of Arbela, [Assyri]an [Ištar; Zababa, B]abu; [Belet-ili, Da]mkina; [Ninurta, Kakka], Nabû, [Nergal, Mard]uk (rest broken away) (beginning broken away) (ii 1') Aššur, M[ullissu, Šerua]; Sîn, [Nikkal]; Šamaš, [Aya, Kippat-mati]; Anu, [Antu], Adad, [Šala]; Ištar of [Heaven, Ištar of Nineveh]; Ea, the Be[let-ili, Da]mk[ina, Ninurta: total gods wh]o go afte[r Aššur]. (ii 11') The Golden Chariot, [the Weapon], Amurru, [Haya], Kusu, Tišpak, [Ninurta of…

SAA 20 055. Record of Events at Ešarra on 20-x-714 (CTN 2, 246)

(1) [In the r]eign of Sargon (II), king of Assyria, [in the ep]onym year of Issar-duri, governor of Arrapha (714) , [on the 20th day], the basalt [so]cle underneath the panther of copper was brought into the House of Aššur. [While] the socle was being dragged, they pushed the altar into the socle and delivered a report [bef]ore the king. (6) On the 21st [of Tebet] (X), the royal scribe, Nabû-šallimšunu, came to the Inner City. [...s] were brought [in] big carts from the house of the governor and slain on the altar. (8) [The regular off]ering was performed before Aššur. The House of God was…

~675 BCE·Neo-AssyrianOur engine

SAA 04 085. Fragment Similar to No. 84 [military and political]

[... ... ...] I ask you, O Shamash, great lord, / [whether, as with] the name-day(?) before [Esarhaddon, king of Assyria], / [from] the beginning of the year of its rising until [the month of Du'uzu of that year], / [at its rising], on ... days of darkness — [the appointed time being set —] / [will they take] the road [of the journey] and [go to the land of Muṣri]? / [Will they safely] come to Nineveh [and ... ... ...]? / [Stand present] in this [ram] / [and give me] a reliable [Yes: favorable omens, favorable signs of] your [great] divinity, / [so that I may see (it)] / [... ... ...] ... [... ... ...]

Religion & Myth

~675 BCE·Neo-AssyrianOur engine

SAA 04 207. Fragment Referring to Hardships of Travel [miscellaneous]

[...] ... [...] [...] ... his [...] (blank) [...] [Aside from the fact that ...] the forces of Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, [...] [Aside from the fact that ...] the hardships of the previous journey have [made him ill /] overcome him — [Aside from the fact that ... an evil god(?),] the evil [wrath of] Ishtar [...] [Aside from the fact that the ritually impure have touched] the sacrificial animals [of the rites,] [or have obstructed] the performance of [the rites,] [Aside from the fact that, being impure, they have seized the omens by] divination [and have been unable to perform them,] [Aside from the fact that in a (ritually) impure place] they [have performed the divination]

Religion & Myth

~675 BCE·Neo-AssyrianOur engine

SAA 16 081. Jewellery for the King (ABL 0847)

To the king, my lord: your servant Nabû-sagib, son of Paruṭi, goldsmith of the Queen's Household. May all be well with the king [my lord]; may Nabû and Marduk [bless] the king, my lord. [...] year(s) from the palace / [...] they asked [...] of the month [...] / [...] silver / A 'babbar-dil' stone, 3 fingers broad, / a crystal ornament — / I gave (them) to Matanaḫ-ili, / the doorkeeper, / together with a letter, / saying: 'Let the king, my lord, / decide — whether he gave (it) / or whether he did not give (it). / Let the king, my lord, inquire.'

Daily LifeEconomy

Esarhaddon 001

Esarhaddon justifies his anomalous succession — youngest son elevated over elder brothers — by attributing the choice directly to Aššur, Šamaš, and both Ištars, revealing how Sargonid kings marshalled divine authority to legitimise politically irregular transfers of power.

Esarhaddon 002

Esarhaddon's own account of razing Sidon — a coastal Phoenician power — ca. 677 BCE, documenting Assyrian westward expansion and the king's claim to rule 'from the rising sun to the setting sun.'

Esarhaddon 005

Esarhaddon justifies his irregular succession — youngest son elevated over older brothers — by citing divination omens from Šamaš and Adad, documenting how Sargonid kings used extispicy to legitimize contested royal transitions.

Esarhaddon 008

Claims Assyrian boots on the soil of Patušarra — a district near Mount Bikni in the Median salt desert — where no predecessor king had walked, pushing the attested eastern horizon of Esarhaddon's campaigns beyond earlier royal records.

Esarhaddon 010

Claims Esarhaddon's simultaneous restoration of Aššur's temple and Babylon's Esagil — the ideological balancing act by which an Assyrian king sought legitimacy in both the north and south after Sennacherib's destruction of Babylon.

Esarhaddon 011

Esarhaddon petitions Sîn and Šamaš jointly for long life, abundant heirs, and victory over enemies — placing the moon- and sun-gods at the centre of his dynastic theology in an era when Esarhaddon was aggressively rebuilding Babylon.

Esarhaddon 012

Records Esarhaddon's restoration of the Aššur temple and manufacture of cult statues for Sîn and Ningal, linking his legitimacy directly to cultic reconstruction after his father Sennacherib's reign.

Esarhaddon 015

Records Esarhaddon's claim to have captured the household of Taharqa — wives, concubines, sons — after his Egyptian campaign, corroborating Assyrian dominance over the 25th Dynasty in the 670s BCE.

Esarhaddon 018

Attests Esarhaddon's restoration of looted divine statues to their sanctuaries and his reinstatement of regular sattukku- and ginû-offerings — cultic amends that legitimised his reign after Sennacherib's destruction of Babylon.

Esarhaddon 030

Records Esarhaddon's military campaign into the Sealand against Nabû-zēr-kitti-līšir, son of the famed Merodach-baladan II — linking dynastic Chaldean resistance to Assyrian rule across two generations.

Esarhaddon 031

Records Nabû-zēr-kitti-līšir's flight and death in Elam — corroborating evidence for Esarhaddon's suppression of the Sealand rebellion and his subsequent reception of the fugitive Naʾid-Marduk.

Esarhaddon 032

Records the flight and violent death of Nabû-zēr-kitti-līšir in Elam as divine punishment for oath-breaking — Esarhaddon's framing of a political rival's fate as gods Aššur and Šamaš enforcing sacred law.

Esarhaddon 033

Records Esarhaddon's demand that the kingdom of Šubria surrender Assyrian fugitives — deserters, oath-breakers, and criminals — foreshadowing the punitive campaign he launched against Šubria around 674 BCE.

Esarhaddon 034

Records Esarhaddon's tenth campaign toward Kush and Egypt — the Assyrian conquest of Egypt in 671 BCE — and his administrative reorganization of a divided province, attesting the empire's dual reach into Africa and the Near East.

Esarhaddon 036

Preserves Esarhaddon's account of a desert march near the Brook of Egypt — waterless terrain, vipers, and divine storm-signs — documenting how Assyrian kings framed military logistics as proof of divine favor.

Esarhaddon 037

Attests Esarhaddon's claim to divine election from the womb and his conquest of Kush — the latter a campaign no Assyrian king before him had achieved — in the rhetorical idiom of Neo-Assyrian royal self-legitimation.

Esarhaddon 038

Attests Esarhaddon's restoration of Babylonian lunar cult — Sîn, Ningal, Nusku, and Nannar named together — linking Assyrian royal authority to the reorganisation of divine rites after Sennacherib's destruction of Babylon.

Esarhaddon 039

Preserves Esarhaddon's account of wounding the Kushite pharaoh Taharqa five times and seizing Memphis (~671 BCE): direct Assyrian testimony to the conquest that briefly made Esarhaddon ruler of Egypt.

Esarhaddon 040

Records Esarhaddon's campaign against Abdi-Milkūti of Sidon (~677 BCE), framing the city's destruction as Aššur's will — direct Assyrian royal testimony to the elimination of a major Phoenician maritime power.

Esarhaddon 041

Preserves fragmentary language of divine protection and royal legitimation under Esarhaddon, attesting the theological idiom by which Sargonid kings anchored their authority in the gods' 'exalted divinity.'

Esarhaddon 042

Claims dominion over both Egypt and Babylonia (Karduniaš) in a single inscription, placing Esarhaddon among the rare Assyrian kings to assert rule from the Nile to the Persian Gulf.

Esarhaddon 043

Claims Esarhaddon's mandate from Aššur, Marduk, and Ištar simultaneously — reflecting his calculated effort to legitimise rule over both Assyria and Babylon after his father Sennacherib's destruction of the city.

Esarhaddon 044

Esarhaddon presents himself as ritual custodian of the great temples — confirming sattukku offerings and restoring cult centers — placing religious legitimacy at the heart of neo-Assyrian royal ideology, ca. 675 BCE.