Neo-Assyrian Sources in Context

Since the 1980s, projects such as the State Archives of Assyria have made great strides in the philological study of Neo-Assyrian inscriptional sources, producing text editions and hand-copies of administrative and legal texts, letters, religious and literary works, and royal and private commemorative inscriptions with a high standard of accuracy. And yet, nearly thirty years later, we are only beginning to scratch the surface of what these texts have to offer. This volume advances the mission of the State Archives of Assyria project by bringing together fourteen essays that analyze the cultural production of the Neo-Assyrian Empire.

The essays in this collection, born out of a seminar held at the University of Tsukuba in 2014, combine the study of multiple and varied sources with examination of specific corpuses and genres. They comprise historical studies of textual and pictographic sources; comparative literary studies concerning specific terms, concepts, and ideologies; and examinations of philological or historical problems of royal inscriptions that have some connection to archaeology.

In addition to the editor, the contributors include Sebastian Fink, Grant Frame, Andreas Fuchs, Shuichi Hasegawa, Sanae Ito, Mikko Luukko, Raija Mattila, Jamie Novotny, Karen Radner, Saana Svärd, Greta Van Buylaere, Chikako E. Watanabe, and Silvie Zamazalová.

“All contributions to this volume are produced by distinguished scholars who have proven their expertise in the field in numerous publications, and it is therefore no wonder that it fully meets expectations of a demanding reader.”—Nikita Artemov, Orientalistische Literaturzeitung

Shigeo Yamada is Professor of History at the University of Tsukuba, author of The Construction of the Assyrian Empire: A Historical Study of the Inscriptions of Shalmaneser III (859–824 BC) Relating to His Campaigns to the West, and coauthor of The Royal Inscriptions of Tiglath-pileser III (744–727 BC) and Shalmaneser V (726–722 BC), Kings of Assyria, the latter published by Eisenbrauns.

Preface and Acknowledgement

Abbreviations and Object Signatures

The Military Role of the Hightest Officials, Magnates, and Governors: Assyrian Royal Inscriptions versus Archival and Literary Sources Raija Mattila

Ulluba and Its Surroundings: Tiglath-pileser III's Province Organization Facing the Urartian Border Shigeo Yamada

How to Implement Safe and Secret Lines of Communication Using Iron Age Technology: Evidence from a Letter to a God and a Letter to a King Andreas Fuchs

Tracing the Neo-Elamite Kingdom of Zamin in Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian Sources Greta van Buylaere

The Hunt for Nabu-bel-sumati of the Sealand: Searching for the Details in Epistolary Sources Sanae Ito

Revisiting the Identities of the Four Foreigners Represented on Ashurbanipal Relief BM ME 124945-6: Unravelling the Mystery of an Unrecorded Event Jamie Novotny and Chikako E. Watanabe

Women in Neo-Assyrian Temples Saana Svärd

Last Emperor or Crown Prince Forever? Assur-uballit II of Assyria according to Archival Sources Karen Radner

Different Sources—Different Kings? The Picture of the Neo-Assyrian King in Inscriptions, Letters and Literary Texts Sebastian Fink

Anonymous Neo-Assyrian Denunciations in a Wider Context Mikko Luukko

Mountains as Heroic Space in the Reign of Sargon II Silvie Zamazalová

Lost in the Tigris: The Trials and Tribulations in Editing the Royal Inscriptions of Sargon II of Assyria Grant Frame

Use of Archaeological Data for Investigating the Itineraries of Assyrian Military Campaigns Shuichi Hasegawa

Late Neo-Assyrian Building Histories: Tradition, Ideology, and Historical Reality Jamie Novotny

Anthropology & Archaeology

           Literary Theory & Criticism

Levant

           History