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Who Was Responsible for the Assyrian King List?

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Who Was Responsible for the Assyrian King List? Abr-Nahrain 35 (1998) 1-271 WHO WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ASSYRIAN KING LIST? BY JOSEPH AZIZE Introduction This article considers the question: who caused the writing of the Assyrian King List (“the AKL”)?1 The standard view is that it was written by Samsi-Adad I as propaganda, to fuse in the general mind his Amorite dy- nasty to the native Assyrian one, thus legitimizing his rule. Thus Grayson says that it was created to “legitimatize the rule of the usurper, Samsi-Adad, by inserting his genealogy into a list of Assyrian rulers. Subsequent genera- tions, motivated by both a sense of history and a feeling of pride in their native Assyrian monarchic heritage, added the names of successive Assyrian kings to the list.”2 This view has been held since Landsberger gave it cur- rency in “Assyrische Königsliste und ‘Dunkles Zeitalter’”.3 There is no other well-established theory of the original purpose of the AKL other than Lam- bert’s theory that it was to be used in a kispum ceremony, much like the GHD.4 On the available material, I argue that Samsi-Adad I was not the person responsible for the AKL. If it is possible to suggest who was, the most likely candidate is Assur-nasir-pal I. In so far as any motive for its creation is dis- cernible, I suggest that it was to preserve data about Assyria’s kings which was already becoming lost. Whatever the ultimate motivation for the crea- tion of the list, it was drafted in such a way that — together with anything else it may have communicated to an Assyrian audience — it vindicated the 1 Other abbreviations used here are “SDAS” for the Seventh Day Adventist Seminary ex- emplar of the AKL, and “GHD” for the Genealogy of the Hammurabi Dynasty. Abbrevia- tions of journals are as in the CAD. 2 A.K. Grayson, Royal Inscriptions of Mesopotamia and Assyria: Assyrian Royal Inscriptions, Volume 1 From the Beginning to Ashur-resha-ishi I, Wiesbaden Otto Harrassowitz 1972, p. 1. We cannot be certain about exactly who Samsi-Adad was trying to reach. I hope to prepare a study of this question. 3 JCS, 8 (1954), pp. 31-45, 47-73, 106-133. It is taken as established beyond any serious doubt, see for example W. Mayer, Politik und Kriegskunst der Assyrer, Munster 1995, pp. 25-26. 4 W.G. Lambert, “Another Look at Hammurabi’s Ancestors,” JCS, 22 (1968), pp. 1-2. 2 J. AZIZE fact that Assur-nasir-pal’s father, Samsi-Adad IV, came up from Babylon to seize the throne which he claimed. But it would be difficult to assert that this was the motive for the compilation of the list: rather, the compilation of the AKL seems to have been the occasion for the comments on Samsi- Adad I, Samsi-Adad IV, and some other monarchs who used Babylon as a base to take Assur. The “Assyrian King List” The fullest exemplars of the AKL are known as the “Assur A”,5 “Khorsabad” and “SDAS” lists.6 The “Assur A” list, published in 1927, is so fragmentary as to have been practically superseded by the others. The frag- ment BM 128059 is tantalizing on certain abstruse points, but of too little assistance to consider here.7 The Khorsabad list is fashioned to swing on some type of pivot, and has holes for pins. One could read the obverse (pre- sumably inside a frame or case, hanging from pins), and then swing it up- side down to read the reverse. It has only one set of pin holes, found at the top centre of the obverse and the bottom centre of the reverse.8 The design of the SDAS list is rather similar, except that the holes do not seem fash- ioned for pivot swinging in an identical way. Gelb suggests that it was per- forated for string, metal or wood.9 The Assur A list is so damaged that I cannot tell from the photographs how it was fashioned. Thus, the text must have been a reference tool, and was probably used at a specific place. A loose analogy might be the way that inter-State telephone directories were attached to their desks at the telephone exchange. The AKL must have been in use over a period of time, as there are several updated versions created at different times. The “Assur A” list [912 BC] has only 97 kings, ending with Tukulti-apil-Esarra II;10 the Khorsabad list [738 BC]11 is written in the time of the 108th king, Tukulti-apil-Esarra III; and the SDAS 5 E Nassouhi, “Grande Liste des Rois d’Assyrie,” AfO, 4 (1927), pp. 1-11. Apparently a fragment of it had come to light earlier, p. 1. 6 A. Poebel, “The Assyrian King List from Khorsabad,” JNES, 1 (1942), pp. 247-306 and 460-492; and JNES, 2 (1943), pp. 56-90. I.J. Gelb, “Two Assyrian King Lists,” JNES, 13 (1954), pp. 209-230. 7 A.R. Millard, “Fragments of Historical Texts from Nineveh,” Iraq, 32 (1970), pp. 167- 176, esp. pp. 174-176. 8 See the photographs in I.J. Gelb, loc. cit. (n. 6), and A. Poebel, loc. cit. (n. 6), p. 248. 9 I.J. Gelb, loc. cit. (n. 6), p. 210. 10 A. Poebel, loc. cit. (n.6), pp. 250-251. 11 The dates are calculated from the texts, and are found in H. Lewy, “Assyria c.2600-1816 BC,” The Cambridge Ancient History, 3rd ed., Volume 1 Part 2, Cambridge 1971, pp. 729-770, p. 743. WHO WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ASSYRIAN KING LIST? 3 list [722 BC] closes with Sulmanu-asarid V, thus effectively giving it two more kings than the Khorsabad list.12 It seems that the versions we have were updated by adding details to the end of the text, rather than by any revision of earlier sections. The Khorsabad and SDAS tablets bear the subscriptions of their copiers, each of whom was a temple scribe.13 Unfortunately, neither say where the original(s) might be found, or who was responsible for its upkeep. The sub- scriptions suggest, however, that there was some authoritative exemplar from which copies could be made. This does not necessarily mean that they were copied for the temples, and if they were, whether it was for cultic pur- poses. As is mentioned below, there is reason to think that this was possible. These considerations tend to justify the analogy of the telephone directory in a public place. In sum, it appears that we can safely conclude that the AKL was a reference tool, and a valued one at that.14 In its size, markings and rectangular projection for hanging, the Khorsabad tablet is identical to the house blessings in “amulet form”; and the AKL, at least in this form, may have been hung in houses for the pur- pose of invoking a blessing.15 Texts such as the Epic of Erra, pleas for health, apotropaic prayers against unspecified misfortune (the namburbi), a prayer to the triad Samas, Ea and Marduk (the namburbi lumun kalama, the apotropaion against all evil whatever), were located on amulets with a rec- tangular projection at the top. That projection is pierced through horizon- tally, and the amulet must have been intended to be hung by a thread or bracket of some kind in the projection. This particular exemplar may have had such a purpose. However, the case is not free from doubt. First, one can not easily conclude that this tablet too had an apotropaic function. Second, it could well be that what we are seeing here is a similarity in form but not in function. First, Gelb refers to the size of the SDAS list, and to the rectangular protuberance. He then states: “… both in size and in shape, the SDAS list is almost identical with the Khorsabad list. The formal differences pertain mainly to the number of lines in each column and to the horizontal lines marking the significant units.”16 As noted, the tablets state who copied them, and give every impression of having been copied for temple purposes.17 Neither of the tablets contains invocations for good 12 I.J. Gelb, loc. cit. (n. 6), p. 229. 13 Assur A lacks the relevant part: see Nassouhi, loc. cit. (n. 5), passim. 14 Note, for example, the curse formulas which close the AKL. 15 E. Reiner, “Amulets,” JNES, 19 (1960), pp. 148-155, p. 155. 16 I.J. Gelb, loc. cit. (n. 6), p. 210. 17 It takes me too far from my thesis to consider what is involved in the term “temple purposes”, as they are so broad, especially in Assyria. Edmond Sollberger offered a definition 4 J. AZIZE health which are found upon many of the other amulets Professor Reiner considers. Perhaps the commonality found between amulets on the one hand, and the AKL tablets on the other, is due to the fact that both types of object were hung for retention and it was desired to keep them compact in size. What could be the power of a king list to avert evil? Surely there would be a prayer or plea for intercession if that was indeed its purpose. There are three other things to add in a general way about the AKL: first, the lists always end with a subscription of the full details of a ruler. That is, it never ends noting the accession only of a king: rulers appear to be added only after their death. Second, the list is simply a genealogy in list form (although the earlier sections are a little more complex than this sug- gests).
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