All tablets.

Shalmaneser V 6

(Akkadian 1) Palace of Shal[maneser] (V), king of Assyria: two-thirds mina of the king. (Aramaic 1) Two-thirds (mina) of the land.

Shalmaneser V 7

(Akkadian 1) One mina. Palace of Shalmaneser (V), king [of Assyria]. (Aramaic 1) (One) mina of the king.

Shalmaneser V 8

(Akkadian 1) Palace of Shal[maneser (V), king of Assyria]: one-fourth (mina) of the king. (Aramaic 1) One-fourth (mina) of the land.

Shalmaneser V 9

(Akkadian 1) Palace of Shal[man]eser (V), king of Assyria: one-[fifth] (mina) of the king. (Aramaic 1) One-fifth (mina). One-fifth (mina) [(...)].

~715 BCE·Neo-AssyrianOur engine

SAA 15 042. Feeding Hittite Deportees (ABL 1082)

(Obverse) [To the king, my lo]rd: your servant [PN]. [Good] health to the king, [my] lord! [Concerning] the Hittites about whom the king, my lord, [wrote to me], saying: "You wrote [that] the previous [consignments] of stored barley [...] they have moved twice(?)" — [...] which were at their disposal [...] I asked him: "Why [...] did they eat the previous (rations)? [...]" What their statement to the king, [my] lord, was [...] I have (now) written [...] [...] the seah-measure [...] [...] ... [...] (Remainder broken)

~715 BCE·Neo-AssyrianOur engine

SAA 15 072. Adda-rami and Horses (CT 53 606)

[To the king, my lord]: [your servant] Bēl-erība. [Good health to the king], my lord! [......] Adda-rami [......] on the other side [......]-iq [...... the king], my lord [..................] [......] ... [......] [......] they move about, with [......] [......]-imma which I took [......] they brought on the road (journey) [...... the tr]uth. Now [......] horses [......]... 3 horses [......] concerning 3 horses [......] they trembled [......] ... a [..................] (The text breaks off; the remainder is lost.)

~715 BCE·Neo-AssyrianOur engine

SAA 15 105. Horses and Recruitment Officers of Calah (ABL 0127)

To the king, my lord: your servant Mannu-ki-Ninua. Good health to the king, my lord! Let them appoint a royal bodyguard (qurbūtu) to oversee the scribe and the recruitment officers; let them raise their troops and hand them over. The king, my lord, knows that the horses which were at my disposal are dead. Let the king quickly send me one riding horse each of theirs, to be at my disposal. The tarbiānu (household dependents) who came with me — I have assigned them to the recruitment officers. If the king, my lord, would take charge of them: they are with the recruitment officers in Calah (Kal…

~715 BCE·Neo-AssyrianRIAo

Sargon II 009

Claims Sargon II restored the šubarrû-tax exemptions and abolished corvée in seven southern Babylonian cities, documenting how an Assyrian king legitimised rule over Babylon by presenting himself as guardian of ancient urban privileges.

Sargon II 043

Attests Sargon II's restoration of šubarrû-exemption rights to Sippar, Nippur, and Babylon — a deliberate policy of legitimising Assyrian rule over Babylonia by honouring ancient Babylonian civic privileges.

Sargon II 050

Attests Sargon II's dual claim as secular world-king and nešakku-priest of Aššur, yoking imperial military authority to cultic legitimacy in the standard idiom of Sargonid royal titulary.

Sargon II 053

Sargon II's own account of founding Dūr-Šarrukīn (modern Khorsabad) anchors the date and royal ideology behind one of antiquity's few purpose-built capital cities, completed c. 706 BCE.

Sargon II 054

Records Sargon II's founding of Dūr-Šarrukīn and the explicit theological rationale — divine favor securing his reign — behind building temples to Sîn and Šamaš within the new capital.

Sargon II 076

Attests Sargon II's claim to have restored the šubarrû tax-exemption privileges of Sippar, Nippur, and Babylon — a calculated bid for Babylonian loyalty after his controversial seizure of power.

Sargon II 082

Heavily fragmented royal inscription invoking Ea the creator alongside Sargon II's epithets: one of the manuscript witnesses preserving the theological vocabulary by which Sargonid kings legitimised their rule.

Sargon II 083

Records the king of Meluḫḫa (Kush/Egypt) surrendering the fugitive Iāmānī in chains — the sole cuneiform witness to Assyrian diplomatic reach touching the Nile Valley in the 8th century BCE.

Sargon II 085

Documents Sargon II's founding of Dūr-Šarrukīn and the installation of seven major deities in its temple Eḫursaggalkurkurra, linking imperial city-building directly to divine legitimation.

Sargon II 086

Sargon II's own account of his campaign against Merodach-Baladan II attests the Assyrian siege of Dūr-Yakīn (~710 BCE) and the Chaldean king's defensive tactic of withdrawing troops behind a second perimeter ten nindanu from the main wall.

Sargon II 087

Records Sargon II restoring captive Babylonians of Sippar, Nippur, Babylon, and Borsippa to freedom and repossessing their fields from Sutian squatters — a calculated display of Assyrian benevolence toward the ancient Babylonian cult cities.

Sargon II 089

Addresses Aššur as 'the Assyrian Enlil' whose judgment is absolute and whose oath cannot be broken — anchoring Sargon II's royal authority directly in cosmic law rather than mere military conquest.

Sargon II 090

Dedicatory inscription to Anunītu, a martial aspect of Ištar, attesting Sargon II's cultivation of this relatively rare goddess as a personal divine patron during his reign.

Sargon II 091

Attests Sargon II's campaigns against the Chaldean tribes of the southern marshes, situating Assyrian royal ideology — conquest legitimized by divine favor — within a rare coastal-frontier context.

Sargon II 092

Documents Sargon II renovating a Nabû-and-Marduk temple at a northern gate, citing a 75-year structural failure since Adad-nārārī III's repair — concrete evidence of Assyrian kings invoking building history to legitimise their own piety.

Sargon II 095

Sargon II dedicates a temple to Nabû and Marduk — Babylonian gods — listing five explicit royal goals, evidence that Assyrian kings cultivated Babylonian divine patronage to legitimize rule over the south.

Sargon II 096

Attests Sargon II's construction of a Nabû temple at Nineveh, anchoring the scribal god's cult within the city a generation before Nineveh became Assyria's imperial capital.

Sargon II 1006

Preserves fragmentary benedictions from a Sargon II royal inscription — a temple renovation dedication with curses against future desecrators and prayers for dynastic continuity, attesting the formulaic ideology binding Assyrian kingship to divine favour.

Sargon II 101

One of Sargon II's royal inscriptions attesting Assyrian military activity near Qarqar — a site already famous as the battlefield of 853 BCE — extending the documentary record of Assyrian westward campaigns in the late eighth century.

Sargon II 110

Stamps royal ownership in the formulaic idiom of Sargonid self-presentation — 'king of the world, king of Assyria' — one of the titulary witnesses that collectively map how Sargon II projected authority across his empire.

Sargon II 123

Records Sargon II's restoration of Imgur-Enlil, Babylon's great circuit wall, casting an Assyrian conqueror as pious benefactor of Marduk's city — a calculated legitimation strategy after his seizure of Babylonia in 710 BCE.

SAA 01 002. Dealings with Arpad (CT 53 502)

(Beginning destroyed) (3) [As to what you w]rote: "[I will send my] rab-mūgi officer [to you]; speak [kindly] with the (king) of Arpad, and [let] your 'third man' [......]", (6) I adjure you by Aššur and my gods: you are not to send your [rab-mūg]i officer to me [under any circumstances! ...... (Rest destroyed)

SAA 01 003. The Wife of the Treasurer (CT 53 463)

(Beginning destroyed) (1) ... wrote to] you: "The wife of [the] Treasurer and [her] daughters should go [to] Assyria"; (4) you wrote the sealed royal order and dispatched it to Bel- duri, (but when) I sent my me[ssenger] to Damascus, [he] gave [him the wife] only. (9) I have written to [... abo]ut the daughters whom he he[ld back ... (Rest destroyed)

SAA 01 004. On Shirking the King’s Work (CT 53 834)

(Beginning destroyed) (1) ...] stay [in ......]. Now he has do[ne the work (incumbent) up]on you plus the work ass[ignment that was ... to] your [...]; [your servants tra]ded [the work ass]ignment with 21 [...] and shirked doing the work. (7) [You wrote me] that in addition to the 500 [logs of ...] and the 500 of [..., another ...] have been piled up on the river bank. [That's exactly] why the governor of Til-Barsip did [...]! I (gave the order): "These [should g]o to [...] Aššur-šarru-uṣur plus the [...] who are with him, and [...] the l[ogs into ...] of 40 (pieces) each." To no avail; [they…

SAA 01 005. These Nabateans are Yours (ABL 0305)

(1) The king's word to Ašipâ: As to these Nabateans about whom you wrote, they are at your disposal.

SAA 01 006. (no title) (ABL 0298)

(1) [The ki]ng's word to Ašipâ: I am [we]ll, you can be glad. (2) [The day] you see [thi]s letter, [...] Nabû-šeziban[ni ......] is surrounding [...... (Rest destroyed)

SAA 01 007. The Gods of Muṣaṣir (CT 53 340)

(Beginning destroyed or too broken for translation) (3) [But shou]ld you say: "Let [the king, my lord] give [my gods] back to me [......!]" (then) quickly [gather and send me] information (and) [I will] soon [gi]ve your gods back to you. (7) [...] the city of Muṣa[ṣir]; stay there! The seiz[ing ...] of your gods [......] this [...] of mine [......]. Why [would] you not [...... (Rest destroyed)

SAA 01 008. Urarṭian Governor Defects to Assyria (CT 53 229)

(Obverse almost entirely destroyed) (12) As to what you [wrote to me: "[...... (13) def[eat ...... (14) As to what you wr[ote to me: "...... (15) to a ša-šēpi guardsman [...... (16) (Break) (19) [......] why [...... (20) [did] you [lay] hands on Mannaean territory [......? (21) [...] this favor [...... (22) [which ...] have done [...... (23) (Break) (b.e. 25) [As to ... what y]ou said: "I [...... (b.e. 26) [......] of the Mannaeans [...... (r 1) Is [there] a servant who does not [...] about [......? (Three lines erased) (r 5) [As to] this governor of yours about whom you wrote: "[......]" —…

SAA 01 009. Ullusunu on His Guard (CT 53 589)

(Beginning destroyed) (1) ... the city of A]rpad [......]. (2) Now, [let] Ullusunu [be] on guard for hi[mself ...]; and the letter [......] which I sent to you [......] within [...... (Break) (r 2) I said: "Ull[usunu ...... (Rest destroyed)

SAA 01 010. Urarṭian Emissaries Meet Captives (ABL 0306+)

(1) The king's word to Nabu-duru-uṣur: (2) Right now I am sending the royal bodyguard Mannu-ki-Aššur to those Urarṭian emissaries: he will bring them to Urzuhina in advance of these captives who are eating bread in your charge. (8) As for you, the day you see this letter, summon these captives; they should be on the alert, standing by, and the day Mannu-ki-Aššur the bodyguard writes to you: "The emissaries have arrived in Urzuhina, set the captives in motion," assemble the captives, go to Urzuhina, and entrust them [...] to the the [city-over]seer of Urzuhina. (r 1) [I am also sending]…

SAA 01 011. Building a Private Army (ABL 0304)

(1) The king's word to Mannu-ki-Adad: (2) 1,119 able-bodied men — all together they were 5,000 persons, those of them who have died have died, and those who are alive are alive — were given to the exempts of the Palace and entrusted as charges to your care. So why are you appropriating them, turning some to recruits, others to chariot-men, and others again to cavalrymen, into your own regular troops? (13) Have you not said to yourself: "When the time comes for me to summon them, to whose house shall I go for help?" (18) I am writing to you right now: You have sent many of them to the south and…

SAA 01 012. The Story of Bel-nuri the Amiable (ABL 1042)

(Beginning destroyed) (2) "He is talking about [...] uprooting my father's house." [This] Bel-nuri cannot be trusted in what he says [...]; yet you lifted him and put him around your neck like a seal. For this very reason I relieved him of his office as major-domo, removed him and let you settle him in his house in the center of Arrapha. (9) What he did was perpetually slander Arrapheans in your presence and keep putting inhabitants of Arrapha to the sword. I consequently removed him from Arrapha and appointed him in Lubda. The same things again; he did not change his ways. (r 3) Bel-nuri is…

SAA 01 013. Pitching Camp on the Elamite Border (CT 53 076)

(Beginning destroyed) (1) "[......] their [......]; come wi[th your troops and encamp in the pass] of Ura[mmu]." (5) [I am writing to you] right now: this suggestion, the [way he put it], is extremely good. You [know] that this pass [leading to] Urammu is [ver]y difficult [to march through]; there is absolutely no way the Elamite [troops] will be able to get at you. Don't be afraid; at the city of Urammu where you are to pitch the camp [there is] a plain which is [very] good for encamping; it is also [very] good for reconnaissance expeditions, there is [much] grass there, and it is a [good]…

SAA 01 014. Campaigning in Ellipi (CT 53 823)

(Beginning destroyed) (1) Do not neglect your guard; [you] must be intensely [on your guard]! Yet there is no [......], and you [need not] worry about him! Let the scholar[s] tell [the oracles] to you, whether [good or bad]; Aššur and my gods [will go before you]! A bone in [......]. (8) Perhaps the scholar [ ......] as far as the city of Marubi[štu ......]. (10) Aššur-reš-iši the royal bodyguard [has met with the dignitaries] of Bit-Barru; they dined together, and he [...] [emptied] a cup in the presence of Ki[babaše]. He relates: "[......]; when at my side [......] confusion like [......]…

SAA 01 015. Bring Your Tribute! (CT 53 311)

(Beginning destroyed) (3) [... Gam]bulu [......] tribu[te ...... you will re]turn [......] your [......] you did not send [the ... o]f this land [to me]. (9) I am writing to you right [now]: do not [...... t]o the people, but take your [tribut]e and come to me! [I am going to w]rite ... [about the tr]ibute of Ellipi, [they too will bring] their tribute. (14) As to Humbê [of Bit-Zualza, what I wrote in] my previous [letter ...... (Rest destroyed)

SAA 01 016. Ašpabara Appointed King of Ellipi (ABL 1469)

(Obverse almost totally destroyed) (r 1) "[If] you write, we shall leave [PN] as city ruler in [...]." (r 3) [I am writing to you] right now: when you appoint Ašpabara [......], and Lutû [..., ...] their people; nobody should make [......]! As long as th[ey] live, [......] brought to them [...... (Rest destroyed)

SAA 01 017. Contacts With Elam (CT 53 642)

(Beginning destroyed) (1) [......] befor[e ...] (2) [......] no [...] (3) [......] still [...] (4) [......] will see, hither [...] (5) [Has the messeng]er of the Elamite [......? Have they written] to you [about ma]king [......] Lutû [...? Have they sen]t to you any [......]? (Rest too broken for translation)

SAA 01 018. Military Moves in Babylonia (ABL 1292)

(Beginning destroyed) (1) [...... is g]ood fo[r ...... ...... has] returned [here]; as for you, s[tand by]. Kunâ has [...] all their [tr]oops. (4) I am writing to Šarru-emuranni right [now]. He is going to mobilize and bring here all the conscripts of Dur-Ladini, Dur-Bilihai and Larak including those of Bit-Awukani. As soon as they have arrived here, Šarru-emuranni too will return here, and you are to set out together with all these king's men [... and ...] to the village [......] your [...], straw [......] including [......] at their disposal [...... (Break) (r 1) ......the] men [of ......…

SAA 01 019. Dealing With the Puqudu (ABL 1328)

(Beginning destroyed) (1) hi[ther ......] (2) the Puqu[dean ......] (3) and because of [......] (4) Now he is in the city of [......] at your disposal. (6) I am wr[iting to you] right [now: the day you] see this [letter of mine, go and tell] these words [to ...]. He should set out and go [to ...] in accordance with the report, [and tell him]: "I have re[ceived] the following royal order: '[......] have set [......" (Break) (r 2) "[......] which [......] have robbed [......]; now if [......] has been made, [......]; and if t[hese] servants [......], why [should] I [......]? You w[rote that ....…

SAA 01 020. Cattle for Troops (CT 53 636)

(Beginning destroyed) (2) oxen, sh[eep and ......] (3) on my side [......] (4) living there [......] (5) in your district [......] (6) "Should it be the wish of [......] (7) to bring [......], (8) let [me send] troops [......], (9) all their days [......]." (10) Th[ese] troops of yours (r 1) which [......] on my side (r 2) oxen, sheep and [......], (r 3) should have collected [......] (r 4) and brought to me [......] (Rest destroyed)

SAA 01 021. The Widows of Fallen Soldiers (CT 53 128)

(Beginning destroyed) (1) ...] your [...], [enqui]re and investigate, [and write down] and dispatch to me [the names] of the [sol]diers killed and their [sons and d]aughters. Perhaps there is a man who has subjugated a widow as his slave girl, or has subjugated a son or a daughter to servitude. Enquire and investigate, and bring (him/them) forth. (11) Perhaps there is a son who has gone into conscription in place of his father; this alone do not write down. But be sure to enquire and find out all the widows, write them down, define (their status) and send them to me. (r 6) [Tomorr]ow or the da…

SAA 01 022. Summoning the Cavalry (CT 53 136)

(1) [To ..., to] ..[..., to] ..[..., to] Reman[ni-...] and to [...]: a royal order of [great urgency]. (7) Get together your prefects plus the h[orses] of your cavalry collection points immediately! Whoever is late will be impaled in the middle of his house, (r 1) and who(ever) changes the [... of] the city will also be impaled in the middle of his house, and his sons and daughters will be slaughtered by his (own) order. (r 8) Don't delay; leave your business and come straight away! (SPACER)