LETTERSFROM PRIESTSTO THE KINGS ESARHADDONAND . ASSURBANIPAL

Edited by STEVEN W. COLE and PETER MACHINIST

with Contributions by SIMO PARPOLA

Illustrations edited by JULIAN READE

HELSINKI UNIVERSITY PRESS 1998 ii d Sr FOREWORD

Part of the basicmanuscript of this volume was preparedby PeterMachinist between 1988 and 1994. During this period, he preparedtranslations of the letters originally assignedto the volume and wrote a first draft of the critical apparatus.Machinist made two trips to the to collate the texts; Parpolahas collatedmany of the texts over the yearsbeginning in 1966. Proofs of this preliminary manuscript were provided to Machinist in 1994. At this point, other publication projects were given higher priority and the manuscript of this volume was allowed to steepfor some time. With the reconstitutionof the StateArchives of Project on a firmer basis in 1997, the manuscriptof the current volume was reexaminedwith eye to completing its publication as quickly as possible.A large number of "horse texts were added (including the reports" and a number of letters written in Babylonian). Unfortunately, Machinist was not able at the time to drop everything else to complete the manuscriptwithin a year so the task of completing the volume was turned over to Steven Cole, then working with the SAA Project, with Machinist's concurrence.In addition to translatingthe new texts, Cole also revised Machinist's translationsto make the style con- sistent throughout and updated the critical apparatus.As neither Machinist nor Cole is, strictly speaking,a specialistin Neo-Assyrian,Parpola continued to collaborateclosely on the translations. As a consequence,the joint editorshipof this volume is more of a sequential effort than a collaborative one, with Parpola providing the continuity. In addition, Cole had the further disadvantageof not having had an opportunity to seeor collate any of the tablets.The Introduction was written by Cole with "On parts (the chapter on prophecy and the section the Present Edition") written by Robert Whiting. The order of the texts in the volume has been revisedseveral times, the most recentbeing in December1998 when a number of additional texts were attributed to specific sites by Karen Radner and a number of the texts written in Babylonian were excluded as being more appropriateto future volumes. The texts in this volume are particularly difficult, even exceeding the normal difficulties with letters,in that their interpretiondepends on numerous technical terms referring to temples,cult and ritual that are not well under- stood.Parpola's experience with the ritual texts (which will be the subjectof a forthcoming SAA volume) has provided expertiseon which both editors of the volume have had to rely.

VII STATE ARCHIVES OF ASSYRIA XIII

Our thanks are due to the Trustees of the British Museum and to the VorderasiatischesMuseum, Berlin for permissionto publish texts and illus- trative material in their keeping and to the British Museum photographic department for its prompt and professional service. Our thanks also go to Mark Geller of the University of London for last-minutecollations. Thanks are also due to Raija Mattila for proofreading and editorial work and for pasting up the collations, to Mikko Luukko whose critical reading of the texts uncovered a number of errors, and to Kalle Fabritius for proofread- ing and typesettingassistance. We are grateful to the University of Helsinki for continued financial support for the State Archives of Assyria Project and for the recognition granted to the Project through the University's Centres of Excellence pro- gram.

Helsinki. Januarv 1999 Robert M. Whiting

VIII i ry CONTENTS t F n, FOREWORD ...... vII F TNTRODUCTION XI r On the Present Edition XIX & Notes . XXU F Abbreviationsand Symbols XXV TRANSLITERATIONSAND TRANSLATIONS i. I &1 RoyalLetters ., 6', &. 1. Lettersfrom the King (1-7) 3

BF: 1 To A55ur-mudammiq,A55ur-5arru-uqur,and A55ur-hussanni 4 i' 2-3 To NN in 4 4 To Zeruti and the clergy of .6 5 To Nab0-iddina and the clergy of Cutha ...... 6 6-7 The kine to NN 7 Lettersfrom Assur 9 2. -Sallim-ahhe,Scribe of the A5SurTemple (8-17) 11 8-15 Marduk-Sallim-ahhe l2 16 Tab-5ar-,Akkullanu, and Marduk-Sallim-ahhe 16 l7 ProbablyMarduk-Sallim-ahhe t7 3. Dadi(18-24\ t9 4. Sin-na'di,Mayor of Assur(25-29) 25 25-27 Sin-na'di 26 28-29 Letters pertaining to Sin-na'di's activities 28 5. Varia (30-55) JJ 30 A55ur-na'di,Deputy Priest,A5Sur Temple (reign of SargonII) .34 3l Nadin-A55ur(reign of SargonII) 34 32 Mutakkil-A55ur, Deputy Priest of the A5SurTemple .35 33 Mutakkil-A5Sur and Issar-na'di,Mayor of Assur 35 34-35 Nab0-aSared .36 36 Ubru-ahhe 38 37 Adad-ahu-iddina .38 38 Nab0-[. ] 39 39 Nab0-belSunuto A3Sur-mudammiq 39 40 TaqiSa,Priest of A5Sur,to A55ur-Sarru-ugur,Temple Steward 40 4l-42 A Temple Stewardto anotherTemple Steward 40 43 Messagefrom A55ur 4I 44-55 Unattributed 42 Letters from Calah 49 6. Urdu-Nabfi (56-69) 5l 7. -Sarrani (7 0-11 ) 6l "Inspector" 8. Nab0-Sumu-iddina/Nadinu, of the Nab0 Temple ('78-123)...... 69 9. Varia\124-137) 95 124-125 Nabt-balassu-iqbiand Iddin-Ea, Priest of 96 126 Iddin-Ea,Priest of Ninurta 97

x STATE ARCHIVES OF ASSYRIA XIII

127 Nab0-bani-ahhe...... 97 128 A55ur-resuwa,Priest oi Ninu.iu 98 129 Issar-[...],Priest of Bet-Kidmuri 99 130 Nab0-kudurri-[uqur] 100 13l-t33 Pulu 100 134 A letter mentioning Pulu t02 135-r31 Unattributed 104 Letters from Arbela r07 10.A5Sur-hamatu'a(138-142)...... 09 11.Yaria (143-153)... 15 143 Aplaya, Steward of the I5tar Temple t6 144 Nab0-reIi-i55i 16 145 Nab0-muSesison of Nabt-re5i-i55i...... I7 146-153 Unattributed t7 Letters from t23 12.Yaria (154-160) t25 154 Dadi sonof -remanni.Priest of Bet-Kidmuri 126 155-160Unattributed 126 Lettersfrom 131 13.Urdu-ahhe5u(l6l-172) 133 14.RaSiland Suma-iddin(173-1 85).... 143 113-177 RaSil... r44 178-185 Suma-iddin r4'7 Letters from Various Locations 155 15. Letters from Kurba'il, , Kilizi, etc. (186-190) l5l 186 Aplaya, Priest of Kurba'il 158 187 Bel-iddina from Harran 158 188 NN from Harran to the QueenMother . ... 159 189 NN from Kllizi 160 190 Sama5-5umu-le5irfrom the Province of the Chief Cupbearer..... 162 16.Unassigned and Unattributed Letters (I9l-2I1) ...... 165 I9I Bel-Sarru-usurof the ...... 166 192-211 Varia t66 GLOSSARY AND INDICES ...... 175 Logograms and Their Readings tl5 Glossary t]1 Index of Names.... 200 Personal Names 200 PlaceNames 202 God, Star and Temple Names 203 SubjectIndex 205 List of Text Headings 2t5 Index of Texts .. 217 By Publication Number 217 By MuseumNumber 218 List of New Joins 2t9 List of Illustrations. 220 COLLATIONS ...... 221 & &. 5

INTRODUCTION

The letters edited in this volume representthe correspondenceof various priests and high temple officials in the Assyrian realm during the third through fifth decadesof the seventh century BC. They consist chiefly of reports to Esarhaddonand Assurbanipal about cultic concerns and matters connected with the construction and renovation of temple edifices in the major cities of the Assyrian empire,both in the heartlandand in the provinces. Thesekings took an interestin, and were kept informed of, even the minutest details concerningthe temple and cult. Those who reportedto them were all men of eminence,occupying high positions in the hierarchiesof the temples with which they were associated.Among them are a scribe of the temple of A55ur and the inspector of the holy precinct of Assur; the priests of the "mayor" temples of Ninurta, I5tar, and Nab0, and the of the temple of Nab0, all in Calah; the priest and stewardof the temple of I5tar of Arbela; the priest and chief administratorof the temple of Marduk in Babylon; the priest of the temple of Adad in Kurba'il; and priests of temples in Nineveh and Harran. Severalroyal orders dealing with mattersof cult are also included. These fascinating letters throw light on the building, refurbishment,and maintenanceof temples,the fashioningand installation of statuesof the king, the provisioning of the cult, the performanceof sacrifices,the rite of sacred marriage, and the processionsof divine images. Staggering quantities of precious metals and gems are mentioned, as are huge numbers of animals destinedfor sacrifice.

The Reconstructionof Babylon

The rebuilding of Esaggil, the great temple complex in Babylon, dedicated to the god Marduk, also known as Bel, is the topic of severalof thesereports. The reconstructionof the Babylonian capital, which had been leveled in 689 by 'sfather (who also carried off the statueof Bel), became one of Esarhaddon'spreoccupations. Reports from officials over- seeingBabylon's reconstructionconfirm claims made in his official inscrip- tions regarding the scope of this work. It is reported, for example, that the foundations of the city gates, the perimeter wall of Esaggil, and the great

XI STATEARCHIVES OF ASSYRIAXIII

had been laid (no. 161); that perfumes, sweet-scentedoils, and preciousstones were to be depositedin them (no. 161); and that the structures eventually rebuilt included battlements,courtyards, shrines, daises, and even drains(nos. 162,168). cedar wasused to reconstructthe main gate(no. 162); cedar,cypress, and fir to roof the shrines(nos. 163, 164);precious metals to ornament the doors (no. 166); gold to manufacturethe pedestaldestined to receivethe image of Bel (no. 179); gold to adorn the image of his spouse, zarpanitt:u(no. 174); gemsto ornamentthe crown of the sky god and the solar disks (no. r74); and both gold and gems - 30 kg in all - to fashion Bel's equipment(no. 179). But Bel had to be returned first. The inscriptions of Esarhaddon and Assurbanipal,as well asletters published previously in SAA 10,have already provided considerableinformation on the preparationsfor his return and iti eventualaccomplishment. But anothercurious detail connectedwith Bel,s exile is found in our corpus. The god apparentlyspent time in Issete,a town in northeastAssyria, at some point in his journey either to or from Assur.r A royal official on an errand to the Province of the Chief cupbearer reported having discoveredstatues of Babylonian deities in a house there, inciuding the images of Nergal, Amurr0, , Marat-Sin of Nemed-Laguda, Marat-Sin of Eridu, and Marat-Eridu. The inhabitantstold him that thesegods had arrived with Bel, and that the king's father had intendedto sendthem to Babylon along with Bel (no. 190). Pongratz-Leistenbelieves that this letter was directed to Esarhaddonand that the king who deported the statueswas Sennacherib,who campaigned against Eridu and Nemed-Laguda in the course of his first campaign to .zShe is certainly correct in attributing their removal to Sennach- erib. However, becausethe gods in question are said to have come with Bel to Issete,and becauseno mention is made of cult statuesbeing deportedin Sennacherib'saccount of his first Babylonian campaign,it is more likely that the divine images from Eridu and Nemed-Lagudawere taken in 694, in the courseof this king's naval campaignagainst the yakinite exiles in . The report of this expedition statesthat the exiles had taken the gods from the shrines of Bit-Yakin with them to Elam: and that at the conilusion of the venture all the gods of Bit-Yakin were loaded on ships and brought to Sennacheribin Bab-salimeti.+The other gods in questionwere taken iniither 6219, 689. Inscriptions recording the events of 693 inform us that the king of Elam and the Babylonianswho had gonewith Merodach-baladanII to Elam came to Babylon and placed Suzubuon the throne and that the Assyriansthen advancedagainst Babylon, and afterwardsUruk. It was in that Sennach- erib claims to have captured,among others,the statuesof Beltu of Eridu (= Marat-Sin of Eridu) and Nergal, who are describedas gods dwelling in Uruk.s Lugalbanda and Amurr0 were probably taken at the time of the distruction of Babylon in 689, since both gods are known to have had sanctuariesin the Babylonian capital - Lugalbanda in the quarter of Kullab in Babylon,6and Amurr0 in both east BabylonTand west Babylon.a The letter in questionstates that the addressee'sfather had intendedto send these six gods to Babylon with Bel. It is almost certain, therefore, that the recipient was Assurbanipal, not Esarhaddon,since the latter's father, Sen-

)ilI nacherib, showednothing but animosity towards the Babylonians during his reign. After or just prior to Bel's return to Babylon, arrangementswere made for the provisioning of his cult. We are told that two towns in the vicinity of the F. capital were donated to the god, one of them being Apak, a cult center of Nergal from at leastSargonic times (no. 181).nWe are alsotold that a cultic tax was imposed on the dates of a neighboring Chaldean shaykh (who however respondedby intimidating the inhabitantsof thesetowns and refus- ing to give the required dates),and that 300 jars of wine from Assyria, 330 sheepfrom the city of Halman in Iran, and an impost of sheepand oxen from the tax receipts of the governors were to be delivered annually to his temple (nos.166, 181).

The Refurbishmentof Assyrian kmples

The Babylonian capital and its chief deity were not the only cult centerand god to receive such attention.Priests and officials in the temples of Assyria proper also dispatchedletters to the king mentioning precious metals and stonesthat had been used, or were intendedto be used, in their precincts:50 silver statuesof cherubsand deified winds, 2 big silver statuesof the king, 3 silver doorjambs,and a silver kettle - 150 kg in all (no. 28); silver for the soclesof the gods A55ur and Mullissu (no. 39); gold, copper,and lapis lazuli for divine images(no. I27).It is reportedthat the temple of Mullissu in Assur had been rebuilt and was awaiting reconsecration(no. 12). And the king "golden "flood himself sent dispatchesconcerning waters" and monsters" castof bronze andiron (no. 7). The former were probably intendedto function & as ornamentsfor divine banquettables, such as thoseattested for Nanayaand ll, Sin in the Neo-Babylonianperiod,ro and may have even been representations ',,i$ iil of deified bodiesof water comparableto the silver andbronze representations F of the Taban and Diyala Rivers attested in the early second-millennium year il, formulae of Belakum, king of E5nunna.tt rl Some of the men responsiblefor this work apparentlygot carried away. A s.lamentation priest, for example, is accusedof running riot in the temple, tearing out or cutting down doorposts and other architectural members, ? ?:, replacing ancientgoldwork with new, appointing officials of his own choos- : ing, and tampering with ancient rites (no. 134). This charge is also leveled against others, who are said to have removed the hands of the goddess Tambaya, and, more seriously, to have set aside the old rites of Nikkal and instituted new onesin their place (no. 47).

The Cult of the Royal Image

Many of theseletters concernthe design,manufacturg, and installation of statuesof the king in various temple cellas within his realm. We discover that

XIII STATE ARCHIVES OF ASSYRIA XIII

attention was paid to every detail, and that scholarsdebated even the proper positioning of the king's scepterand the correct representationof his'dress, sending sketchesor actual sculpturesto the king for his approval when they could not agree(no. 34). In the caseof the royal statuesdiitined for esaggit and the temples of Babylon, we are told thatihe king was to be represerit'ed in the ritual attire that he actually wore when he went-beforethe (stiil-exiled) image of Bel in his cella in the temple of ASSur,and that such statueshad already been installed on the dais of the god there (no. l7g). These statues were apparentlymade in pairs, and were installed on either side of not only Bel but alsoI5tar in Arbela (no. 140),the Moon god in Harran(sAA 10 13i and the goddess Tasmetuin (sAA 10 35g). Theseimages were made ofcopper, silver, lapis lazuli, and gold. In one caie 200 kg of gold was said to have beendestined for.fashioning statues of the king and"th"qu""n mother (no. 61). Images of the king were not only placed in i"hetemples but also on the streets of sometowns (e.g.SAA 10 3i0). This was true aisoof statuesof the queen mother(no. 188).Statues of the king's sonswere saidto havebeen installed behind and in front of the image orine Moon god in Harran (sAA 19 and, 1:lt along with the gods of Assyiia and the king'i own srarue,sratues of the princes were said to have been ihe guardiansoi a treaty imposed on imperial vassals(SAA 2 6 $35). Other evidencefrom the Neo-Assyrianperiod indicatesthat the royal image was the focus of offerings and that in due course it came to be consioerJd divine. These circumstancesundoubtedly stemmedfrom the dogma that the Assyrian "Image king was the very of God."rzThey also reflect piacticesand beliefs current in Mesopotamiaduring the third and early secondmillennia a_ndare thus perfectly consonantwith ancient tradition. ilefore considerin! th-e Neo-Assyrian evidence,therefore, it may be interesting to survey some of the earlier material, at leastbriefly, to seeprecisely how i-helater Assyrian practicesfit into this streamof tradition. we know, for example,that in Early Dynastic Lagas,around the middle of the third millennium BC, offerings were made tolhe statuesof the rulers -Nanse,t: (along with the gods Hendursagand S"t-"tu9,ro gn- metena(alongside Ninmarki, Nanse,Ningirsu,.and othei deities),rsand to the statuesof Barnamtara,wife of Lugalanda, andSagsag, wife of Uruinimgina.ro During Ur III times offerings were made befori tie AeifleO statues of tn" earlier Akkadian kings Sargon, Naram-sin, and Manistu5u,rTand before ensi .Gld"u' of Laga5_.1aDuring this period such offerings were also placed before statuesof the ur III rulers themselves,with nu-Jror. texts attesting to the existence of cults devoted to the divinized ur-Nammu,,n Sulgi,i Amar-Sin,zl su-sin,22and Ibbi-Sin.z: In the early second millennium BC, numerous year formulae of the kings of Isin, Laria, Babylon, E5nunna,and Mari also attest to the practice of installing royal images in temples anJ placing offerings before them, as does otherividlnce toJabundantio cite.z+ Finally, statuesof the greatkings of the third millennium, in particular Sargon and Naram-Sin, also continued to be venerated.2s Thereforeit is more than evident that before the Neo-Assyrianperiod there had been a long tradition^of setting up statuesof kings in-tempies and that these statuesreceived offerings in muih the same ,"u! ur the images of the gods. These royal statueswere also frequently prgced;d by the divine deter_

XIV minative in the texts in which they are mentioned.The samewas true of the Neo-Assyrian period. We have already cited evidence demonstratingthat statuesof the king were set up in temples next to those of the gods.zoThere k, is also evidence that the Assyrian royal image received offerings as well. Particularly important in this context is the akttu rit]u,altablet VAT 10464, which statesthat the king was to sacrifice sheep before the king's statue, r probably in the Adad temple.zzThere is also unambiguous evidence from iI il inscriptions,administrative texts, and legal documentsthat such statueswere considereddivine. First, Tiglath-pileserIII statesin his annalsthat he set up "images of the great gods and a golden image of my kingship" in the palace "counted of Hanunu in Gaza and that these were as gods of his (Hanunu's) land."zsSecond, in the so-calledG

Divine Processions and Sacred Marriage

In Assyria, as in Babylonia, images of deities made excursionsfrom their cellas on feast days.These journeys were also duly reportedto the king. Thus we read that the god Adad-of-Plenty went for an outing in the park (no. 58); that Adad of Kilizi and the goddessParisat-pal0 journeyed to their festival chapelson the occasionof the New Year celebration(nos. 189, 153); that Enlil, the old chief of the Babylonian pantheon,enjoyed an outing to one of the fortresses(no. 6); that I5tar of Arbela went to a "divine party" (no. I47); and that I5tar of Nineveh was taken on processionatop the city walls (no. 152). The image of this goddessis also said to have traveledthrough the city gate down to the canal, then back to the gate of the Nab0 temple, and finally out into the countrysideto the te{lple of Gula, goddessof healing (no. 135). It is also reportedthat her avatar,Satru-I5tar, was due to arrive in Arbela from the town of Milqia, and that the king and the goddesswould make a triumphal entranceinto the city together(who would be the first to enter,however, was a dilemma for the king to solve)(no. 149).Finally, we readthat the procession of A55ur and the Moon god to the garden of the lower terracewas accompa- nied by the performanceof sacrificesmeant to bring benefit to the king (no. 58), while the journey of Ta5metuto her festival chapel on the occasionof "party" her was punctuatedby offerings specifically intended to assurehis longevity and good health (no. 130). The sacred marriage of Nab0 and TaSmetuis also the topic of several letters.On the appointedday it is said that the god was taken by chariot from the temple,then to the palacethreshing floor, and finally to the garden,where sacrificeswere performed (no. 78); that Nab0 and Ta5metuspent six daysand sevennights in their wedding bed (no. 70); that the god afterwardswent out "stretch to his legs" and do somehunting in the gamepark (no. 70); and finally

XV STATE ARCHIVES OF ASSYRIA XIII

that the sacrificesattending this rite were performed both for the life of the king and the lives of the crown princes and other male progeny (no. 56). Given all thesecomings and goings of divine images,iccidents were bound to happen during transport. we read, therefore, that the rim of A5sur's banquettable and the front sideof his imagewere damagedwhile beingpulled in a chariot (no. 44), and that the ceremonial couch or tne soddessSarrat- sammewas dropped by porters bringing her out of her tempie (no. 192).

Rituals and Sacriftces

The auspicious timing and correct performance of rituals and sacrifices were also of concern to the king and his priests. A significant number of letters are thereforedevoted to thesetopics as well. The ling is informed, for example,that the temple of I5tar in calah was to be clearedon the 2gth of the month, that the goddesswas to be taken down from atop her sacredlion, and that her jewellery was to be removed in preparationfoia ritual bath that was to be filled only if the moon was seenon the 29th(no.59).:'we also learn that the almanac(Abiegeda) was consultedto choosea propitious month and day in which to reconsecratethe newly rebuilt templebf Mullissu in Assur (no. r2):2 that the king dispatchednotices to rhe Clergy in the Babylonian cities of Cutha and Der to inform them of intercalations of the cilendar necessaryto bring the annual lunar cycle of 354 days in line with the solar year of 365 days (nos. 4, 5); and that when the king once failed to do this, a delegationof noblesfrom Babylon and Borsippa had to travel to Calah to ask how the intercalationshould be accomplished,because without this informa- tion they would be unable to determinethe correct day on which to perform sacrificesbefore Bel (no. 60). Since sacrificial animalsalso had to be without defect, the discovery of such flaws occasionedyet more reports, as when the left kidney of a sheepwas discoveredto be too small and was forwarded to the p_alaceto be inspectedby the scholars(no. 131), or when another sheep was found to haveits right kidney missing and was put in storage,presumably to be inspectedlater by the scholarsas well (no. 133). Huge numbers of sheepand oxen were consignedto be sacrificed before A55ur on behalf of the king, to be consumedin the banquetsof the gods, or to be fired as burnt offerings to the planets,Sun, Moon, itars, and constella- tions. Theseanimals, we are told, were suppliedby the cities of the Assyrian heartland and beyond, each of which was assignedone or more days in the cultic calendar.::(we read that Raqappaand Arzuhina alone were required to provide 10,000sheep annually [no.21].) Similar practiceis attestedas far back asthe Ur III period. The localesfrom which the Assyrian deliverieswere sent include Barhalzi, Ra;appa, Kjlizi, Isana, Till0, Kullania, Arpad, Di- quqina, Isana,Halzi-Atbar, Birtu, Arzuhina, Arbela, Gazana,Sahuppa, Tam_ nuna,and Talmusu (seee.g. SAA 10 96).:.rgl.ourse, failures to meetdelivery deadlinesprompted yet more reportsand complaints.This seemsto have been an age-old problem for temple administrators;in fact, remarkably similar complaints were lodged againstthose responsiblefor monthly deliveries of

XVI INTRODUCTION

regular sheepofferings to the Annunitum temple in -Amnanumin the Old Babylonian period.rs

Prophecy

Four of the letters in the volume refer in one way or another to prophecy (nos. 139, 748,37, I44; seeNissinen SAAS 7 pp.9-10 for the criteria for recognizingprophecy in NA texts). No. 139 clearly containsa prophecy as it quotes the words of a divinity and mentions the name of Assurbanipal. "fear Moreover, it uses the formulaic not" (la tapallah), characteristicof prophetic utterances(cf. Parpola SAA 9 p. LXV Chart I). Details of the mannerof the prophecyare lost. No. 148 is only a small scrap,but it is likely that it was the beginning of a prophecy since the woman reporting the "message" (iipirtu) was a votary of I5tar of Arbela, an important deity in Neo-Assyrian prophecy. The name of the votary is not preserved,but the extant traces do not match any of the prophetsor prophetessesknown from the prophecycorpus (Parpola SAA 9 pp. XLVIII-LII). The fact that this piece, like no. 139, is from Arbela is in keeping with the importanceof this city as a sourceo[ prophecies. In no. 37 we find an interesting mixture of a report of a prophecy and bureaucraticbuck-passing. A prophetess(raggintu), speakingin the name of a deity whose name is not preserved, demands the throne from a temple. I Adad-ahu-iddina,obviously in chargeof the temple, refusesto hand over the throne without the king's permission, equally obviously fearing the king's wrath more than that of the god (cf. Nissinen SAAS 7 pp. 78-81). Finally, no. 144 is less sure to be a prophecy: although it seemsto be quoting the words of a divinity, the mode of addressis not characteristicin that the king is, in part, addressedindirectly and the messageconsists entirely of cultic de- mands. The messageis part of a general report on cultic matters and comes after a break in the text. Despite the scatteredand incompletenature of thesefew references,taken togetherwith the corpusof archivedprophecy (SAA 9 I-4), the other prophe- cy reports (SAA 9 5-11), and the referencesto prophecy in a wide variety of text types (Nissinen SAAS 7), it is clear that prophecy was an important vehicle for establishingthe divine will during the late Neo-Assyrian period, and that priests and temple administrators were responsible for reporting prophetic messagesto the king.

Deliveries of Horses to the Nabfi Temple

Though much is alreadyknown about the Assyrian military (which at first glance would seem to have had nothing to do with temple or cult), some 40 letters in this corpus illuminate how and whence certain of its units, which were obliged to meet challenges to imperial authority over an area extending

xvll STATE ARCHIVES OF ASSYRIA XIII

from Iran to Egypt, were suppliedwith someof the horsesand muresthat they required.:o should the reader be asking why this was a priestly concern, thl answer is that the animals with which these documentsare concernedwere inspected "mayor" "inspector") by the (better of the temple of Nab0 in calah, who, after receiving and reviewing thim, forwardedr"port, to the king on the numbers, breeds,origins, and eventualdisposition of the equidsthat had come in. (It is -temptinghere to postulate the existenceof an ejite strike-force of the god Nab0, regardedby the Assyriansas the god of victory, to which these animals were directed, but there is no direct euidencefor this. Nevertheless, the connection betweenthe reportsand the cult of Nab0 is intriguing and calls for further study.) contributions came from all the major cities of Assyria and from as far away as Parsua in Iran and Damascusin syria. Those to whom deliveriesare attributed include the commander-in-chief,the palace herald, the chief cup_ bearer,the treasurersof the queenand queenmo^the., the governorsof calah and Nineveh, and the magnates "50 of the province of Bet-kiri in _ the housesof the ma.gnates"accordinglo one fragmentaryreport (no. g2;.:z The horses were designatedas Mesean, Egyptianl or rusnlte (apparentlya breed that had originatedin the region of modern ):rand were destined to become "yoke either cavalry mounts or horses.',once the inspectorof the Nab0 temple had conductedhis review, some were sent on to ihe palace in Nineveh (no. 97), others remained in (or were transferred to) the Review Palace (no. in calah 98), and a few at least were assignedto the teamsof the god A55ur (no. 104). we know from other sour"6. that the latter were comprised of white horses,:ssince vAT 13596 mentions that white horses pulled A55ur'schariot.

Theft and Corruption

Finally, given the wealth in animals, gems, and precious metals concen- trated in Nineveh, calah, and Assur during the seventhcentury, it comes as no surprise that this corpus also chroniclesthe abusesof royal servantsof all stations- ..men from humble shepherdsand cooks to or ihe cloth', _ who proved to have not only feet of clay but also sticky fingers and were therefore unable to resist the powerful enticementswith whichlhey were surrounded. The list of culprits is long: shepherdsin charge of flocki of sheepdestined for sacrificein Assur who refusedto bring theiianimals in (no. 19); shepherds who illegally sold the sheepunder theiriare (no. r72); shepherdswhb stole entire flocks and raisedmilitias to protect both thems"iu"r und their loot (no. 20); a cook who stole a golden statueof the plague god Erra (and was beaten to (no. death) 157);_drunkenprefects esconced outrioe the gatesof Assur who stole the exit tolls they collected,confiscated deliveries, aid extorted money from the deliverers(no. 33); a chief victualler of a tempie who carried off 30 kg of silver, including utensils that had been given as gifts to the .trti"" Ly the king and the queenmother (no. 154); a prilst of "who stole gold from a temple offering-table (no. 138); temple authorities who .ou"..dlup thefts made by their subordinates(no. 138); a ring of clerical criminals who cut off

XVil ON THE PRESENT EDITION and removed gold appendagesfrom the cella of the god to whom they were supposedly devoted (nos. 25, 26); and finally a lamentation priest and a temple guard who carried off large sectionsof silver sheetingfrom a temple's walls (no. 128). Some of these thieves, naturally, were put to death (no. 128).+o From the various letters we have surveyedit is obvious that when it came to matters connected with temple and cult very little escapedthe king's notice. If the point needsreinforcing, we will mention one last text, the sole topic of which is the discovery of a lowly fungus growing in the courtyard of the temple of Nab0, which of course called for a report and,just as predict- ably, a ritual to eradicateit (no. 71).

On the PresentEdition

This volume includes all letters dealing with temple administration or cultic affairs that can be assignedto the reign of Esarhaddonor Assurbanipal that have not beenpublished in other SAA volumes. Most of the letters were written by priests or by temple administrators,or, in the case of the letters written by the king, to suchofficials. A number of letters,presumably written by some of the sameindividuals, have alreadybeen publishedin SAA 8 and SAA 10. The following texts edited in this volume are written in Babylonian: 3-7.t73- 183. 185.

The Order of Textsin this Edition

The texts have primarily been organizedby geographicalareas and within those areasby individuals. Letters dealing with the same topic have been grouped together where possible, but there is generally no attempt at any chronological order, nor is there any systematic attempt to assign letters to the reign of a specific king.

TextsIncluded and Excluded

All letters written by identified or identifiable priests and temple adminis- trators that have not already been published in other SAA volumes are included here, as are letters from the king to such individuals. In addition, fragmentary pieces that contain any references to temple administration or

XIX STATE ARCHIVES OF ASSYRIA XIII

cultic matters have been included. Letters that form part of Sargon II's correspondence have been excluded with the exception of two letters from Assur that provide some contextual continuitv.

Transliterations

The transliterations, addressedto the specialist, render the text of the originals in roman charactersaccording to standardAssyriological conven_ tions and the principles outlined in the Editorial tvtanual. Evely effort has been taken to make them as accurateas possible.The texts have beencollated at parpola peter _varioustimes by simo and Machinist. Some additional collations have been done by Nicholas postgate and last-minute collations were undertakenby Mark Geller. Resultsof collation are indicatedwith exclamationmarks. Single exclama_ tion marks indicate corrections to published copies, double ixclamation marks, scribal errors. Question marks indicate uncertain or questionable readings. Broken portions of text and all restorationsare enclbsed within square brackets. Parenthesesenclose items omitted by ancient scribes or explanatory material insertedby the editors.Numbers that appearat the edge of a break where part.of the number might be missing are foliowed by ..[+i- or preceded "x+]," by and it must be borne in mind {hat',x,, may be iero.

Translations

The translations seek to render the meaning and tenor of the texts as accurately possible as in readable,contemporary English. In the interest of clarity, the line structureof the originals hai notbeeriretained in the transla- tion but the text has been reartanged into logically coherent paragraphswhere possible. -Uncertainor conjecturaltranslations are indicatedby italics. Interpretative additions to the translationare enclosedwithin pur"nth"r".. All restorations are enclosed within squarebrackets. Untranslaiable passages or words are indicated by dots. euotation marks are used as follows: Iouble quotation ("") marks indicate direct speechquoted in the original text; single quotation marks (") indicate quotationswithin quoted text, or indicate hlerai or con- ventional translations of words or phrases that may have had a different meaning or sensein the original. Month names are rendered by their Hebrew equivalents, followed by a Roman numeral (in parentheses)indicating the place of the month within ihe lunar year. Personal,divine and geographicalni-", are renderedby English or Biblical equivalentsif a well-establiihed equivalentexists (e.g.,-Esariad_ don, Nineveh); otherwise, they are given in trinscription with lJngth marks deleted. The normalization of west-semitic namei generally follows the conventions of Zadok west Semites.west Semitic ph6nemesnot expressed

XX ON THE PRESENT EDITION by the writing system (lol etc.) have generally not been restituted in the normalizations,and the sibilant systemfollows the NA orthography. The renderingof professionsis a compromisebetween the use of accurate but impractical Assyrian terms and inaccurate but practical modern or classi- cal equivalents.

Critical Apparatus

The primary purposeof the critical apparatusis to supportthe readingsand translationsestablished in the edition, and it consistslargely ofreferences to collations of questionablepassages, scribal mistakescorrected in the trans- literation, and alternative interpretationsor restorationsof ambiguouspas- sages.Restorations based on easily verifiable evidence (e.g., parallel pas- sagesfound in the text itself) are generally not explained in the apparatus; conjecturalrestorations only if their conjectural nature is not apparentfrom italics in the translation. Collations given in copy at the end of the volume "see are referredto briefly as coll." All collations given in copy are by Simo Parpola. The critical apparatusdoes contain some additional information relevant to the interpretationof the texts, but it is not a commentary.Comments are kept to a minimum, and are mainly devotedto problems in the text, elucida- tion of lexical items or Akkadian expressionsnecessarily left untranslated. The historical information containedin the texts is generally not commented upon. Additional commentshave occasionallybeen provided by membersof the Project staff. The contributors' signaturesin the critical apparatusare: (MJG) Mark Geller, (SP) Simo Parpola, (KR) Karen Radner, (RMW) Robert Whiting.

Glossaryand Indices

The glossary and indices, electronically generated,generally follow the pattern of the previous volumes. The glossarycontains all lexically identifi- able words occurring in the texts. As a departurefrom previous glossaries, suffixless numbers 1-99 have been included. The referencesto professions attachedto the index of personal names have been provided by a computer program written by Simo Parpola;it is hoped that thesewill be helpful in the prosopographicalanalysis of the texts, but it should be noted that the pro- gramme omits certain deficiently written professions and the references are accordingly not absolutelycomplete. Logograms without a known Akkadian equivalentare included in alphabe- tical order in the glossarywritten in small capitals.The glossaryand indices were preparedby the SAA staff and checkedby StevenCole.

XXI STATEARCHIVES OF ASSYRIAXIII

NOTES

t Th: reading of the toponym in question - - , written urru.rirt is uncertain: both Issetu andAnatu are possible. Anat' of course, was located-on the middle Euphrates.For thetroure- oTitre iocatiration of the province cupbearer, see K. Kessler, (Jntersuchungen of the chief zir historisch"i r'iiiiiipiir'n-ori*rropotomiens nach Keitschril.ttichen Quellen des I . Jahrtausend-sv., Chr. (Wiesbaden l9g0), esp. p1i. iSOlSZ. 2 Luckenbill Senn.,p. 4219^"q p- seepongratz-Liiste 3 J::4g; n Ina iulmi rrub, p. 166n.71. LuckenbitlSenn.. irp. 86:t9-87i26. a Ibid., -p'pp. 75:97-76:100. t I,btd 87:3,1-31 also Grayson-Chronicles, p. 78f.,llshoul{ b-e the.. passase;, no1ed,however, that Grayson misunderstands seerherefore instead A.!: oppe,nheiniin ANET1 p. :oz andii i;;;;, ii$ 3iAd82;'i:i:iiiiz. 6 SeeGeorse BTT. = no.f Tintir_IV-27-;3,r.9'; seealso c"b.g" uourip. iis no.sss. 7 SeeGeorie BTT. no. r = f inii. lv O;-"il d;.;;"" rf our", p. i?b no.lik:iir; cult statueof this godwas renewed by^Esarhaddoi:see Borger nsarh.. p. Sa a0. 8 Sjji. ., SeeGeorge BTT. no. 1 = Tintii IV 37; alsoGeorge, House, p. 124no.727. ' ' the ' Note that Esarhaddonlater returned starueof Amurrij ro Babylon;see Borger Asarh., pf g4 Eil ,.'ifi-Cq."" e rhe town is alsomentiohed in BM = -Z,is :- ss-qle sz i G"o.g""nour",p. 5 I :30,an NB rextfrom Sippar, in four sections,each of which.is divided "26 devotedto a particuiarto*n' fis, Hui;dd;.", cuth_a,qld Apak, ending rubric: lines: namesof cities and in the temples,up to Aput.;;ihill;'tl;:"uj,n.;io,"n u, Ur III Api,ak, listed in cadastretext publishedby F.R Kraus,who ,,provinzenthe locaiesit riest of varao airoii tne abgat canal(see des neusumerischenReiches von lJr," ZA 51 t I 955156, 68). However, u ro"utionro to Kraus's f* westis_unwarranted, since contrary assumption,Abgal + Pallukkatu.The iown.*as more likely situatedsomewhere a^ug1t alwaysmentioned southof Kis (sincethe 5 in .assoc.iation_withKi5), stltt iroseio iii6ttr"""uri rithin the regionun j"iiir"'#tru"n"" of Bit-Dakuri,the Chaldeantribe whoseshaykh intimidut"o r0 itr int.ouiiu.,t,a;';" l8l:10-16). compareGccI 1 370:1 and6 and YoS I ts,s,za,.'t,i"r,-"rtlon,'i!rp".,it"rv, golden Nanavaand silver watersfor the tableof watersfor the tableof Sin. Comfar"'urrono. ios^in iliir'";];;", which mentions for the tableof Zaroanitu. woodenwaters 1r SeeT' Jacobs-enin H. Frankfort,S. Lloyd, andT. Jacobsen, The Gimil-Sin |'emple- and thepalace of the Rulers atT^ellAsmar(OIP43, Chicago 1940), p. 18i no.77unAp. l-2 *He tOf no."1tg.'""""" ^ .compare.thefollowilg^exp1g$1oni: (Tukulti-Ni;urta)is theeternal image of (his)people"(Afo18tissz-ssl of Enlil who lisrensto thewords "The 50y10);)'Th"kingisttreperrecfiit"r"rr"rtngod"(SAA fatherof thekins. 10207r.12-13); my lord'wis thevery image of bel.and'rhe li;g. ;t'br;. islikewise rhe very (sAA t0228:r8-r9)iilTlrglils.myrorat.i',ir'."'.ryrr""re;;i'il;r;;ri.1'l'"o]+"ar...you.okingof imase or.Bel.. trh_eErne, n): iheworrd. 1I..tlr"_y.ly imageof Marduk" (sAA. 8--33,3r. 2y anit i["-r"ia "T'iri"'*".rd,'i, (sAA r0 "what ,;;;.;n;?; ;i:;;; te6 r. 4-5).compare.also: the king, my rora,iita is ;i;;;f;;i ;r"ii;t';;;; l9l r'6-7)rand"Thewordof ;;;id;';il,yisAA l0 theking.my_lord.isisLrinaliairir'"*"ra"nitegoos" tno.46r. l21. i\ikolskii:: n-t" t;;,:;;lTjt;J"i5ii5.t"*''anda;"iee ci"""iiiii.,il'ir"t,s sumiriennesaicha:iques (Paris ra Durins thereisn of hissuccessor Uruinimgina (Dp 66 vi); seeM. Lambert,RA 50 (1956) r5 DP 55:see A.beimel.'oie 106. oplertisten'if"luginuruna i.in.iVor;;;;;;:' or 28r t928r55: B. Landsberger. Der kultischeKalender der Babytonier und Assyreriieipzig isi5j, ;,. s6."oii#gs to Enmetenaare also mentioned e in theSargonic text ITT I l08t ipl. 5). 16DP 54 vi 3 and5. {ri1:iI,.:,,,1,I,5:?]dl:q;44r:qid"l13fij, f";1!'t;:e?f:,w#:e!"{.,::::1x:'{",i:{J:i3:,:fK:,#:::,",fr,! line 5 of the sametext mentionsan offering to ?ittre oeitieo Naram:'s"irlai. iiii," ":iiii,'ci"1iii" Tabletsof the wilberforce-Eam.es .i if" V"""ritrr^ B^abylon'ianCollection i, tni xii'vir* rL[fil' tit rory (American oriental 32. New Haven 1948),p. l3-r4 B 3 mentions series an offering.mao"t" in. d"lii"J'ilaniituiuJreign of Su-sin).At leasr some.of.theofferings in questionwere made in shrine_s."rle-dicat"ato-tri"ie ti"g* Fr;; S;i;iy*.?ioii., u,."t mentioninga shrineof Saqgon(cT-J pl:.25 no. 13164:r2i, ;hil. T.e."i,i;;ril;, IRAS 1920 pp.2t_24menrrons offeringsfor the templeof Saraand Mgii3tusu. And for Narim-sin -""1i* gate ir ."0. of an offerii! to tt ":.ii".pr" I of Naram-Sin"in a texr.daredto Sulgi :o (anoi z^sz,s;,"" F"lt."ri.l;-, oLZ"' H. "Die ii ii'g;'sT'l4r': ,"'" trigrn"rur lirsch, Inschriftender Krinigevo-n Agade,.'AfO 20

XXII NOTES

-r-t]:1.2. and 4). Severaldocuments mention a temple of Amar-Sin alongsidea temple of Sulgi (N. Schneider,Die Ilrehem- und Djoha-Urkunden der Strassburger Universittits- und Landesbibliothek in Autographie und mit syste- saischen Wijrterverzeichnissenherausgegeben, AnOr I (193 1) no. 133, 346; ITT V 9600; Nies, Ur Dynasty Tablets, n . -11:9-10). A tablet from Tello mentions a temple of Ur-Nammu, a temple of Sulgi, and a temple of Amar-Sigt (ITT tr 970 [date broken]). Finally, a temple of .{mar-Sin is also mentioned in documents dating to the reigns of Su-Sin rnd Ibbi-Sin (UET 3 no. 266 and no. 1225 tS-S 11,no. 382 [I-S 8], no. 1437 [n.d.]). :: There were temples dedicated to the deified Su-Sin at Einunna, Ur, and Girsu (see, respectively, Frankfort et z!.. Gimilsin Templ_e,p. 9ff; UET 3 no. 1433 rev.; Parrot, Tello, p. 226ff). The temple at Girsu received offerings "Le &ring the reign of Su-Sin, as did statuesof Su-Sin in the temples of Ningirsu and Bau (F. Thureau-Dangin, culte des rois dans la pdriode pr6babylonienne," RT 19 tl897l I 85- I 87 IS-S 5l; ITT II 793, 3256; ITT V 9756 [S;S 5]). ITT II 795 mentions bitumen for the socle of the statueof the divine Su-Sin already in Amar-Sin 9. In year 5 of Su-Sin, e remple of the statue of Su-Sin was built on the quay of (?) (ITT II 3390:6-r. I , see M. Lambert, RA 54 [ 1960] ll8f no. 3l). Several texts mention offerings to statues of this king in the temple of at Uruk (N. Schneider, Die Drehem- und Djohatexte im Kloster Montserrat (Bgrcelona) in Autographie und mit systematischenWdrterver- .cichnissenherausgegeben, AnOr 7 (1932) no. 104:7 [S-S 6?]; no. 108:19.87. 122 [S-S 9]; CT 32 pl. 16 i 4 and pl. lrir l7[n.d.])andinthetemplesofEnlil(ibid.no.272i9[S-S7]:CT32pl. 16i12,pl. 17v6,andpl. 18vi21) end at (N. Schneider, Die Drehem- und Djohatexte im Kloster Montserrat, AnOr 7 (1932) no. 108:3, j. +8r CT 32 pl. 16 i 14, pl. 17 v 8, and pl. 18 vi 23). Finally, from Drehem come tablets indicating that Sulgi and Su-Sin were venerated in the temple of Ninsun, along with Lugalbanda, Ge5tinanna,Dumuzi, and other deities (TCL 2 5182 r. iii 4-12, 55 14:16-r. 5). :-1 E.g.: according to UET 3 26'1 ii I, ofJerings were made to a large statue of the deified lbbi-Sin alongside the statuesof numerous deities and the divine Sulgi (ibid. ii 12). la We know, forexample, that Sin-iddinam of fashioned a silver statue of his father, Nur-Adad, which was dedicated to Samai and placed in the great court of Ebabbar for the purpose of transmitting prayers and messagesof Sin-iddinamand to prolong his life (seeJ. van Dijk, JCS 19 1-25).This king also erecteda statueof himself [1965] "Nippur in the Ekur in Nippur (according to an unpublished list of offerings [Ni. 2484] cited by F.R. Kraus, und Isin nach altbabylonischen Rechtsurkunden," JCS 3 [951] 37 $5). UET | 275 vi l8-20 mentions a large statue of the deified Sin-eribam, the successor of Sin-iddinam, bearing an inscription that was copied by a scribe at Ur. An inscription of Samsu-iluna of Babylon mentions the fashioning of an alabaster statue weighing 84 talents (about 2.5 rons!) for the temple Eturkalamma (VS 16 156: 6-7). And as a final example, a letter of Sam5i-Adad to Yasmah-Addu mentions silver for the manufacture of statuesand their adornment (among them a statue of Yasmah-Addu to be inlaid *-irh silver), which are said to have been destined for a temple in Assur and the temple of Dagan in Mari (ARM 1 74). :5 FortheexistenceofstatuesofSargonickingsinOldBabylonianUr,seeD.Loding,"OldBabylonianTextsfrom Ur." JCS 28 (1976) 237 no. ll col. ii, which mentions a copper statue of Sargon. In OB Nippur there were apparently many statuesof these kings set up in the Ekur, see e.g. the colophon on the Sammeltafel CBS 13972 (= PBS 5 34 + "[inscriptions l5 -{l) left edge: of S]argon, Rimu5, and Mani5tu5u as many as were in Ekur" (see I.J. Gelb and B. Kienast, Die altakkadischen Kdnigsinschriften des dritten Jahrtausends v. Cftr. [Freiburger Altorientalische Studien 7. Stungart 19901, p. I 39f0. revived veneration of the images of Sargon and Naram- Sin in the sixth century "excavations" BC. Statues of these kings were uncovered in the course of this king's at Sippar and were then set up "A in Ebabbar and a cult established for them. On their discovery see W.G. Lambert, New Source for the Reign of \abonidus," AfO 22 (1968-69) 1-8; for texts listing provisionsfor their cult, seeCT 55 469:13;CT 56 442:23,451; CT 5'/ 242,256:4, 307, 312, 61'1; J.N. Strassmaier, Inschriften von Cyrus, Kbnig von Babylon (538-529 v. Chr.) (Leipzig 1890), no. 40,256; and J.N. Strassmaier,Inschriften von Cambyses,Kdnig von Babylon (529-521 v. Chr.) (Leipzig 1890),no. 150. 26 Comparealso,forexample,thestatementofSennacheribthatthekings,hisfathers,hadfashionedbronzestatues in their likenessesto setup in the temples(Luckenbill Senn.,p. 108 vi 80-82;p.122:15), as well as a very interesting objects, including royal statues of silver, in the cellas of I5tar of Bet-Kidmuri, Marduk, Ninurta, inventory of cult '1 Belet-bala1i,Mullissu, and Parisat-palC(SAA 62 | 14, ii 12', iri l0', 16', iv 6', and rev. i 10). 27 SeeMenzel Tempel, T 80 i 10'-I l'. 28 TadmorT-PIII,pp. 138-40(Summ.4):10'-11'',pp.176-78 (Summ.8):16'-17': andp. 188(Summ.9)r. 14-15. U. Magen believes that Tiglath-pileser III's inscriptions are too fragmentary in this context to support the interpreta- tion of a divinized royal image (see A.s.i1,rlscftaKdnigsdarstellungen - Aspekte der Herrschaft: Eine Typologie, Baghdader Forschungen 9 [Mainz am Rhein 1986], p. 45). However, a musical score edition of the relevant texts collected by Tadmor shows that only the verb ulziz has to be restored. 2e Such divinized royal statuesare namedamong the gods of Calah and Arbela (3 R 66 vi 29,32,35) and are also recorded as being among the divine inhabitants of the temples of Anu, Gula, Adad, and lStar-a55uritu(KAV 42 ii 6, 9, 29, iii 6; KAV 43 1i 2l). For another interpretation of the tetm ;almu in these contexts, see S. Dalley, 48 ( 1986) 85-101. 30 VAT 21531 (oSama5);SAAB 9 (1995) 68 10455ut,aSama5); SAA 6 240 (dSama5,dNerggl); CTN 2 36 (dAdad of Kurbail); SAA 6 219 (dSalam-Sarri);l,,lD 2080 B. Parker,Iraq l6 (1954) 54 1o5u1urn-aurri,aSamaS); and Friedrich et al. Tell Halaf, nos. 112-13 (dNabfr, dSamaS.aSalam-5arri). (All references courtesy K. Radner.) In addition, the existence of the personal name ndsalam-Sarri-iqbi indicates that the image was a source of oracles and that royal statueshad come to be worshipped as gods (see A. Ungnad in Friedrich et al. Tell Halaf, p. 58 n. 21, and p. 63 n. 5; contra Magen, Assyrische Kr)nigsdarstellungen,p. 44). 3t TheculticbathinquestionprobablypertainstotheritualwashofTammuzattheendofthemonthofDu'uzu. The mourning rites of Tammuz apparently took place in the I5tar temple on Dt'uzu 28-29, when families and kin gathered to mourn the deceased; see W. Farber, Beschwdrungsrituale an litar und Dumuzi: attl Iitar ia harmaia Dumuzi (Wiesbaden 1976), p. 140:3-18. "favorable "Assyrian 32 For another mention oI the Abiegeda, days," see S. Parpola, Library Records," JNES 42 ( I 983) 1-29 (= ADD 943 + 944, now re-edited as SAA 7 49), r. ii 3, where this work is said to have been recorded on a polyptych consisting of three leaves. 33 ThesedeliveriesseemtoberelatedtothoserecordedinthearchiveofASSurtempleofferinglists(=SAA7nos. 182-219), which was discovered at Kuyunjik and includes inventories ofcommodities present on a certain day in a certain department of the temple (see van Driel Cult, p. 207). These inventories consist, in the main, of the following

XXIII STATEARCHIVES OF ASSYRIAXIU

categories of deliveries: offerings for the chapel "which of Dag^an,the leftovers were befbre Ajsur,,, wedding ni9ht(qursut of Muiliisu. and new;t"l;.-"r2;;;;(;;;;'";,i.;;'F;:,, offerinqs fbr the and posrsare.SAA 7. p. xxxv. il,t^,'",iJ,?;il3"tT"ii.,iii"l.'1n'ir"r'ie,e^perrormld rn'eacrr temprd oncerrain rixed days. ro'iTilS::t-:1ll:.ll,J;u sGl- lniii;;i; iliilJilA*."l,"{";;;,i,;.idl editedbvE'Ebeline.''Urkundendesercniuivon'it;;;..y.miuelassyriicn.rZ.i,.:Lr,reocKffiiliffii,,,fir.tT,xTiJJ?fill.r*l'nllj,r*::'1"* in KAJ);no. 4e ediied bv o. 7/.1-2ttg33J26-53rc,pres Schroider;;iiil;i'"Ck"lJiiiii*i"ldffi;;,l,stor I (1e25) editedbv E'F'weidner'-"e-1t a91'r-ugJ".i*r "rriri*n"n 262_63;nos.50_l l1 rt;.;;i'';;vi;i"u;;;ii6,s.truii"nttint"gr,;"eio]o (1935-36) 'unig3-+8; copies ty v. ils3riid6{6i'!,T::titli:({;I;,T$1 r.il?i"rj'sYor;uaaition, .o-.."-"-,ioi, io",o, qAA 12 80:l mentions, ifwine :1 eg. w. """-i.lit,.ertbabyroniiche in addition, thar th :0ll Qee e;r;ililifl1f,iitBff;''11!.r"r,ilB'ft1:*ij:" Themaioritv of rhesetrott. r.io.iiuiJ""Ji..i.o una 3z It anaryze.dinTCAE. esp. pp. 7_r8. is interestinsin this context-tocompare those who o""it"oi"g"i;'oli"iifigr.to u6ou"?-.;;4 the ASSurtemple. According A*:i.:l"Hiftfjl"r:'n"f,l'.":,-"ntion"a t ftz-zrgt,Tiiv'i'"lrJ"irthe queen, the crown prince, rhe F;r."Jtl'9i9:!;;;;;':ii;,';lTt'i3l$:'J;'ffii,'"T,"'ff,?'ii6Xii*r, andihe gou"''o* i,ia.'oi'p.Juiot"; ,". ;; iTflijl;;'it'i#."*it;ifiiii,I:5sTi::,fd'*sn:,'g*';;.13,';'"1i"0A55ur,s akrtu festival'In KAV 78 (1.31) i'ttit"'rr"ir"r "..^riri"o'".*g"t chario,during the blood" (dam il;-g"d;;il:ilnes recervingdonations of .,cedar ereni\ ftom the king. w" tro* irrut*iit. o..r", ardbpurrZo RA 35 120) ttreltrar-i'ol or the Mari kings (seeG. Dossrn, [1938] and were..as;ociated*itlt g"a. iro'tings in plrsian und Bior9[1952] 157-59).Finatlv,ttt".onu"yunEJ"iittit.rri.r"r-toallui';".ii;;Harranisacommonsancrionrn G.."k t_rm.sas well (seeE.F. weidner, ilir:l,ll|l;#;i}i;|:'r'Jt,lidner,Die "iiiiivii''ifi" n",nt,uiiiii"i.i,"ci""ii,raiu"i,in-ii-i^ii^,"iijiaas +0 In addition'see also sAe to 10?-(concerningthe theft^ofa goldenplate from apparentlyfacilitated bv the templeof Aiiur thar was thepayment of Lribesto u't"mpt. "^rrr.i"it--a r f;. w.ion.r, ..Hochverrat don"' Afo l7 ( 1954-56i8 tvAi qszi,i";;;;fi gegenAsarhad- ,rr" tir;rt "r g""oJ, i"J"oing'ii"u'J.oyu,sratues, iddina).on similarcases ni corruptionin-n;d,1"?i;;;;i"gii;;;i;;?il#ii.;;;, by oneNab1-ahhe- seeFrame Babylonia, p. e8.

XXIV Abbreviations and Symbols

B ib li og r aphical Abb revi ati on s

A Assur (tabletsin the collections of the Istanbul Arkeoloji Miizeleri) ABL R. F. Harper,Assyrian and Babylonian Letters (London and Chicago 1892-1914) ADD C. H. W. Johns,Assyrian Deeds and Documents (Cambridge 1898- 1923) AfO Archiv fiir Orientforschung AHw. W. von Soden,Akkadisches Handwijrterbuch (Wiesbaden1957-81) AJSL American Journal of Semitic Languagesand Literatures ANET3 J. B. Pritchard (ed.),Ancient Near Eastern TextsRelating to the Old Testament(3rd edition. Princeton 1969) AnOr Analecta Orientalia AO tabletsin the collections of the Mus6e du AOAT Alter Orient und Altes Testament AOTU Altorientalische Texte und Untersuchungen . ARM Archives royales de Mari ArOr Archiv Orient6lni AS AssyriologicalStudies ASJ Acta Sumerologica(Japan, Hiroshima) Ass field numbersof tablets excavatedat Assur Assyria 1995 S. Parpolaand R. M. Whiting (ed.),Proceedings of the l}th Anniver- sary Symposium of the Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project, Helsinki , September7-11, 1995 (Helsinki 1991) BA Beitriige zur Assyriologie und semitischenSprachwissenschaft BaM BaghdaderMitteilungen BASOR Bulletin of the American Schoolsof Oriental Research BBEA B. Landsberger,Brief desBischofs von an Kdnig Asarhaddon Mededeelingender Koninklijke NederlandseAkademie van Wetens- chappen,afd. letterkunde,nieuwe reeks 2816(Amsterdam 1965) BiOr Bibliotheca Orientalis BM tabletsin the collections of the British Museum BMECCJ 8 H.I.H. Prince Takahito Mikasa (ed.), Essayson Ancient and its Surrounding Civilizations (Bulletin of the Middle EasternCulture Centerin Japan8, Wiesbaden1995) Borger Esarh. R. Borger, Die Inschriften Asarhaddons, Kdnigs von Assyrien (AfO Beiheft 9, Graz 1956)

XXV STATEARCHIVES OF ASSYRIAXITI BSOAS Bulletin of the School of Oriental Bu and African Studies tabletsin the collections of The CAD eriti.t Museum The Assyrian Dictionary of the orieniar Institute of the university of Chicago(Chicago tg56_ ) CBS tabletsin the coilections of the university Museum of the of Pennsylvania University CT Texts from B-abylonian CTN Tablets in the British Museum Cuneiform Texts from Cuneiform K' (ed.), cuneiform Archives |' {eenhof Archives and Libraries: papers Read 30 e Re nc o nt re Assy r i oto g i qu e, k ra e i,- q_ g lir{; a-t "iy' i dS (Leiden Dietrich M. Dietrich, Die 4yr1a"r, Si)dbabytoniensin der Sargonidenzeit Aramiier (700-648)(Alter orient undAltes Testament 7, Kevelaerand chen-Vluynlg70) Neukir_ DP F'-M' Allotte de la Fiiye,Documents prdsargoniques van Driel (parislg0g-13) G. van Driel, The Cutt of Aiiur (errln Cult i.96g) DT tablets in the collectionsof the British Museum EbelingSVAT stiftunsenund vorsci,jli" fr;iB!11*, fa, asiyrischerempet (Ber_ Fales ' F. M. Fales,Cento lettere neo_assire (Venezia CentoLettere l9S3) Falesand and G' B' Lanfranchi, Lettere dara corte Lanfranchi f;#j""t"r Assira(venezia Lettere Festschrift F. Rochberg-Halton(ed.), Language,Literature, and"nrin"l History: philot_ Reiner ogicaland Historicarstudies"prisinted r" nrir, r'o'rc't \r1(i^"ri"un oriental Series67, New Haven tgsll;- , Frame .G.T3T",_f abylonia 6Bg-627B.C.: A'botiricat History(Uitgaven Babylonia Historis ch_Archaeol"sir"h van i:: ",Xi;r1lds i;;,i*;;,,; f .i?noo, un, Friedrich et al. J. Friedrich, G. R. y9{..,.A. Ungnadand E. F. Weidner Tell Halaf 'ftoii' TetlHaraf (Archiv , Die Inschrif_ fiii orientfo^.trung-B.1i "ri" a, Berlin GCCI P D::g!"ry, I. Goucher Coilege Cuneiform Inscriptions Haven 1923,1933) I_II (New George BTT A. R. . George, Babyloni-an T_o_y2SranhicalTexts (Leuven George A. R. George, lgg2) House Most Higi: f'he i"mpte, o7,+rnirrt House mia (Mesopotamian ilesopota_ Civilizati6ns 5, Winona Lake 1993) Grayson A' K' Grayson, Assyrian,and Bab,ytoiian chronictei'(Texts Chronicles Cuneiform from Sourcesi, Gliickrtadt ig75,; ITT Inventaire des Tablettes de Tello "onr"ru6"s au Mus6e Imp6rial Ottoman I-V (paris 19I0_192D JAOS Journalof the AmericanOrienial JCS Society Journal of Cuneiform Studies JEOL "Ex Jaarbericht... Oriente Lux,' JESHO Journal of the Economic and Social JNES History of theluv Orientvrru,L Journal of Near EasternStudies JRAS Journal of the Royal Asiatic Societv

XXVI ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS

K tabletsin the collections of the British Museum K. Konstantinopel (tablets in the collections of the Istanbul Arkeoloji ; Miizeleri) KAH O. Schroeder,Keilschrifttexte aus Assur historischenInhalts (Wis- senschaftliche Verciffentlichungen der Deutschen Orient-Gesell- schaft 37 , Leipzig 1922) KAJ E. Ebeling, Keilschrifttexte aus Assur iuridischen Inhalts (Wissens- chaftlicheVeroffentlichungen der DeutschenOrient-Gesellschaft 50, Leipzig 1927) KAR E. Ebeling, Keilschrifttexte aus Assur religidsen Inhalts 1-11(Wis- senschaftliche Veroffentlichungen der Deutschen Orient-Gesell- schaft 28 and 34,Leipzig 19t9,1922) KAV O. Schroeder,Keilschrifttexte aus Assurverschiedenen Inhalts (Wis- senschaftliche Verciffentlichungen der Deutschen Orient-Gesell- schaft 35, Leipzig l92O) Ki tablets in the collections of The British Museum King L. W. King, Catalogue of the Cuneiform Tablets in the Kouyunjik Cat.Suppl. Collection,Supplement(Londont9l4) Kramer S. N. Kramer, Le mariage sacr6, translatedby J. Bott6ro (Paris 1983) Le mariage sacr6 Labat R. Labat, Hdmdrologieset mdnologiesd'Assur (Paris 1949) H6m6rologies "The Lambert W. G. Lambert, Problem of the Love Lyrics," in H. Goedicke Love Lyrics and J. Roberts (eds.), Unity and Diversity (Baltimore 1975) 98-135 Lanfranchi G. B. Lanfranchi, I Cimmeri, Emergegzadelle 6lites militari iraniche I Cimmeri nel Vicino Oriente(VIII-VII sec.a.C.) (Padova1990) LAS S. Parpola,Letters from Assyrian Scholars to the Kings Esarhaddon and Assurbanipal I, II (Alter Orient und Altes Testament 5ll-2, Neukirchen-Vluyn1970, 1983) LSS Leipziger Semitische Studien Luckenbill D. D. Luckenbill, The Annals of Sennacherib (Oriental Institute Senn. Publications2, Chicago 1924) MAOG Mitteilungen der AltorientalischenGesellschaft M6l. Finet M. Lebeau and Ph. Talon (eds.),Reflets des Deux Fleuves: Volume de mdlanges offert d Andre Finet (Akkadica, Supplementum VI, Leuven 1989) M6l. Garelli D. Charpin and F. Joannbs(eds.), Marchands, diplomates et emper- eurs:Etudes sur la civilisation mdsopotamienneofferts d Paul Garelli (Editions Recherchesur les Civilisations, Paris 1991) Menzel B. Menzel, Assyrische Tempel I-II (Studia Pohl, Series Maior 10, Tempel Rome 1981) MVAG Mitteilungen der Vorderasiatisch-AgyptischenGesellschaft N.A.B.U. Nouvelles AssyriologiquesBr6ves et Utilitaires NALK T. Kwasman, Neo-AssyrianLegal Documents in the Kouyuniik Col- lection of the British Museum (Studia Pohl, SeriesMaior 14, Rome l 988) ND field numbers of tablets excavated at Nimrud

xxvII STATE ARCHIVES OF ASSYRIA XIII

Ni. in rhecouections |;|i:ffTili,f;toXlNippur, of theArchaeological oBo Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis OIP Oriental Institute publications OLZ OrientalistischeLiteraturzeitung Oppenheim A. L. Oppenheim, Lettersfrom LFM fi"ropoto*ia: Officials, Business,and Private Letters on cray iabrets f,oi iio M,tennia (Chicago 1967) Or Orientalia,Nova Series PBS Publicationsof the Babylonian Section(University Museum, sity of Pennsylvania.) Univer- Pfeiffer R' H. Pfeiffer, state of Assyria:A Transriteration StateLetters lation .Letters and rrans- of 355 Officia-l Assyian irri"r', Dating Period from the Sargonid (722-625 B.c.) (American ori"nrut 193s) series 6, New Haven PhAss photographstaken during the German excavationsin Assur-;;;;, PKTA parfiimrezepteund kuttische firll"ttrr, r"rti- iii (Rome PNA ".1:-::l og,ra _ 3n phv of _the Neo A ss yri an Empire Pongratz- D' rongratz-Lersten,Ina Sulmiirub: Die iurttopographischeund Leisten ideolo.gischeprogrammatik der Ina -prozessioii, 6o,oytonund iulmi Jahrtausendv. cnr. irub f;:r*rfr;Tl Gagndadernor*r,ung"n 16, PSBA Proceedings of the Society of Biblical R H' c' Rawlinson, The Cuiefor* tiiirrptions of western don 1861-84) Asia (Lon- RA Revued'assyriologie RIA Reallexikon der A'ssyriologi e Rm tablets in the collections oI the British Museum RMA R. C. Thompson, The _R_eportsof tie'Uagicfans and Astrologers and Babylonl_II of lineve.! (London f q00l RT Kecuerlde rravauxrelatifs d la philologie et i Iarch60logie nes et assyriennes 6gyptien_ SAA StateArchives of Assyria SAAB StateArchives of Assyria Bulletin SAAS StateArchives of Assyria Studies Sm tablets in the collections of the British Museum STC2 L. W. King, The Seven Tablets oy Criotion II (London Ig02) StOr Studia Orientalia StreckAsb A ss ur b a ni p al r-rr (vorderasiatischeB i bli S'r?T""0, othek7, Leip zig STT p. 9.:-l -Gurney and Hulin, The SultantepeTabler.s 1957-64) I_II (London Tadmor H. Tadmor, The Inscriptions of Tiglath_pileserIII, King oJ.Assyria T-P III (Jerusalem1994\ TCAE J' N' Postgate,Taxa-tion and conscription (Studia in the Assyrian Empire Pohl,Series Maior 3, Romet{l+l TCL Textescun6iformes du Louvre Th tablets in the collectionsof the British Museum

XXVIII ABBREVIATIONSAND SYMBOLS

Thureau- F. Thureau-Dangin,Rituels accadiens(Paris I92I) Dangin RAcc. TI\{ Textsin the Iraq Museum TKSM Top Kapi SarayiMiizesi TTT Ur Excavations,Texts Linger E. Unger,Babylon: Die heiligeStadt nach der Beschreibung der Babylon Babylonier (Leipzig 193 1 ) VA inscriptions in the collections of the StaatlicheMuseen, Berlin VAT tabletsin the collections of the StaatlicheMuseen, Berlin \.S VorderasiatischeSchriftdenkmiiler der StaatlichenMuseen zu Berlin \['atanabe K. Watanabe,Die ad|-Vereidigung ankisslich der Thron.folgerege- BaM Beih.3 lung Asarhaddons(Baghdader Mitteilungen Beiheft 3, Berlin 1987) \\'do Die Welt des Orients WVDOG WissenschaftlicheVer

XXIX STATE ARCHIVES OF ASSYRIA XrII

Other Abbreviations and Symbols

Bab. Babylonian NA Neo-Assyrian NB Neo-Babylonian OA Old Assyrian OB Old Babylonian DN divinename GN geographicalname e. edge obv. obverse r., Iev. reverse rs. right side S. (left) side coll. collated,collation mng. meaning unpub. unpublished ! collation !! emendation , uncertainreading cuneiform division marks * graphic variants (seeLAS I p. XX) 0 uninscribedspace or nonexiJtentsign x broken or undecipheredsign () supplied word or sign (( )) srgn erroneouslyadded by scribe tt ll erasure t...1 minor break (one or two missing words) major break t, untranslatableword untranslatablepassage t seealso + joined to

XXX