Parpola2008 AP 2009, SAAB17

State Archives ofAssyría Bulletin
Volume XVII (2008)
CUNEIFORM TEXTS FROM ZIYARET TEPE (TUSHAN), 2002-2003

(PLATESI-XXV)
Simo Parpóla
Ziyaret Tepe ("Pilgrimage Hill") is a 32 hectare site on the south bank of the Tigris
River in SE Turkey comprising a multi-period high mound of three hectares and a sur-
rounding lower town (Fig. 1). The acrópolis had a long period of occupation ranging
from the beginning of the Early Bronze Age to the end of the Assyrian Empire. The lo-
wer town was occupied in the Late Assyrian period, when the city achieved urban status.
The ancient city occupied a strategic location atop a broad, low terrace overlooking
the fertile alluvial plain that spreads to the east of Diyarbakir (ancient Ámidu) on both
sides of the Tigris River (Fig, 2). Its location at the confluence of the Tigris and Batman
Rivers, at the southern extremity of the Batman Su plain, offered an ideal base for con-
trolling the kingdom of Subria to the north and the roads leading to the west along the
Tigris and to central Assyria over the Tur cAbdin (Kasiyeri) mountains. It has accord-
ingly long been considered the likeliest candidate for Tushan, a Neo-Assyrian provincial
capital and garrison city on the border of Subria and the Assyrian homeland, which is
known to have been in Assyrian hands already in Middle Assyrian times,2 Archaeologi-
cal surveys conducted between 1988 and 1993 confirmed that Ziyaret Tepe had a huge o
Neo-Assyrian occupation preceded by a substantial Middle Assyrian one. The site was
extensively surveyed in 1997-1999,4 and since 2000 it has been excavated by an interna-
1. For abbreviations and acknowledgments see fh. 7, below,

2. See Kessler 1980, pp. 117-119; Parker 1997a, p. 233; Parker 1998; Parker 2001, pp. 188-206; Radner
-Schachner2001,
3. See Algaze et al 1991; Parker 1997a and 1998.
4. Matney 1998; Matney - Somers 1999; Matney - Bauer 2000.
SIMO PARPÓLA
tional expedition led by Dr. Timothy Matney of the University of Akron under the aus-
pices of the Diyarbakrr Museum and its director Needet Inal.5
Fig, 1. The acrópolis of Ziyaret Tepe from the south-west (photo Simo Parpóla).
Fig. 2. Map showing the location of Ziyaret Tepe (Tushan)

in the Tigris/Batman Su River plain.
5. See Matney - Roaf - MacGinnis - McDonald 2002; Matney - MacGinnis et al 2003; Matney
Rainville 2005.
CUNEIFORM TEXTS FROM ZIYARET TEPE (TUSHAN), 2002-2003 3
The Discovery and Decipherment of the Tablets

When exeavations started at Ziyaret Tepe, it was hoped that the site might yield textual
evidence shedding fresh light on the little-known last years of Assyria. This hope eame
true in 2002 with the discovery of an archive of cuneiform tablets in a large Neo-Assyr-
ian building (Fig. 3: G) situated near the southwestern córner of the lower town.
1100
1000
900
800
700-
NK»
E7QQ 900 SCO 10QQ 1100 1200 1300 1400 150Q

Shading Indícales máximum sxtent of ííie andent settlemenl
Contour intervs! la 3m.
Fig. 3. Plan of Ziyaret Tepe showing the location of Operation G in the lower town.
The lucky man to find the first tablet was a workman of Mr. Thomas Bums, assistant to
Dr, John MacGinnis in Operation G. While clearing fill from Room 9 on August 24,
2002, he hit upon a perfectly preserved cuneiform tablet (ZTT 2 below) on the floor
near the eastern wall (Fig, 4). Several more tablets or fragments soon turned up in the
same room, not far from the fírst one, and still more tablets and fragments were discov-
ered in the adjacent Room 10. The original locations of the tablets are indicated in Fig.
10, below.
4 SIMO PARPÓLA
Fig. 4. Thomas Burns at the findspot of the first tablets

(the eastern wall of Room 9 below left).
I had agreed with Dr, Matney to be available as field epigrapher immediately if any
tablets were found, so having been informed of the discovery on August 27,1 took the
first possible flight to Diyarbakir and arrived at Ziyaret Tepe on September 3, ready to
start working on the tablets the very next morning, To my disappointment, this turned
out to be impossible, however. Many of the tablets were very dirty and thus could not be
read without cleaning, and this could not be done in their fragüe condition without the
risk of damaging the tablets. It was henee decided to have them first baked in Diyarba-
kir. The baking procedure was successful but took several days — until September 7 —
to complete.6 Since the dig was closing already on September 11, this meant that I had
only a few days at my disposal to finish my job. Fortunately, I did succeed in cleaning,
transliterating, copying and annotating the tablets within the exceptionally short time
available, and also made many joins during the process.
6. Following procedures established for preserving cuneiform tablets at the British Museum, the tablets
were slowly heated to 630°C over a period of three days and then baked for 24 hours at this tempera-
ture, añer which they were allowed to cool slowly. See Roaf in Radner 2004, pp. 16-19, for a full de-
scription of the method.
Fig. 5. The author working on the tablets on September 8 (photo Paola Pugsley).
During the 2003 season, the unexcavated southern part of Room 10 was careñilly sifted
for more tablets. No additional pieces of the letter fragment ZT 12084 (ZTT 19 below)
could unfortunately be found, but on August 19 Mary Shepperson hit upon four well-
preserved tablet fragments (ZT 13284-13287) in a deposit of building collapse along the
south wall of Room 10 (locus G-302), From the description of the fragments that Dr.
MacGinnis later gave me on the phone it seemed that at least the biggest of them might
be a letter. This was exciting news, and having arrived at Ziyaret Tepe in the evening of
August 30 I began studying the fragments forthwith. To my satisfaction I noticed that
all four of them joined to make a long, almost complete letter (ZTT 22 below). Its con-
tení turned out to be quite dramatic, and I confess I could not go to sleep before I had
cleaned and deciphered the whole text.
The next morning, August 31, more tablet fragments (ZT 13440-13444) were dis-
covered after the removal of a large piece of bitumen near the findspot of the letter frag-
ments. The locus (G-307) is stratigraphically below G-302. Most fragments were just
small splinters, and it seems that the bitumen object had smashed them when it fell from
an upper floor, probably as a result of a fíre; the soil of G-302 contained lots of
charcoal. In the morning of September 1, still more tablet fragments (ZT 13459-13464)
turned up just south of the bitumen object next to the south wall. All these tablets, par-
ticularly ZT 13463 (ZTT 25 below), were very dirty and moist and could not be read in
the condition in which they were found. It was henee decided to have them baked im-
L
SIMO PARPÓLA
mediately, along with the tablets diseovered earlier. The baking process was not com-
pleted until September 6. This time, I took my precautions against time pressure and fin-
ished copying the letter and the legible fragmenta by August 31, before they were sent
to Diyarbakir,
Fig. 6. Tablets found during the 2002 season after preliminary cleaning (photo SP).
Fig. 7. The "tablet córner" at the expedition house (photo SP).

Fig. 8, Evelyn Alvarez Dossman at work on the envelope of ZTT 6-7 (photo SP).
At the end of the 2002 and 2003 seasons, the tablets were deposited in Diyarbakir Mu-
seum and I have not been able to study the origináis since. In the course of preparing
this edition, I had, however, at my disposal an excellent set of photographs of the tablets
taken by Dr. Mamey, which has largely obviated the need of eollating the origináis.
Fully recognizing the importance of the texts to the Ziyaret Tepe Project, I have done
my best to provide an in-depth analysis of them and to squeeze every significant bit of
information out of them. This has not been an easy task; the ephemeral nature of the
texts and their brevity, laconic character and fragmentary condition has forced me to do
extensive basic research in order to recognize their interrelationships and the situations
in which they were written. This edition being addressed as much to the archaeologist as
to the Assyriologist, I have made a special effort to determine the nature of the building
in which the tablets were discovered with the help of the information contained in them
and other available data. The relevant discussions are of course not meant as the final
word on the subject. Many of the issues touched on are very complex and, time permit-
ting, eould have been pursued in much greater detail. Further discoveries at Ziyaret
8 SIMO PARPÓLA
Tepe should also answer many open questions and fill in many missing pieces of the
rj
puzzle.
Fig, 9. View from Room 9 towards the high mound, with Room 7
and the adjacent mosaic courtyard on the right (photo SP)
7. I am much indebted to Michael Roaf and John MacGinnis, who read the manuscript in drañ form and
suggested many improvements, and to F.M. Fales and G.B, Lanfranchi, who kindly accepted the
manuscript for publication in the State Archives ofAssyria Bulletin, My special thanks go to Tim Mat-
ney, who invited me to join the Ziyaret Tepe expedition and helped me in every possible way both at
the site and later in the preparation of the manuscript, I also wish to extend my thanks to Aun Donkin
for the great job she did in baking the tablets, Evelyn Alvarez Dossmann of the Giricano expedition for
her invaluable help with ZTT 6-7, Necmi Yasal for his delicious meáis, and all my fiiends in the
Ziyaret Tepe team, including our supervisors, Nizamettin Kara and Sema Dayan, for the unforgettable
moments we spent together. The transliterations of the Assyrian texts follow the conventions of the
State Archives ofAssyria series, For the bibliographical abbreviations see Baker 2001, B-28ff,
Box ZT # Locus ZTT# Description at time ofdiscovery Size mm Remarks

2002 Season
1 12038 G-711 2 Complete tablet in two pieces 46 x 29 Joined
2 12039a G-710 10 15 tablet fragments 48 x 33 Two tablets, both
12039b G-710 11 42 x 31 joined of 4+ pieces
3 12040 G-711 3 9 fragments (including 1 envelope 54 x 35 Envelope of ZTT 2
fragment which joins with box 9)
9 12040 G-711 3 1 1 fragments (including 1 envelope Envelope ofZTT 2
fragment which joins with box 3)
4 12041 G-711 1 Complete tablet 43 x21
5 12042 G-711 5 uninscribed envelope fragments Not copied
8 12043 G-711 1 fragment (one indistinct sign) 12 x 9 Not copied
23 12048 G-711 20 6 fragments of adhering envelope 18 x 13
6 12048 G-711 4 Nearly complete tablet 38 x 29 Tablet of ZTT 5
7 12049 G-711 5 2 fragments of envelope 34 x 19 Envelope of ZTT 4
10 12070 G-710 6 Complete except for one córner 43 x 29 Envelope
12070* G-710 7 Complete 36 x 22 Tablet
11 12071 G-710 12 5 tablet fragments 30x48 All pieces join
12 12072 G-710 15 4 tablet fragments 27 x 32 All pieces join
13 12073+ G-710 8 Complete tablet in two pieces when 60 x 30 Joined
joinedtoZT 12074
14 12074 G-710 8 Fragment which joins to ZT 12073 Joined
15 12075 G-710 17 1 fragment of comer 27 x 32 Docket
16 12076 G-710 18 1 fragment of córner 28 x 26 Docket
17 12077 G-710 14 Complete tablet. Triangular docket 30 x36
18 12081 G-710 9 Complete tablet 37 x27
19 12082 G-710 13 Complete tablet made of 5 pieces 24 x 43 All fragments join
20 12083 G-710 16 3 joining fragments, no corners 29 x35
21 12084 G-710 19 1 fragment, edge, no corners 19 x42
22 12100 G-711 21 2 fragments, possibly envelope 12 x 12
Total number of pieces, including fragments = 82
2003 Season
13284+ G-302 22 4 tablet fragments 39 x 92 All pieces join
13440 G-307 26 59 mostly uninscribed fragments Nonejoinable
13441 G-307 25 uninscribed fragments Not copied
13442 G-307 23 1 tablet fragment 32 x 30 JoinedtoZT 13444
13443 G-307 1 uninscribed fragment 33 x 30 Not copied
13444 G-307 23 1 tablet fragment 20 x30 JoinedtoZT 13442
13459 G-309 27 8 fragments, one inscribed piece 23 x 15 Inscribed piece
13460 G-309 28 18 fragments, one inscribed piece 23 x 32 Inscribed piece
13462 G-309 24 6 fragments, two inscribed pieces 61 x 30 Joined
13463 G-309 25 Complete tablet 20 x37
Total number of pieces, including fragments = 135
Table I. Catalogue of Operation G tablets and tablet fragments, 2002-2003.
10 SIMO PARPÓLA
KEY
1 ZTTS-19
a zrra
3 £TT3>ai
4 ZTTÍT
5 ZTT4A20
Fig. 10. Ziyaret Tepe, Operation G, 2002. Location of tablet findspots.
The Archaeological Context

The two rooms in which tablets were found were connected by a doorway and formed a
suite of offices, which must have functioned as a sort of magazine, since both rooms
contained storage vessels built into the strueture of the building. The larger room, 9 me-
tres long by 3.6 m wide, contained three pithoi, all essentially in situ, the largest of which
had a volume of about 110 hectolitros.8 Since most of the tablets in the room dealt with
barley, these pithoi were almost certainly used for storage of grain. Their combined ca-
pacity carne up to 300 hectolitros (= about 300 Assyrian homers) of grain.9
8. Calculated with ABE Volume Calculator (http://www.abe,msstate.edu/~ño/tools/volârrel.html) using

as variables the measurements of the pithos shown in Fig. 10 (190 cm height, 100 cm máximum
diameter, 60 cm diameter of the opening), The other two pithoi were somewhat smaller. John
MacGinnis (prívate communication) informs me that "we had mathematicians calcúlate the capacity of
one of the pithoi, and it carne out as 8201",
9. See note onZTT 1:1.
ZTT# Type oftext Formal Central persons Eponym year Date

ROOM 9, Floor next to the pot
1 Receipt/grain Horizontal Sasi, Kurbanü Assur-sarrani (611*) i-20
2-3 Receipt/grain Horizontal Sulmu-ahhe i-26
21 Envelope Horizontal [.,,] [...]
ROOM 9, Northern wall
4-5 Loan/grain Horizontal Ahüa-enba Nabü-tappüti-alik (613*) [i7]- 10
20 Envelope Horizontal [...] [...]
ROOM 10, Floor next to the pithoi
6-7 Débt-notQ/assinnu Horizontal Sasí [..,] xi-6
8 Affidavit/garments Horizontal GMtu, boatman -
9 List of women Horizontal - -
10 Receipt/grain Horizontal Chief oil-presser [. . .] vii-[...]
11 Receipt/grain Horizontal Sakintu iii-19
12 Aceount/grain Vertical AJñtu, harem iii-24
13 Aceount/grain Vertical PN, Babylonian iii-27
PN, baker iii-27
House of
crañsmen
Afcitu
Mannu-kl-NTnua
Harem iii-20
PN, horse-trainer
14 Docket/grain Triangular Bakers, governor iii-29
15 Docket/grain Triangular [.,,] xi-D
16 Docket/grain Triangular [...] [...]-19
17 Docket/grain Triangular PN iv-11
18 Docket/grain Triangular [PN] [...]
19 Letter Vertical [•••] -
ROOM 10, Southern wall
22 Letter Vertical Mannu-kT-Libbali -
23 Receipt/grain Horizontal [...] [...] [..,]
24 Receipt/grain Horizontal [...] [...]
25 Account/copper Vertical Prophet, augur -
26 Census(?) Vertical - [...]
27 ? ? [...] [...]
28 ? ? Í...1 [...1
Table II, Distribution of the tablets by findspot,
The smaller room to the north (Room 9), 3 metres long by 3,6 m wide, had another large
jar let into the floor and a pit approximately 1.5 m in diameter, which may have been
created by the efforts of removmg a second sunken jar. The tablets found in this room
likewise dealt exclusively with barley,
It should be noted, however, that the office housed in these rooms was by no means
exc\usive\ concemed witTa grain. Tlae ta\>\ets xetñeved irom Tôom 10 a\so incVuded
12 SIMO PARPÓLA
documents dealing with a cult performer (ZTT 6-7), garments (ZTT 8), women (ZTT 9)
and copper (ZTT 25), a letter dealing with chariot troops (ZTT 22), and a census(?) of
land and officers (ZTT 26). This suite of offices was therefore certainly not just a gran-
ary and we must return to the question of its precise function below.
Most of the tablets were found next to storage jars and were originally perhaps kept
in baskets lying on the floor or on the desk of the official(s) occupying Room 10.10 A
few tablets found next to the northern and southern walls of the suite (ZTT 4-5 and 22-
26) may originally have been kept on wooden shelves or in cupboards attached to the
wall.
To the west of Room 10 lay a spacious mosaic-paved courtyard ("Room 11") meas-
uring at least 11 metres square. Even though it is not indicated on the ground plan of
Operation G (Fig. 11), the suite must have been entered from this courtyard through a
door leading to Room 10. Similar two-room suites functioning as scriptoria (and often
also as magazines) are found in many Assyrian palaces and temples. Most of them con-
sisted of a longish room opening onto a central courtyard and a smaller one accessible
from the larger one.
The Date of the Tablets

The overwhelming majority of the tablets are short, ephemeral administrative docu-
ments, which under normal circumstances would have been routinely destroyed at the
end of an accounting period. They probably escaped this fate only because the building
where they were kept was burnt and abandoned before the accounting period was
over.11 There is evidence of fire in Room 10 (see above). Elsewhere in Building G, the
floor was in many áreas covered with a thin layer of ash, and in several places the white
plaster of the walls was burnt.
Two of the tablets bear eponym dates. ZTT 4 is dated by the well-known eponym
Nabü-tappüti-alik, chief eunuch, who probably held office in 613, i.e. a year before the
fall of Nineveh (± one year). ZTT 1 is dated by a previously unknown Assür-sarrani, who
cannot have been eponym before the fall of Nineveh. In ZTT 6-7 and 10, probably also
dated by eponym year, the ñame of the eponym is unfortunately unreadable or broken
away. ZTT 8, 9,19 and 22 and 25 were never dated at all.
10. The other types of text found with the grain texts could have been kept sepárate from the latter in the
drawers of the desk.
11. Cf. notes on ZTT 1:7 and 22 r.7f, and the diseussions of ZTT 1 and 2.
N89Q
naso
Kcy
Imifa of excwnstiori
¡nuiiliirlcltwalls
n
Fig. 11. The groundplan of Operation G showing the location of Rooms 9-10 in
relation to the rest of the building. The adjacent courtyard 11, as well as those
mimbered 2 and 20 were paved with pebblestone mosaics.
Several other tablets were dated by month and day only: ZTT 3 in the first month, ZTT
11-14 in the third month, ZTT 17 in the fourth month, and ZTT 15 in the 1 Ith month. It
is extremely likely that all these texts, and indeed all the texts from Ziyaret Tepe with
the exception of ZTT 4, are to be dated between the fall of Nineveh (Ab [= fifth month],
612) and the fourth month of the following year, Tamrnuz 611. According to the
Babylonian Chronicle,
In the 15th year (=611 BC), in the month of Tammuz, the king of Babylon
[mustered his troops] and went to Assyria. [He marched about] imperiously
14 SIMO PARPÓLA
[in Ass]yria and conquered the [citie]s of T[u]sha[n, ..,] and Su[br]ia. They
took [their people] as captives and [carried away] a hea[vy] booty from
them.12
Although the two crucial toponyms in this passage are partly broken, it can be regarded
as certain that the passage refers to the conquest of the northern part of the Assyrian heart-
land including the Upper Tigris valley, where Ziyaret Tepe is situated. The city thus fell
to the Babylonians and was plundered and destroyed in Tammuz 611. The new post-
Empire eponym Assür-sarráni can henee be placed only in the year 611, and no tablets
found at the site can postdate Tammuz (IV) 611, This means that ZTT 6-7, 10 and 15,
which were dated in the months Tishri (VII) and Shebat (IX), cannot have been written
in 611 but must be placed earlier, probably in 612. ZTT 17, which bears the date
Tammuz 11, is probably one of the latest tablets of the whole lot and suggests 611-iv-l 1
as the terminus post quem for the fall of the city. Based on their contents, the undated
texts ZTT 8,19,22 and 25 were also written immediately before the fall of the city.
The Contents of the Tablets

As already noted, the majority of the tablets (17 out of a total of 27) deal with grain.
Seven of them (ZTT 1-3, 10-11 and 23-24) are receipts of grain from individuáis or
farms/hamlets (kapru) identified by ñame. The status of the former is not specified, but
circumstantial evidence indicates they probably were officials in charge of royal grain
silos. The amounts of grain received from these people are quite substantial; the 760
homers received in ZTT 1 and 2 alone would have fed 2,400 persons for a month and
200 persons for an entire year.13 The farms/hamlets, probably situated at the outskirts of
the town, provided lesser amounts of grain (6-16 homers per farm).
Ten tablets document the storage and distribution of grain. The main recipients are
the aJatu temple and the harem (béí isati), which in ZTT 11-13 receive over 180 homers
of barley. A "granary of the house of craftsmen" (karmu sa bet ummáni) containing 421
homers of barley is mentioned in ZTT 13. Various individuáis (a Babylonian [builder],
12. MU.15.KÁM ina m.§[u LUGA]L TJRI.KI [ERM.ME§--SM id-ke~e-m~\a / ana Km.-as~sur DU~[ik ina
sur sal-ta-nis \pu.MEiMJ].MÉ$MKü&rdu-uF-ha-a[n x x x~\?-a ik-su-ud hu-b[u-ut-
su-nu] ih-tab-tu síl-lat-su-nu DUJGUD-ÍW is-tal-lu], Grayson 1975, p. 95, 53-55 (Fall ofNineveh Chroni-
clé), The idea that the passage refers to Tushan goes back to Miau Reade and Irving Finkel (see
Reade 2003, p. 153, and Radner 2004, p. 72 fh. 133), and was suggested to me by Michael Roaf dining
my stay at Ziyaret Tepe in September 2002. My readings of the crucial toponyms, based on the
photograph published in Grayson 1975, pl, XV, however differ from those in Reade 2003, p. 153.
13, See the discussion of ZTT 1.
a baker, a chariot horse trainer) received lesser amounts of barley, A docket (ZTT 14)
records the issue of two homers of barley to bakers "for the governor's reception" (ana
pánátpáhiti).
ZTTtt Formal Date Subject Homers Source / Recipient Remarks

Receipts of Grain
1 Horizontal 1-20 SE.PAD.MES 380 3 PNN / Sasí Witnesses
2-3 Horizontal 1-26 SE.PAD.ME 380 PN / Sulmu-ahhe Witnesses, sealed
10 Horizontal VII-[x] SE.PAD.ME§ [x+]8 [...]/ chief oil-presser Witnesses, sealed
11 Horizontal III- 19 SE.PAD.MES 40.6 State fields / sakintu
23 Horizontal [111-24] [§E.P]AD.ME§ 6 FarmofPN/ Winesses
24 Horizontal [...] [SE.PAD.MES] [...] [...]/
Accounts of Distributíon
12 Vertical 111-24 §E.BAR 16.1 2 farms / alatu, harem Balanced account
13 Vertical 111-27 §E.BAR 709 / Babylonian, baker, Account in sections
granary of craftsmen,
alatu, harem, house of
PN, chariot trainer
Loans of Grain
4-5 Horizontal 613* SE.UM.MES 6 Hasdaya Witnesses, sealed
Grain Dockets
14 Triangular 111-29 SE.PAD.MES 2 / Bakers (governor) Sealed
15 Triangular XI-[x] SE.BAR 6.4 Farm of PN /
16 Triangular [...]-19 §E.PAD.MES [x+]l GN/
17 Triangular IV- 11 §E.PAD.MES 5.5 /PN
18 Triangular [...] SE.PAD.MES 6 FPN1
Table IIL The Grain Texts.
About one-third of the tablets are not in any way related to grain, These include an un-
usual conveyance recording the loan of a "man-woman" (assinnu) to a fuller (ZTT 6);
an unusual loan of garments involving a sworn statement (ZTT 8); a list of young
women and a male (ZTT 9); a fragmentary letter referring to troops and resettlement of
people (ZTT 19); a tablet recording the issue of copper to a prophet, an augur and a
temple (ZTT 25); and a large tablet broken into many tiny disjoined pieces (ZTT 26),
which may have been a census of military officials and their fields. The most exciting
text is a long and well-preserved letter (ZTT 22) from a certain Mannu-ki-Libbali to
"his lord", whose title is unfortunately broken but is almost certainly to be restored as
"treasurer" (masennu). The writer explains that he had been unable to put together a
chariotry unit for lack of horses, officials and professionals, and ends the letter in a
gloomy note: "Death will come out of it!". This unique letter was probably written
shortly before the fall of the city in Tammuz 611 BC.
16 SIMO PARPÓLA
The Scribes and Officials Figuring in the Tablets

Orthographic and epigraphic analysis reveáis that the tablets are not the work of a single
scribe but were written by at least five different scribes, whose principal distinctive fea-
tures can be charted as follows:
Scribe A (ZTT 1)
— UD-JC-KAM Cf. seribe D (UD-X-KÁM)
- writes ANSE with initial winkelhaken Cf. scribe C
— writes egertu with gír Cf, scribe B (gir)
Scribe B (ZTT 2-3, 8,14,23-24)
— "UD-^-KAM Cf. scribe D
— omits ANSE Cf. scribes A, C and D
- writes pan syllabically All others scribes: IGI
— writes egertu with gir Cf. scribe A (gir)
— uses slanting LÚ* Cf, scribes C and D (straight LÚ*)
— writes SE, MU, NAM written with extra wedges All others scribes: normal form
Scribe C (ZTT 4-7,10)
— TJD-JC-KAM Cf. scribe D
— uses sá separately, -sa as a suffix All other scribes: sa, -sá
— writes ANSE with initial horizontals Cf. scribe A
— uses LÚ* and LÚ Scribes B, D: LÚ* only
— "barley"= SE.UM.MES Other scribes: SE.PAD.MES
Scribe D (ZTT 9,11-13,15-18,25)
— UD-*-KÁM Cf. scribes A-C (UD-*~KAM)
— uses : as abbreviation for ANSE Cf. scribes A-C
— uses straight LÚ* Cf. scribes B and C (slanting LÚ*)
- SE.BAR alternates with SE.PAD.MES Other scribes: SE.PAD.MES only
— ana alternates with a-na Other scribes: a-na only
— writes É with 3 verticals only Cf, scribe E (normal É)
Scribe E (ZTT 22)
— slanting LÚ* alternates with straight LÚ* and LÚ Other scribes: straight or slanting LÚ* only
— writes É normally Cf. D: 3 verticals only
Table IV. Distinctive features of the scribes.
The tablets themselves fall into the following groups according to the scribes who wrote
them:
ZTT# Locus Type Shape Size w/h Subject Matter

Scribe A
1 G-711 inner tablet horizontal 43 x 21x 15 2:1 receipt of grain
Scribe B = Kiqillanu (see ZTT 8:8)
2 G-711 inner tablet pillow-shaped 46 x 29 x 16 3:2 receipt of grain
3 G-711 envelope pillow-shaped 54 x 35 x 22 3:2 receipt of grain
8 G-710 tablet horizontal 60 x 30 x 17 2:1 loanof garments
14 G-710 docket heart-shaped 30 x 36 x 15 5:6 loan of grain
23 G-302 tablet horizontal 57' x 30 x 19 2:1 receipt of grain
24 G-309 tablet horizontal 61 x 30 x 24 2:1 receipt of grain
Scribe C = Lüqu (see ZTT 4 s.l)
4 G-711 inner tablet pillow-shaped 38 x 29 x 21 4:3 loanof grain
5 G-711 envelope pillow-shaped broken 4:3 loan of grain
6 G-710 envelope pillow-shaped 43 x 29 x 21 3:2 loan of "man-woman"
7 G-710 inner tablet pillow-shaped 36* 22 x 15 3:2 loan of "man-woman"
10 G-710 tablet pillow-shaped 48 x 33' x 19 3:2 receipt of grain
Scribe D = Sasí(?)
9 G-710 tablet pillow-shaped 37 x 27 x 16 4:3 list of women
11 G-710 tablet pillow-shaped 42' x 31 x 16 3:2 receipt of grain
12 G-710 tablet vertical 30 x 48 x 17 5:8 account of grain
13 G-710 tablet vertical 24 x 43 x 17 4:7 account of grain
15 G-710 docket heart-shaped 27 x 32' x 17 5:6 issueof grain
17 G-710 docket heart-shaped 27 x 32' x 17 5:6 issue of grain
16 G-710 docket heart-shaped 29 x 35' x 17 5:6 issueof grain
18 G-710 docket heart-shaped 28' x 26' x 18 5:6 issue of grain
25 G-309 tablet vertical 20 x 37 x 14 1:2 account of copper
Scribe E = Mannu-kl-Nmua
22 G-302 tablet vertical 39 x 92 x 25 3:7 letter
Unassigned
19 G-710 tablet vertical 19' x 42' x 18 ? letter
20 G-711 envelope ? 18' x 13' x 5' ? loan?
21 G-711 envelope ? 12' x 12' x 4' ? ?
26 G-307 tablet vertical 44' x 65' x 23' ? census of land & people
27 G-309 ? ? 23' x 15' x 8' ? ?
28 G-309 ? ? 23' x 32x 17' ? ?
Table V, Tablets grouped by individual scribes.
Scribes B and C can be identified as Kiqillanu and Lüqu respectively from their tablets.
The latter probably preceded Kiqillanu in office, since all the texts written by him are
certainly to be dated before 611, whereas all the texts by Kiqillanu almost certainly date
18 SIMO PARPÓLA
from 611 BC, The other scribes were contemporary. The most prominent and active of
them was Scribe D, who wrote two accounts of grain issued to the akiíu temple and the
harem, a receipt of grain for the harem manageress, a list of harem women, an account
of copper issued to a prophet, an augur and a temple, and several dockets recording
loans of grain for a variety of purposes, I propose to identify him with Sási, who is
entitled scribe of Istar of Nineveh in ZTT 6-7 and figures prominently in tablets written
by Scribe A and B, but does not occur in tablets written by Scribe D, It is well known from
other sources that temple scribes supervised grain deliveries to and from the temples.14
The range of activities of Sasí, as illustrated by his title and the contexts where he is
mentioned, accords well with those of Scribe D. In ZTT 1, he receives three large ship-
ments of barley on behalf of the magazine; in ZTT 4-5, he is the principal witness to a
loan of grain by a certain Ahüa-eríba; and in ZTT 6-7, he loans an effeminate (assinnu)
to a fuller. Even though he is not identified by title in ZTT 1 and 4-5, it is evident that
the same person is in question, since the said Ahüa-eríba (the loaner in ZTT 4-5) ap-
pears as witness in the assinnu text (ZTT 6-7). Moreover, another witness in ZTT 6-7,
Ubru-Issar, also appears as witness in ZTT 1 together with a man named Sa-ili-dubbu,
and the latter two also occur as witnesses in ZTT 2-3, One may conclude that all these
four men were permanent members of the establishment owning the granary, which,
based on the title of Sási and other evidence found in the texts, can only have been the
temple of Istar of Nineveh.
The Establishment Behind the Archive

Table VI summarizes the evidence available for the external connections and the range
of activities of the office housed in Rooms 9 and 10. It is easy to see that the principal
connections of the office were with the Istar temple (ZTT 1, 4-8, 25), the aTütu house
(ZTT 12-13), the harem (ZTT 9, 11-13), and the chariotry of the city, including the
crañsmen who supported it (ZTT 13, 22, 26), All these institutions and groups of people
received barley rations from the office. As already noted, one of the officials engaged in
receiving incoming shipments of barley (Sási) certainly worked for the temple of Istar,
and the other officials were cióse associates of his. Like the temple of Nabu at Calah,
the office of Rooms 9 and 10 also loaned grain to a variety of individuáis and institu-
tions, such as the governor of the city (ZTT 14). These loans were booked on heart-
shaped dockets in order to distinguish them from deliveries of grain to the above-
mentioned institutions and groups of people, which were issued not as loans but as
rations.
14. See e.g. SAA 13 13, a letter from Marduk-sallim-ahhe, scribe of the Assur temple.
While provisioning these institutions and groups of people clearly was one of the
central tasks of the official in charge of the office, his responsíbilities were not limited
to the supply of grain alone. As shown by ZTT 22, he also bore the responsibility for the
maintenance and levy of the city chariotry. For this, he had to have at his disposal a
large stock of raw materials and professionals of all kinds. He is therefore virtually
certainly to be identified as the city treasurer, as shown in detail in the commentary on
ZTT 22. Other Neo-Assyrian sourees show that this official had cióse ties with the main
temple of the city and worked in collaboration with the temple scribe.15
ZTT# Contents Significant Officials, Facts Link with the Temple of Istar of Nineveh
or Institutions Mentioned
1 Receipt of barley Sasí (recipient) Recipient is scribe of Istar of Nineveh
2-3 Receipt of barley Witnesses are colleagues of Sasí
4-5 Loan of barley Loan by Nineveh standard Main witness is scribe of Istar of Nineveh
to be repaid at Nineveh
6-7 Loanof assinnu Sasi, scribe of Istar of Both key persons work at the temple of Istar
(devotee of Istar) Nineveh (owner) of Nineveh
8 Affidavit on loaned City manager (witness) Place of oath-taking is temple of Istar
garments
9 List of women Harem, cf. ZTT 11-13
10 Receipt of barley (Same scribe wrote ZTT 4-7)
11 Issue of barley Harem manageress Cf, ZTT 9; harem controlled by the queen
as representative of Istar of Nineveh
12 Issue of barley AKitu temple, harem Cult of Istar of Nineveh
13 Issue of barley AJatu temple, harem See ZTT 12
Craftsmen, chariot horse Cf. ZTT 22; royal chariotry commanded by
trainer chief eumich as image of Istar
14 Grain docket Governor (debtor) For temples as lenders of grain cf. e.g, the
Nabü temple grain dockets from Nimrud
15 Grain docket Scribe: Sasí (?)
16 Grain docket
17 Grain docket
18 Grain docket
19 Letter fragment
20 Fragment
21 Fragment
22 Letter Craftsmen, chariotry Cf. ZTT 13
23 Receipt of barley
24 Receipt of barley
25 Issue of copper Prophet, augur, temple Cult of Istar
26 Military census? Cf. ZTT 22
27 Fragment
28 Fragment
Table VI. The external connections of the office of Rooms 9-10.
15. See note on ZTT 22:1.

20 SIMO PARPÓLA
The common denominator between the said four institutions (temple, aJatu, harem,
chariotry) was the patrón goddess of the eity, Istar of Nineveh. The existence of her
temple and cult in the city is made certain by ZTT 6-7 and 25.16 By analogy with the
other Assyrian cities where her eult is attested, the aJatu house must have belonged to
her temple,17 The harem belonged to the administrative domain of the queen,18 who per-
sonified Istar of Nineveh in Assyrian royal ideology, but it also had cióse connections
with the temple of the goddess, and these connections are well documented in Neo-
Assyrian sources.19 The harem manageress, sakintu, who was the female equivalent of
the royal prefect (saknu\d her documents with the queen's scorpion seal (sym-
bolizing Istar as the goddess of marital love, Ishara), and was herself associated with
Ofi 01
Istar of Babylon. As the divine mother and protector of the king, Istar of Nineveh
was the patrón goddess of the royal chariotry commanded by the chief eunuch, who rep-
oo
resented the goddess in the Assyrian royal council. Many helmets of the royal chari-
O'í
otry had images of Istar depicted on them.
No other institution or high official attested in the texts qualifies for the owner of the
office and can provide as coherent an explanation for its sphere of activities. The city
governor, who is mentioned in ZTT 14, received grain as a loan, so the large building
uncovered in Operation G cannot have been under his jurisdiction. The city manager
(rab álf) who occurs as witness in ZTT 8 was a civil administrator whose duties to some
extent overlapped with those of the treasurer,24 and restoring his title in ZTT 22:1,
which is not excluded, would make him a likely occupant of Room 10,25 However,
16. In addition, many of the personal ñames occurring in the texts, especially those of Ubru-Issar
("Client of Istar") and Sa-ill-dubbu ("Speak the word of god!"), the two colleagues of Sasí discussed
above, suggest association with the cult of Istar, although they do not as such prove a connection
with the temple. Cf. also the notes on Beltí-emüq-qalli (ZTT 7:5), Hasdaya (ZTT 4:4), Kubaba-báni
(ZTT 20:2), Mannu-kT-Libbáli (ZTT 22:1), Nabü'aya (ZTT 1:6), Nabü-kenu-usur (ZTT 22:9), Nabü-
sar-ahhesu (ZTT 6 r.6) and QTti-ilani (ZTT 12:2), and see Parpóla 1997b, pp. XLVII-LII.
17. See discussion of ZTT 12.
18. See SAA 7 23, where 13 harem manageresses are listed as belonging to "the household of the Lady
of the House" (É GA§AN-É), i.e. the queen.
20. "She (= Istar of Babylon) is the manageress (sakintu') of the house and has been told: 'You know the
house! Look añer the house, (for) you will be called to accovmt!' ", SAA 3 34:40-41 (in a Neo-
Assyrian cultic commentary).
21. See Parpóla 1997b, pp. XXXVI-XL.
22. See note on ZTT 22:9 and Parpóla 1995, p. 391 fn. 36.
23. Deszo - Curtís 1991; Bom - Seidl 1995; Deszo n.d.
differently from the treasurer, there is no evidence that this rarely attested official had
anything to do with the provisioning of temples or the chariotry.
The overall evidence is mus consistent with the hypothesis that the establishment
owning the office of Rooms 9 and 10 was the local temple of Istar, The building where
the office was situated can accordingly be identified as the treasury of the temple, if not
the temple itself.
Fig. 12, Two large pithoi in Room 8 (photo SP).
The Identity of the Building Complex uncovered in Operation G

Assyrian temples and palaces were as a rule built on the acrópolis. However, this rule
does not seem to have been absolutely binding. At Til Barsip, the Neo-Assyrian palace
excavated by Thureau-Dangin covered the entire surface of the acrópolis, leaving no
OA
room for a temple or any other building, Given the steepness of the tell's slope and the
configuration of the land to the north and east, the only place for a temple was to the
west of the high mound,27 near the monumental building (Building C) with a pebble
mosaic courtyard excavated by Guy Bunnens,28
26. Michael Roaf points out, however, that half the palace was eroded by the river and in Assyrian times
the área might have been larger,
27. Bunnens 1997a, p. 63.
28. Bunnens 1997b.
22 SIMO PARPÓLA
The situation at Ziyaret Tepe largely parallels that in Til Barsip. The high mound is
unusually steep, and while it covers a larger área than that of Til Barsip, it has so far not
yielded evidence of any other building(s) besides a large Neo-Assyrian monumental
public building uncovered in Operation A, which may have íunctioned as the palace of
the governor.29 The inscriptions of Assurnasirpal II describe the construction of a5f\royal /
palace on the acrópolis of Tushan, but make no mention of a temple built there. The
location of the building complex uncovered in Operation G (150-200 m west of the south-
ern slope of the tell offering good access to it and less than 100 meters from the city
wall) corresponds neatly to the location of Building C at Til Barsip (250 m west of the
tell, 80 meters from the city wall).
In several respects, the Ziyaret Tepe building complex resembles Building C at Til
Barsip. Both are large complex structures consisting of two (or possibly three) sepárate
but closely abutting buildings.31 Both have massive walls up to two metres thick and ranges
of rooms grouped around large central courtyards. The three courtyards of the Ziyaret
Tepe building complex were decorated with elabórate checkerboard mosaics composed
of black and white pebbles laid into alternating black and white squares (Fig. 13). A oo
similar mosaic pavement was also found in courtyard VII of Building C2 at Til Barsip.
Strikingly, the small archive of 22 cuneiform tablets discovered by Bunnens at Til
Barsip includes a deed recording the purchase of a male slave by a harem manageress
>5/j
(sakintu). Similar documents are otherwise known only from the archives of the harem
manageresses at Calah (Dalley - Postgate 1984, pp. 9-10; Oates - Oates 2001, p, 46)
and at Nineveh (SAA 6 81-99 and 247-252; SAA 14 8-14 and 174-177). This implies
that Rooms XI-XII of Building Cl, where the document was found,34 must have been
closely connected with a royal harem. Archaeological evidence from the same building
indicates that it was used for textile production (including spinning, weaving and *1C
dyeing), which was one of the central functions of the royal harem.
29. Matney et al 2002.

30. Grayson 1991, p. 202 and pp. 242-243.
31. The western and southern parts of Building G have been only partially excavated, but the exposed
área already exceeds 47 x 37 m. The excavated parts of Building C at Til Barsip cover an área of c.
68 x 47 m.
32. Bunnens 1997b, pp. 22-23 (with photo Fig. 4).
33. Dalley 1997, #13.
34. Bunnens 1997a; Bunnens 1997b, p. 25. As at Ziyaret Tepe, the two rooms lay alongside a eourtyard
and formed a suite composed of a larger room (11 x 4 m) entered from the court, and of a smaller
back room (4.5 x 4 m), which could be entered only from the other room,
35. The finds from Building Cl included loom weights, bone spatulae and terracotta basins, indieating
that weaving and dyeing activities were performed in several rooms of the house (Bunnens 1997b, p.
21). Tablet #12 of the archive, found cióse to the sakintu text (#13), is a list of dyed skins and quanti-
Fig, 13. John MacGinnis, director of Operation G, at work on the

checkerboard mosaic patterns of eourtyard 2 (photo SP).
In view of the surprisingly many references to the harem in the Ziyaret Tepe texts, it is
possible that the Ziyaret Tepe building complex, besides being a treasury, also served as
the seat of the harem, like Building C at Til Barsip. This would explain the división of
o ¿c
the building into two sepárate parts. Furthermore, since the harem and the aKítu chapel
are twice mentioned together in the same text (ZTT 12 and 13), it seems thinkable that
the latter may likewise have been situated in the same building.
For its size, monumental architecture and especially its magnifícent mosaic-paved
courtyards, the building complex as a whole would also qualify for the temple of Istar
itself. As shown by the temple of Nabü at Calah, the akitu chapel did not necessarily
have to be a sepárate building but could be incorporated into the structure of the temple
/j^y
itself. Besides the sanctuary of the god and the aKítu chapel, the Nabü temple complex
at Calah also included a treasury (nakkantii), a wine-store (bet karani), storerooms
ties of alum and madder used for dyeing. On Neo-Assyrian harems as centres of textile production
see Parpóla n.d,
36. See Oates - Gates 2001, pp. 61 and 186-188. The office of the sakintu at the central palace of Calah
also served as storage room. Like the office at Ziyaret Tepe, it contained a large storage jar inscribed
with its capacity (c. 99 litres), a group of clay dockets, and receipts of large quantities of grain, wool,
copper, sheep and camels.
37. SeePostgatel974b.
24 SIMO PARPÓLA
(abusáte\ library, a scriptorium, and a throne room with adjoining ablution and robing
rooms for the visits of the king,38 The Ziyaret Tepe building complex could thus in prin-
cipie easily have accommodated a shrine of Istar, an aJatu chapel, a treasury with its of-
fices and a residential área reserved for the harem and the occasional visits of the queen
and the king.
The decorativo patterns employed in the checkerboard mosaics of Building G in-
clude rosettes, St. Andrews crosses, and erosses with a central boss. The rosette was a
-5 Q
well-known symbol of Istar. The erosses with a central boss resemble the glazed terra-
cotta wall plaques (knob-plates) used for decorating the walls of Neo-Assyrian temples
of Istar.40 Apart from Til Barsip and Ziyaret Tepe, comparable pebblestone mosaic pave-
ments are known from three Assyrian sites, Assur,41 Arslan Tash (Hadattu)42 and Tille
Hoyük NE of Kummuhi (Samsat),43 and many of them likewise seem to be associated
with royal harems and/or temples of Istar.44
38, Postgate 1974b, pp. 52-53 and 64; Gates - Gates 2001, pp. 116-117.
39, For many examples of rosettes associated with Istar or her various manifestations (Nanaya, Lady of
Uruk, Zarpanitu, etc.), see CAD A/1 p. 229 s.v. ajaru; many of the rosettes known from the Middle
Assyrian period were found in the Istar temple at Assur, The rosette was an ornamental representa-
tion of the eight-pointed star (kakkabtu), which symbolized Istar as the unity of the opposites, "the
gatherer of all powers", see Parpóla 1993, p. 188, fhn. 99 and 101; Parpóla 1997b, p. XXIX and
notes 48,95,130 and 134; Lapinkivi 2004, pp. 118-121.
40, See Albenda 1991. The material analyzed by Albenda includes knob-plates from four sites, Tell Billa
(ancient Sibamba), Nimrud, Assur and Arban (Sadikanni). All the Nimrud specimens come from the
Istar temple Bet Kidmüri, those of Sibaniba from the local temple of Istar restored by Shalmaneser III
(Grayson 1996, p. 137f). The Assur specimens come from the Oíd Palace, which included chapel of
Istar as Belet ekaílL The archeological context of the Sadikanni material is unknown to me,
41, Andrae 1909, figs. 92 and 94, Taf. U, III, VII c-d & e-f, XXVIIb. The most elabórate mosaics, at the
"Caravansary", consist of rosettes picked out with large pebbles.
42, Thureau-Dangin et al 1931, pp. 43-44 and fig. 31, p, 89; see also Turner 1968. The mosaics here con-
sist simply of alternating black and white squares,
43, Summers 1991, The mosaic consists of 238 squares, each approximately 75 cms square, in a black and
white checkerboard design, 13 squares in the NW córner have circular centres in altérnate colours,
Four squares are red.
44, The "House of Ivories" with the mosaic courtyard at Hadattu lay only 10 metres to the east of the
royal palace, whose eastern part was a shrine dedicated to Nabü and Tasmetu (= Istar in her bridal
aspect, see Nissinen 2002). Its architecture indicates that it was a hilanu building, which according to
the royal inscriptions served as the king's pleasure house (see Renger, PÚA IV pp. 405-406 and CAD
M/2 pp. 192 s.w. multaîtu and multa^ütu) and accordingly certainly was connected to the harem.
The building with the mosaic courtyard at Tille Hoyük was almost a twin of the "House of Ivories"
(Summers 1991, p, 5). At Assur, the "Caravansary", which contained the most spectacular mosaie-
paved courtyard in the city, "appears to have been a bigger versión of the Tille structure" (Summers,
ibid,}, It was situated at the SW córner of the Anu-Adad temple, cióse to the <eNew Palace" and about
It tiras seems extremely likely that the building complex uncovered in Operation G
belonged to and indeed may have been part of the Istar temple of Ziyaret Tepe.45 This
identification has of course to be confírmed by further research and it is essential that
excavations on the site be continued until the whole building complex has been investi-
gated.
The Identification of Ziyaret Tepe with Tushan

The city of Tushan is not mentioned in any of the tablets discovered so far at Ziyaret
Tepe, which is not surprising considering the limited number of the tablets and the na-
ture of the archive, Why should the ñame of the city appear in the rnternal bookkeeping
of a temple?46 However, some of the texts strongly support the proposed identification
with Tushan,47 and one of them, the long letter from Mannu-la-Libbáli (ZTT 22), makes
it virtually certain, This letter resembles letters sent from Tushan so closely that it can
only have been written in the same city.
In Table VII, the key physical features of ZTT 22 (format, colour, script size and
vertical spacing of lines) are matched with the corresponding features of three sets of
letters sent from Tushan and the nearby city of Ámidu (Diyarbakrr),48 As can be seen,
ZTT 22 has an almost perfect match in SAA 5 21, a letter from Ásipá, governor of
Tushan under Sargon II, whose other letters too closely resemble it in form. The letters
50 m to the north of the temple of listar and Nabü. Tablets found at the place (StAT 2 38-46) indícate
that there was a harem there.
45. John MacGinnis, in a letter dated August 15th 2006, commented as follows on this conclusión: "Al-
though your association of the administration with the Istar temple looks correct, I am not sure that
the architecture in Operation G is the remains of the temple. It looks much more like the remains of
prívate houses, albeit a high status one. I would think that Building 1 could have been the house of
the city treasurer. Alternatively, perhaps it was the house of Sásí. As for the temple, perhaps this was
the eroded building on the high mound excavated in Operation A."
46. E.g., Nineveh is mentioned in ZTT 4-5 only because the loan was not to paid back locally but in
Nineveh. By contrast, Tushan is mentioned twice in the Middle Assyrian archive recently discoved at
Girieano (Dunnu-sa-Uzibi), 5 km to the west from Ziyaret Tepe on the other side of the Tigris (Rad-
ner2004).
47. See ZTT 11-14, proving that the city was the seat of a provincial governor and contained a royal
harem. Tushan is attested as a seat ofasakintu (and henee a royal harem) in SAA 7 23:12.
48. Tables VE and VIII are based on notes made by myself and Karlheinz Deller in 1966 while copying
and collating Neo-Assyrian letters in the British Museum for the Chicago Assyrian Dictionary. We
measured the tablets and described their physical characteristics according to a pre-agreed system.
The definition of the colours of the tablets is to some extent subjective, but usually we cross-checked
each other's descriptions. Only tablets with preserved sender ñame are included.
26 SIMO PARPÓLA
of Sa-Assür-dubbu, the successor of Ásipá as governor of Tushan, are also similar, but
the script is smaller. On the other hand, the letters of Nashur-Bel, the governor of the
nearby Ámidu, are much smaller and their script is usually much smaller as well.
Tablet Size (mm) Colour Line Height Interlinear

(mm) Spacing
Mannu-kl-Libbali
ZTT 22 25 x 39 x 92 light olive 3,5-4 1.5-2
Ásipa (Tushan)
SAA521 24 x 40 x 90 light brown 3.5 1.5
SAA523 25 x 36 x 60' grey 3.5 1.5
SAA524 24 x 37 x 68' grey 2.5 1
SAA525 25 x 42 x 67' dark brown 2.5 0.5
SAA527 21 x 34 x 72 light brown 4 1-1.5
SAA528 21 x 35 x 60' (light) brown 3-3.5 1.5-2
Sa-Assür-dubbu (Tushan)
SAA531 23 x 43 x 90 light brown 2.5 1
SAA532 20 x 34 x 68 2.5 0.5
SAA533 24 x 41 x 56' dark olive 2 1
SAA534 25 x 47 x 115 dark brown 3 1
SAA538 24 xsi X44' dark brown 2 1
Nashur-Bél (Ámidu)
SAA51 18 X34 X57 dark brown 3 1.5
SAA52 18 X29 X 6 0 light brown 3
SAA53 19 x 33 x 68 olive/grey 3 0.5
SAA56 18 X33 X58 dark brown 4 1
SAA515 18 X27 X92 2 0.5
SAA516 21 X30' X61' dark brown 3 1.5
SAA518 25 x 24' x 4i' dark brown 3 2.5
Table VIL Physical characteristics of ZTT 22 compared with letters

from Tushan and Ámidu.
Table VIII compares the orthographic and paleographic characteristics of ZTT 22 with
letters from Tushan, Ámidu and Sabiresu (perhaps Basorin).49 As can be seen, the
agreement with letters from Tushan is almost perfect, while there are major, systematic
49. The letters of Assür-dür-pariTja were included in order to better highlight the distinctive features of
the scribal school of Tushan, whieh in many respects have a cióse parallel in Ámidu. The differences
vis-á-vis Sabiresu (which was not much farther away) are much clearer., and would have been even
clearer in comparison with letters from more distant sites.
disagreements with letters from the two other sites. The most salient characteristics of
the orthography of Tushan are the consistent writing of the negation with a long vowel
(la-a\e spelling of the word memméni as me~me-ni, the writing of the present tense of
the verb qabü with the sign qa, and the use of the sign LÚ beside LÚ*; paleographically,
the most salient distinetive feature is the form of sa (three horizontal wedges only with
the winkelhaken in the upper register to the left of the horizontal).
Sa-Assur-dubbu
Maimu-la-Libbali Ásipá Nashur-Bel
(Ámidu)
Assür-dur-panija
(Tushan) (Tushan) (Sabiresu)
EN-ZO EN-za (EN-za) EN-z'a or EN-za EN-z'a (EN-za) be-lí-ia / EN-a
Di-mu DI-77ÍM Dl-mu (once sul~mu) Di-mu sul-mu
mi-i-nu not attested mi-i-nu (once mi-nu) mi-nu mi-i-nu
me-me~ni not attested me-me-ni mi-me-ni mi-mi-ni
i-si~ i-si- i-si- i-si- i-si-
ina iGl-z'a not attested ina iGi-za ina iGi-za inapa-ni-ia
la-a la-a la-a (once la) la (once la-a) la
a-qa-bi not attested a-qa-bi i-qab-bi i-qab-bi
a-na-ku a-na~ku a-na-ku a-na-ku / ana-ku ana-ku
LÚ* same form same form different different
LÚ + + - +
sa same form same form different different
na same form same form same form different
ba same form same form same form different
ti not used same form different different
Table VIII. Orthographie and paleographic characteristics of ZTT 22.
Since all letters of Ásipá and Sa-Assür-dubbu were certainly not written by the same
scribes, their orthographic, paleographic and physical similarities with the present letter
cannot be explained as accidental but must be ascribed to a local tradition, which ap-
pears to have persisted virtually unchanged from the late 8th century to the end of the
7th century.
Since the population of Ziyaret Tepe, judging from the onomastics, was still pre-
dominantly Akkadian-speaking at the time of destruction,50 this implies that many more
cuneiform tablets, not excluding a major archive or library, are likely to be discovered
in future excavations of the lower town, particularly in the área of Operation G.
50. 90 per cent of the 53 personal ñames occurring in the texts are Akkadian. Only 5 are Aramaic, which
is very surprising considering how far the Aramaization of the Empire had progressed ahready the at
the end of the 8th century.
28 SIMO PARPÓLA
Transliterations, Translations and Commentary
1. ZT 12041 (Plates I-II)

Horizontal tablet (w/h ratio 2:1), 43 x 21 x 15 mm, complete, Light brown clay with green
incrustations on the surface suggesting that there was originally an envelope. 4 + 1 + 6 +
1 = 12 lines.
Receipt of barley.
Date: 1-20, eponym year of Assür-sarrani (611*).
Obv.
Edge
Rev,
Edge
ZT 12041.
Obverse
1. rr-me r60n ANSE SE.P[AD].MES 160 homers of barley
2. TA IGI lba-ria-a from the custody of Baya;
3. 1-me 80 ANSE lú-dirí-ni 180 homers (from) Udlmi;
4. r40n ANSE rI"ERIM- 40 homers (from) Sabu-danqu.
Edge
5. PAB 3-me 80 ANSE Total, 380 homers of barley,
CUNEIFORM TEXTS FROM ZIYARET TEPE (TUSFIAN), 2002-2003 29
Reverse
1. lsa~si~i llwr~ba-nu-u (reeeived by) Sasí and Kurbanü,
2. ITLBARAG UD,20,KAM Month Nisan (I), 20th day,
3. Hm-mu las-sur-Mm-a-ni eponym year of Assw-sarrani.
4. IGI Isá-DiNGJR-du~rbu'' Witness: Sa-ill-dubbu.
5. IGI :SUHU§- 1 ""5"1 Witness: Ubru-Issar,
6. IGI Iá?A-u-a~a Witness: Nabü'aya.
Edge
7. VgzV.MES ¡a marW-\f\a Letters not reeeived.
Notes
Obv, 1. One homer = c. 1 hectolitre.51 For SE.PAD.MES, "barley", see note on ZTT 12:7.
2. lba-ia-a: Aramaie ñame meaning "the desired one", otherwise attested as a masculine
ñame only in SAA 12 8:19 (a grant of Adad-nerari III), and in SAA 9 1 ii 40, where it
appears as the ñame of a prophet of Istar of Arbela. The article Báia in PNA l/II 253
conflates several different ñames written in a similar way.
3. lú-din-m: Akkadian ñame meaning "vulture(?)" (cf. AHw p. 1401b s,v, ucfínu), other-
wise attested only in SAA 7 112 r.3.
4. IERM-siG5: Akkadian ñame meaning "good soldier". See PNA 3/1 1162 for syllabic
spellings confírming the reading Sabu-danqu and for other attestations of the ñame.
5. SE.PAD was normally followed by MES in Neo-Assyrian, but there is no room for a ME§
at the end of the line. Apart from its basic function as a plural sign, MES also functioned
in Neo-Assyrian as a sort of determinative of collective and material nouns, and was
henee in principie omissible affcer such nouns. The abbreviated spelling SE.PAD is other-
wise rare but also attested in Ass. 10783a: 1 (unpub.), BBR 67:10 and 68:15, BT 116:1
(Iraq 25 pl. 23), CTSHM 30:18, KAV 120 r.6', KAV 170 r.5T, SAA 14 227 s. 2, and
StAT 2 186 r.3. With other logograms denoting material nouns, MES was more or less
51, Neo-Assyrian capacity measures can be schematically converted into metrie equivalents according to
the following scheme: 1 homer (ANSE/imaru) = 10 seahs (BÁN/SW/W) =100 "litres" (síLA/qá), The ac-
tual size of the homer varied between 100 and 80 "litres", depending on the capacity of the seah (be-
side the standard seah of 10 qa, also ones of 9 or 8 qa were in use, see note on ZTT 4:2). On the ab-
solute size of the Neo-Assyrian qa (0.92 litres?), see Postgate 1976, p. 67, and Dates - Oates 2001,
pp. 62 and 166-167. The storage jar ND 485 (Iraq 13 115), whose capacity according to the inscrip-
tion was 1 ANSE 2 BÁN 2 qa and whose volume was measured as ca. 99 litres (Oates - Oates 2001, pp.
62), gives three possible absolute valúes for the NA qa: 0.81 litres, 0.9 litres, or 1.01 litres, assuming
respectively a seah of 10, 9, or 8 qa.
30 SIMO PARPÓLA
optional; e.g. URUDU, "copper", appears 175 times with and 66 time without MES,
UD.KA.BAR, "bronze", 12 times with and 19 times without MES, and SE.BAR, "barley", (see
note on ZTT 12:7) 125 time without and only 3 times with MES in the corpus of Neo-
Assyrian texts.
Rev. 1. ^sa-si-i: Akkadian ñame derived from sasu/sassu, "moth", already attested in the
third millennium (see CAD S p, 196a) and very common in NA sources. The present in-
dividual also occurs as a wimess in ZTT 4-5 and as the master of an assinnu ("man-
woman") in ZTT 6-7, where he is entitled "the scribe of Istar of Arbela"; on the evi-
dence indicating that the same individual is in question in all three texts see p. 18 above.
For the ñame lkur-ba-nu-u see PNA 2/1 p. 640 s,v, Kurbánu and CAD K p. 401 s.v. Jtir-
bánu, "clod, lump". The ñame was quite common and is elsewhere regularly written with
a short final vowel, but the sign u indicating a long final vowel is clear on the tablet.
The form kurbánü would be an adjective ("clod-like") derived from kurbánu (cf. kaia-
mamu/ü beside kaiamánu); note, however, that a similar apparently otiose lengthening
of the final vowel is also attested in ka~mu-nu-u, SAA 13 71:8 (for kamünu).
3. The eponymate of Assur-sarrani is otherwise unknown and, in view of the chrono-
logical structure of the archive (cf, pp. 12-14, above, and note especially ZTT 4, dated
613* and featuring Sasí as a witness), certainly to be placed after the fall of Nineveh.
For other attestations of the ñame ("Assur is our king"), none of which can be identified
with the eponym, see PNA 1/1 218. Since Tushan appears to have been conquered and
plundered already in Tammuz 611 (see p. 14, above), the year in question can hardly be
anythingbut 611.
4. Sa-ill-dubbu: Akkadian ñame meaning "speak the [word] of God!". The same man
co
also occurs as a witness with Ubru-Issar in ZTT 2 r.2. The ñame is further attested (in
the same orthography) in SAA 5 256:10' and has a cióse parallel in the ñame of the jCO
§a-Assür-dubbu ("speak the [word] of Assur!").
Essentially, both ñames mean the same thing, Assur often alternating with "God" (or
"gods") in NA texts; see note on ZTT 2 r.2 for details.54
52. Note that the name is there surprisingly written lsa-DTNGíR.MES-du-bu, with the plural sign MES. On
this spelling see the note on ZTT 2 r.2.
53. For letters from Sa-Assür-dubbu, who was year-eponym in 707 BC, see SAA 5, nos. 31-39.
54. Note also the name Sa-Issar-dubbu, "speak [the word] of Istar!", occurring in CTN 3 116:4'.
5. Ubru-Issar: Akkadian ñame meaning "client of Istar".55 This individual also occurs as
a witness is ZTT 2 r.l // 3 r,2 and in ZTT 6 r.4 (a loan document also featuring Sasi as a
central person), where his ñame is written ÛHUS-ÎS. The reading of the first ñame
element (SUHUS) is established as ubru by the phonetic spelling lub-ru-\5 in GPA 30:17,
which alternates with ûnus-lS ibid. 1 (same person, see Postgate 1973, p. 67); cf. also
Iub-ru-d15, JCS 7 172, #79:3, Note, however, that reading SUHUS as ubar is also possi-
ble, cf. lú-bar-\5, Ass. 14067g:2, and the NB phonetic spellings lú-bar-har-ra-ni (CT
54 10:22) and lú-bar-sa~a-a-su (ABL 1430 r.3) of NA %UHU§-URU.KASKAL (cf. ZTT
6. Nábu'áya: Akkadian ñame meaning "my Naba". The ñame was very common in the
NA period (see PNA 2/II pp. 788-792 s,v, Nabü'a) and is attested several times in the
present orthography in other texts (SAA 14 8 r.17 and 10 r.5; BT 113 r.l; CTN 3 110 ii
17', 145 ii 14; ND 3421 r.14; PSBA 30 1 r.7); note also the phonetic spellings lna-bu-u-
a-a in ADD 612 r.13, 15 and Ass. 21548b:6.
7. The phrase egeráte la mahra, "letters not reeeived" (for the rendering of egertu as
"letter" see below), recurs in ZTT 2:7 (egertu Ja mahrat) but is otherwise unknown. A
comparable phrase (mkkassé la epsü "accounts not done")56 occurs, however, in two
documents from the archive of the manageress of the women's quarters of Central
Palace of Calah, viz. GPA 251, a receipt of barley resembling ZTT 1 and ZTT 2-3,57
and GPA 256, an inscribed sealing relating to a delivery of sheep and goats, presumably
to the harem (cf. ZTT 11-13 and 15-16). The present phrase probably likewise was a
simple reminder that the missing letters would have to retrieved at the settling of
aecounts.
The basic meaning of egertu in Neo-Assyrian was "letter", and the word usually re- CQ
fers to single-column vertical tablets (the standard format of letters in Neo-Assyrian),

but it could in principie also refer to any kind of single-column tablets and documents,
55. The basic meaning ofubru in Assyrian was "guest", see Veenhof 1972 p. 250 and Larsen 1976 p.
279 for OA wabrum/ubrum, "guest", and bet wabrim/ubrim, "guest-house, caravanserai", and cf. NA
bét ubri, "inn, lodging place" (SAA 1 153 r.6); the occurrence of the word in theophoric ñames
implies a semantic shift from "guest, traveller seeking shelter in a guest house" to "client, dependent
seeking shelter in a temple". Cf, the Canaanite ñame Gintu discussed in note on ZTT 8:4, and the
ñame Awd-Essar, "schutzsuchender der Gottheit Istar", and other similar ñames in Beyer 1998, p. 164.
56. On this phrase and its reverse nikkasse epsü, "accounts done" (attested in a multi-column account
tablet from Nineveh, SAA 7118 r.iii 27), see Postgate 1973, pp. 235 and 237.
57. The text reads: "315 homers of barley, 315 homers of wheat, 10 homers of oil, 10 [...] ... Accounts
not done."
58. See Parpóla 1983b and Radner 1995.
32 SIMO PARPÓLA
including horizontal letters, debt-documents and promissory notes.59 At first sight, the
meaning "debt-doeument" or "promissory note" seems natural in the present context;
however, it has to be excluded for two reasons. First, the doeuments in question were
not destroyed (as usual at the payment of debts)60 but remained in the possession of the
suppHers of the barley; and secondly, the amounts of barley received (between 40-180
homers) are much too large for ordinary grain loans.61 Henee the translation "letter(-
order)", which does not exclude the possibility that the letters in question were needed
for accounting purposes and thus functioned as a sort of debt-documents.
The spelling e-gzr,MES is unusual and otherwise attested only in a legal document
from Sultantepe/IJuzirina (AnSt 7 141:6), For other NA examples of the plural signMES
attached to syllabically written nouns, see Luukko 2004, p. 139.
Discussion
This text is closely related to ZTT 2 and its envelope ZTT 3, which likewise is a hori-
zontal receipt of a large amount of barley in the month of Nisan, has practically the
same witnesses and shares the previously unknown book-keeping phrase discussed in
the note on r.7. Despite some minor differences in tablet format and phrasing (largely
due to the fact that the texts were written by different scribes), it is clear that both texts
belong to the category of "receipts" discussed in Postgate 1976, pp. 55-58, and defined
there as "doeuments acknowledging the receipt of a payment etc." Such doeuments "are
relatively uncommon in NA times, and it is perhaps for this reason that no firm rules
governing their format can be detected" (ibid,). All NA receipts were written on hori-
zontal tablets and thus physically resemble contracts, and at least some of them were
s-r\y encasedin sealed envelopes, like ZTT 2-3.
Postgate distinguishes between three main types of receipts: 1) those in which an

existing debt or obligation is finally acquitted (characterised by the verb sallumu, "to
make good in full, pay off); 2) those which result from a judicial decisión and its im-
plementation (largely receipts for judicial fines, also characterised by the use of sallu-
mu)\d 3) receipts for the payment of wages and other similar purposes, when no pre-
59. See Fadhil - Radner 1996, and Radner 1997a, pp. 60-62 and 72-76 with many examples.
60. See Postgate 1976, pp. 32 (3.1.0) and 56, and the receipt SAAB 9 no. 80.
61. Usually well under 10 homers. Loans of 30 homers or more are rare, and only one loan (SAA 6 221,
where two individuáis borrow 120 homers of barley at harvest time) exceeds 100 homers. SAA 14
471, which places 200 homers of barley of a harem manageress at the disposal of a granary master, is
not a loan but a storage agreement, since the text merely specifies when and where the barley is to be
paid back and does not contain any loan, interest or penalty formulae.
62. E.g.,GPA99.
CUNEIFORM TEXTS FROM ZIYARET TEPE (TUMBAN), 2002-2003 33
vious obligation will have existed; "these receipts do not use sallumu, instead a phrase
like PN mahir ... is found (cf, ittisi tadin mahir inND 2331 and igré-su ittisi in CTNII
No, 98). Although they follow legal practices and are sealed, mese tablets probably
belong mostly in administrative contexts" (Postgate 1976, p. 56),
The large quantities of barley involved in both ZTT 1 and 2 (cf. note on r.7 above)
combined with lack of the verb sallumu excludes the possibility that these receipts per-
tained to the pay-off of debts (or fines), and strongly suggests that the shipments of bar-
¿ro
ley in question were administrative in nature. The brevity of the texts, the lack of exact
parallels and scarcity of detail makes it very difficult to determine their background, but
it seems certain that they must be distinguished from normal shipments of barley from
neighbouring farms and hamlets, since the latter were considerably smaller in quantity
— between 6 and 16 homers — and did not require a witnessed and sealed acknowledg-
ment (cf. ZTT 11-12 and 15-16). Most likely, then, the texts record exceptionaí or
extraordinary shipments from royal silos for stored grain, whose administrators (the in-
dividuáis mentioned in the texts) were responding to written requests for grain sent to
them.64 The relevant documents — the letters referred to in the texts — would naturally
have remained with these officials for some time for accounting purposes (as justifíca-
tion of the deliveries made).
This interpretation is supported by the fact that both texts date from the end of
Nisan (~ April), i.e., the time before the harvest, when stores of grain were at their low-
est and the neighbouring farms would have been unable to supply the central granary
with grain.65 The fact that both texts mention the same amount of barley (380 homers)
and are dated six days apart (Nisan 20 and 26 respectively) suggests that these extraor-
dinary deliveries were made on a regular basis and possibly reflect the regular demand
of the institution owning the granary. Based on the standard NA barley ration of 3
homers (=30 seahs) per person a month (= about 1 litre per person a day),66 a daily
63. Note the oeeurrence of both ittisi and mahrat (characteristic of receipts of type 3) in ZTT 2.
64. For a letter from an administrator of a royal grain silo (padakku) see SAA 1 181, The writer calis
himself "deputy keeper of a royal granary" (LÚ*.2-e kar-me sa LUGAL).
65. Note that all the texts recording consignments of grain from the neighbouring hamlets date from
months III to Vil, except ZTT 15, dated in month Di, where the shipment is said to be ana batqi, "for
repair work" or "shortage/deficit".
66. See, e.g., the entries in VAT 8674 = Ass. 14321a, a ration list for women from Assur with the head-
ing §E íab-ku sá TTI.GUD lim-mu lp[a-si-i\, "(consumption oí) stored grain in the month lyyar, eponym
year of Pasi" (614*). This text was found together with at least 8 similar monthly ration lists for
women (all from the eponym years of Pasi and Sín-alik-pani) in the archive room K of the house of
Kisir-Assur, exorcist of the Assur temple (Pedersén 1986, p. 58 and p. 70, nos. 457, 459, 462-465,
467-469), About 50 women figure as recipients of the rations along with including their daughters and a
few men, The lists give no elue as to who these ladies were and where they resided. I believe they
34 SIMO PARPÓLA
consumption of 380/6 = 63.3 homers (about 6,300 litres) would point to a community of
over 6,000 people serviced by the granary of Rooms 9 and 10. See further the discus-
sion of ZTT 2 and the note on ZTT 12 r.6.
2. ZT 12038 (Plates Ü-IV)

Horizontal tablet (w/h ratio 3 :2), 46 x 29 * 16 mm, complete. Dark green-brown clay. 7
+ l+2=101ines.
Receipt of barley (inner tablet of ZTT 3).
Date: 1-26 (see ZTT 3).
Same scribe as in ZTT 3, 8 and 14.
Obv.
ZT 12038
Obverse
1. ry-me 80 380 (homers of) barley
2. ja e-gir-te of a letter
were hierodules of the temple of Assur engaged in cultic and exorcistic rituals and perhaps also func-
tioning as nurses; the recipients include a "wet-nurse" (MLmu-se-niq-tu), which can be understood
either as a proper ñame or as an occupation.
CUNEIFORM TEXTS FROM ZIYARET TEPE (TUSIJAN), 2002-2003 35
3. sapa-an IMU-le-rsirí at the disposal of Sumu-lesir,
4. IDI-77ZW-PAB.MES it-ti-SÍ received by Sulmu-ahhé.
5. e-gir-tú inapa-an The letter is at the disposal of
6. lmi-le-sir Sumu-lesir.
7. e~gír-tú la mah-rat The letter was not received.
Edge
8. IGI IDi.rKUD"'-&«r-¿>a-z7 Witness: Dayyan-Kurbail.
Reverse
l.IGIISUHUS'-15 Witness: Ubru-Issar.
2. IGI ^fl-DINGIR.MES-6?W-Z)M Witness: Sa-ili-dubbu.
remainder iminscribed
Notes
Obv, 1. Cf. the total 3-me 80 ANSE SEPAD in ZTT 1:5. The corresponding rnomber in the
present line is partly destroyed but its reading is certain: two of the three verticals of the
sign "3" are partly visible and there is room for the third one in the break. Thus both texts
acknowledge receipt of the same total amount of barley. The logogram for "homer"
(ANSE) is here omitted as redundant, as also in ZTT 14:1, 16:1, and several other NA
texts dealing with grain (e.g., GPA 182:4; NL 35:3, 9; SAA 7 32 r.ii 12; 14 471:1; 16
35:5-7; StAT 2 186:1; TH 57:5). In ZTT 11 r.2,12 r.4, 13: 2, 7, r.l, 3, 5, 8, 15:1, 17:1
and 18:1, it is replaced by the "ditto" sign (two winkelhaken, transliterated as ":"),
which thus functioned there as a sort of abbreviation for ANSE,67
2. sa e~gir-te, "of a letter": for the meaning of the genitive partióle sa here, compare the
meanings of the corresponding particle (d-) in Syriac: "of, by, about, for, against, on
account of (Payne Smith 1893, p. 81).
3. sapa-an: formally, this specifícation could pertain to e-gir-te (cf. obv. 5), but in view
of the continuation and ZTT 1, it is more likely that it stands in apposition to sa e-gir-te
and indicates the origin of the barley.
Sumu-lesir: Akkadian ñame meaning "may the ñame prosper". This ñame was rela-
tively rare in the NA period (only 8 attestations in the NA corpus), so it is possible that
67, The "ditto" sign also firactioned in NA texts as a word separator (indicating an empty space between
words) and a sign for zero (indicating an empty positional slot in a string of numbers). Its use as an
"abbreviation" for AN§E is thus related to the frequent omission of the latter. Its use as a sign of
repetion also represents a special case of omission (namely the omission of writing a repeated word
twice).
36 SIMO PARPÓLA
the individual in question is identical with the Subrian augur occurring as witness in
ZTT4r.6and5r.5.
4. Sulmu-ahhe: Akkadian ñame meaning "well-being of the brothers". It was a rela-
tively common ñame in the NA period, but occurs only here in the ZT corpus.
it-ti-$i "has received" is a distinctive feature of NA receipts of type 3, see under
ZTT 1 and the following discussion.68
7, This line is written in a smaller script and may have been inserted as an afterthought.
8. IDi,KUD-Awr-Z?fl-?7: Akkadian ñame meaning "(The god oí) Kurbail (= Adad) is judge";
for other attestations in the NA period see PNA l/II p, 369 s,v. Daián-Kurbail. With the
exception of the envelope (ZTT 3 r.l), this individual does not recur in other texts from
Ziyaret Tepe.
Rev. 2.Isa-DiNGiR.MES-G?w-¿>w: On this ñame ("speak [the word] of God!") see note on
ZTT 1 r.4.69 Since evidently the same individual is in question here, the present spelling
of the ñame, where the word "god" is surprisingly written with the plural sign MES, calis
for an explanation. In Assyrian imperial theology, the national god, Assur, was
considered the only trae god; henee, not only was Assur often referred to as "(the) God",
but all the other gods of the world were also considered just ñames or aspects of Assur,
so that the plural "gods" (or "all the gods") often means just "God" in NA ñames.70 In
such ñames, the logographic writing for "gods" (DINGIR.MES) is usually followed by the
*71
phonetic complement -ni and therefore has usually to be read ilani. However, in the
68. The verb nasü basically meant "to lift, carry" but frequently also "to take into one's possession, re-
ceive" (in the sense of taking delivery of a thing from another, either for oneself or for a third party)
in Neo-Assyrian, and could sometimes also mean "to borrow, aequire" in NA legal texts, Cf, 36
MA.NA TJKÜDU.ME§ / PN TA IGI / lni-ni-e i~ti~si / lbu-lu-se-e DIMÜ-SÚ / a~n[á] sá~par-ti kam-mu-[us],
"PN has received (= borrowed) 36 minas of copper from Nine. His son Buluse is staying as a
pledge", BT 123:1-5 (Iraq 25 pl.22); Id15-BÁD-#a-a~/z ... TA IGI LÚ.ME§~e / an~nu~te i~zi~rip / it-ti-si,
"(Kakkullanu) has legally taken (= acquired) Issar-d\ir-qali from these gentlement (in exchange for
his maid Abi-lih3a)", SAA 14 39: 6-12.
69. Note also the ñame Sa-Issar-dubbu, "speak [the word] of Istar!" (SAA 6 85 r,8 and 174:2, CTN 3
116:4) and its feminine counterpart Sa-Issar-dubbi (Ass 14232r: 11 etc., unpub.), and see the discus-
sion in Parpóla 1997b, p. xxvi,
70. See in detail Parpóla 2000, pp. 168-173. The underlying theological equation Assur = God = (all) the
gods is attested in the ñame Gabbu-iláni-Assur, "Assur is all the gods".
71. See PNA s.w, Ibassi-iláni, Iqbi-ilani, QiU-ilam, Qurdi-ilani and Remüt-ilám; also Summa-ibassi-
ilani, Summa-ilani, Ubru-ilani, Urdu-ilani. Note that almost all these ñames are parallelled by
comparable Assur-names (Iqbi-Assür/ilu, QTtl-Assür, Qurdi-Assur, Remüt-Assür/ilu, Summa-Assur
/ila'T, Ubru-Assur, Urdu-Assur), and Assur and ilani/ilu completely overshadow other theophoric ele-
ments in such ñames.
CUNEIFORM TEXTS FROM ZIYARET TEPE (TU§HAN), 2002-2003 37
present case the alternation with DINGIR excludes this reading and implies that the writ-
ing with MES stands for z/í, the older plural of Z'/M, which in Neo-Assyrian was
i-ir\s with ili, the genitive of ilu, "god". Thishomopho-
plural form must also be po
ñames where spellings with DINGIR.MES altérnate with ones with DINGIR, e.g., Assür-bél-
ilí ("Assur is the lord of gods"), Nabü-bel-ilT, Nabü-balti-ili and Nabü-hammi-ilL 73
Discussion
Apart from ZTT 1, this text has no obvious parallels in NA sources. At first sight, the
closest formal parallel is a docket from Nimrud, ND 2077 = Iraq 16 p, 33, which reads
(obv.1-5, collations indicated with !by Karen Radner): [x me] 47! AN§E SEBAR/W-TWW-
EN /TA! IGI IdPA-MU-Gis! it-ti-si / [x x x x x-b]il, "Sulmu-Bel has received [x hundred]
47 homers of barley from Nabü-sumu-lésir; [...]"; the reverse has a stamp-seal impres-
sion, a broken date, and two witnesses), However, despite the large amount of grain in-
volved and the verbal form it-ti-si in line 3, this text probably was not a receipt of type 3
but an interest-bearing loan, as it has the heart-shaped format of grain loans,74 and the
broken line 5 seems to have contained an interest formula ([a-na 1 ANSE 2BÁN-sá tar-b]il,
"it will in[crease by 2 seahs per homer]").
A better parallel is GPA 99, which defínitely is a receipt of type 3: "Assur-düru-
usur, eunuch of Bel-dan, the governor of Calah, has received his royal barley rations
(SE.PAD.MES WGAL-e-sú ma-hir); nobody will contest him (mám-ma i-si-sú la i-da-bu-bu,
obv. 4-7)". This tablet has the same width-to-height ratio (3 :2) and almost exactly the
same size as the present text (14x41 x26 mm), and is likewise enclosed in a sealed
envelope, but lacks date and witnesses,
In ND 2331 (Iraq 16 p. 43 and pl, 8; photo Iraq 17 pl. 27:5), dated Kislev (IX) 10,
one Sangi-Issar receives (ittiSi) 10 homers of "royal barley rations together with its ílka-
kati" from (TA* IGI) Aqbi-il. This tablet, which also has exactly the same width-to-height
ratio (3 :2) as the present text and is closed by a date and witnesses, has the following
remark inserted before the date: ta-din ma-hir mám-ma TA* mám-ma / la i-da-bu-bu, "It
has been given and received, neither will contest the other" (obv, 5-6; cf. GPA 99). It is
possible that the barley had been deposited with Aqbi-il under a similar arrangement as
in BT 116 and 117 (see below), as it is likewise defíned as "royal barley".
72. For the shortening of the fimal vowel and the concomitant merging of the oíd plural with genitive
singular, see Hámeen-Anttila 2000, p. 78,
73. For attestations see PNA, where the relevant plural forms have been erroneously normalized as iláni.
See also below, note on ZTT 10 r,3, on the reading of the ñame Átanah-ili.
74. Cf., e.g., ND 2063, 2076, 2077, 2083, 2088, 2302, 2317 and 2334, in the same archive (Iraq 16 32-
44). These texts are explicitly formulated as loans (anapühi ittísí) and the amounts of grain are much
lower (between 1-3 homers).
38 SIMO PARPÓLA
Two documents from Imgur-Enlil, BT 116 and 117 (Iraq 25 pp, 94-95, pls. 22-23),
concern royal barley provided for the cult of Istar of Arbela, In the former, dated Kislev
20, "the /z^mw-bread, royal barley rations (§E.PAD LUGAL) and all the z/£w-payments" be-
longing to the priest Summa-ilu are put at the disposal of a chief victualler and two
scribes, who are obliged to return it "on the day when Summa-ilu enters Arbela". In the
latter text, a scribe undertakes to give back "the Hhmu of the banquet of Arbela together
with the royal barley" to Mamu-iqbi, another priest of Imgur-Enlil, on the 2nd day of
Nisan. These texts were certainly no ordinary loans, since they omit the ina pühi for-
mula, although they do specify a penalty in the event of non-payment, Both texts have
the same width-to-height ratio (3:2) and the same size (45 x 30 and 47 * 27 mm
respectively) as the present text and are closed by a date and witnesses.
These parallels show that the cult of Istar of Arbela was supported with deliveries
of royal barley, which could be deposited in local granaries for use at the banquet of the
goddess in the month of Nisan. Perhaps the 200 homers of barley deposited by the
harem manageress in SAA 14 471 (fh. 60) were also "royal barley rations", even though
the source of the grain is not specified in the text. Since Sasi, the recipient of the grain
in ZTT 1, is explicitly entitled "scribe of Istar of Nineveh" in ZTT 6 and the afátu festi-
val of the goddess and the harem are referred to in several of the Ziyaret Tepe texts
(ZTT 11-13), there is every reason to believe that the grain rations in ZTT 1 and 2 also
were "royal barley". A royal letter commanding the distribution of such barley is extant
in GPA 182, addressed to the deputy governor of Calah: "The king's word to Qat-ili-
gabbu of Calah: They will measure out and receive from you 3,000 (homers) of barley
within the land of your authority. Let them write it on your master's account." This
royal order interestingly has the same shape and width-to-height ratio (3:2) as the re-
ceipts just discussed, and could henee well exemplify the letters referred to in ZTT 1 and
2, For letters from government officials dealing with the collection and distribution of
royal barley see SAA 1 160,181 and 260; SAA 16 35; GPA 135, and NL 35, 36 and 93.
3. ZT 12040 (Plates V-VI)

Horizontal fragment, 54 x 35' x 22 mm. Dark green-brown. 2 + 2 + 2 = 6 lines.
Receipt of barley (envelope of ZTT 2).
Date: 1-26.
Same scribe as in ZTT 2, 8 and 14.
Obv.
ZT 12040,
Obverse
beginning broken away (Beginning destroyed)
cylinder-seal impression [380 homers of barley]
1' sa [e-gir-íe sa pa-an IMU-GIS] of [a letter at Sumu-lesir's disposal],
2' IDi-[mw-PAB.ME§ it-ti-si] [receivedby] Sul[rmi-ahhe],
Edge
3' ITLBARAJG] UD.26.KAM Nisan 26.
4' e-gir-tú la mah-rat The letter was not received.
Reverse
1, IGI Witness: Dayyan-Kurba[il],
2, IGI Witness: Ubru-[Issar].
blank space
remainder broken away (Rest destroyed)
Notes
Obv. 3. The date (missing on the tablet) here replaces the remark e-gir-tú ina pa-an
lMJ-le-sir occupying the corresponding place on the tablet.
40 SIMO PARPÓLA
4. ZT 12048 (Plates VI-VII)

Horizontal tablet (w/h ratio 4:3), 38 x 29 x 21 mm. Light brown with greenish hue. 5 +
1 + 5 + 2 + 2 = ISlines.
Loan of barley (inner tablet of ZTT 5).
Date: [I/II]-10, eponym year of Nabü-tappüti-alik (613*).
Same scribe as in ZTT 5-7.
Obv.
swp m&
fWpwifvfejr"
r-^^ yrjf
/,/r^cx-. -^x »:..
y/v ','/;,, ssTPrTrl
Edge
Rev.
Edge
Left Side
ZT 12048.
Obverse
1. 6 ANSE §RUM.ME§ 6 homers of grain
2. ZTJfl GIS.BÁN 5G 9 râ a- ""NINAKI"" by the 9 "litre" seah standard of Nineveh,
3. 50 ÂB-M-fl-SU belonging to Ahüa-eríba,
4. ina IGI lhas-da-a-a at the disposal of Hasdáya.
5. [/TÍO ac/-n] ma NINAKI [He shall] pay [it at threshing time].
CUNEIFORM TEXIS FROM ZIYARET TEPE (TUSHAN), 2002-2003 41
Edge
6. [ina SAG.DU-SO id\-dan in Nineveh [in its capital amount].
Reverse
1. [m. x UD], 1 O.KAM [Month Nisan/Iyyar,] 1 Oth [day],
2. [Um-mu IdPA]-TAB-fw-DU!! [eponym year of Nabü]-tappütl-alik.
3. [IGI â-si-i [Witness]: Sasi.
4. IGI :DiNGiR-KAR-zr Witness: Ilu-etir.
5. IGI Ird"vrv-iq-rbf Witness: Samas-iqbi.
Edge
6. IGI ^-GIS LÚ*.rda-gíF-MUSEN Witness: Sumu-lesir,
7. rsub'?-rí7-ia'?^-a-a Subrian augur,
Side
1, [IG]I fl}u-qu [Witnjess: [L]üqu,
2. LÚ*.A.BA scribe.
Notes
Obv. 1. SE.UM.MES is an unusual pseudo-logographic spelling for "grain", otherwise at-
tested in NA sources only in the inscriptions of Adad-nerari II (RIMA 2, p. 154:120)
and Ashurnasirpal II (RIMA 2, pp. 243 ii 26, 251 iv 107 and 261:85). Is it a mere rjr
coincidence that all the Ashurnasirpal occurrences pertain to grain stored at Tushan?
2. Grain loans stated in terms of a seah of 9 "litres" are relatively rare, and the present
passage has an exact parallel only in a text from Nimrud (ND 2317:2, Iraq 16 p. 40) re-
cording the loan of 3.3 homers of barley ina GIS.BÁN sa 9 qa (coll. K. Radner). A grain
loan from Guzana writes ina GIS.BÁN 9 qa (omitting sa),16 one from Nimrud has ina
T7
GIS.BÁN 9 (omitting sa and qa), and 13 grain loans from the Nabü temple of Nimrud
75. The relevant passages read: "I settled them in the city Tusha. I took over this city for myself and
stored therein barley (§E.UM.ME§) and straw (SE.IN.NU) from the land of Nirbu" (RIMA 2 p. 243 ii 25-
28); "I reaped the harvest of their land and stored the barley (SE.UM.MES) and straw in the city Tusha"
(ibid., iv 107-108 and p. 261:85). The phrase "barley and straw" occurs in a slightly different orthog-
raphy (SE.AM.MES ú SE.IN.NU) in other royal inscriptions as well (see RIMA 2, p. 149:44 [Adad-nerari
II]; pp. 171:16, 175:85, 176:87 and 91, 177:103 and 111 [Tukulti-Ninurta II]; pp. 202 ii 9, 208 ii 86,
210 ii 117, 218 iii 82 [Ashurnasirpal II]; and RIMA 3, p. 41 iv 45 [Shalmaneser III]); it is also found
in a NA legal document (TH 108 r.5) and two NB letters (ABL 925:13 and 965 r.29), the word for
"barley" being there written SE.BAR.
76. TH 108:2.
77. CTN 3 12:2.
42 SIMO PARPÓLA
*7S
have ina GIS.BÁN sa 9 (omitting qa}, The phrase a-ki sa NINA.KI (lit., "like that of Nine-
veh") following the seah indication is not attested elsewhere but must specify the size of
the qa, as it corresponds to the phrase ina I qa sa as-sur-a-a "by the 'litre' of the Assyr-
ians" immediately following the seah indication in the 13 Nimrud texts just mentioned.
3, Ahüa-erTba: Akkadian ñame meaning "he has replaced my brother", see PNA l/I 69.
This individual also figures in ZTT 6-7, where he witnesses a loan by Sási (who appears
as witness in rev. 3 of the present text).
4. Hasdaya: Akkadian ñame derived from hasaddu, "wedding", see PNA l/I 69. Not
found in other texts from Ziyaret Tepe.
5-6. For the restorations cf. "he shall pay it (= [x] homers of barley) at the threshing
time in Nineveh" (ina ad-ri ina NINA.KI SUM-GW), TIM 11 10:1-5, and "they shall pay it
(=10 homers of barley by the seah of [9] 'litres') at the threshing time in its capital
amount in Nineveh (ina ad-ri ina SAG.DU-SW ina URU.ni-nu-a SUM-TJW), ND 2321:1-7
(Iraq 16 p. 41; archive of the harem manageress of the Oíd Palace of Calah, see note to
ZTT 6:4). Grain loans to be paid back in Nineveh are very rare; the texts just quoted are
the only examples known. This is an additional argument in favour of the hypothesis
that the present granary belonged to the temple of Istar of Nineveh. No doubt the vari-
ous local temples of the goddess were in cióse contact with each other and may even
have shared an administrative superstructure, cf. notes on ZTT 6:2 and 4. Furthermore,
since the loan bore no interest,79 the debtor is likely to have been a member of the
temple administration, cf. note on ZTT 10 r.2 and the discussions of ZTT 2, 6 and 14.
Rev. 1. All grain loans to be paid back "at the threshing time in its capital amount" (ina
ad-ri ina SAG.DU-ÍÍÍ) date from the late winter/early spring preceding the harvest, most
Of\f them from two first months of the year (Nisan and lyyar), and only two from an
O1
earlier month. The destroyed month ñame is henee probably to be restored as either
Nisan or lyyar.
2. IdPA]-TAB-fw-DU!!: The last sign actually looks like PAB or BE but must be a badly
written DU, since the preceding sign combination (TAB-/M, for tappütu, "assistance") is
78. ND 5447-50, 5452, 5454-56, 5458-59, 5464-65 and 5474, see B. Parker, Iraq 19 (1957), 125-138.
The spelling ina GIS.BÁN sa 9 is also attested in a text from Assur (SAAB 5 no. 49B;5).
79. Michael Roaf points out that repaying the loan in Nineveh would have involved the cost of transport
and therefore a sort of interest.
80. ND 3446 (Iraq 15 p. 144) = Nisan 15; ND 2318 (Iraq 16 p. 34) = Nisan 29; ND 3464 (Iraq 17 pl.
26:3) = lyyar 5; ND 3447 (Iraq 15 p. 144) = lyyar 11; ND 3458 (Iraq 15 p. 145) = lyyar 14; ND
2083 (Iraq 16 p. 34) = lyyar 19.
81. ND 3449 (Iraq 17 pl. 26:2) = Adar 12; ND 2321 (Iraq 16 p. 41) = Shebat 21.
otherwise attested only in the ñame Nabü-tappüti-alik, the eponym of year 613* (PNA
2/II 894); the traces of the final sign in ZTT 5 r.l1 are inconclusive but consistent with
[D]U. Reading the ñame as ^Nj-TAB-fw-PAB, "[DN], protect my assistance!", would not
only make no sense but also yield a previously unattested ñame and a new post-empire
eponym, for which there is no room in the chronological framework of the archive (see
pp. 12-14 above). The spelling ICÍPA-TAB~/M-DU is attested at Calah and Assur (CTN 3 9
r.5 and VAT 9780 = Ass, 2282m r.l9); note also Id?A-TAB-íú-a-lik, SAAB 9 #114:6 and
ND 3479b r.l O (unpub., courtesy J. N. Postgate).
4. Ilu-etir: Akkadian ñame meaning "God has saved", see PNA 2/1 528. Except the en-
velope (ZTT 5 r,3), not found in other texts from Ziyaret Tepe.
5. Iámj-iq-bi: Akkadian ñame meaning "Samas commanded", also attested in SAA 6
27:10 and 13 (reign of Sargon) and SAA 14 39 r.13, dated 625*-II-20 (same spelling),
and (written ldsá-mas-iq-bi) in ND 2078 r.7, dated 638*-III-l (photo Iraq 17 pl. 24:5).
The ñame does not recur in other texts from Ziyaret Tepe.
6. Sumu-lesir: see note on ZTT 2:3. The reading of his title as dágil issüri, "augur",
seems certain despite the somewhat unusual form of the sign GÍL (cf. ZTT 5 r.5). Note
that an augur figures in ZTT 25:5 as recipient of a payment in copper together with an
ecstatic prophet, who was certainly associated with the temple of Istar.
7. The first three signs are partially covered by dirt and cannot be read for certain. The
reading rsub7-ri7-iá?~'-a--a is supported by the reference to Subrian augurs in NL 45 r.l 4-
17 (Iraq 20 pp, 197-198 and CTN 5 138, cited from copy): "Let the king, my lord, write
to the Subrian (king) (KUR.s[u]b-ri-ia-a-e) that he should send Parnaldé, his augur
(LÚ*.â-gz7-MUSEN.MES-5w), and let the king, my lord, ask him why are they interpreting
(the omens from) the birds positively"; the omission of the determinative KUR is un-
usual but by no means singular.82 That a Subrian augur would have an Akkadian ñame
is not implausible considering that Subria was reduced into a province under Esar-
haddon and by 611 BC had been an integral part of Assyria for already two generations.
Side 1. Lüqu: Aramaic(?) ñame common Assyria since the reign of Sargon II, see PNA
2/II 670.
82. Cf., e.g., ABA.ME§ [m]u-sur-a-a, "Egyptian scribes", SAA 7 1 r.ii 7; lu-ú ah-lú-mu-ú lu-ú gi-mir-[ra-
a-a l\u-ú mu-us-ra-a-a lu-ú ku-sa-a-a lu-ú qi-d[a7~ra-a-a], SAA 4 139:11-12; hi-lak-a-a /sa-mir-na-
a-a / ma-qa-mar-a-a / lab-du-da-a-a / hi-in-dar-a-a / mar-te-en-a-a / ra-hi-qu-a-a / pu-qud-a-a, ABL
1009r.3-14.
44 SIMO PARPÓLA
Discussion
Neo-Assyrian grain loans were usually written on triangular (heart-shaped) tablets such
as ZTT 14. Grain loans written on horizontal tablets and enclosed in an envelope, like
the present one, are quite rare but do exist, see e.g, CTN 3 44 and SAAB 9 #110; note
also ADD 113 and 114; ND 2321 (Iraq 16 p. 41) and ND 2331 (photo Iraq 17 pl. 27:5);
SAAB 5 #8 and SAAB 9 #116, which are also written on horizontal tablets but have no
extant envelope. There is no difference in phrasing between triangular and horizontal
grain loans. Note that triangular tablets were not necessarily grain loans but could occa-
sionally record other kinds of loans as well (e.g., CTN 3 20, a loan of stakes; ND 3448,
a loan of turtledoves).
5. ZT 12049 (Píate VIII)

Two fragments, 19' x 34' x 5' and 24' x 30' x 5' mm. Light brown. 5 + 5 lines.
Loan of barley (envelope of ZTT 4).
Date: [I/IIJ-10, eponym year of Nabü-tappüti-alik (613*).
Same scribe as in ZTT 4 and 6-7,
Obverse
1. [NA4.KISIBlhas~da-a-a AIx x x] [Seal of Hasdaya, son of PN].
[seal impression] (Seal impression)
2. 6 [ANSE SE.UM.MES ina GIS.BÁN sa 9 qá\. a-ki [sa
6 [homers
NINA.KI of
sá grain by the 9 "litre" seah
:PAB-w-a-su]
standard]
of [Nineveh, belonging to Ahüa-eríba],
blank space
4. \i~\na [IGI lhas-da-a-a ina ad-ri] [at the disposal of Hasdaya.] [He will pay
it at threshing time]
5. ina [NINA.KI ina SAG.DU-sá id-dan] in [Nineveh in its capital amount].
6. [rri.zUD.10.KAM] [Month Nisan/Iyyar, lOth day,
Reverse
1. [lim-mu IdPA-TAB-íw-D]u [eponym year of Nabü-tappütT~al]ik.
blank space of two lines
2. [IGI lsa-si]-rf [Witness: Sas]i.
3. [IGI JDINGIR]-KAR-Z> [Witness: Ilu]-etir.
4. [IGI lduru]-iq-bi [Witness: Samas]-iqbi.
5. [IGI Û-GIS LÚ*.£Íla-rgzT-MU[sEN] [Witness: Sumu-lesir, a]ugu[r].
remainder broken away (Rest destroyed)
Obv. '
Edge
Rev.
Edge
ZT 12070
6. ZT 12070 (Plates VHI-IX)

Horizontal tablet (w/h ratio 3 :2), 43 x 29 x 21 mm, complete. Orange brown. 5 + 2 + 5
+ 2 + l = 151ines.
Debt-note for a "man-woman" (envelope of ZTT 7).
Date: see ZTT 7.
Obverse
1. [N]A4.Kism ^sa-si-i Sealof Sasi,
2. [LÚ].rÁ\BA 15 '".Fa scribe of Istar of Nineveh,
3. EN LÚ, SAL ta-da-rnf owner of the "man-woman" being given.
stamp-seal impressions
4. sa lMAN-ba-ni The (man) of Sarru-bani is
46 SIMO PARPÓLA
Edge >&>ff><ismms%
KJsiE. >-**" *^/ *^~?&£f£$%
Ih*^ I r t ' f r -» '•, ¡Jxvv-, >• 1¿¿:jl*'<~ . •/
Ê >qer.^í^j^r
^Hfr^w-i^^^^pr
yyj^^^^j ^^^** i y^ J*^-, * i ?^* * *- • * S **yan' ,N ,» • ""J^"
Rev.
Left Side
ZT 12070.
5. IGIIEN-KASKAL-rEN-PAB Ltf.TÚG.UD atthe disposal of Bel-Harran-belu-usur,

\JD-mu ril~kf textile bleacher, On the state service day
Edge
6. suM-wa BE-â"1 /[a su]M he wül give (him back), If he does n[ot],
7. T-si-pi i-da-[n]a he wül pay double,
Reverse
(and) in addition he wül [...].
2. IGIIdPA-LÁL rLÚ,. Witness: Nabü-tarsi, shoemaker.
3. rIGf Witness: Ahüa-enfba],
4. IGIÛHUS-^S Witness: Ubru-Issár,
5.IGIIrSE§-/f Witness: Ahu-le'i.
Edge
6. IGI IdPA-MAN-PAB,MES-£w Witness: Nabü-sar-ahhesu.
7. Witness: Dannat-sarrüssu.
Side
Witness: A[...].
Notes
Obv. 1. "Seal of Sasi": Note that although this text has the horizontal format of loan tab-
lets and is phrased like a loan, the seal is here impressed by the owner/creditor, as in
sales documents (see Postgate 1976, pp, 12-13), not by the debtor, as normal in loan
documents (ibid.9 pp. 35-36). The position of the seal space also corresponds to that in
sales documents, and the ownership formula EN ,.. tadani "owner of ... being given/
sold" (see note on obv. 3) also is a typical feature of sales documents, not normally
found in loans. Nevertheless, the format of the tablet, the lack of payment, the debtor
formula (ina pan PN) in obv. 5, and the return and penalty formulae in obv. 5-7 un-
equivocally define it as a loan (cf. Postgate 1976, p. 13), See also the discussion below.
2, The title "scribe of Istar of Nineveh" is not attested elsewhere, The reading is certain,
however, and the title has a parallel in "priest (sangü) of Istar of Nineveh" (LÚ,SANG]A
d!5 NINAKI, PKTA pl. 36 i 24; LÚ: (= SANCA) sá 15 sé NINA, SAAB 9 no. 127 r.17). A
scribe of the Istar temple would normally have been called simply "temple scribe" (LÚ.
A.BA É-DINGIR), but the use of a fuller title here (analogous to that of the priest) is justifi-
able since the scribe here appears as the master of a devotee of the cult of Istar. The of-
fices and functions of temple scribes and priests partly overlapped and the two are often
oo
found together in contemporary texts,

The title of Sasi and the fact that he clearly was a resident of Ziyaret Tepe (cf. ZTT
1 r.l and 4 r.3, and see discussion on p. 18 above) and exercised control over a local
devotee of Istar (see below) implies that there was a temple of Istar of Nineveh at Ziya-
ret Tepe. The main temple of the goddess (Emasmas) was in Nineveh, but she is known
to have had temples in other cities as well, at least in Assur and Babylon, see Da Riva -
Frahm 1999-2000, pp. 169-182.
3. The logogram LÚ.SAL, lit. "man-woman", is otherwise attested three times in NA
sources: 1) [x] É.ME§ LÚ.SAL.ME 4 E[R]M.MES, "[x] houses of 'man-women' — 4 men",
Billa 85:14 (JCS 7 p. 85). This text, which is a census of various professionals (LÚ.ki-ü-
ki~ta-té) at Sibaniba, also lists a house of the musician (LÚ.NAR — 2 men), a house of the
priest (LÚ.SANGA—2 men), 5 houses of sons of "godly women" (LÚ.DUMU.MES DINGIR,SAL
— 15 men), and 3 houses of sons of "coiffured men" (DUMU.MES LÚ.suHUR.LÁ-fe), The
"coiffured men" (kezru) were votaries of Istar associated with assinnu (see below) in
Tablet I of the Epic of Gilgamesh.84 2) LÚlsAL (copy: LUGAL.SAL) GIS.TUKUL.MES i-na-ás-
si / i-na pu-ut diNNiN é-bir]-na é-bir^na i-sa-si, "The eman-woman' raises weapons and
83. E.g. weighing silver in SAA 13 188:11-12.

84. Cf, GPA 17 r.l 1-12 ("He shall give 7 'coifíiired men' (LÚSUHUR.LÁ.MES) and 7 "coiffured women" to
Istar who dwells in Arbela"); Kilmer 1982.
48 SIMO PARPÓLA
shouts, opposite Istar. Ebirna, ebirnal", KAR 215 + PKTA 16 i 6'-7' (coll. S. Parpóla;
the text describes ritual acts at the akitu festival), 3) [LÚ],KUR.GAR,RA iú,su-sa-nu sa ina
A.MES a-ha-mes ú-ra-[m]a-[ku] LÚ,su-sa-nu d+EN LÚ.SAL ÊN.LÍL, "The kurgarrü and
the horse trainer, who w[ash] each other in water — the horse trainer is Bel, the 'man-
woman' is Enlil", SAA 3 38: 14-15 (a cultic cormnentary explaining ritual acts carried
out at the Istar temple of Arbela),
All these passages, like the present one, are linked with the cult of Istar, and in 3)
the LÚSAL is equated with LÚ.KUR.GAR.RA (kurgarrü), an emasculated and transvestite
cult performer of Istar corresponding to Graeco-Roman gallus, the androgynous devotee
of Cybele.85 Evidently, then, the logogram LÚ.SAL, which is not attested before the NA
period, is an abbreviation for LÚ.UR.SAL = assinnu, another devotee of Istar explicitly de-
O£
scribed as "woman-like, effeminate" and closely associated with kurgarrü in lexical,

QfJ OO
ritual and mythological texts. Except for a lexical passage, the logogram LÚ.TJR.SAL is
attested only once in NA sources, in a ritual text that is probably based on a MA origi-
nal.89
Michael Roaf (personal communication) has suggested that the signs LÚ and SAL
should be read separately and understood as "a man (and) a woman".90 This is not possi-
ble, however, since the inner tablet (ZTT 7:6) xmequivocally reads: "his owner is Sási",
showing that the transaction concerned a single (male) person, not two. Moreover, in NA
legal documents concerning the sale or loan of a man and a woman, the ownership for-
mula used was EN UN.MES tadáni, "owner of faspeople being sold", not EN LÚ SAL tadani?1
When individuáis of different sex were sold, they were always lumped together as
"people" in the ownership formula. LÚ and SAL never appear together in such formulae.
85, See Groneberg 1986, pp, 33-39; Parpóla 1997b, pp, XXXH-XXXIV with notes 138-140; Nissinen
1998a, pp. 28-34, Kurgarrü is often met in NA sources, not only in ritual contexts (in addition to
SAA 3 38:14, see also SAA 3 4 i 10', 8 r.141 and 37:29') but also in administrativo texts (66
KUR.GAR.RA listed among deportees in Iraq 23 pl. 18 ND 2497:1) and legal documents, e.g,, SAA 14
104 r,12 (PN LÚ.KUR.GAR.RA as witness).
86, [LÚ].UR.SAL - [a\s-sin-nu = sin-ms-a-[nu\, MSL 12 226 vi 133, see CAD S p, 286,
87, See CAD A/2 p. 341 and the studies mentioned in m, 27, above.
88, LÚ.KUR.GAR.EA/LÚ.UR.SAL, MSL 12 238 r.üi 24-25.
89, LÚ.KUR.GAR.RA.MES' mi~lu-li qab-tí(-í) qab-lu-ú i~za-mu-ru /LÚ.UR.SAL.MES' (a-}ia-ru~ru-tú ú-sah-hu-ru,
"the kurgarrus sing, 'Battle is my game', the assinnus return laments", Menzel 1981, Band II, no.
39:9-10 // 40:15-16. As observed by K. Deller (ibid., T 84), the cultic context is the atátu festival of
Istar celebrated on the 13th of lyyar (the 2nd month).
90, E-mail of 1 November, 2004.
91, See, e.g. SAA 6 85:3 (sale of a man and a woman) and SAA 14 16:2 (sale of a man and his mother).
4. Sarru-bani: Akkadian ñame meaning "the king is creator". Except for the present text
(and the inner tablet, ZTT 7), the ñame is attested in NA sources only in ND 2073 (Iraq
QO
16 p. 32), an undated memorándum concerning two men "sold for money". Strikingly,
there too the ñame is preceded by a seemingly otiose sa, "(that) of ,93 While in the pre-
sent passage the expression could perhaps, with great reservations, be understood to
mean "the (assinnu) of Sarru-bani",94 such an interpretation is impossible in ND 2073,
where sa luiGAL-ba-a-ni clearly is a compound functioning as a proper ñame or a sort
of nickname, Considering the great rarity of the ñame Sarru-bani and ¿a+PN type com-
pounds in Neo-Assyrian,95 it seems extremely likely that the individual identified as sa
Sarru-báni is the same man in both texts. He would thus have come to Ziyaret Tepe
from Calah, where he had served at the local temple of Istar (see just below).
The tablet ND 2073 was found in a small complex of rooms (ZT 13-17) belonging
to the administrative quarters of NW Palace of Assurnasirpal II at Nimrud, cióse to the
Ziggurat and the principal Istar temple of Calah, Bét Kidmüri.96 It was the only docu-
ment found in ZT 15, which funetioned as a store-room, but the adjacent room ZT 16
yielded numerous tablets showing that it funetioned as the archive of the harem man-
ageress (sakintu) of the palace.97 This archive dates to the post-canonical period, several
tablets being dated between 625* and 616*, and had cióse links with the neighbouring
92. sa lLUGAL-ba-a-ni / lpu-sa-a-nu /PAB 2 ERM.MES / [sa ina] kas-pi / ta-da-nu-ni, ND 2073:l-r.2. The
ñame written IMAN-DÜ (SAA 6 312 r.4 and 313 r.2'; ND 3428:2, VAT 9339 r.8 and StAT 2 146 r.9)
has to be read Sarru-ibni; cf. the orthographies of the ñames Adad-ibni (PNA I/I p. 26), Assür-ibni
(PNA 1/1 p. 187), Bel-ibni, (PNA l/II pp. 305ff), Sm-ibni (PNA 3/1 p. 1133) and Samas-ibni
(Tallqvist 1914, p. 210).
93. Michael Roaf comments on this point: "This is striking. Your suggestion on p. 46 that the assinnus
had no ñames and that sa lSarru-bám was a way of referring to Ea ("king-creator's man") might be
the explanation. In this case the ñame would be generic and not specific and the LÚ.SAL from Kalhu
and from Tushan need not be the same individual."
94. Meaning perhaps that Sarru-bani is a relative or possibly the previous owner of the "man-woman".
In the present text, the owner of the assinnu is unequivocally Sasí.
95. The only other cases in Neo-Assyrian where personal ñames are combined with sa in a comparable
way are toponyms of the type URU sa PN, "(city) of PN" (passim). Note the spelling sá URU.di-kan-m
(for Sadikanni) in RIMA 2 p,177:114f. Compounds of the type â+NOUN were, by contrast, ex-
tremely common, e.g. sa-babi, "(man) of the gate, janitor", sa-kaJbani, "(man) of dogs, dog-keeper",
sa~ziqni, "(man) of beard, bearded courtier".
96. See Barbara Parker 1954, pp. 29-46; Mallowan 1953, pp. 34-38; and Reade - Postgate 1977-80, pp.
308-314.
97. See especially ND 2307-2309 and ND 2314-2316, featuring at least three different "manageresses",
two "female servants of the king", a royal concubine (sekretu), and two votarles dedicated to the god-
dess Mullissu (= Istar of Nineveh).
50 SIMO PARPÓLA
QS2
Bet Kidmüri. ND 2073, which comes from the top soil of the room ZT 15, also cer-
tainly belongs to this late period. It seems henee more man likely that sa Sarru-báni
already was a "man-woman" at the time he was sold at Nimrud, probably directly to
Sasi, the scribe of Istar of Nineveh at Ziyaret Tepe,
Why he did not have a normal ñame can be only guessed at. Perhaps his profession
required anonymity, a euphemistic nickname being used on occasions when a ñame was
needed for legal reasons." No assinnus with a ñame are known from NA texts, but a
kurgarrü named â-la-Issár-mannu ("Who is without Istar?") occurs as a witness in
SAA14104r.l2.
5, Bel-Harran-belu-usur: well-attested Akkadian ñame meaning "O Lord of Harran (=
Sin), protect the lord!", see PNA l/II pp. 301-302. The present individual, who was a
professional textile bleacher or fuller (aslaku)™ is not known from other texts from
Ziyaret Tepe, but no doubt he was a servant of Sasi or regularly working for him. How
else would he have obtained the "man-woman" from him on such favourable terms —
without paying a thing?
According to Lucian, De Dea Syria, 42-43, the priests of the "Syrian goddess" Atar-
gatis (the Aramaic equivalent of Istar) "all wear white, and have felt caps on their heads
... There is yet another body of sacred persons, auletes, syrinx-players, and galli, and
maddened, deranged women" (Lightfoot 2003, p. 275; see the commentary ibid. p. 480
for other classical references to white garments wom by the clergy of the goddess). No
direct information about the colour of the dress of the clergy of Istar seems to be avail-
able from cuneiform sources, but the present text (featuring a textile bleacher in
connection with a cult performer of Istar) certainly strongly suggests that it was white as
well. Note the mention of 50 white girdles (TÚG.sip-raf) in ND 2086 (Iraq 23 p. 18), a
tablet from a suite of offices associated with the cult of Istar at Nimrud (see above).
98. ND 2080, from the North-West Palace at Calah (Room ZT 17), is a loan of "silver of Istar of Bet
Kidmüri"; cf. fh, 100, below.
99. Note that the god Ea, the creator of the assmnu according to the "Descent of Istar" (line 92), was
also known as Ea-sarru, "Ea the king", the creator-king par excellence; see Frankena 1954, p. 86;
Galter 1983, pp. 43-45, 244f; Parpóla 1998, pp. 318, fhs. 14-15; and cf. the NA ñames Aia-sarru-
ibni, "Ea the king has created" (PNA 1/1 p. 93) and Báni-Aia-sarra, "Ea the king is creator" (PNA
l/II p. 265). Against this background, sa Sarru-bani could be understood as "the (man) of the King-
creator, creator king's man".
100. The logographic spelling of aslaku, LÚ.TÚG.UD (or rather LÚ.TÚG.BABBAR) literally means "textile
bleacher". He may have been a "fuller" (thus CAD and CDA), but it should be noted that there is
no evidence that he practiced his trade in the same way as a fuller (using "fuller's earth" and
treading or beating cloth for the purpose of cleansing and thickening it). Since there are no syllabic
spellings oí aslaku in Neo-Assyrian, it is possible that the NA reading of the logogram waspüsáia
(üompasü, "(to be) white"), attested in SAA 11 209 r.iii 29'
5, \JD-mu ril-kT: an abbreviated way of expressrng the time indication UD-mu sa il-ku-u-
ni, "the day when there is state serviee", of the inner tablet (ZTT 7:7), no doubt necessi-
tated by the laek of space, the line being already continued up to the end of the right
side. On the phrase itself see note on ZTT 7:7-r,l.
6-7. RE-ma í[a SU]M/i-si-pi i-da-na, "If he does not give, he will pay double": cf. BE-ma
la SUM-ni e-sip suM-a/2, SAA 14 430 r,3 (grain loan); sum-ma la SUM e-sip SUM-fa/í],
Ass 2282g = VAT 9776:8 (work contract); sum-ma la id-din e-sip SUM-ÍW?, Ass 13846ac
= VAT 8657 r.2 (interest-free loan of garments); cf. also ZTT 7 r.1-3, EE-ma la-din /IGI
/ i-si-pi SUM-7?a. Beside these cases, which (as in the present text) omit the price to be
paid double, the phrase in question is frequently attested in work contraéis (involving
the hire of shop assistants or harvesters),101 where the word e-sip is preceded by KUG.UD,
"silver", It is possible that the sign IGI in ZTT 7 r.2 is an unfínished KUG which the
scribe started to write by habit until he realised that no payment was actually involved.
The spelling i-si-pi for usual e-sip is not attested elsewhere but is paralleled by e-si-bi
SüM-an in SAAB 5 no. 22 r.4 (real estáte sale) and e-$i-bi SüM-na in StAT 2 123 r.4
(purchase of man).
Rev. 1. ú-rad-da i-x x: this phrase (omitted in the inner tablet) has no parallels and the
reading of the damaged signs remains obscure.
2. IdPA-LÁL: Akkadian ñame meaning "Nabü is correct/straightforward"; for other attes-
tations and spellings in Neo-Assyrian see PNA 2/H p. 896 s,v. Nabü-taris. The phonetic
complement ~si attached to the ñame in the inner tablet (ZTT 7 r.4) implies the pro-
nunciation Nabü-tarsi with syllable metathesis, cf. Harneen-Anttila 2000, p. 38, and
Luukko 2004, pp, 128-131. In addition to the examples listed there, note also the syl-
labic spellings indicating the pronunciation na*di for naîd in NA ñames (Apladad-naMi,
Assur-naMi, Bel-naMi, Sín-naMi and NaMi-ilu), collected in Parpóla 1997a, 322.
LÚ.ASGAB (askápu) is rendered "leatherworker" in CAD and CDA, but the word was
borrowed into Syriac and Arabic in the meaning "shoemaker, cobbler" (Payne Smith
1893 s,v, eskopo; Arab. iskáj), and this was doubtless the main activity of the askapu in
Neo-Assyrian times; cf. KAV 197 r.9-10, where an askapu makes sandals in a royal
workshop.
3-4. Ahüa-erTba and Ubru-Nabü: see notes on ZTT 1 r.5 and 4:3.
5. I§E§-//: Akkadian ñame meaning "the brother is able" (see PNA 1/1 p. 82a s,v, Ahu-
Ié3i and note the spelling ^PAB-li in SAA 10 165 r.ll). The ñame is omitted in the inner
tablet and does not recur in other texts from Ziyaret Tepe.
101. E.g., SAAB 5 #15; StAT 2 19-26 and 228.

52 SIMO PARPÓLA
6. Nabü-sar-ahhesu: Akkadian ñame meaning "Nabü is the king of his brothers" (see
PNA 2/11 pp. 871-873, differentiating between 21 individuáis thus named). The ñame is
also found in the inner tablet (ZTT 7 r.6) but does not recur in other texts from Ziyaret
Tepe.
7. ân-nat-LUGAL-su: a previously unattested Akkadian ñame meaning "his kingship is
strong". Cf. PNA 2/11 p. 668a j.w. Lülabbir-sarrüssu, "may he make his kingship long-
lasting", and Lü-terik-sarrüssu, "may his kingship be long".
Discussion
This is a unique and in several respects unusual text, Devotees of the cult of Istar rarely
appear in legal documents,102 and documents concerning the sale or loan of a male
devotee were previously unknown. Loans of people are on the whole very rare in the
NA period. The only examples known to me are GPA 103, a loan of three "bought men"
(sa-simi) and ten minas of bronze to two individuáis, and BT 104 and TCL 9 60, two
i n^
debt-notes for harvesters (ésidu). All these loans are written on horizontal tablets, like
the present one, and bear no interest. The status of the "bought men" in GPA 103 is
similar to that of the assinnu (who had been "sold for silver"), and the text resembles
the present one also in having a priest of Istar among the witnesses, but no date of return
is specifíed and accordingly there is no penalty clause either. BT 104 and TCL 9 60
both have a penalty clause and the latter (like most harvest contraéis) also has the essip
iddan clause discussed above. Based on this evidence, it would seem that the assinnu
was to be engaged in a seasonal chore not requiring his professional skills,
People were normally either bought or hired, not loaned, and this probably explains
the curious admixture of features from sales and contraéis found in the present text (see
note on obv. 1).
7. ZT 12070* (Plates X-XI)

Horizontal tablet (w/h ratio 3 :2), 36 x 22 x 15 mm, complete, Light brown. 5 + 2 + 6 +
2 + 1 = 161ines.
Debt-note for a "man-woman" (inner tablet of ZTT 6).
Date: XI-6.
102. See Radner 1997a, pp. 207-210. ND 2316 (Iraq 16 p. 40) concerns the dedication of a votary (sé-
Jütu) to Mullissu (= Istar of Nineveh); SAA 14 no. 443 and StAT 2 nos. 164 and 184 are marriage
contraéis for votaresses of Istar of Arbela.
103. See Postgate 1973, p. 131, and 1976, p. 144.
Obv.
Edge
Rev.
Left Side
Edge
ZT 12070*
Obverse
1. (xxxxx) (Lines 1-2 covered by the envelope)
2. (x x x x x)
3. sa IMAN-(ba-ni) The (man) of Sarru-bani is

4. ina IGI :EN-KASKAL-(EN-PAB) at the disposal of Bel-Harran-belu-usur,
5. LÚ.TÚG.UD textile bleacher.
Edge
6. â-si-i Sasi is bis owner.
7. UD-?77W il-ku-u-ni On the day when there is state service,
Reverse
1. i-dan BE-ma ía-din he will give (him back). If he does not,
2. IGI?
3. i~si-pi suM-na he will pay double,
4. IGIIdPA-LÁL-5Z Witness: Nabü-tarsi.
5. IGIIGASAN*-mw^-QÁL Witness: Beltl-(e)müq-qalli,
6. IGI IdPA-MAN-PAB.MES-^W Witness: Nabü-sar-ahhesu.
54 SIMO PARPÓLA
Edge
7. m.ZÍZUD.6.(KAM) Month Shebat (XI), 6th day,
8. (xxxx) (year covered by the envelope),
Side
l.IGIÂB-W-fl-SU Witness: Ahüa-eríba.
Notes
Obv. 1-2. These lines could not be read since still covered by the envelope, which de-
fied all attempts of removing.
3-4, The signs enclosed within parentheses are hidden by the envelope.
7-r.l. \JD-mu sa il-ku-u-ni / i-da-an\s phrase is not attested elsewhere, but ef. SAA 10
324 r.5f, "tomorrow is (the day of) the state service (ilkuj\d see the relevant
commentary in Parpóla 1983a, p. 244; for the syntax cf. mi-i-nu sa dul-lu-un-ni sup-ra,
"write me what work there is", SAA 10 277 r.7f. It is not possible to emend the passage
to read "he will give (it back) on the day when he requests it (e-ri-su-u-ni)"™4 as the
signs IL and KU are both perfectly clear on the tablet.
Rev, 1. la-din (II l[a SU]M, ZTT 6:6) is a crasis for la iddin also attested in SAA 6 240:6,
Ass 9570z:5, VAT 9332:7 (sum-ma / la-diri), SAAB 5 no. 31A r.l (BE la-din), and
SAAB 5 no. 63 r.2 (súm-mu / la-din-ni), Cf, also la imalla > la-mal-la, CTN 3 no. 4
r,5, but note that otherwise the merger of la + i- was realized as le- in Neo-Assyrian
(Luukko 2004, p. 120).
2. IGI?: perhaps an unfinished KUG; see note on ZTT 6:6-7. The rest of the line is blank.
5. ÂSAN^-mw^r-QÁL: Akkadian ñame meaning "My Lady is the strength of the weak".
It is attested here for the fírst time but has good parallels in ñames such as Issar-emü-
qaia, "Istar is my strength" (PNA 2/1 p. 571), Issar-dür-qalli, "Istar is the bulwark of the
weak" (ibid.\, "Nabü is the bulwark of the weak/frail" (PNA 2/II p.
823), Bessí-tall!, "My Lady is my protection" (PNA l/II p. 340) and Belet-issé°a, "The
Lady is with me" (ibid, p. 297). For the aphaeresis of the initial e- of emüqu see Há-
meen-Anttila 2000, pp. 37-38, and Luiikko 2004, pp. 121-122, and for the orthography
cf. the spellings with muq listed in PNA 2/1 571 (ÎS-e-muq-ia/iá, l\5-e-muq~qa-a-á).
8. This line ahnost certainly contained an eponym date, which however remains illegi-
ble since covered by the envelope.
104. Cf. SAA 14 88:11-12, \JD-mu sá e~ri-sú~u~m suM-an, and ND 2080:6-7 (Iraq 16 p. 33), \SD-mu sa e-
ñ~m-u-ni suM~na. On the standard repayment clause "he will give (it) back in the month of x" see
Postgatel976,p. 38.
8. ZT 12073 + 12074 (Píate XI-XII)

Horizontal tablet (w/h ratio 2:1), 60x30x17 mm, complete. Greenish brown. 7 + 2 + 4
= 13 Unes.
Affidavit concerning military garments. Undated.
Same seribe as in ZTT 2-3 and 14.
Obv.
Edge
Rev.
ZT 12073 + 12074
Obverse
1. 3 rTÚGn.Ki,T 3 felt armours, a waist-belt,
2. TÚG.sa-ha-ra-te TÚG.ma-qa-tu-tú leggings, a short-cut felt gown,
3. TÚG.DÚL 2 r TÚG'1.?lp^]-r1SZ z"" 1 Á a coat of mail, 2 wraps, 1 armlet:
4. súm-mu a-ni-u a-ma-rlcf a-na lgi-ri-[f\e Verily all this has been given to GMtu,
5. /a SUM-WZ a-??a rLÚ*.MÁ"1.[D]u.rDU"' verily he is not giving it up to the
6. ú-[r]a-ma-a[n~n]i b[oatm]an.
7. IGI ÛHUS-URU.KASKAL L[Ú*].GAL-URU Witness: Ubru-Harran, city manager,
Edge
8. IGIlld-qi-la-nu LÚ*.ABA Witness: Kiqillanu, seribe.
9. IGIlhal-di-?A& LÚ*,MÁ.DU.DU Witness: Haldi-nasir, boatman.
56 SIMO PARPÓLA
Reverse
1. IGI ^-PAB-AS LÚ*,KAS.LUL Witness: Assur-ahu-iddina, cupbearer.
blank line
2. man-nu sa il-lak-a~m i-ti-bu-su-ni Whoever comes back and is well,
blank line
3. a-ni-u a-ma~la a-na lgi-ri~te will give all this to GMtu.
blank line
4. ''SüM'-an
two stamp-seal impressions
Notes
Obv. 1. TÚG.Ki.TA-Aa/-j?a-íe: plural of supalítu halluptu, written TÚG.Ki.TA-Aa/-/w-paf in
SAA 7 119 r.i 12, 126:4 and ND 2687 (Iraq 23 pl. 23) r.4; for the meaning "armoured
under-coat" see Postgate 2001, p. 386. Postgate finds that "identification as a mail-shirt
is satisfactory, because we require a word for the scale armoured corslets, with or with-
out short sleeves, which are frequently worn by regular soldiers on the reliéis", but since
the supalítu halluptu were almost without exception made of felt, identification as "felt
armour" seems more appropriate; cf. below, note on line 3 (TÚG.DÍJL), The present ab-
breviated spelling is also attested in SAA 7 124:9 and 10,
TÚG,si~pi-tú is a previously unattested variant of sipirtu, the broad waist-belt or
cummerbund of Assyrian soldiers (see Postgate 2001, p. 385). For other examples of the
assimilation r + t —> tt in Neo-Assyrian (e.g., takpirtu/takpittu), see Luukko 2004, p, 78.
2. TÚG,sa~ha~ra-te certainly = /saharráte/ "leggings", cf. SAA 7 124:11, where [x TÚG].
sa-har-ra-[té\e follows [x TÚ]G,Ki.TA-haí-pa-te and [x TÚG].si~bir-[a-té]. This
word is otherwise written with sa or sá in NA texts; parallels for the unusual spelling
with sa occurring here are presented and discussed in Harneen-Anttila 2000, pp. 9-10,
and Luukko 2004, pp. 74-75. For the translation "leggings, socks" see Postgate - Fales
1992, p. XXIX; note also the OA and MA passages cited in CAD S/l 81, where sahar-
rátu is followed by suhuppátu, "boots". Based on the context, it seems certain (despite
the determinative TÚG) that mail leggings, the standard leg protection worn with NA
military boots, are meant here.
TÚG,ma-qa-tu-tú: probably a short gown made of felt (SAA 7 95:If and 97:4) or
linen, often mentioned beside urnutu (a shirt or frock), cf. Postgate 2001, p. 386f, Post-
gate - Fales 1992, p. 216, and CAD M/l p. 251 s.v. maqatu, The word is to be inter-
preted as Paccel participle present of Aramaic qf9 "to cut short" (nfqataVnfqafa >
maqafu > maqattu), lit. "cut-off, shortened (gown or mantle)"; cf. Palestinian Aramaic
qf qfk, "cut your cutting (spoken to a tailor)" and "his friend would cut off (<#*) half of
his garment" (Sokoloff 1990, 488a). This interpretation is supported by the variant TÚG.
mu-qa-tu-tu/tú attested in StAT 2 164:12 and 255:6', and Ass 13846ae = VAT 8659:2,
which was clearly understood as a D-stem participle, and by the fact that the word had
sepárate masculine and feminine forms, evidently reflecting the grammatical gender of
the kind of gown "eut short". A similar case is the word gammídu/gammidutu listed just
before TÚG,ma-qa~tu-fú in the cloak section of the Practical Vocabulary ofAssur (PVA
246-250), which evidently derives from Aramaic passive participle gammid and henee
probably means "smooth gown or cloak" (cf, Syr, gmd, "to mangle/smooth (linen)",
Payne Smith 1893, pp. 71-72).105 In Ass 13846ae = VAT 8659:2-5 (unpub.), the word is
listed together with felt armours (TÚG.KLTAME§-/za~/a-pa-te) and waist-belts
, as in the present text.
3. The logogram TUG.DÚL is otherwise attested only in SAA 10 238:15 (LÚ.MAS.MA§
TÚG.DÚL SAs is-sak-kan\ NA letter paraphrasing an exorcistic ritual, where it corre-
sponds to the logogram TÚG.GÚ.É, "coat, armour" of the relevant bilingual incantation
(túg.gú.é sas // nahlapta santa, CT 16 28:68-69, see the discussion in Parpóla 1983a,
ad line 15). Thus it was an alternativo NA logogram for nahlaptu, "coat, armour": for
writings with TÚG.GÚ.É see SAA 7 89 r.8; SAA 16 95 r,9; GPA 1:10; KAR 141:17; and
KAN 3 1 r.26 and 33 (beside supalítu halluptu, "felt armour"). KAR 141:17 refers to a
coat of wool, but SAA 7 89 r.8 certainly to a waist-coat-like scale armour (Deszo 2004,
322), since the material is bronze. Based on the context, its seems likely that a scale
armour is meant in the present text, too. This meaning is certainly also implicit in SAA
16 95 r.9, and probably in the curse "May Sin . . . clothe them in leprosy like a coat/scale
armour (na-ah/ha-lap-tij\A 2 2 iv 5 and 1 1 r.10'.
TÚG.nik-si: lit. "(cloth) cut(ting)", a textile listed after pariktu, "curtain", and sa
muhhi kanni, "pot-stand cloth" in KAN 3 1 r.31; before qirmu, "wrap", ibid. 10; after
sahílu (a kind of shawl) in PVA 242; and between sahílu and gulenu, "cloak", in GPA
1:11; therefore probably a kind of cloak, wrap or shawl. Nahlaptu (written TÚG.GÚ.É)
and niksu are also mentioned together (in the same order) in a text from the nearby Giri-
cano (Radner 2004, #4 r.30-31).
The interpretation of the rest of the line remains problematic; cf. bét ahí "sleeve,
arm covering", attested in SAAB 1 2 ii 7' (É-ÁMES) and PVA 282 (TÚG.É-Á.MES-AZ)-
4-6. For the syntax of NA sworn statements see Parpóla - Watanabe 1988, pp. XXXIX-
XL, and cf. the two NA affidavits discussed by Radner 1997b, pp. 121-125.
4. a-ni-u, "this" (also in r.3): a very rare spelling for normal an-ni-u, otherwise attested
only in ND 2673:4 (NL 45 = CTN 5 pl. 27), a letter to the king from Tushan. Cf. a-nu-
ri-ig, "now", a unique spelling for normal an-nu-rig in ND 2799:9 (CTN 5 pl. 24), a
105. Note also JAram. gmd, "zusammenziehen, verkürzen", Dalman 1938, 81a.
Í ,
58 SIMO PARPÓLA
letter to the king from Duri-Assur, governor of Tushan in year 728 (PNA l/II pp. 389-
390); also a-nu-rig ND 2668:3 and r.8 (CTN 5 p. 777), and a-ni-tú, "this", SAA 15 288
r.2, both of unknown provenance. The fact that the present spelling thus fínds parallels
practically only in texts from Tushan strongly supports the identification of Ziyaret
Tepe as Tushan.106 It is worth noting that the spelling súm-mu (rather than súm~ma,
sum-ma, or sum-mu) at the beginning of the line also is eonsistent with the regional
orthography of Tushan (cf. SAA 531 r.14,37:10 and r.17). See also the comrnentary on
ZTT 22.
a-ma-la is a previously unattested proclitic form of the phrase ana mala ~ (n)am-
mála, "altogether". It is usually understood adverbially (Harneen-Anttila 2000, p. 61;
CAD M/l p. 147 s.v. mala) and translated aceordingly (cf. ep~se-ti an-ni-ü a-na ma-ía
sa PN si-i, "this accomplishment is entirely that of PN", SAA 15 84 r.14; LÚ*.e-mw-#e-
sú a~na ma-la de-e-ka, "his troops have been utterly defeated", SAA 1 31:11 and r.ll;
similarly also AfO Beih. 6 no. 6), but this is out of question in the present context,
where the intended meaning clearly is "all". Cf. ANSE.a-sap-pu-sú nam-ma-la sa PN,
"all the pack-animals of PN", SAA 5 88:10, and LÚ*,SANGA.MES am-ma-la dul-lu [le-pu-
£w], "all the priests should perform the ritual", SAA 13 35:7. The meaning "all" also fits
the passages where the phrase has been rendered "completely, utterly".
The phrase annm ammála is not attested elsewhere. The usual NA expression for
"all this" was PAB annm gabbu (cf. SAA 13 168:16; KAN 3 8 s. 1; MVAeG 8 27:7;
StAT 2 84:5); it is unclear why this expression was not used here.
Gíritu: Assyrianized Canaanite ñame meaning "clientship" or "diéntele" (of a god),
common in Assyrian sources after 750 BC (see PNA l/II pp. 425Í). It corresponds to the
Akkadian masculine ñame Ubrütu with the same meaning (cf. above, note on ZTT 1:5)
and had evidently become fully absorbed into the NA onomasticon already by the late
8th century.
7. Ubru-Harrani: Akkadian ñame meaning "client of (the god of) Harran". For the read-
ing and other attestations of the ñame see note on ZTT 1:5, and Tallqvist 1914 s.v, Isdi-
Harran.
106. The only comparable spelling in texts certainly not from Tushan is a-nu-ríg in SAA 5 227 s, 3, a
letter from Urzuhina. In the common legal phrase amele (LÚ.ME§-e) annüte, "these gentlemen" (76
examples), the masculine plural of annm is written 9 times as a-nu-teM/m in texts from Assur
(StAT 2 169:10, 15; 269:6, ZA 73 242 LE 1; AfO 32 38:16), Nineveh (SAA 12 19 r.21, ADD
1195:14), Calah (RIMA 2 199:90) and Dw-Katlimmu (BATSH 6 #69:6 and 8). See also discussion
ofZTT22.
The title rab ali, "city manager", which has to be distinguished from rab álani,
"village inspector" (pl. rab alúnate), was hitherto attested only in SAA 5 3 r,3,107 ND
3472:5 (Iraq 15 pl. 14)108 and GPA 135:5;109 the passage SAA 11 184 r,3 can be as well
restored LÚ*.GAL-UR[U.MES].
8. Kiqillanu: Akkadian ñame possibly derived from the word kiqillutu, "dung-heap,
rubbish", common in NA sources dated between 831 and 621* BC; see PNA 2/1 618.
9. Haldi-nasir: Akkadian ñame meaning "Haldi is protector", For other attestations of
the ñame (all from the reign of Sargon) see PNA 2/1442.
Rev. 1. Assür-ahu-iddina: Akkadian ñame meaning "Assur has given a brother", identi-
cal with the royal ñame Esarhaddon (see PNA 1/1 pp. 145-152; the spelling ^-PAB-AS
oecurrüig here is otherwise attested only in writings of the royal ñame). It is surprising
that a cupbearer could bear the ñame of a famous Assyrian king, since at least the ñames
of Assurbanipal and Sennacherib appear to have been tabooed during and affcer these
kings' lifetimes (Kataja 1987, pp. 65-68). However, an individual thus named is also
known from three legal documents from Assur dated in the reign of Assurbanipal (PNA
1/1152).
2. sa ... i-ti-bu-su-ni, literally "to whom it has gone/is going well", is an ellipsis for the
phrase sirsu itiábsu "he is doing well" occurring in SAA 10 297:10x5 and 304 r.ll.
Discussion
This is, again, a unique and unusual document which has no parallels in the corpus of
Neo-Assyrian. Garments belonging to a man named GTrítu are temporarily entrusted to
a boatman who is evidently embarking on a dangerous mission, since his return is not
guaranteed. Almost all the garments usted are well attested as military equipment. The
three felt armours indicate that the crew consisted of three men, the leader probably
receiving the coat of mail, and possibly the whole crew the protective leggings men-
tioned in obv. 2. The journey was almost certarnly directed downstream the Tigris river,
which was in Babylonian and Median hands. Since GTrítu's title to the garments had to
107. "I sent the Ittfeans with the city manager (LÚ*.GAL-URU) for the logs which were held back in
Eziat, and he got them moved by fighting, The deputy of their city manager (LÜ*.GAL-URU,ME§-,ÍM-
mi) andnine of his soldiers were wounded..,", SAA 5 3 r.1-7,
108. "Bel-ismanni, city manager (GAL-URU), has recei[ved] 3 homers of wine (and) 7 jars of Ilu-ahu-
usur",ND 3472:1-5,
109. "[x homers] in 4 silos; [x] hundred (homers) in 10 granaries; [...] two thousand in the town of
Adad; [x] thousand one hundied (homers) in the farm/hamlet (URV.kap-rf) of the city manager (£a
GAL-URU)", GPA 135:1-5.
60 SIMO PARPÓLA
be confirmed by an affidavit, he probably was a soldier who had received his equipment
from the government but held no legal title to it. He may have belonged to the chariot
troops alluded to in ZTT 13 and 22, who were heavily armoured and equipped with
scale armour and mail leggings.110
That a document like this would be ineluded in an archive otherwise largely dealing
with grain is surprising and requires an explanation. In view of the numerous links of
the archive with the temple and/or cult of Istar of Nineveh pointed out above (see Table
VI and notes on ZTT 6:2 and the discussion of ZTT 12), a natural explanation would be
that the sworn statement quoted in obv. 4-6 was made before Istar of Nineveh,111 and
the affidavit was subsequently deposited in the temple archive, This would mean that
the monumental building complex uncovered in Operation G is very likely to be the
temple of Istar itself. Another possibility is that Room 10, where the text was found,
was the office of the "city manager", who figures as the principal witness in the text,
110
This official appears to have disposed of considerable grain reserves, which would
account for the nature of the archive, and the long letter concerning chariot troops, ZTT
22, which was also found in Room 10, may have been addressed to him, although this is
far from certain.113 But if Room 10 was the office of the city manager, why would ZTT
6-7 have been deposited there and not in the office of the scribe of the Istar temple, who
is the central person in that document? See also the note on ZTT 22:1.
9. ZT 12081 (Píate XII)

Horizontal tablet (w/h ratio 4:3), 3?x 27 x 16 mm, complete. Light brown. 4 + 1 + 4 =
9 lines.
List of five young women and one man.
Undated.
Same scribe as inZTT 11-13 and 15-18.
110. See Deszo 2004 and 2006,

111. Cf. TH 52, a report on military equipment (helmet, cloak, leather bags, etc.) "earried off by the
river" and restituted to a sa-sépi guard after he had appeared (i~ti-ti-zi) before the city god Adad. This
text is not an affidavit, as it contains no sworn statement and no witness list, but it does suggest that
affidavits were sworn true in the temple of the city god. For NA judicial documents involving
sworn statements before gods, see StAT 2 312 (Nabü) and 313 (Samas); see also Fales 1977 and Jas
1996, pp. 21 ff and 41 f for three other legal cases decided in the presence of the city god of Guzana,
112. SeeGPA135.
113. See the note on ZTT 22:1,
Obv.
Edge
Rev.
Mi Tf
ZT 12081
Obverse
1. MÍ, Z-Z>Z-PAB.MES-r&r The woman Ibbi-ahhesa,
2.MÍ P l-/f the woman 111,
3. MÍ.dNIN,LÍL-AMA the woman Mullissu-ijmmi,
4. MÍM-ma-ni-ti the woman Samanitu,
Edge
5. MÍ.W-ÍW-'DINGIR'1 the woman Ütu-ilu;
Reverse
l.Ika¡-da-rcT-a the man Kaldayu.
blank line
2. PAB 5 MÍ.MES TUR Total, five young women;
3. 1 LÚ* one man.
Notes
Obv, 1. Ibbi-ahhesa: Akkadian female ñame meaning "fruit of her brothers", not previ-
ously attested inNA; cf. MB MLin-bi-$ES.MES-sa, BE 15 185:24 (Holscher 1996, p, 102),
and NA (w)Jb-bu-u, "fruit-like(?)", K 8434 i 16 (Iraq 41 [1979] 56).114 The assimilation
114, This text, which onginally contained about 150 female ñames, was probably a register of the fe-
male residents of the SW Palace of Nineveh in Sennacherib's time. Note that the text includes two
well-known harem administrators of the SW Palace, Alji-tallí (col. i 20) and Addatl (col. iii 6),
attested in documents dated between 694 and 683. For Aî-talli see SAA 5 88-93 and PNA 1/1 pp.
67f; for Addatí, see PNA 1/1 pp. 44 and 51 (combining the entries Adda-afl and Addatl).
62 SIMO PARPÓLA
rib > bb occurring here is not found in other NA ñames featuring the element iribú
"fruit" (see PNA 2/1 p. 542 s,vv, Inbá, Inbi-Assur, Inbu-isíha) and may henee be due to
Aramaic influence, cf. Syr. (ebo, "fruit", and see Fales 1979, p. 60.
2. Cf. m.i-H~ia MiJá-kín-tu, "Iliya, harem manageress", ND 2313:6 (Iraq 16 p. 39). The
date of this document is broken, but as several texts of the same archive (ZT 16) date
from the years 625*-616*, it is not impossible that the same woman is in question; see
above, note on ZTT 6:4. Iliya is explained in PNA 2/1 p. 515 s.v. IlTa as either West
Semitic or Akkadian ("Ea is my god"), but as the word order z7f-DN is atypical for
Akkadian (see Stamm 1939, pp. 335-336), it is best taken as West Semitic, probably
Hebrew, to be compared with Biblieal êlíyah (2 K 1:3, 4, 8, 12, etc.); note that about
half of the women listed in the harem inventory K 8434 have West Semitic ñames, The
ñame MÍ.Z-/Z occurring here is hapax and possibly an abbreviation of IlTya; cf. the
masculine ñame li-li-i (PNA 2/1 p. 515), but note also the female ñame (Mf).i-H-i-ti, "II
is my god" in K 8434 = Iraq 41 57 iii 9, cf, PNA 2/1 pp. 514 and 517 s.w. Ileî-ilT and
Il-ilí,
3. Mullissu-ummí: Akkadian female ñame meaning "Mullissu is my mother", also
attested in the above-mentioned harem register (K 8434 ii 9; there written (MÍ).[NiN].LfL-
AMA) and in a further text from Nineveh dating from the latter part of the reign of Assur-
banipal, see PNA 2/II p. 767.
4. Samamtu: previously unattested Akkadian female ñame meaning "born on the eighth
day"; the spelling with SÁ accords with the OA/MA syllabic spelling of the numeral
"eight",115 Cf. ArbTtu, "born on the fourth day" (written MÍ.ar~bi-tú, ND 2687:5) and
SefrTtu, "born on the seventh day" (written (m).se~eb-i-tú, K 8434 iv 11), and the corre-
sponding masculine ñames Arbaiu, "born on the fourth day" (written -toAKAM-fl-a, 2 R
64 r.iii 22), Hansáiu, "born on the fifth day" (written syllabically lha-an-sa-ia in
BATHS 6 7 r.9, and logographically I\JD,5.KAM-a~a,passim), Sessaiu, "born on the sixth
day" (written %x6,KAM-a-a, SAA 14 421 r.4), Sefrüiu, "born on the seventh day" (writ-
ten ^JD.l.KAM-a-atpassim), andEsmiu, "born onthe 20th day" (written^Ô.KAM-a-a,
passini).
5. Ütu-ilu: Akkadian female ñame meaning "I have found (the) god"; not previously at-
tested, but cf. the similar female ñame Ill-ütu, "I have found my god" (written m,i¡-u-tú
and MÍ.il-iu-u-tü) occurring in post-canonical texts from Assur (PNA 2/1 p. 536 s.v.
115. Cf. sa-ma-ni, TCL 19 17:36 (OA); sa~ma-na-at, Ea II 142f (ms. A, MA). The corresponding mas-
culine ñame (Samanaiii) is surprisingly written with a different sibilant (^sa-ma-na-a-a) in SAA 14
81:11; cf. the discussion in Luukko 2004, p. 74f.
Ilütu). Cf. also the masculine ñames Üta-misaram, "I have found justice", Aham~üta, "I
have found a brother", etc., cited CAD A/2 p. 520.
r.l. Kaldayu: lit., "Chaldean", attested as a masculine personal ñame borne by at least
four different individuáis in texts dated between 744 and 623*, see PNA 2/1 p. 599.
Note that Chaldean deportees settled in the province of Bit-Zamani/Amidi (to the west
of Ziyaret Tepe), presumably after 710 BC, are referred to in three letters from the reign
of Sargon, SAA 5 14 and 79-80; cf. also notes on ZTT 13:2,15:3 and 17:2.
Discussion
The young women listed in this text were almost certainly to be entered into the harem
mentioned in ZTT 12 and 13. Note that the scribe who wrote this tablet also wrote ZTT
12 and 13.116
10. ZT 12039a (Píate Xffl)

Horizontal tablet (w/h ratio 3:2), 48 x 33 x 19 mm, almost complete. Light brown. 4 + 2
+ 5 = lllines.
Receipt of barley.
Date: VII-[x].
Obverse
1. [x x] ""8"" ANJSE SE.PAD.ME§] [x+] 8 homer[s of barl]ey,
cylinder-seal impression (cylinder-seal impression)
2. ut-ru-íú [[x x]] additional (delivery),
3. Im[u-s]al-tim-á(JílJ M[us]allim-Samas,
Edge
4. [LÚ*.GAL]-T.SUR [chief] oil presser
5. [x x x x]x [...i
Reverse
1. rTA*"' IGI mx[x x x x] has received from P[N].
2, it~ti-si [(x x x)]
blank space of two lines
116. Note also the letter SAA 13 65, where Urda-Nabü, a priest of Calah, informs the king that he had
seen "some beautiful girls in the temple", Even though he does not spell it out, he appears to be
routinely asauming that the tóng might be interested in considering these girls for his harem, since
he had already taken care of checking their family backgroimds.
ii
64 SIMO PARPÓLA
Obv. >
i
Edge
Rev.
Edge
-1—
ZT 12039a
3. IGI Ia-ía-wa-[a¿-DiNGiR?] Witness: Átana[h-z7f],

4. IGI lbur-rkT-[x x x] Witness: Burki{.,.].
Edge
5. rrrf .Dju6 UD.X.KAM] Month Ti[shri (VII),., .th day],
6. [Hm-mu Ix x x x] [eponym year of.,,].
Notes
Obv. 1. There is room for two signs at the beginning of the line, so the broken number is
probably [10]8 (written [l-me] 8) or [20]8 rather that [3]8, [7]8 or the like.
2. The word ut-ru-tú (fem. sg. of wírw, "additional, excessive, superfluous") is slightly
indented, indicating that it belongs together with SE.PAD.ME§ (= kurummutu) in line 1,
1 1 *7
with which it agrees in gender and number. The two illegible signs following it are
partly covered by dirt and may have been erased by the scribe.
3, Musallim-Samas: Akkadian ñame meaning "Samas is health-giver", well attested in
8th and 7th-eentury texts from Assur and Calah, see PNA 2/11 p, 776.
4. The title LÚ*.GAL-I.SUR, "chief oil-presser", is attested in the NA professions list from
Sultantepe (MSL 12 235 v 17), and the width of the break calis for restoring GAL before
I SUR. For a letter from a collective of 20 oil-pressers from Assur, see Postgate 1974, pp.
363-367. Oil-pressers are also mentioned in texts from Nineveh (e.g., SAA 12 65:5) and
Calah (e.g, GPA 197; ND 3412:4.6 [Iraq 17 pl. 28: 3]).
Rev. 2. For other examples of the receipt formula TA IGI PN it-ti-si, see discussion of ZTT 2.
3. Instead of Átanah-ill (PNA 1/1 p. 232), a eommon Akkadian ñame meaning "My god,
I am exhausted", one could also consider restoring Átanah-ilani (2 attestations) or Áta-
nah-Samas (3 attestations). However, the latter ñames are far less eommon than Átanah-
ilí, and it is possible that the element *ilani (DINGIR.MES) in Átanah-ilani is in fact to be
read z'/í, see note on ZTT 2 r.2.
4. lbur-rkT-[x x]: cf, the Egyptian ñame Bur-Kubi (twice written lbur-ki-bi\A l/II
p. 354a. In view of the ñame Birkia (ibid., p. 346a), one might also consider restoring
lbur~rk?-[DN], "(in) the lap [of god DN", see CAD B p. 257a s.v. birku 2c and cf.
ñames like Qat-ilani/Ina-qat-ilani, "(in) the hand of god" (PNA 2/1 p. 540 and 3/1 p.
1010) and (Ina)-sár-DN-allak, "I walk (in) the spirit of god DN" (PNA 2/1 p. 541). A
further possibility would be to read IURi!!,rKi"'-[a-a] = Akkadayu, "Akkadian" (PNA 1/1
p. 95), but this does not seem to be supported by the traces.
5. rrrr.D[U6] seems the only possible reading of the month ñame.
11. ZT 12039b (Píate XTV)

Horizontal tablet (w/h ratio 3:2), 42' x 31 x 16 mm, lower part of obverse destroyed.
Lightbrown. 6 + 1 + 5 = 12 lines.
Delivery receipt of barley.
Date:III-19.
Same scribe as in ZTT 9-10,12-13 and 15-18.
117. The plural sign MES following SE.PAD is orthographic only, cf. e.g. SE.PAD.MES an-ni-ti, ABL 1385:
17. Spellings without ME§ are rare and attested only in SAA 14 227 s.2, Ass. 10783a: 1 (unpub.), BT
116:1 (Iraq 25 pl. 23), CTSHM 30:18, KAV 120 r.6 and 170 r.5, and StAT 2 186 r.3. For the
reading of §E.PAD.ME§, see note on ZTT 12:7, below.
I
66 SIMO PARPÓLA
Obv.
^>>V^97T*'";-TC23rrl \
Edge
Rev.
ZT 12039b
Obverse
1. 16 ANSE rSEn.[PA]D.M[ES 0] 16 homers of ba[r]le[y]
2. [T]A x[x] rx x"1 x[x x] [fr]om[ ]
3. r!6n [x x x x] 16 I ]
4. [x x x x x x]
5. [x x] rx x~* [x x x]
6. [x x] rx~l [x x x x]
Edge
7. [x x]x x[x x x x]
Reverse
1. rri.siG4 UD. 19.K[ÁM 0] Month Sivan (III), 19t[h day].
space
2. 40 : 6BÁN Mf.rGAR"'-[/M] 40.6 homers (to) the harem manager[ess].
3. rn.siG4 ina su/2"1 [x x] Month Sivan, in the care of [...].
4. [0] GlS.GAR.MES Dues from statejields.
5,[Q] UD.19 19thday.
Notes
Obv. 2. The broken sign at the beginning of the line is most probably TA (cf, ZTT 1:2,
16:2), but could possibly also be read [s]u.r2" (cf. ZTT 12:2, 4, 6, etc.). The second sign
could be rIGr, The format of the tablet indicates that it is a receipt or loan, but it is strange
that it contains no witnesses, There is hardly room from these in lines 5-7, which in ad-
dition to the entry "8 homers 6 seahs" (needed to make up the total "40 homers 6 seahs"
in rev. 2) should have contained the ñame of the recipient.
Rev. 2. Cf. ZTT 13 r.5f and 12 r.4-6; on the "ditto" sign (:), here used as an "abbrevia-
tion" for ANSE "homer", see note on ZTT 2:1. The logographic spelling of sakintu,
"harem manageress", restored here is also attested in SAA 6 85:7 and 93 r.3; cf. MÍ.GAR-
te, íbíd. r.ll, StAT 2 244 r.3, SAAB 9 no. 67:3. Note also MÍ.GAR.MES, SAA 7 23:1; MÍ.
GAR.KUR-ÍW, SAA 14 14: 6.
Lines 2-5 are written in a slightly smaller script and on somewhat drier clay than
the rest of the text.
3. For ina su/2n, "in the care of", see note on ZTT 12:2.
4. GIS.GAR.MES is a hapax legomenon in Neo-Assyrian, and the context seems to exclude
1 152
the reading Sikittu attested in lexical texts. It is henee probably a previously unat-
tested spelling for iskáru, "assigned quota, impost; state field" (CAD I/J pp. 244-249;
Postgate 1974, pp. 94-110), which was normally written É§,GÁRbut occasionally GIS.GAR
in MA and NA texts.119 If so, the term would here refer to deliveries of barley from
fíelds owned by the central government. Several examples of iskáru in the meaning
"state (palace or temple-owned) fíeld" are found in third and second millennium
Akkadian texts (see CAD I/J 248Í), but the word was hitherto not attested in this mean-
ing in Neo-Assyrian. Note, however, that the meaning "field" is well attested in Ara-
maic and Arabic, where iskáru survives as a loan-word. Cf. Syr. êskor, êskoro, "a yoke
of land = about two-thirds of an acre; field, piece of land, farm; (church) land" (Payne
Smith 1983, p. 31a); Jewish Aram. êskará, "abgegrenztes Gebiet, Feld" (Dalman 1938,
p. 44a); Syrian Arab. skár/skára, "un lopin de terre labouré et ensemencé; un petit tas de
grains de ble ou de tabac" (Barthélémy 1935, p. 401). See also the discussion of ZTT 1
and 2.
118. GI§.KLGAR, GIS.GAR = MIN (= sikittu) sá É, Nabnitu K 200f. Neither Sikittu A, "stature, structure, con-
struction, appearance" (CAD S/2 p. 430), ñor sikittu B, "garden plot" (ibid. p. 431, MB and NB
only), make good sense here.
119. See KAV 98:42, 99:23,100:14.17.21,103:10,108:10 (MA); CTN 3 74:4 (NA), Note also the spell-
ing á.gis.gar.ra in Sumerian (Ur ID) texts.
68 SIMO PARPÓLA
12. ZT 12071 (Píate XV)

Vertical tablet (w/h ratio 5: 8), 30 x 48 x 17 mm, right half destroyed. Light brown, 9 +
6= ISlines.
Distribution of barley.
Date: 111-24.
Same scribe as inZTT 9,11,13 and 15-18.
Obv.
Edge
Rev.
ZT 12071
Obverse
1. r6"" ANSE SE.PAD.MES 6 homers of barley,
2. mfl SU.2 I^ in the care of Qitl-ilani,
3. [T]AURU.S [fr]om the farm/hamlet of Büda[ya],
4. sa ina ""Su"1.2 which is in the hands of Il[u-iddina].
5. r3n[A]N[SE§]E.BAR 3 [ho]m[ers of bjarley,
6. z>2a SU.2 J[^: x x] in the care of [PN],
7. F7'1[:]plBÁN SE.BAR"1 7 homers 1 seah of barley,
8. ina su.2 lsá-ki{l-iá\n the care of Sakk[il-Ia]
9. ina su.2 lx[x x x] and [PN],
Edge
uninseribed
Reverse
l.TAURU.SE-p* X X] from the farm/hamlet of [PN],
2. sa ina su.2*[x x x] which is in the hands of [PN].
3, rn.siG4UD.24.KÁM Sivan 24.
4.PAB16: IBÁNSE.BAR Total 16.1 homers of barley,
5. [I]r4n [:] rana á-ki-ti [1]4 to the akitu (chapel),
6.2 : ana É-MÍM[E]§ 2 to the harem.
remainder uninscribed (Rest uninscribed)
Notes
Obv. 1-4. Duplicated by ZTT 23:1-4, which served as a source for these lines, see rele-
vant commentary.
2. The phrase ina §u,2 PN, "in the care of PN" (lit, "in the hands of PN"), is ambiguous
but here clearly indicates the person in charge of a shipment of grain from a local farm
to the central granary; cf. the similar use of the phrase su.2 PN in texts referring to
shipments of food from Assur to Nineveh (Parpóla 2004, pp.289-292 and 307); cf. also
an-nu-rig ina su.2 LÚ.DiM\J~sip-ri-ia ú-se-bi-la., "I am now dispatching (the silver) in
the hands of my messenger", SAA 5 149 r.23f, etc. In lines 4 and rev. 2 the phrase means
"under the control/jurisdiction of PN". The preposition ina found here was usually
omitted before su.2 in Neo-Assyrian.
Qlti-ilani: Well-attested Akkadian ñame, meaning "My end/aim is God", see PNA
3/1 p. 1016 and note on ZTT 2 r.2. Cf. I^[Z-ÍZ-DING]IR.MES, ZTT 23:2.
3. mu.§E-lbu-da-{a-a] restored from ZTT 23:3. For kapru, "village, hamlet, farm", see
CAD K p. 190 and Payne Smith 1893, p. 223 s.v, kpar, kapro). The ñame Büdaia was
not previously attested in NA sources, but cf. Büdá, PNA 1/2 p. 349f.
4. Ilu-iddina: Akkadian ñame meaning "God has given" (PNA 2/1 p. 529); restored from
ZTT 23:4.
7. SE.BAR: an alternative logogram for "barley" (cf. Ú§E.BAR = "ut-ta-tu, CT 37 29:35),
written SE.PAD.MES in obv. 1. The latter was originally a logogram for "barley ration"
70 SIMO PARPÓLA
1 orv
(kurummutu), but carne to mean "barley" as well, and in fact is the most eommon
101
logogram for "barley" in NA texts, Both logograms also occur together in other NA
1 r\s\, SE.BAR usually following §E,PAD.ME§, as in the present text; it obviously func-
tioned as a sort pf abbreviation for the latter. Both SE.PAD,ME§ and SRBAR(.MES) are con-
strued as fem, sg., but their conventional readings in NA remain uncertain, as no syl-
labic spellings are attested in NA texts.
8. lsá-ki[l-iá\\d Aramaie ñame meaning "Ea has explained" (cf. Syr, sak-
keí, "to make to understand, explain; to advise; to signify", Payne Smith 1893, p. 377a),
well-attested in 7th eentury Assyrian sources (43 examples). The restoration of the final
element is not absolutely certain; another possibility would be â-M-DiNGiR, "God has
explained", which however is attested only once, in SAAB 5 no. 9:6.
Rev. 3-6: This passage is closely paralleled by ZTT 13 r.1-6; note that the deliveries of
barley recorded there (dated Sivan 20, four days before the present text) are 8-10 times
larger but proportionally comparable with those recorded here. Cf. also ZTT 11 r.1-2,
where the harem manageress (sakintu) receives 40.6 homers of barley on Sivan 19.
5. For a thorough study of the NA aJatu festival and the buildings in which it was cele-
brated (usually situated outside the city), see Pongratz-Leisten 1994. The word aJátu oc-
curs 73 times in NA sources, 62 times preceded by the sign É "house", 11 times without
it. This would at fírst sight seem to suggest that the spellings with É are to be understood
as referring to the akítu house, whereas those without it (such as the present one) would
refer to the festival. However, a scrutiny of the passages where the sign É is lacking re-
10*^
veáis that these too in fact refer to the building. Henee the sign É preceding the word
must be understood as a determinative, as in spellings of several other NA words and
ñames for special buildings (abusati/ubsati, asuppu, gigunü, hasTmu, Mam/, ithusu,
kadmüru., karmu, kimahhu., kurhu, musallutu, nakkantu, papahhu^ saggil, s/ziqqurrutu.,
120. Note that §E.PAD.ME§ is rendered by Aramaic s'rn, "barley". in SAA 14 72, 98, and 99. Note further
that §E.PAD,ME§ and §E.BAR are in j&ee variation in SAA 14 72 (see below).
121. 353 attestations vs. 159 of SE.BAR.
122. Cf. §E.PAD.ME§, Ass. 10805 = VAT 16576:4 // SE.BAR, ibid. r.5-7; §E.PAD,ME§, SAA 14 72:1 // SE.BAR,
ibid. r.3; SE.PAD.ME§, ADD 780:1 // SE.BAR, ibid. r.4; SE.PAD.ME§, CTN 3 11:1 // §E.BAR, ibid. s.3; SE.
PAD.ME§, CTN 3 44:8 and r.3 // §E.BAR, ibid. r.7; §E.PAD,ME§, O 3688:1 // §E.BAR, ibid. r.3 and 6; SE.
PAD.MES, TIM 11 9:1/7 SE.BAR.MEÜ, ibid. 9. Note especially O 3698 (unpub., courtesy P. Garelli), a
"tablet of barley" (ni-ib-zi sa §E,BAR, obv, 1) recording two consecutive issues of barley, the former
written SE.PAD.ME§ (obv. 2), the latter SE.BAR (obv. 6).
123. See AAA 20 p. 80:31; Asb. J7 12 (á-ki-it dW.LÍL-ú-ti-ka // at-ma[n DTNGJR-ti~ká]); CA p. 88 vi 25;
p. 94 viii 22, 39; PKTA 14 i 13; SAA 3 7:16 and 32 r.24; SAA 8 565:6; SAA 10 338:10; and SAA
13 189:7.
OJNEIFORM TEXIS ¥ROM ZTYARET TEPE (TUSHAN), 2002-2003 1 \124 The spelling
ZTT 13 r.2; á-ki-tu, AAA 20 p. 80:31; É,á-ki-ti, SAA 13 130:11; á-ki-it, SAA 3 7:16; a-
fa-ti beside &a-ki-ti9 PKTA 14 i 19.23, etc.
6. The word bét isaíe (É-MÍMES), lit., "women's house" (cf. Syr. beyt nesé, "harem, the
women's quarters", Payne Smith 1893, p. 44; Bibl. bet han-nasím, "house of the women,
harem", Esther 2:3), also occurs in ZTT 13 r.6 but is otherwise poorly attested NA. The
meaning "harem" (in the traditional sense of the word) is, however, evident from all the
10*^
available attestations. Archaeological and textual evidence indicates that there were at
least 23 NA royal harems located in as many different palaces in central Assyria and in
piovmcM espitáis (Paipola ft.d,). Tustov is e^plkxly mostoasd mcra& 12 otte pta&
as a seat of a harem manageress (sakintu) in an administrative document from Nineveh
(SAA 7 23:12).
An administrative document from Calah (ND 2803 = Iraq 23 pl. 29-30) details the
numbers of the harem women resident in four palaces in central Assyria, as well as their
monthly bread and beer rations. One learns that the saktntus of Arbela, Kalizi and Adian
each received 3 homers of bread per month (i.e. 1 seah =10 "litres" per day), while that
of Kasappa (a minor town) only received a third of this amount (1.2 homers per month).
There were 50 harem women in the palace at Arbela, who received a total of 135 homers
of bread monthly; at Kalizi 144 women received a total of 388.2 homers; at Adian 111
women received a total of 300 homers; and at Kasappa 47 women received a total of
126 homers. Thus the monthly ration of bread was a fixed 2.7 homers per woman in all
the four harems, corresponding to a daily ration of 0.9 seahs or 9 "litres" per day. Based
on this, the two homers of barley issued in the present text would have barely sufficed
for the daily consumption of 22 women. Since Ziyaret Tepe (Tushan) was a bigger city
than Kasappa, its harem almost certainly housed more than 30 women. Henee the issue
of barley recorded here cannot relate to actual demand of grain but probably reflects a
fixed proportional share of harvest due to the harem from the two hamlets mentioned.
i
124, For references see the dictionaries.
125. Note the cynical remark "Do not [eunuchs] die in the harem (É-MLMES) every day?" in SAA 1 8 r.9
(a letter from Sargon II). TH 13, a letter from Mannu-tá-mat-Assür, the governor of Guzana, reads:
"Give the wif[e ofj Qamban[a] (and) [fPN] to Aqaba the horse-trainer, until he gives the donkey to
them. If he does not give it, let Ilu-musezib bring his wife into the harem (É-MLME§)." TH 115, an-
other letter from Guzana, refers to two talents of wool belonging to the harem (2 GÚ SÍG sa É-
MÍ.MES'-fe, obv. 3-4), All royal harems were centres of textile production; the harem women evi-
dently spent a good part of their time in spinning yarn from wool and flax fibre, of which woollen
and linen garments were produced (Parpóla n,d.).
i
70 SIMO PARPÓLA
i on
(kurummutu), but carne to mean "barley" as well, and in fact is the most eommon
101
logogram for "barley" in NA texts, Both logograms also oeeur together in other NA
texts, SE.BAR usually following §E.PAD.MES, as in the present text;122 it obviously func-
tioned as a sort pf abbreviation for the latter, Both SE.PAD.MES and SRBAR(.MES) are con-
strued as fem. sg., but their conventional readings in NA remata uncertain, as no syl-
labic spellings are attested in NA texts.
8, lsá-U\l-iá\\d Aramaic ñame meaning "Ea has explained" (ef. Syr, sak-
kel, "to make to understand, explain; to advise; to signify", Payne Smith 1893, p, 377a),
well-attested in 7th eentury Assyrian sources (43 examples). The restoration of the final
element is not absolutely eertain; another possibility would be ^á-foT-DiNGiR, "God has
explained", which however is attested only once, in SAAB 5 no, 9:6.
Rev. 3-6: This passage is closely paralleled by ZTT 13 r.1-6; note that the deliveries of
barley recorded there (dated Sivan 20, four days before the present text) are 8-10 times
larger but proportionally comparable with those recorded here. Cf. also ZTT 11 r.1-2,
where the harem manageress (sakintu) receives 40.6 homers of barley on Sivan 19.
5. For a thorough study of the NA akitu festival and the buildings in which it was cele-
brated (usually situated outside the city), see Pongratz-Leisten 1994. The word akítu oc-
curs 73 times in NA sources, 62 times preceded by the sign É "house", 11 times without
it. This would at fírst sight seem to suggest that the spellings with É are to be understood
as referring to the afátu house, whereas those without it (such as the present one) would
refer to the festival. However, a scrutiny of the passages where the sign É is lacking re-
veáis that these too in fact refer to the building,123 Henee the sign É preceding the word
must be understood as a determinative, as in spellings of several other NA words and
ñames for special buildings (abusati/ubsáti., asuppu, gigunü, hasimu, hilánu, ithusu,
kadmüru, karmu, kimahhu, kurhu, musallutu, nakkantu, papahhu, saggil, s/ziqqurrutu,
120. Note that SE.PAD,ME§ is rendered by Aramaic s'rn, "barley". in SAA 14 72, 98, and 99. Note further
that SE.PAD.ME§ and SE.BAR are in free variation in SAA 14 72 (see below).
121. 353 attestations vs. 159 of SE.BAR.
122. Cf. §E.PAD.ME§, Ass. 10805 = VAT 16576:4 // SE.BAR, ibid. r.5-7; SE.PAD.ME§, SAA 14 72:1 // SE.BAR,
ibid. r,3; §E.PAD.ME§, ADD 780:1 // SE.BAR, ibid. r.4; SE.PAD.MES, CTN 311:1/7 SE.BAR, ibid. s.3; SE.
PAD.ME§, CTN 3 44:8 and r.3 // SE.BAR, ibid. r.7; §E.PAD.ME§, O 3688:1 // SE.BAR, ibid, r.3 and 6; SE.
PAD.MES, TIM 11 9:1/7 SE.BAR.ME§, ibid. 9. Note especially O 3698 (unpub., courtesy P. Garelli), a
"tablet of barley" (ni-ib-zi sa SE.BAR, obv. 1) recording two consecutive issues of barley, the former
written §E.PAD.ME§ (obv, 2), the latter §E.BAR (obv. 6).
123. See AAA 20 p. 80:31; Asb. J7 12 (ó-ki-it áw.lJL-ú~ti~ka // at~ma[n DiNdR-tí-Aa]); CA p. 88 vi 25;
p. 94 viii 22, 39; PKTA 14 i 13; SAA 3 7:16 and 32 r.24; SAA 8 565:6; SAA 10 338:10; and SAA
13 189:7.
sahüru).124 The spelling á-ki-ti occurring here is not attested elsewhere, but cf, á-ki-i-ti,
ZTT 13 r.2; á-ki-tu, AAA 20 p, 80:31; &á-ki-ti, SAA 13 130:11; á-ki-ií, SAA 3 7:16; a-
ki-ti beside &a-ki-ti, PKTA 14 i 19.23, etc.
6. The word bét isate (É-MÍ.MES), lit., "women's house" (cf. Syr. beyí nesé, "harem, the
women's quarters", Payne Smith 1893, p. 44; Bibl. bét han-nasím, "house of the women,
harem", Esther 2:3), also occurs in ZTT 13 r.6 but is otherwise poorly attested NA. The
meaning "harem" (in the traditional sense of the word) is, however, evident from all the
10^
available attestations. Archaeological and textual evidence indicates that there were at
least 23 NA royal harems located in as many different palaces in central Assyria and in
provincial capitals (Parpóla n,d.). Tushan is explictly mentioned among 12 other places
as a seat of a harem manageress (sakintu) in an administrative document from Nineveh
(SAA 7 23:12).
An administrative document from Calah (ND 2803 = Iraq 23 pl. 29-30) details the
numbers of the harem women resident in four palaces in central Assyria, as well as their
monthly bread and beer rations. One learns that the sakintus of Arbela, Kalizi and Adian
each received 3 homers of bread per month (i, e. 1 seah =10 "litres" per day), while that
of Kasappa (a minor town) only received a third of this amount (1.2 homers per month).
There were 50 harem women in the palace at Arbela, who received a total of 135 homers
of bread monthly; at Kalizi 144 women received a total of 388.2 homers; at Adian 111
women received a total of 300 homers; and at Kasappa 47 women received a total of
126 homers. Thus the monthly ration of bread was a fixed 2.7 homers per woman in all
the four harems, corresponding to a daily ration of 0.9 seahs or 9 "litres" per day. Based
on this, the two homers of barley issued in the present text would have barely suffíced
for the daily consumption of 22 women. Since Ziyaret Tepe (Tushan) was a bigger city
than Kasappa, its harem almost certainly housed more man 30 women. Henee the issue
of barley recorded here cannot relate to actual demand of grain but probably reflects a
fixed proportional share of harvest due to the harem from the two hamlets mentioned.
124. For references see the dictionaries,

125. Note the cyrdcal remark "Do not [eunuchs] die in the harem (É-MÍ.ME§) every day?" in SAA 1 8 r.9
(a letter from Sargon II). TH 13, a letter from Mannu-la-mat-Assür, the governor of Guzana, reads:
"Give the wif]e oí] Qamban[a] (and) [fPN] to Aqaba the horse-trainer, until he gives the donkey to
them. If he does not give it, let Ilu-musezib bring his wife into the harem (É-MLME§)." TH 115, an-
other letter from Guzana, refers to two talents of wool belonging to the harem (2 GÚ SÍG sa É-
MÍ.ME§-íe, obv. 3-4), All royal harems were centres of textile production; the harem women evi-
dently spent a good part of their time in spinning yarn from wool and flax fibre, of which woollen
and linen garments were produced (Parpóla n.d.).
.1
72 SIMO PARPÓLA
10A
It is worth noting that the afátu house received much more grain than the harem.
If this was somehow proportional to the normal daily consumption, it would imply that
more than 200 people were permanently living in the aKítu house, which seems very
unlikely. Alternatively it is possible that a local festival, involving the temporary pres-
ence of a large number of people at the aKítu house, was being celebrated at the time
concerned. No aKítu celebrations in the month Sivan are known jfrom other NA sources,
but since the timing of the festival varied locally, the possibility of a local aKítu festival
in Sivan at Ziyaret Tepe cannot be apriorí excluded.
Discussion
The association of the aKítu house and the harem in the present text and in ZTT 13 is in-
teresting and calis for an explanation. I suggest that the aKítu house of Ziyaret Tepe was
dedicated to the goddess Istar of Nineveh mentioned in ZTT 6, who may have been the
10'T
patrón deity of the city, as in Nineveh) was. The cult of the goddess and the royal
harem were closely interconnected through the person of the queen, who as the image of
Mullissu (= Istar of Nineveh) controlled both through her saKintus, the female counter-
parts of the male prefects (saknu) in charge of the provincial system. The archive of the
sakintu of the Central Palace of Calah confirms the cióse connection between the harem
10S2
and the local temple of Istar (Bet Kidmün), and the fact that the documents issued by
the sakintus were sealed with the official scorpion-seal of the queen proves that the
10Q _
harem institution was under the queen's control. The aKítu house of Nineveh was
certainly dedicated to the the goddess, who as the patrón goddess of the city was offcen
called "Lady of Nineveh" (Bélat Nmuwa)™ and the aKítu house of Arbela (situated
outside the city at Milqia) was likewise exclusively dedicated to the festivals of Istar of
1^1
Arbela, the patrón goddess of the city. The aKítu of the latter was a war ritual appar-
•! s^f}
ently basically celebrated in Elul (the 6th month), but Weissert has shown that it
126. Five times more in ZTT 13 and seven times more in the present text.
127. Michael Roaf notes that "if Istar of Nineveh was patrón deity of the city, her temple would have
been on the acrópolis," Cf., however, p. 23, above.
128. See above, note on ZTT 6:4.
129. See Herbordt 1992, pp. 136-138, and Parpóla n.d.
130. Cf. Assurbanipal's hymn to Istar of Nineveh (SAA 3 7), probably composed after the restoration of
the goddess's main temple, Emasmas, and the associated ziggurat and aKítu house: "O Palm Tree,
Lady (bé-laf) of Nineveh! ... O praised Emasmas, in which dwells Istar, the que[en of Nineveh! ...
O ziggurat, pride of Nineveh! ... On the 16th of Kanun is her procession ... At the coming out of
the Lady of Nineveh all the gods rejoice! ... (To go) to her aKítu house, she (= Istar of Nineveh) has
harnessed [her chariot]" (SAA 3 7:M6; cf. AAA 20 [1933] pp. 79ff, lines 30-36).
131. See Pongratz-Leisten 1994, pp. 79-82, and SAA 9 1:9 and 5.
132. Parpóla 1983a, pp. 158f.
1 'í'^
could also be celebrated in Adar (the 12th month), and perhaps at other times as well.
According to SAA 3, the akitu of Istar of Nineveh took place in the lOth month, but it
may likewise (depending on the circumstances) have been celebrated at other times of
the year as well.134
13. ZT 12082 (Píate XV)

Vertical tablet (w/h ratio 4:7), 24 x 43 x 17 mm, complete. Reddish brown. 8 + 1 + 9
18 lines.
Distribution of barley.
Date: 111-27.
Same scribe as in ZTT 9,11-12 and 15-18,
Obv.
Edge
Rev.
ZT 12082
133, See Wei&&e.Tt 1991 %cf, Postile , 61

134. Cf. Annus 2002, pp. 90-94.
74 SIMO PARPÓLA
Obverse
1.SE.BAR Barley.
2. 6 : Irf-du-a 6 homers (to) Idduâ,

3. DUMU-KA.DINGIR.KI the Babylonian.
4. rrrr,siG4 UD.27 Sivan 27.
5. 4 llid-di-bu-ub 4 (to) Liddibub,

6. LÚ*,NINDA m.SIG4 UD.27 baker. Sivan 27.
1.4~me21 : 4BÁN 421.4homers

8. ina kar-me sa in the granary of
Edge
9. É LÚ*,um-ma-nu the house of the crafksmen.
Reverse
108.7homers
2. a/ia á-ki~i-ti to the aJatu chapel.
3, 1-Twe 47 : ÍTJ« É 147 homers in the house of

4. Mannu-la-Adad.
5. 20 : 9BÁN a-w 20.9 homers to

6. É-MLME§ the harem,
7. rri.siG4UD.20 Sivan 20.
8. 1 : . ty-bu-sú 1 homer (to) Libüsu,
9. LÚ*.GI§,GIGIR chariot horse trainer.
Notes
Obv. 2. Iddü'a: Akkadian ñame ("My strength(?)") otherwise attested only four times in
NA sources, see PNA 2/1 p. 505. The available references pertain to three different indi-
viduáis, one of whom — a chief builder (rab baní) from Babylon, whose wife is men-
tioned in an undated administrative document from Nineveh listing families of deported
Babylonian professionals (an architect, two builders, a cupbearer of Istar of Babylon,
1 ^S
and an engraver) — could be identical with the person named here. If the man indeed
135, MLga-ga-a-a MÍ-sú sa lid-du-u~a LÚ.GAL-DÜ, SAA 11 154 r,5 (included in the s\immary, PAB 13
DTMU KÁ.DINGIR.RA.KI, "in all, 13 Babylonians", in r.7), The other two individuáis with the same
was a highly qualified professional, it would explain the relatively great amount of bar-
ley assigned to him, which was more than twice the monthly ration of the harem women,
for example (see note on ZTT 12 r.6). Note the reference to "the house of craftsmen" in
line 9. See also notes on ZTT 9 r.l, 15:3 and 17:2.
5. llid-di-bu-ub: a previously unattested phonetic variant of the Akkadian ñame
Lidbübu, "let him slander" (PNA 2/II p. 662), which itself is an abbreviation for Lid-
bübu-libüsu, "let him [= my ill-wisher] slander, and may he (later) be shamed" (ibid,),
to be compared with the ñames Dabibi-libüsu, "may my slanderer be shamed" (PNA I/
II p. 358, also abbreviated to DabibI alone), Hádé-libüsu, "may my ill-wisher be shamed"
(PNA 2/1 p. 438, also abbreviated to Hade alone), and Ihtadi-libüsu, "he wished (me) ill,
may he (now) be shamed" (PNA 2/1 p. 439 s.v, Hadi-libbusu). The ñame Libüsu ("may
they be shamed") occurring in r.8 is likewise an abbreviation of one of the longer ñames,
and is well attested in NA sources (see PNA 2/11 pp. 661 f), None of the individuáis known
from the other texts can be identified with the baker and chariot-trainer meant here.
5f. This entry is to be compared with ZTT 14 recording an issue of 2 homers of barley
to unidentified bakers working for the governor; the formulation of ZTT 14 leaves open
the possibility that the said bakers were only temporarily employed by the governor and
actually belonged to the establishment owning the granary.
9. É LÍ}*,um~ma-nu: The word ummánu can in principie refer to any highly trained pro-
fessional, and the meanings attested in NA sources range from "expert, specialist; mas-
ter, scholar, savant" to "craftsman, artisan, artist, artificer". However, in view of the
context (cf, rev. 9) and ZTT 22:7, it is almost certain that the word here refers to mili-
tary craftsmen supporting chariot troops (cart- and wheelwrights, copper- and black-
1 ^f\, and bow- and arrow-makers). Like the akiíu temple and the harem mentioned
in rev. 2-6, the "house of craftsmen" probably also belonged to the temple of Istar (cf.
commentary of ZTT 12; why else would it have been included in the present text?); and
it seems likely that the chanotry which it serviced was under the command of the chief
eunuch, whose role as the commander of the royal chanotry is well documented (Dalley
- Postgate 1984, pp. 37-38; Mattila 2000, pp. 73-76) and who represented the goddess
Istar in the ideological model of the Assyrian cabinet (Parpóla 1995, p. 391).
ñame (an official of the queen mother's household at Lahiru under Esarhaddon and a slave of the
governor of Uruk under Assurbanipal, c. 650 BC) can be safely left out of eonsideration,
136. Cf, also SAA 1 179 r, 13-22 (where the term ummánu refers to carpenters, a wheelwright, and a
smith); SAA 5 294:9-r.5 (carpenters and smiths); SAA 15 280:6-r,8 (carpenters and potters), In
royal inscriptions (e,g,, Borger 1956 p. 106 iii 17 [Esarhaddon]; 1996 F vi 16 [Assurbanipal]), mili-
tary crañsmen (ummánu) are differentiated from quartermaster troops (kitkittu), which according to
SAA 4 139:9,142:9,144:9 consisted of lackeys, tailors, cupbearers, cooks, confectioners and bakers.
76 SIMO PARPÓLA
The compound bet ummáni "house of craffcsmen" is not attested elsewhere in the
NA corpus.
Rev. 2. ana á-ki-i-ti: cf. ZTT 12 r.5 and relevant commentary. This is the only known
NA spelling of aTütu where the long middle vowel is written plene, but a comparable
writing (É,a~ki~i-tum) is attested in a LB afáfu ritual from Uruk.137
4, Mannu-la-Adad: A very common Akkadian ñame meaning "Who is like Adad?", see
PNA 2/II p. 681. None of the 34 individuáis differentiated there can be identied with the
man named here,
8f. For the PN Libüsu see note on obv. 5. For the NA reading and meaning of the logo-
gram LÚ.GIS.GIGIR (= susánu "(ehariot) horse trainer") see Parpóla 1976 p. 172 and 1988
p. 78 fin. 2; CAD S/2 pp. 379f s.v. susánu.
14. ZT 12077 (Píate XVI)

Heart-shaped docket (w/h ratio 5:6), 30x36x15 mm, complete. Light brown. 6 lines,
other side uninscribed. String holes at corners and in the middle left of the reverse.
Issueof grain.
Date: 111-29,
Same scríbe as in ZTT 2-3, 8 and 16.
Obv.
ZT 12077 (Reverse uninscribed)
Obverse
1.2§E.PAD,MES 2 (homers of) barley, (to be paid
2. ina back) in its capital amount,
137. AO 6459 = RAcc. p. 89:3 and 14.

CUNEIFORM TEXTS FROM ZIYARET TEPE (TUSIJAN), 2002-2003 77
3. ina IGI LÚ*.MNDA.MES-/n at the disposal of the bakers.

4. ITLSIG4 UD.29.KAM Sivan 29.
5. a-na \Gi~at For the presence of
6. LÚ*,EN.NAM the governor.
Reverse
urtinscribed
circular stamp-seal impressions
Notes
Obv. 1. For the omission of the logogram for "homer" (ANSE) here see note on ZTT 2:1.
2. See discussion below. The writing of the possessive suffix with sa (instead of so) is
very unusual in Neo-Assyrian orthography and is otherwise attested only in ur-ki-sa,
CTN 3 29:7; hi-bi-la-te-sa, ibid, r.7; and ra-man-sa, SAA 13 28 r.12 and 29 r.4.
Discussion
This text has no exact parallels in the NA corpus. The phrase ina kaqqidisa, "in its capi-
tal amount", is well known from grain loan documents, but it is there normally inserted
after the inapán formula, in the section stating the terms of the loan, never at the begrn-
ning of the text, as here; cf. ZTT 4:6 and the texts cited in the commentary on ZTT 4
r.l. The word kaqqudu (SAG.DU), "capital", does occur in several grain loans in the same
1 "^52
position as here, but then without the preposition ina and the possessive suffix. The
phrase ina kaqqidisa is not found in these texts; some of them specify no interest to
grain, suggesting that in these cases the loan was to be repaid in its capital amount, but
others do prescribe an interest rate. 139
138. 2-me §E.PAD.ME§ SAG.D[u] / sa m.sá~kín-tú [MURUB4-URU] / ina IGI PN LÚ*.GA[L-kar~ma~nf], "200
homers, capital amount, belonging to the harem manageress of [the central palace], at the disposal
of PN, grjanary master]" (followed by repayment formula, date and witnesses), SAA 14 471:1-3; 1
ANSE SE.PAD.MES SA[G.DU] /PN, "1 homer, capital amount, PN" (followed by date), SAA 6 261:1-2;
3 ANSE SE.PAD,ME§ SAG.ofu] / PN TA* IGI PN / ina pu-u~hi it~ti-si, "3 homers, capital amount, PN
borrowed from PN" (followed by date), SAA 6 60:1-4; 10 ANSE SE.PAD.ME§ SAG.D[U] /sa IKASKAL-C-
a /IGI PN, "10 homers, capital amount, belonging to Harranayu, at the disposal of PN", Iraq 35 pl.
12:5-7; 3 ANSE SE.BAR SAG.DU /sa IKASKAL-a-a fina IGI PN, "3 homers, capital amount, belonging to
Btarranayu, at the disposal of PN" (followed by loan and interest formulae, date and witnesses), O
3669:2-4 (unpub., courtesy P. Garelli); 4 AN§E §E.PAD.ME§ SAG.DU / PN ... ina pu-u-hi it-ti-si, "4
homers, capital amount, PN ... borrowed" (followed by interest formula and date), ND 4316:1-3
(unpub., courtesy J.N. Postgate); 4 ANSE §E.PAD.ME§ SAG.DU / ... / ina IGI PN, "3 homers, capital
amount, ... at the disposal of PN" (followed by interest formula, date and witnesses), ND 5468:2-5
139. O 3669, ND 43 16 and ND 5468.

78 SIMO PARPÓLA
In any case, the presence of the term here clearly indicates that the barley was is-
sued as loan, not as a regular delivery, as in ZTT 12 and 13. The same is also implied
by the heart-shaped format of the text, which was typical of NA grain loans,140 the for-
mula ina pan (indicating the debtor) in line 3, and by the seáis (of the debtors) im-
pressed on the reverse.141 The text contains no witnesses, which is rather unusual but
not unparalleled in NA grain loans.142
The phrase ina kaqqidisa is probably an ellipsis for "to be paid back in its capital
amount" and implies an interest-free loan, which is explained by the fact that the grain
was meant "for the presence (i.e., the court) of the governor". The bakers booked as re-
cipients of the grain were, however, probably not employees of the governor but be-
longed to the establishment owning the granary (see note on ZTT 13:5í).
15, ZT 12072 (Píate XVI)

Heart-shaped docket (w/h ratio 5: 6), 27 x 32' x 17 mm, lower half broken. Light brown.
6 lines, other side uninscribed.
Issue of grain.
Date: XI-[x].
Same scribe as in ZTT 9,11-13 and 16-18.
Obverse
1. 6 :4BÁNSE.BAR 6.4 homers of barley
2. a~na bat~qí for repair work,
3. ina §u.2 ld?A-ú-[s]al-Hm in the care of Nabü-u[s]allim,
4. TAURU.SE-IrZZ-za"'-?2W-DINGIR from the farm/hamlet of Ziz[a]nu-ill
5. [je x] rx^[x] rx ^ [...]
6. r m\ZÍ Shebat(XI), [...thday].
Reverse
uninscribed
140. As pointed out in the discussion of ZTT 4, a few heart-shaped dockets are not grain loans but other
kind of loans; the essential thing, however, is that olí texts of this type (with possibly two excep-
tions, on which see the commentary of ZTT 15) are loan documents,
141. All extant heart-shaped dockets (with one exception) are sealed with the seal(s) of the debtor(s),
usually on the obverse or the upper edge, but sometimes on the reverse (e.g,, SAA 6 60, 68, 70, 78;
CTN 3 19 and 29). The only unsealed docket, ND 5457 (Iraq 19 pl. 27), records an issue of 142.2
homers of grain from the granary (karmu) of the temple of Nabü to a brewer and two bakers (PAB 1-
me 40 ANSE 2BÁN SE.PAD.MES sa kar~me sa dPA ina IGI lmu-ti-i ri~tí-din') r.6-9).
142. See SAA 14 98 and 99; SAA 6 60, 67, 70, 73, 75 and 76; CTN 3 18 and 20 (loan of stakes); ND
4316 (unpub., courtesy J.N. Postgate); ND 5457 (Iraq 19 pl. 27).
CUNEIFORM TEXTS FROM ZIYARET TEPE (TUSlJAN), 2002-2003 79
Obv.
Notes
Obv. 2. The word batqu is ambiguous and can mean both "déficit" and "repair work" in
Neo-Assyrian. Since all attestations of the phrase ana batqi refer to repair work (see
SAA 1 114 r.2 and 179 r.19; SAA 7 63; SAA 13 39:5), this is tentatively assumed to be
the meaning in the present context as well.
3, Nabü-usallim: Akkadian ñame meaning "Nabü has kept in good health", see PNA
2/II pp. 902-904. The present man cannot be identified with any of the individuáis listed
there, but it is noteworthy that all the known persons with this ñame seem to be Baby-
lonians or Chaldeans. If the present individual lived at Ziyaret Tepe, as seems likely, he
was probably a descendant of Babylonian deportees settled in the región; cf. ZTT 9 r.l,
13:2-3,17:2 and the relevant commentaries.
4. Zizanu-ili: previously unattested Akkadian ñame meaning "Zizanu is my god". Ziza-
mi, known from the god-lists as the son of Istaran143 and as a ñame of the cosmic moun-
tain,144 is listed between the gods Qudmu and Nirah in a NA tákultu ritual from Huziri-
na/Sultantepe,145 but previously was not attested in NA personal ñames.
6. Cf. the date of ZTT 7 (Shebat 6, presumably of the year 612).
Discussion
The scribe who wrote this tablet also wrote the account tablet ZTT 12, which records
shipments of grain from three different farms/hamlets, summed up on the reverse and
written down as distributed to the akítu house and the harem. The formulation of the
143. V^- = s u k k a l dKA.Di-k e 4 ... **«WWKÜR = d u m u - a - n i , An V 290, 292.

144. ^«-»« = SU (= sadu\a II 195.
145. dKÜD -™ I dKUR ñ-™™/ dMUS /dKA.DI /dAN.GAL, STT 376 iii 9-13.
80 SIMO PARPÓLA
shipment entries in ZTT 12 is the same as here (x ANSE SE.BAR / ina su. 2 PN /TA URU,§E
PN), and the amounts of barley recorded (5, 3 and 8 homers) comparable to that found
here (6.4 homers). Despite the different tablet format, the present text mus had basically
the same ftmction as ZTT 12: it recorded the delivery of barley from a particular source
to a given destination. The reason for the different format is to be sought in the date and
purpose of the expenditure. Whereas ZTT 12 deals with standard deliveries of grain for
in-house use (temple and harem) at the harvest time, the present text records a non-stan-
dard delivery at a time of year when grain started to be in short supply (cf, discussion of
ZTT 1). Accordingly, the grain was in this case probably issued as loan, as also implied
by the tablet format (see discussion of ZTT 13). The identity of the debtor or the interest
rate may have been specified in line 5.
16. ZT 12083 (Píate XVII)

Fragment of heart-shaped docket (w/h ratio 5:6), 29 * 35' x 17 rnm, upper right córner
and lower half destroyed. Brown. 4 + n lines.
Issue of grain.
Date: [x]-19.
Same scribe as inZTT 9,11-13,15 and 17-18.
Obv.
Obverse
1. [x] T SE.PAD,ME§ [x] homers of barley
2. [TA u]RU.DUL-77?a5-g[aí? x x] [fromthe t]ownTil~masq[áti .,,]
3. [x x x] rx x'' [x x]
4. [m.;cu]D.19.KÁM
i ]
[Month...], 19th[da]y.
blank space
remainder broken away
Reverse
uninscribed
Notes
Obv. 2. Til-masqáti: lit, "mound of irrigation outlets/watering places" (cf. CAD M/l p.
382). Reading tentative; not attested elsewhere; cf. Masqi Gate at Nineveh.146
17. ZT 12075 (Píate XVII)

Heart-shaped docket (w/h ratio 5:6), 27 x 32'x 17 mm, lower half destroyed. Light
brown. 4 + n lines.
Issueof grain.
Date:F/-ll.
Same scribe as inZTT 9,11-13,15-16 and 18.
Obv.
Obverse
1,5: 5BÁN SE.PAD.[MES] 5.5 homers of barley:
2. lgab-ri-ia GabrTya.
3. [rr]i.su UD. 11 ,KÁM Month Tammuz (IV), 1 Ith day.
4. V [*]* [*] [ ]
2-3 lines broken away
Reverse
uninscribed
Notes
Obv. 2. GabrTya: Aramaic ñame meaning "my man". In NA sources, the ñame was hith-
erto attested only in the form Gabri (see PNA l/II p. 416), while the form lgab-ri-ia was
hitherto known only from NB sources (see Tallqvist 1905, p, 62b, and Zadok 1977, pp.
113 and 298). It is henee possible that the individual meant here was a Babylonian or a
descendant of Babylonian deportees, cf. notes on ZTT 9 r.l, 13:2 and 15:3.
146. Suggestion Michael Roaf.
ií
82 SIMO PARPÓLA
At the beginning of the line (as also in ZTT 18:2) one would expect the preposition
fina) pan, "at the disposal of, as Gabnya must have been the recipient of the grain. It was
probably omitted as redundant, or else the line is an ellipsis for "Gabríya has taken".147
18. ZT 12076 (Píate

Fragment of heart-shaped docket, 28' x 26' x 18 mm. Light brown. 4 + n lines.
Issue of grain.
Date:IV-ll.
Same scribe as in ZTT 9,11-13 and 15-17.
Obverse
1. r6 f SE.PA[D.MES] 6 homers of bar[ley]:
2. *[x x x] P[N],
3. a-ki [x x x] Asi..]
4. sá *[jc x x x] ofP[N]
Reverse
uninscribed
Notes
Obv. 3. Obscure. Cf. obv. 3'-4' of the fragmentary doeket CTN 3 19, which reads (after
a seal impression and just before the date and wimessess): a-ki *[;c x x] /ú-[x x x], "as
[PN...]ed".
147, Cf. 2-me Gis.zi-qí-p[i] / PN / PN i~ta-s[u] / ina iGl-at KASKAL.2 SUM~nu, "PN and PN have taken 200
stakes, they will give them back before the expedition", CTN 3 20:1-4 (heart-shaped docket).
19. ZT 12084 (Píate XVm)
Right edge of a vertical tablet, 19' x 24' x 18 mm. Light brown. 13+4=17 lines.
Letter.
ZT 12084
Obverse Reverse
Obverse
begirmmg broken away (Beginning destroyed)
l'.[x x x x x x x]- Tü* t i
2', [x x x x x x x]-a-a t i...
3'. [x x x x x x x] rx~l-s$-te [ ]s
4'. [x x x x x x x] lú^GUB7"1 [ ]prophet
5'. [x x x x x x x-f]u rki-fi~> [ ]...
6\[x x x x x x x]Tx'*-A.lQ [ ]-Apladad
7. [x x x x x x x]x x [ ]
8'. [x x x x x x gcP]-H-ti [...... depo]rtotion
9\[x x x x x x #].MES [......]s
10'. [x x x x x x] se-si-bi [ ]settle
11'. [x X X X X X x] rUN"'.MES [ ] thepeople
12', [x x x x x x x] "SÁM7"1 [ ] bought slave
13'. [x x x x x x x-l]ak [...... weri]t
remainder broken away (Break)
84 SIMO PARPÓLA
Reverse
beginning broken away
1'. [x x x x x x x] rx^ [x x] [......]
2'. [x x x x x x x] LÚERIM.ME§ [..,,..] troops
3'. [x x x x x x mz-&]a?-ás-DiNGiR-£z-a [ Ib]assi-Wi
4'. [x x x x x x x] [ ]
remainder (about 9 lines) uninscribed (Remainder destroyed)
Notes
The surface of the obverse is badly damaged and the suggested readings are partly con-
jectural.
Obv, 4'. The traces of the last sign suggest GUB, but the logogram for "prophet" was
LÚ.GUB.BA (cf, ZTT 25:2), not LÚGUB.
6'. Probably a personal ñame, cf., e.g., [Azi]-Apladad, [Mannu4a]~Apladad and [Sum-
ma]-Apladad.
8', Other possible restorations are: e]-li-ti, "upper", sap]-íi-ti, "lower", tam]-H-ti, "fill-
ing", til\-li-ti "vine".
10'. Imperative or precative (lu]-se-si-bí) of wsb §, "to (re)settle; to enthrone", with a
syntactic anaptyctic vowel (cf. Luukko 2004, p. 108).
12', The sign SÁM (with or without the determinative LÚ) is almost exclusively used in
NA as a logogram for sa-simi, "bought slave",
Rev. 3'. The only ñames reconcilable with -ás-DUNGTR-a-a seem to be Aqdas-ill (PNA
l/I p. 123) and perhaps Tbassi-ilá3! (PNA 2/1 p. 499), but the broken sign suggests n\a
rather than d]a or ¿>]#. Reading p^m'-ma'-DiNGiR-a-fl (cf. SAA 6 17 r.l, 137 r.2, etc.)
seems to be excluded.
20, ZT 12048 (Píate XVHI)

Fragment of envelope, 18' x 13' x 5' mm. Light brown. 4 + n lines.
Loan of grain(?); cf. ZTT 5.
beginning broken away (Beginning destroyed)

1'. [x x x] rx^ k[fi x x x] [Witness]: P[N].
2\ [x x x] [Witness]: Kubaba-loam [,..].
3', [IGI] â-íw-íjw x x x] [Witness]: Battüt[u.,.].
4'. [iGiI]rx^-di-x[x x x] [Witness: ...]di-[...].
ZT 12048
Notes
This envelope fragment has the same excavation number as ZTT 4 and was found in the
same place as ZTT 4-5. Five more tiny uninscribed envelope fragments (ZT 12042) and
a small fragment measuring 12' x 9' x 6' mm and inscribed with the sign AS (ZT 12043
[not copied], were also found in the same place, The present fragment cannot be part of
ZTT 5 (= the envelope of ZTT 4) because the script is much smaller and there is no way
the ñames of the witnesses can be reconciled with the witness list of ZTT 4-5, Therefore
it must have constituted a tablet of its own, or rather, together with the other fragments,
the envelope of a tablet of which only the fragment ZT 12048 survives,
Obv. 2. Kubaba-bani: Akkadian ñame, reading conjectural; cf. Kubaba-nasir (PNA 2/1
p. 631), and, for the spelling of the divine ñame, lkü~bab-id-ri, O 3680 r.10, and ldku~
¿>a¿-DiNGiR-a-a, O 3688 (unpub,, courtesy P, Garelli).
2, Battütu: Aramaic ñame meaning "scintillating(?)", hitherto attested only in post-ca-
nonical texts from Assur, see PNA 1/2 p. 278.
21. ZT 12100 (Píate XVTII)

Fragment of envelope(?), 12' x 12' x 4' mm. Light brown. 4 + n lines.
Too broken for classification.
beginning broken away

1'. [x x x x] rx'1 [x x x x] (Too broken for translation)
2\ x x x] rx'1 ir [x x x]
3'. [x x x x x]x T bf [x x x]
4', [x x x x x x] a [x x x x]
. i
86 SIMO PARPÓLA
Notes
This fragment was found in the same place as ZTT 3 (the envelope of ZTT 2), cióse to
the findspot of ZTT 2, so it might naturally be assumed to be part of the same tablet,
However, the script is entirely different and the signs slant to the left, whereas in ZTT 3
the signs have a slight slant to the right. Ñor can the extant signs be harmonized with
the contení of ZTT 2-3. Therefore the fragment must be considered a text of its own.
22. ZT 13284 + 13285 + 13286 + 13287 (Plates XIX-XX)

Vertical tablet (w/h ratio 3:7), 39 x 92 x 25 mm, lower part broken. Light olive green.
21+2 + 21+3 = 471ines.
Letter from Mannu~ki-Libbali to his superior concerning chariot troops,
Undated.
Obverse
1. \a~na LÚ*.IGI.U]M E[N]-za [To the treasur]er, my lo[rd]:
2. [ARAD-k]a Jmflft-flW-G yo[ur servant], Mannu-kJ-Libbali.
3. [lu] Di-mu a-na rwC-ia [Good] health to my lord!
4. [s]a KUR.MES gab-bu LÚ*.'A~I.BA.MES [O]f all the horses,
5. KU[R\MS-sur-a~a KUR,ár-ma-a-a Assyrian (and) Aramean scribes,
6. LÚ*.GAL-TÚG.KA,KÉS.ME§-WZ cohort-commanders,
7. LÚ*.EN-/?í-rgrf-te-te iú*.wn-ma-ni officials, craftsmen,
8. LÚ*.SMUG-URUDU LÚ*.SIMUG-AN,BAR copper-smiths, blacksmiths,
9. sa a-nu-tú [G]is,/z7-/z,MES those who scour the tools (and)
10. i-kap-pa-ru-ni LÚ*.NAGAR.MES equipment, carpenters,
11. LÚ*.ZADIM-BAN LÚ*,ZADM-GAG.TI bow-makers, arrow-makers,
12. LÚ*.US.BAR.MES tó*.TÚG.KA.KÉS.ME§ weavers, tailors (and)
13. sa bat-qu i~ka-s[a-ru~ni] those who ma[ke] the repairs—
14. a-na~ku a-na man-ni [up-ni-ia] to whom should I pr[ay],
15. la-ap-te mi-i-n[u la-aq-bí\. mi-i~nu lu-ra~[ad-di]
what [should I say],
what mo[re] should I do?
17. ki-i sa LÚ [x x x x] Justas aman [ ],
18. gab-bu ta-ri-[is x x x] everything is possi[bJe ...],
19. in-nu-u \-en [x x x] Our [end is] one.
20. a-na-ku-u ú-[di-ia] (So) am I a[lone] going
21. a-mu-at l[a-ás-sü\e to die? [They pay] a[bsolutely]
22. la~a i-rscC-\mu-u-m\. WPA-[GIN-PAB sa] nohe[edtome].

Nabü-[kenu-usur],
Obv.
ZT 13284 + 13285 + 13286 + 13287
Left Side
Edge
Rev.
-. 1
88 SIMO PARPÓLA
Reverse
1. i-si-ia [x x x x x x] my associate [. . .]
2. e-ta-rab [x x si~bar-ri] entered [....,.] (and)
3. sá-ki-in ina [x x x x x] has been put [in irons] in [,..].
4. ina UGU si-ih-[H-ia x x x] As to [my] secon[d-best man . . .]
5. Tdul-lut [s]a Gis,rE*-[x x x x] the work [o]n the [. . .] containers,
6. GI§.É-A7-5/r.MES [x X X x] the bandage boxes [ ...... ],
1. sa NÍG.§iD.ME§-ma [x x x x] even that of the accounts [ ...... ]
8. sa m.DU6 lu qur-[bu x x x] of Tishri should be prese[nt . . .].
9, IdPA-GIN-PAB Tltf [X X X] Nabü-kenu-usur should be [,..].
10. ú-ma-a 1-en ina sk.-bi-sú~n[u] Now, not one of them
11. la-ás-sú a-ke-e a-qa-bi is there. How can I command?
12. me-me-ni ina sXsi-pir-ti Nobody (mentioned) in this letter
13. an~ni-tisa ás-pur-an-ni \~en that I'm sending, not one (of them)
14. Ja-ás-sú [L]Ú* 3.u5.M[E§] is there! There are no "third men"
15. sa IGI GIS.GIGIR,ME§ me-me-rnr to supervise the chariots.
16. la-ás-sú man-nu re-e-su Who will make
17. i-na-ás-si ina ku-me the muster instead of
18. an-rnf-e sa si-bar-ri this one who is being
19. [x x x]x sá~ki-nu-u-ni kept in irons [. . .]?
20. [x x x] a~sá-par-u-ni [The lists that] I sent
21. [x x x x x x]rx x^
Side
1. ina iGi-ia ía-ás-sú inapi-fi mi-i-ni are not at my disposal. According to what
lu-si~pu-\sú~nu\. mu-a-tú ina sX-bican they la-a
il-la-ka collect [them]?
l-en
Death will come out of it! No one
[ú-se-za-ab] [will escape],
3. ep-sá-ak [0] I am done!
Notes
Obv. 1. The broken sign before EJN]-za, "my lo[rd]", ends in two vertical wedges, which
intersect with the sign MAN in line 2, and there is room for one more (a bit shorter) ver-
tical wedge or possibly a winkelhaken after them. Only four NA ñames of professions
can be reconciled with these traces: LÚ.GAL-É = rab béti, "major-domo"; LÚ.GAL-URU =
rab ali, "city manager" (see ZTT 8:7); LÚ.IGLDUB/IM = masennu, "treasurer"; and LÚ.
SUKKAL = sukkallu, "vizier", The width of the break from the beginning of the line to
E[N]-Z'ÍZ is 23 mm; of this space, the signs a-na and LÚ* (which can be certainly restored
at the beginning of the line) take up a total of 12 mm.148 Allowing for a space of 1 mm
añer LÚ* and a space of 2 mm between the broken sign and E[N]-ZO, the width of the
logogram used for writing the ñame of profession in question can be determined as 9
mm máximum and 8 mm minimum. This makes [LÚ*.IGI,U]M, "treasurer", and [LÚ.GAL-
UR]U, "city manager", the only possible restorations. The signs IGI and UM respectively
measure 4-5 and 4.5 mm on the tablet and thus fit in the break;149 the signs GAL, URU and
É measure 5 mm, 4 mm and 5 mm respectively, and henee GAL-URU would fit in the
available space, but GAL-É would not.150 The sign SUKKAL does not occur on the tablet,
but the similar sign SIR in rev. 6 measures only 6,5 mm and is accordingly too short for
the available space.151
The nature of the office of the treasurer would fit well the contení of the letter. The
duties of the royal treasurer certainly included the provisioning and maintenance of
chariot troops (see SAA 1 48-49 and Mattila 2000, pp. 24-25), and in the Kuyunjik Pro-
fessions List, the treasurer (masennu) is usted in the middle of chariot troops, between
"third men" (taslisu), chariot-fighters (mar danqí) and chariot-owners (bel mugirri), and
1 ^0
right after recruitment officers (musarkisu) responsible for the collection of horses. It
seems that important temples had their own treasurers. For "the treasurer of the temple
of Assur" (LÚ.IGLDUBAJM sa É-as-sur) see SAA 1 54 r.9; SAA 7 211:4, 11; SAA 11 80:
8; 219 ii 23; and SAA 12 69:6. "The treasurer of Harran" (LÚJGI.DUB sa URU.KASKAL) ac-
companies "the priest of Harran" (LÚSANGA sa URU.KASKAL) in SAA 7 151 r.i 7; and Ina-
sar-Bel-allak, "the treasurer of Dür-Sarruken" (LÚ.IGI.DUB sa URU.BÁD-MAN-GIN) who
1 '^'í
receives 20 carts in a tribute account from Calah, is primarily concerned with the
economy of the temple of Nabü in his correspondence (SAA 1 128-130).
Restoring the broken title as [LÚ.GAL-URJU is attractive in view of ZTT 8:7, where
the city manager figures as the principal witness of the text (see the discussion of ZTT
8). On the other hand, the many affinities of the archive with the temple of Istar of
Nineveh noted above would rather support the restoration [LÚ.IGI.U]M. The office of the
treasurer is much better known than that of the rather obscure "city manager", and it in-
148. The word a-na at the beginning of lines 14 and 20 occupies a space of 5 mm, while the length of
the sign LÚ* in line 4 is 5 mm. The intervening space between a-na and the following sign is 2 mm
in lines 3, 14 and 20.
149. In rev. 4 and 12, the sign SI (= IGI) has a long tail and measures 5 mm, but in rev. 17 it is only 4 mm
wide. The width of UM in obv. 4 is 4.5 mm.
150. See obv. 2 (URU), obv. 6 (GAL), and rev. 6 (É).
151. With the its beginning of SIR/SUKKAL at 12.5 mm from the left edge, its two last horizontal wedges
would have been 2.5 mm too much to the left to match the two verticals on the tablet.
152. MSL12p. 239 v 3-11.
153. ND 2451 (Iraq 23 pl. 14) r.14; cf. Postgate 1974a, pp. 376-379.
90 SIMO PARPÓLA
volved receipt, storage and distribution of all sorts of resources such as grain,154 people
(cf. ZTT 9), horses (cf, ZTT 22) and metáis (cf. ZTT 25) for the needs of the temples,
the army, and construction works (ef. note on ZTT 13:2). Tiras the restoration "treas-
urer" is preferable on the present evidence.
This important offícial would aecordingly have been the superior of the temple
scribe Sasí (see p. 18, above) as well. The treasurer and the temple scribe are indeed known
from other Neo-Assyrian sources to have worked in cióse collaboration.155
2. Mannu-ki-Libbali: Akkadian ñame meaning "Who is like the Inner City?", see PNA
2/11 p, 693, Libbali ("Inner City")156 was an appellative of the temple precinct of the city
of Assur, and in personal ñames it actually stands for Mullissu, the queen of heaven
worshipped in Esarra, the main temple of the Inner City. Cf. the ñame Libbali-sarrat
("The Inner City is queen") with Mullissu/Urkittu-sarrat ("Mullissu/Istar of Uruk is
1 ^7
queen)", and the ñames Libbáli/Esarra-hammat ("The Inner City/Esarra gathers [all
the powers])" with Mullissu/UrMttu-hammat ("Mullissu/Istar of Uruk gathers)".158 The
parallel ñames Mannu-ld-Arbail and Mannu-kl-Ninua have likewise to be understood as
referring to the goddesses Istar of Arbela and Nineveh respectively.159
As to be expected, the ñame Mannu-M-Libbali is best attested in texts from Assur
and Nineveh,160 where Mullissu was worshipped as Istar of Nineveh or under the ñame
Lady/Queen of Nineveh, The occurrence of the ñame at Ziyaret Tepe is natural in view
of the fact that there was a temple of Istar of Nineveh at the site,161 and suggests that the
father of our Mannu-ld-Libbali was already closely associated with the temple.
154. Cf.NL74(=CTN5pl.28,p.l32),
155. Cf. SAA 13 188:10-14: "I myself, the deputy governor, the scribe and deputy of the treasurer, the
temple scribe, and the priests of the temples of Harran, together with Sarru-lü-dári, the chariot-
driver, weighed out and reeeived 30 talents and [x+]6 minas of silver."
156. Virtually always written logograhically UKU.SA-URU in Neo-Assyrian. A single spelling in SAA 10
19:1 1 (URU.§Á-¿>Z-URU) indicates a prominciation [Libbi-ali], but the usual pronunciation was proba-
bly [Libbali], judging from occasional phonetic spémngs such as )í-ba-]i-ím ^WT 5 Y\4:2) and \\-
157. PNA 2/n p. 60 (Libbali-sarrat); PNA 2/H p. 767 (MuUissu-sarrat); SAA 9 2 iii 12 and StAT 2 91:1
(Urkittu-sarrat).
158. PNA 2/II p. 660 (Libbali-kammat); PNA I/u p. 406 (Esaira-hammat); PNA 2/II p. 767 (Mullissu-
hammat); ND 3420:5 (Iraq 15 p. 140) and ND 3421:3 (Iraq 17 pl.28:l) (Urkittu-hammat).
159. PNA 2/II p. 685 (Mannu4a-Arbail); PNA 2/E pp. 696f (Mannu-M-Ninua); cf. Mannu-l¿í-Issar,
"Who is like Istar?" (PNA 2/II pp. 691f ).
160. Out of the 14 attestations of the ñame usted in PNA 2/H p. 693, only one pertains to an individual
not from Assur or Nineveh (see SAA 11 1 63 ii 12, referring to a fugitive from the town Issutu).
161. See note on ZTT 6:2 and discussion of ZTT 12.
í
3, The preposition sa, "of, here has the nuance "about" (cf. note on ZTT 2:2) and
anticipates the (rhetorical) questions in obv. 14-16,
KUR.MES: an abbreviation for ANSE.KUR,(RA).MES, "horses", also attested in ABL
1244; CTN 3 98, 103, 104, 108, 116; GPA 204; KAV 31-37, 131-132; ND 2393, 2482,
2491, 2499, 2672 and 2768 (Iraq 23, p. 22fí); SAA 1 241; SAA 5 136, 171; SAA 6 95;
SAA 7 172; SAA 11 107-109, 112-119; SAA 13 84-88, 90, 92-94, 97, 99, 103-105,
115, 123; SAA 16 175, 177. Virtually all of these texts are detailed reports on incoming
or reviewed horses, written by specialized scribes; the determinative ANSE was rarely
1 AO
omitted in other kinds of texts, since plain KUR had many other readings as well. The
writer of the present letter was mus certainly a professional involved in reviewing and
training horses, especially ones for chariot troops, and his status must have been similar
to that of Nabü^sumu-iddma/Nadinu, the inspector (hazannu) of the Nabü temple of Calah,
who wrote the horse-reports SAA 13 78-123.163 Since Operation G has not yielded any
evidence of stables or a large open área suitable for exercising and manoeuvring chariot
horses, the office of Mannu-ld-Libbali must have been situated elsewhere. Accordingly,
the office where the letter was found (Room 10) must have been that of his superior, to
whom the letter was addressed.164
4f. The scribes meant here must have been müitary scribes depicted in royal sculptures
as working in pairs, one writing in cuneiform on clay tablets or wax-covered writing-
boards, the other writing in Aramaic script on leather or papyrus. "Assyrian and Aram-
ean scribes" (LÚ*.A.BA KURMs-sur-a-a /LÚ*.A.BA KUR,ár-ma-a-á) are also listed in the
Kuyunjik professions list together with chariot troops.165
162. Another abbreviation for "horse(s)", KUR.RA(.MES), is a bit more common in non-specialized texts
(see CT 53 136; CTN 3 113; GPA 211; ND 2711 = CTN 5 p, 297; SAA 5 218, 224), evidently be-
cause keeping the sign RA rendered it less ambiguous. The only non-specialized text using the ab-
breviation KUR.ME§, ABL 1244, is a letter frorn the king containing many abbreviations and evi-
dently written down from dictation; the more polished copies of the same letter (ABL 273, 543 and
1108) use the full spelling ANSE.KUR.RA.MES.
163. It is possible that he was a "recruitment officer" (musarkisu), since this official, who was centrally
responsible for levying horses and chariot troops, is not mentioned in the present letter. A mu-
sarkisu was in charge of a unit of 100 chariots according to SAA 5 251 r.3-5.
164. Theoretically, it is thinkable that the letter was actually never sent, in which case the ofSce would have
belonged to Mannu-la-Niniia. This possibility is, however, ruled out by the above considerations
and the fací that the other texts of the archive (except for ZTT 13 r,9) have nothing to do with
horses or their training and equipment
165. MSL 12 p. 239 v 5-6.
92 SIMO PARPÓLA
6. LÚ*.GAL-TÚG.KA.KÉS could in principie also be rendered "chief tailor",166 but this is

contradicted by the context and by the plural suffix -ani, which is not attested for rab
kasiri ("chief tailor"), Accordingly, the logogram has to be taken as an unusual spelling
1 f\~l
.for "cohort-commander", the plural of which was rab kisiráni and which was often
written logographically LÚ.GAL-KA.KÉS,168 once even LÚ.GAL-TÚG.KA.KÉS,169 as in the pre-
sent text
l,~LÚ*.um-ma-ni, "craftsmen": see note on ZTT 13:9, It seems from this text, written
perhaps shortly before the fall of the city, that the necessary craftsmen were there but re-
fused to take orders from the writer (cf. obv. 15, 21-22, rev, 11), probably because of
the desperate military situation. The military craftsmen included the smiths, the carpen-
ters (= cartwrights and wheelwrights), and the bow-makers and arrow-makers men-
tioned in lines 8-12; weavers and tailors (obv, 12) were included in the category of
"quartermaster troops" (kitkittü).
14. For the restoration cf. up-ni-sú a~na DINGIR lip-ti, SAA 10 56 s.l; for the idiom upne
patü, "to open the palms (in supplication); to pray", see also SAA 3 13 r.l, 15:9, 31:14,
33:23,36 r.7,48:7; SAA 8 112 r.10; SAA 10 240 r.6; and Parpóla 1983a, p. 42.
166. Cf. line 12 and LÚ*.TÚG.KA.KÉ§ = ka-s[i~ni\, MSL 12 p. 233:7 (Sultantepe List, opening the section
"tailor", which also includes words for "cloths mender" [mugabbü], "bleacher" [asMpu], "weaver"
[uspáru], "wickerworker" [huppu] and "carpet-knotter" [kamidii], and ends in LÚ*.GAL-TÚG,KA.KÉ§,
"chief tailof); note also the sequence LÚ*.GAL-TÚG.KA.KÉS / LÚ*.TÚG.KA.KÉ§ / LÚ*.GAL-â-5/r in
MSL 12 p. 239 iv 30-32 (Kuyunjik List).
167. Attested in SAA 16 40 r.12 (LÚ*.GAL- Jd-sir-a-ni),
168. Cf, KA.KÉS = ki-is-ru, Ai. VI ii 43 and Igituh Short Versión 83. Although the equation LÚ.GAL-
KA.KÉ§ = rab kisir is not attested lexically, it can be established with certainty on prosopographical
grounds. Assurbanipars cavalry commander Arbayu is entitled LÚ.GAL-£Í-JJ> in ABL 543 r.l8,
1108 r.l 6 and 1244 r.8, but LÚ.GAL-KA.KÉS in ABL 273 r.3, which is another copy of the same royal
letter. The bodyguard commander Assür-ila5! is entitled ití,GAL-ki~sir qur-ZAG in SAA 6 323 r.7
(664 BC), 326 r.l8 and 327 r.2 (663 BC), but LÚ*.GAL]-KA.KÉ§ LÚ*.^wr-ZAG in SAA 6 324 r.8, which
is a duplícate of SAA 6 323. In the same texts, the title of Zar'ütí, the cohort-commander of the
crown prince, is written lú.GAL-ki-sir A-MAN in SAA 6 323 r.9, but LÚ*.GAL-K]A.KÉ§ DTMU-LUGAL
in the duplicate SAA 6 324 r.9.
169. The title of the eponym official of year 656, Milki-ram, is written LÚ.GAL-KA.KÉ§ in ND 5448 r.l7
(Iraq 19 p. 128) but LÚ.GAL-TÚG.KA.KÉS in ND 2328 r.20 (Iraq 16 p. 43) and GAL-iú,ka-sir in ND
2330 r.l5 (Iraq 16 p, 43). Despite the latter spelling, the title of this man was certainly not "chief
tailor" but "cohort-commander", since it is given as LÚ.GAL-foXs/r in ABL 571:10, a letter from As-
surbanipal in NA seript. The title LÚ.GAL-£a-sz> was clearly confused with rab kisir in a few other
texts from the Sargonid period as well (e.g,, SAA 7 126:5 [NA]; SAA 10 179:13,15, r,8 [NB]).
15, For the restoration cf. ana-ku mi-i-nu la~aq-bi, SAA 10 265:14; a-na-ku-ma mi-i-nu
a-qab-bi, ibid. 191 r.3; mi~i-nu aq~qa-ab-bi> SAA 13 158 r.12; a-ni-nu mi-nu ni-qa-bi,
SAA 5 105:12; mi-i-nu [la-aq-bi], SAA 16 98 r,3.
16. Literally, "what should I add?" Restoration conjectural, cf, e,g. a-si-qi ina UGU-/ZZ
ur-fa-di, SAA 5 15 r.4; li-sur-ru ... lu-ra-ad-di-u^ SAA 10 103 r.3.
19. At the end of the line possMy restore \qi-tin-ní\, "our end" (a masculine word is
needed because of the numeral l-en), For the syntax cf. ik-ku-u mi-i-nu du[l~la-ka],
"what is your work?" SAA 16 183:11; is-sá-nu-u 20 L[ú*Já-BAD.HAL.MES(-5w-?2M)],
"their [cavalryme]n are (only) twenty", SAA 10 84:20,
20, For the restoration cf. a-na-ku-ú al-lak, "shall I go?", SAA 10 93:11; a-na-ku ú-di-
ia-ma, "I am alone", SAA 17 3 r. 18; a-na-ku a-na ú-di-ia, "I alone", SAA 5 117:13; a-
na-ku ú-da-ia, "I alone", SAA 1 232:10; ú-di-ia a-na-ku, "I am alone", SAA 13 128 s.2;
ha-an-ni-u ú-de-e-sú, "this alone", SAA 1 21 r.l; an]-ni-tú ú-de-sá, "this alone", SAA
15 286:7; su-u ú-de-su, "that alone", SAA 16 76:6, etc.
21f. For the restorations cf. la-as-sú la i-sá-mu-u-ni, ND 2711:5 (CTN 5 pl.60); me-me-
e-ni la-as-sú la-a i-sá-man-m, "nobody listens to me", SAA 16 34:20; la-as-sú la i-sá-
mi-ú, "they do not obey at all", SAA 1 240 r.l; la-a-sú la-a i-sá-me-u, "they pay abso-
lutely no heed", SAA 1 82 r.8; la-as-sú la is-me-ú, "they did not obey at all", SAA 1
240:8.
23-rev. 2. Restorations based on rev. 9 and 18f.
Rev. 6. Gis.É-Af-5z>.MES: a wooden box or container otherwise attested only in GPA 155,
an inventory of household utensils, wooden implements, copper vessels, iron tools, gar-
ments, and wooden containers. The text seems to distinguish between two kinds of bet
(É) kisir, ones for "(horse) teams" and others for "soldiers".170 The suggested translation
"bandage/towel box" is based on the function of the sa-bet-kisrí attendant (literally, "the
man of bet ldsri"\e duty was to take dirty towels and give out clean ones at a royal
banquet (see CAD Kp, 443); cf. Syr. qetro, "tie, bandage" (Payne Smith 1893, p. 502b).
7f. This is certainly a reference to a detailed semi-annual account of horses and chariots
to be submitted in the seventh month (Tishri); compare ND 2451, a six-monthly account
of the issues and receipts of mules, donkeys and carts, defined in the text as "accounts
1 ^71
for the eponym year [.,.]" and dated "intercalary Elul (Vl2), [xth] day".
170. [x Gi§].É!-A7-5/r,MES / [sa ú]-rat.MSS/2 Gi§.É-^[/-5zr.ME§] sa [LÚ].ERIM.[ME§], GPA 155 vii 9-12.
171. MG.§ID.ME§ sa lim-me l[x x x] /TTI.KIN.DIRI U[D.^C.KAM], ND 2451:1-2; see Postgate 1974a, pp. 376-
379.
94 SIMO PARPÓLA
9. Nabü-kenu-usur: Akkadian ñame meaning "O Nabu, protect the just one!" For other
attestations and comparable ñames, see PNA 2/II p. 840.
20. a-sá-par-u-ni: Ist sg. pret. of sapüru, "to send", with dissimilation Ai/ > /a/ before
the subjunctive ending and an anaptyctic vowel inserted between the cluster /sp/; see
Harneen-Anttila 2000, pp. 31 and 34f, and cf. LÚ.A-KIN sa ina UG[U x x] ás-pa-ru-ni,
"the messenger whom I sent to [...]", ND 2413 r.5 (CTN 5 pl. 50); a-ta-a Ja ta-sá-pur
"why did you not send?", KAV 115 r.14.
Side 1. Probably a reference to registers of chariot horses and their owners, such as the
lists published in KAV 31-37 and 131-132. Horses appear as an object of the verb esápu,
"to collect", in SAA 15 59 r.5.
2. The infinitive muatu, "dying", replaced mütu as a word for "death" in Neo-Assyrian
and is attested in this meaning also in SAA 1 56 r.5, SAA 2 2 r.v 1, and SAA 10 226:
21. For the restoration at the end of the line, cf. a-mu-a-ía, "will I (= Assurbanipal) die?"
// ú-se-za-ba, "will he (= Assurbanipal) escape?"172
3. ep-sá~ak "I am done!": the blank spaces before and after indicate that this is to be un-
derstood as a complete sentence, an exclamation of frustration meaning (as in English)
"I am finished!" A similar meaning of the stative ofepasu is attested in a letter of As-
surbanipal to the elders of Elam, which reads: "You say: 'Why does Assyria treat us
like this?' Do yon really not know why you have been treated like this? It is because of
1T^
Nabü-bel-sumati ... that you have been treated (ep-sá-ku-nii) like this!". The stative
of gamáru, "to finish", also has a similar meaning in SAA 13 190:24, "(If this is the
way) the king, my lord, regards me, I am finished (ga-am-mK)\", Note that the two verbs
offcen occur together in the meaning "to do/make completely" (stat. "to be completely
done"), e.g. ti-tur-ru-sú e-pis ga~mir, "its bridge has been completely built", SAA 15 156
r.11-12; an-ni-u gab-bu e-pis g[a-mir], "allthis is cofmpletely] done", SAA 13 168:16.
Discussion
The sender of this letter was evidently charged with the task of assembling the chariot
troops of the city for the last desperate battle against the invading enemy. This was a
mission impossible, since the majority of the troops had evidently come to the conclu-
sión that the fate of the city was sealed and resistance would have been folly.
In its frustrated and gloomy tone, desperate outlook, and dramatic allusions to death
and the imminent collective catastrophe, this letter is unique among the historical sources
172. SAA 4 321 r.2 // SAA 4 322 r, 1.

173, BM 132980:4-9; see Waters 2002, pp. 79-86.
from ancient Assyria. The only comparable texts are two anguished oracle queries of
Assurbanipal regarding his survival from a threatening coup d'étaí,114 four letters from
Uruk documenting the collapse of Assyria's power in the south under Sin-sarru-is-
kun,175 and the recently published submissive letter sent by Sin-sarru-iskun to Nabopo-
lassar just before the fall of Nineveh.176 But none of these other texts document the col-
lapse of the Empire from the perspective of an eye-witness to the actual events. Since
the letter was found in the office of the treasurer (or the city manager), it was almost
certainly written immediately before the fall of the city to the invading Babylonian army
in Tammuz (June/July) 611.
23. ZT 13442 (+) 13444 (Plates XX-XXI)

Two fragments of a horizontal tablet, 57 x 30 x 19 mm. Light yellowish brown. 4 + [3] =
7 lines.
Receipt of barley.
Date destroyed.
Obv.
Rev.
ZT 13442 (+) 13444
Obverse
1. T& ANS[E SE.P]AD.MES 6 home[rs of bjarley,
2. [ina S]U I^f[/- [in the ca]re of Qi[tí-ila]ni,
3. [r]A\mj,[sE-lbu-d]a-a-a from the fa[rm of Büdjaya,
4. [ina] UGUJDiNG[iR-su]M-72a [on] behalf of Il[u-id]dina.
174. SAA 4 321 and 322.

175. ABL 815, 1089 (+ 48-7-20, 129), 1366 and CT 54 182.
176. Lamben 2005.
iii
96 SIMO PARPÓLA
Reverse
l.[x x x x x x] [...]
2. [x x x x x x] [...]
3. IGI [x x x x x] Witness: [PN]
Notes
Obv. 1-4: Cf. ZTT 12:1-4, Despite the parallel wording, the horizontal format of the
tablet shows that (unlike ZTT 12) it is not an account documenting the receipt and
subsequent issue of barley from a farm to an outside destination, but a receipt docu-
menting the arrival of a shipment of barley at the central granary. The complete parallel-
ism between the present passage and ZTT 12:1-4 proves that ZTT 12 was compiled us-
ing the present text and several other receipts (among others, perhaps ZTT 24) as a
source. The original receipts were probably normally routinely destroyed, so the preser-
vation of the present text can be only due to the fact that the end of Tushan carne soon
after the compilation of ZTT 12.
2. [ina s]u: written ina su. 2 in ZTT 12:2, as normal in Neo-Assyrian and other texts from
Ziyaret Tepe as well, but the dual sign is also omitted in ZTT 24, For other examples of
the spelling ina su in Neo-Assyrian, see BATSH 6 64 r,13; SAA 12 85:4.12x9.14.16;
ND 2415:3 andlS (CTN 5 pl.l). For Qití-ilani see note on ZTT 12:2.
3, -a-a: restored from ZTT 12:3.
4, Note that ZTT 12:4 here has sa ina su. 2 instead of [ina U]GU. Both phrases neverthe-
less express related concepts: if the hamlet of Büdaia was ''under the control (ina su.2)"
of Ihi-iddina, the agent Qití-ilani was acting "on his behalf" (ina UGU).
24 ZT 13462 (Píate XXI)

Fragment of horizontal tablet in poor condition, 61 x 30 24 mm. Brownish green. 6 +
l+[5] + 2=lllines,
Receipt of barley.
Date not preserved.
Obverse
1. [x AN§E SE.PAD.ME§] [x] homejrs of bjarley,
2. [ina] rsu' f x x x x x] care of [PN],
3. [T]A [URU.gE-1^: x x x] from [the farm of PN],
4. [ina UGU] IlV [x x x x] [on behalf oj\,
Obv.
VíV^S^^S^SI
^?^!^
Edge
Rev.
Edge
ZT 13462
5. [x x x] rlnd[x] r^:n [x x]
6. [x x x x] x[x x] rx'1 x[x x]
Edge
blank
7. [x] rx x x~* [x x x x]
Reverse
lines 1-3 destroyed
4. [x]x rmcC x[x x x x x]
5. Ta-na su x[x x x x x] ]
Edge
6. ina rMNA?"'.[Ki x x x] m Nineveh [...]
1, ina MU ""j*:"1 [x x x x x] ...]
Notes
Obv. 1-4. Restorations based on ZTT 23:1-4.
Rev. 6. The reference to Nineveh in a text that presumably dates from 611 BC is very
surprising, but the queried sign indeed seems to be NINA.
98 SIMO PARPÓLA
25. ZT 13463 (Píate XXII)

Vertical tablet (w/h ratio 1:2), 20 x 37 x 14 mm, almost complete. Dark yellowish
brown. 8 lines.
Distribution of copper.
Undated.
Same scribe as in ZTT 9-13 and 15-18.
Obv.
Obverse
6 minas (of copper to)
2. rLTJ*\GU[B].B[A] the pro[p]he[t]
3. Í7lflKÁ.[GAL] at the [city] gate.
4. 1 MA.NA ""URUDU"1 1 mina of c[opp]er (to)
5. LÚ*.í/fl-[gfl/-[MÜ§E]N the au[gu]r.
6. [1] MA.NA ra-ncC É-[DINGIR] [1] mina to the house [of the god],
7. [2 M]A.rNA a-ncC [x] [2m]inasto [...].
blank space
T[otal], 10 minas.
Reverse
iininscribed
Notes
Obv, 2, rLÚ*"l.Gu[B].B[A], "prophef: the signs are partially damaged, but the readings
are certain.
3. There is room for one sign only in the break; therefore any other restoration than
[GAL] is excluded.
4. The sign URUDU is completely destroyed, but its outline can be just made out of the
faint traces at the top and end of the break.
5. An augur is also mentioned in ZTT 4 r,6 and 5 r.5.
6. There is not enough room for restoring [d!5] in the break.
Discussion
This is an account of distribution of copper made to a prophet, an augur, and an uniden-
tified temple (probably the main temple of the city, that of Istar of Nineveh). The reason
and occasion for the expenditures is not stated, but it must have been a highly excep-
tional one, Ecstatic prophets were devotees of the goddess Istar and basically depended
on grain rations for their livelihood, like the rest of the temple community.177 They
worked themselves into a frenzy and prophesied spontaneously during religious festi-
vals, but could also serve in the army and speak encouraging "words of god" during
178
military campaigns. Occasionally, they could be consulted by the king, by the ad-
ministration and even by prívate persons on matters of great national importance or prí-
vate distress and urgency.179 On such occasions, the prophet may have received a fee for
the "word of god" he had been asked to deliver.
The text indicates that the prophet got his copper at the [city] gate. If it was a fee for a
solicited prophetic oracle, a plausible occasion would have been a great public gathering
outside the city wall, just before an immment battle against the invading Babylonian
army. In such a gathering, the prophet would almost certainly have proclaimed victory
for the Assyrian troops, since in the NA prophecy corpus the goddess speaking through
1 sn
the prophet always promises the defeat of enemy troops in an impending battle. The
augur mentioned in line 5 supports this hypothesis; in the classical world, omens were
1 S1
routinely taken from the flight of birds on the eve of battle.
An encouraging prophecy delivered in a militarily hopeless situation would explain
1 SO
the surprisingly large amount of copper received by the prophet. It would have con-
stituted not only a reward to the prophet for his encouraging words but also an offering
177. See Parpóla 1997b, pp. XLVII-XLVIII and CV n. 244.

178. Nissinen 1998b, pp. 43-65.
179. Nissinen 1998b, pp. 84-88; Nissinen - Parpóla 2004.
180. See SAA 9 1.1-2,1.4,1.6-7, 2.1-2,2.4-5, 3.2,4-9,11, and Nissinen 1998b, pp. 43-61.
181. Cf. also note on ZTT 4 r.7.
182. The purchasing power of a copper mina corresponded to 10 homers of barley or 1-2 camels, see
Radner 1997a, p. 248, and Radner 1999, p. 156. Note also that the prophet got six times more cop-
per than the augur.
100 SIMO PARPÓLA
to the goddess, who as the protectress of the city would herself lead the defending troops
152^
against the enemy and fight on their side.
Note that this tablet was written by the same scribe who wrote the account tablets
ZTT 12 and 13 detailing deliveries of grain to the harem and the aJatu temple at the end
of Sivan (the third month). It is possible that a festival was arranged at that time in the
aJatu house in order to secure the support of the goddess for the impending battle (see
discussion of ZTT 12),
26. ZT 13440 (Plates XXn-XXIU)

Eight fragments of a vertical tablet. A = 20' x 65' x 23, B = 18' x 28' x 23, C = 13' x 28'
x!3', D = 44'x30'x20', F = 23'x35'x5', G = 12'x24'xT, H = 14'x29'xl6' mm.
Fragment E not measured (lost after copying). Dark olive green. 8 + 3 + 4 + 2 + 2 + 5 +
4 + 3 = 31+nlines.
List of fields and (military) officials.
Date not preserved.
Fragment A
1'. x x x x x] rx^ [x x x
2\ x x A.SÁ?],GA.M[ES?
3'. x x x x x] rx x x^ [x x x
4'. x x x x x] rx x^ [x x x x
5\ X X X X] A É [X X X X ... ] house [.
6'. x x x x x] za IM [x x x x
T. x x x x x] 13? [x x x x
8', x x x x x] rx'> [x x x x
Fragment B
1'. x x x x x]x x[x x x
2\ x x x u]RU.SE ina qa-[ni x x x ... vi]llage outspde
3'. x x x x x] rx x~* URU,[;c x ....] town [...
183. Cf. the prophecies cited in Parpóla 1997b, p. XLVI, and Nissinen 1998b, pp. 52-57. Note that the
mural crown of Cybele worn by Neo-Assyrian queens as images of Mullissu/Istar of Nineveh (Par-
póla 1997b, p. XCVIII note 159) became the primary emblem of the city gods Tyche, Fortuna, and
later Madonna, as "protectress of the city" (Hórig 1979).
A D
ZT 13440
I i
102 SIMO PARPÓLA
Fragment C
l\ x x x x x x x]x [...]
2\ x x x x x x x]-ti [...]
3'. x x x x x x x x] rÁ1.3A
4'. xxxxxxxx A.S]Á?
Fragment D
blank
1'. x #]-PAB [je je
2'. x x]x UD x[x x x
Fragment E
1'. x x x] [x x x x
2\ x x] Id[x xxx
Fragment F
1'. x x x x x] ruF.[x x x PN, p[rofession
2\ *-dp]A?LÚ.{> x x P]N, p[rofession
^) * ,/V *\f J\> Jv I" J-wLJ» 1 V> J^f *\> P]N, p[rofession
4 ) „ Y
* V> »*>
v v l v v F v Y Y ir
Wv VV I V> Jv I <Á* •'V v'v »^v
5'. x x x x x] ruPt,[x x x PN], p[rofession
Fragment G
J. • J\t wV J\f I Jv i/\> I Vv *f\f «A- •'v
2'. ^c 3: LÚ.GA\L-ki-[sir xxx ... PN], coh[ort-commander

y. x x UJ,GA]~L-ki-[sir xxx ... PN], coh[ort-commander
4', x x LÚ.GA]L-r£f ~[sz> xxx .,. PN], coh[ort-commander
Fragment H
iI "I r *?n
(Too broken for translation)
o' n •* *
3'. x x x x x x y,~\ncT
Notes
All these fragments come from the same findspot (G-307), where they were found
together with some 50 further uninscribed tiny fragments. Originally, they all probably
belonged to a single large vertical tablet, but the fragments could not be joined together
any more. To judge from the available evidence, the original tablet may have been a
census of farms and lands owned by military officials.
27. ZT 13459 (Píate XXIII)
Tablet fragment, 23' x 15' x 8' mm. Light brown. 1 + n lines.
ZT 13459
Side
1. x x x x] rA^, Gis,x[x x x ...] field, or[chard
28. ZT 13459 (Píate XXIII)

Tablet fragment, 23' x 32' x 17' mm. Dark olive green. 1 + n lines.
ZT 13460
1'. x x x x L]Ú? [x x x (Too broken for translation)

rest broken away
t i
104 SIMO PARPÓLA
índices
Akkadian Words r.6, LÚ.ífa-[gd/-[MUSE]N 25:5, LÚ,(fla-

gz7-MU[§EN] 5 r.5
abuUu, "city gate": KA. [GAL] 25:3 dullu, "work": dul-lu 22 r.5
adru, "threshing floor": [ad-ri] 4:5, 5:4 egertu, "letter, document": e-gir~te 2:2, [e~
akl, "how?": a-ke-e 22 r.ll gir-te 3:1, e-gir-tú 2:5, 7, 3 e.4, e-g£r.ME§
akl, "as": a-ki 4:2,5:3,18:3 lr.7
alatli, (a festival and the temple where it epasu, "to do, make": ep-sá-ak 22 s.3
was celebrated): á~ki-ti 12 r.5, á-ki-i-ti eqlu, "field": A.SÁ 28:3, 34 s.l, A.S]Á 28:4,
13r.2 A.SÁ].GA.M[E§ 26:2
alaku, "to go, come": il-lak-a-ni 8 r.2, íl- erabu, "to enter": e-ta-mb 22 r.2
la-ka 22 s.2 erü, "copper": URUDU 25:4
amelu, "man": LÚ 9 r.3,22:17 esapu, "to gather, collect": lu-si-pu-[sú~nu]
ammala, "completely": a-ma~la 8:4, r.3 22 s.l
ana, "to": ana 12 r.5, 6, 13 r.2, a-na 8:4, 5, esapu, "to double": i-si-pi 6 e.7,7 r.3
r.3, 13 r.5, 14:5, 15:2, 22:3, 14, 24 r.5, eier, "ten": 1025:8
25:6,7 esrá, "twenty": 20 13 r.5,21 13:7
[a-na] 22:1, ezábu, "(S) to escape": [ú~se-za-ab] 22 s.2
anáku, "I": a-na-ku 22:14, a-na-ku-u 22:20 gabbu, "all": gab-bu 22:4,18
anniu, "this": an-ni~e 22 r.18, an-ni-ti 22 gaKtu, "deportation": ga7]-li-ti 19:8
r.l3,a-m-w8:4,r.3 gimru, "total": PAB 1 e.5, 9 r.2, 12 r.4, 29
anütu, "utensil": a-nu-tú 22:9 r.l,P[AB]25:8
ápiu, "baker": LÚ.NINDA 13:6, LÚ.NINDA. Uku, "state service, duty": il-ki 6:5, il-ku-u-
MES-m"14:3 ni 1 e.7,
arba, "forty": 40 1:4, 11 r.2,47 13 r.3 imam, "homer": AN§E 1:1, 3, 4, e.5, 4:1,
assinnu, "man-woman, castrated and trans- 11:1,3,12:1,24:1, ANS[E23:1,AN[SE 10:1,
vestite devotee of Istar": LÚ.SAL 6:3 [ANSE 5:2
askapu, "leather-worker, shoemaker, tan- ina, "in, at": ina 2:5,4:2,4, 5, 5:2,4, 5, 7:4,
ner": LÚ.ASGAB 6 r.2 11 r.3, 12:2,4, 6, 8, 9, r.2,13:8, r.3,14:2,
asláku, "textile bleacher, ruller": LÚ.TÚG. 3, 15:3, 22 r.3, 4, 10, 12, 17, s.l, 2, 24
UD 6:5,7:5 r.6, 7, 25:3, 27:2, [ina] 4:5, 5:4, 23:2, 4,
batqu, "déficit, damage, repair": bat-qí 24:4, 5
15:2, bat-qu 22:13 inira, "ours": in-nu-u 22:19
belu, "lord, owner": EN 6:3, EN-ía 22:3, issen, "one": l-en 22:19, r.10,13, s.2
E[N-ia] 22:1, ~EN-sú 7 e.6 issét, "one": l-et 8:3
bel piqitti, "official": lti.'EN-pi~qi-ta-te issi, "with": i-si-ia 22 r.l
22:7 issu, A "from": TA 1:2, 10 r.l, 12 r.l, 15:4,
betu, "house": É 13 e.9, r.3,26:5 [TA 16:2, [T]A 11:2,12:3,23:3,24:3
bét ili, "house of god, temple": É-[DINGIR] issu, B "woman, wife": MÍ.MES 9 r.2, see
25:6 also bet isati
bet isati, "house of women, harem": É-MÍ. iskáru, "assigned quota, impost; state field":
MES 13 r.6, É-MÍ.M[E]S 12 r.6 GI§.GAR.ME§llr.4
bet ki§ri, (a wooden container): Gls.É-^z- kaparu, "to cleanse, scour": i-kap~pa-ru-ni
^zr.MES 22 r.6, 22:10
bet [.„], (a container): GIS.É~1> 22 r-5 kapru, "village, hamlet, farm": u]RU.SE
dágü issüri, "augur": LÚ.í/a-g//-MU§EN 4 27:2, see also Kapar- under ñames
kaqqudu, "head, capital, original amount": mi-i~n[u 22:15

SAG.DU-sa 14:2, [SAG.DU-^á] 4:6, 5:5 muatu, "to die": a-mu~aí 22:21, mu-a~tú
karmu, "granary": kar-me 13:8 22 s.2
kasaru, "to bind, mend": i~ka-s\a-ru-ní\3 mugirru, "chariof: GI§.GIGIR.MES 22 r.l 5
muhhu, "top, on": UGU 22 r.4, 23:4, UGU]
kasiru, "tailor": LÚTÚG.KA.KÉS.MES 22:12 24:4, 5
k!,'"as, like": k[i 20:1, M-i 19:5,22:17 naggaru, "carpenter": LÚ.NAGAR.ME§ 22:10
kümn, "instead": ku-me 22 r.17 nahlaptu, "coat, (scale) armoxir": TUG.DUL
krarakku, "seal": [NA4.KISIB 5:1, [N]A4.KISIB
6:1 nappSh eré, "copper-sxaith":
kurumnratu, "barley (ration)": SE.PAD 1 URUDU 22:8
e.5, SE.PAD.MES 1:1,2:1,12:1,14:1,16:1, nappah parzilli, "blacksmitri": LÚ.SMUG-
24:1, SE.PAD,[MES] 17:1, SE.PAD.MES] AN.BAR22:8
10:1, SE,PA[D.MES] 18:1, SE.P]AD.MES nasú, "to lift, carry, take, receive": it-tí-si
23:1, SE.[PA]D,M[ES] 11:1, see also se5u 2:4, 10 r.2, it-ti-sí\, i~na~ás-si 22 r.17
and uttutu nikkassu, "account": NÍG.siD.MES-wa 22
la, "not": la 1 r.7, 2:7, 3 e.4, 7 r.l, 8:5, r.7
19:10, l[a 6 e,6, la-a 22 e.22, s,2, l[a-a niüksu, "wrap(?)": TÚG.n[ik]-si 8:3
22:21 msi, "people": UN.MES 19:11
lassu, "is not; absohitely not": la-ás-sú 22 pahutu, "governor": LÚ.EN.NAM 14:6
r.ll, 14,16, s.l, l[a-ás~sú 22:21 panati, "presence3: IGI-at 14:5
libbu, "heart, inside": SÁ 22 r.12, SÁ-¿>/ 22 panu, "face, presence; custody, keeping,
s.2, §X~bi-sú-n[u] 22 r.l O possession, disposal": IGI 1:2, 4:4, 5:4,
limmu, "eponym year": Hm-mu 1 r,3, 5 r.l, 6:5, 7:4, r.2, 10 r.l, 14:3, 22 r,15, IGl]
\lim~mu 4 r.2,10 r. 6 10:2, l[G]l 1:2, iGl-za 22 s.l,pa-an 2:3, 5,
lü, "let, may, be it": lu 22 r.8, 9, [Ju] 22:3 3:1
maháru, "to accept, receive": mah~[r]a 1 patü, "to open": la-ap-te 22:15
r.7, mah-rat 2:7,3 e.4 pitti, "according to":pi-ti 22 s.l
mahM, "ecstatic, prophet": LÚ.GUB 19:4, qabü, "to say, tell, command": a-qa-bi 22
LÚ.GU[B].B[A] 25:2 r.ll, iq-bu-ni] 22:17, la-aq-bi] 22:15
mala see ammála qannu, "outside": ina qa-[ni 27:2
malláhu, "boatman, skipper": LÚ.MÁ.DU. qatu, "hand; care, responsibility (oí)": SU
DU 8 e.9, LÚ.MÁ.[D]U.DU 8:5 24:2, r.5, s]u 23:2, SU.2 11 r.3, 12:2, 4, 6,
mannu, "who": man-ni 22:14, man-nu 8 8, 9, r.2, 15:3, [§]U.2 11:2
r,2,22r.!6 qü, 'Iitre':#o4:2
manü, "mina": MA.NA 25:1,4, 6, 8, MA.NA] qurbu, "present": qur-[bu 22 r.8
25:7 rab áli, "city manager": L[Ú].GAL-URU
maqattutu, "short felt gown": TÚG.ma-qa~ 8 .7'
tu-tú 8:2 rab kisri, "cohort commander": LÚ.GAjL-
mar3u, "son; citizen of: A 5:1, DUMU ld~[sir 32 r.2, 3, 4, LÚ.GAL-TÚG.KA.KÉS.
13:3, MES-ni 22:6
masennu, "treasiirer": [LÚ*.IGI.U]M22:1 rab sáhiti, "chief oil-presser": LÚ.GAL]-
meat, "hundred": l-me 1:3, 13 r.l, 3, 2-me 1§UR 10 e.4
l:l,3-me 1 e.5, [3]-me2:l,4-me 13:7 radü, "(D) to add to": lu-ra-\ad-di\,
memmeni, "anybody, anything": me-me-ni ú-rad-da 6 r.l
22r.l2,15 rammü, "(D) to leave, give up, relinqiiisli":
minu, "what": mi-i-ni 22 s.l, mi-i-nu 22:16, ú-[r]a-ma-a[n-n]i 8:6
Ü
106 SIMO PARPÓLA
re§u, "head, beginning": re-e-su 22 r.16 sipirtu, "message": si-pir-ti 22 r.l2

saharati see sahartu sulmu, "health, well-being": Dl-mu 22:3
samane, "eight": 8 10:1, 12:7,13 r,l summa, "if: BE-ma 6 e.6, 7 r.l, súm-mu
samana, "eighty": 80 1:3, e.5,2:1 8:4
sasin qassi, "bow-maker": LÚ.ZADIM-BAN supáfitu halluptu, "armoured undercoat":
22:11 TÚG.Kl.TA-hal-pa-te 8:1
sasin ussi, "arrow-maker": LÚ.ZADIM- tadanu, "to give, sell, pay": id-dan] 5:5,
GAG,TI*22:11 id\~dan 4 e.6, i-dan 1 r.l, i-da~n[a] 6 e,7,
siparru, "bronze; shackles, irons": si-bar- la-din 7 r.l, SU]M 6 e.6, SUM-an 8 e.4,
ri 22 r.l 8, [si-bar-ri 22 r.2 SUM-na 6 e.6, 7 r.3, SlM-ni 8:5, ta~da-ni
sissü, "horse": KUR.MES 22:4 6:3
süsanu, "chariot horse trainer": LÚ.GlS, tarásu, "to be proper, feasible, all right":
GIGIR 13 r.9 te-rz-[/s22:18
sütu "seah": GIS.BÁN 4:2, 5:2, IBAN 12:7, taslisu, "third man (in a chariot team)":
r.4,4BÁN 13:7, 15:1, 5BÁN 17:1, 6BÁN 11 [L]Ú.3.U5.M[ES]22r,14
r.2, 7BÁN 13 r.l, 9BÁN 13 r,5 tiffi, "equipment, arms": [G]lS.íz7-//.ME§
sabu, "men, troops": LÚERJM.MES 19 r.2 22:9
sehiru, "small, young": TUR 9 r.2 ti a bu, "to be good": i-ti~bu-su-ni 8 r.2
sipirtu, "girdle, waist-belt": TÚG.si-pi-tú tuppu, "tablet": IM 26:6
' 8:1 tupsarru, "scribe": LÚ.A.BA 4 s.2, 8 e.8,
sa, "that (oí); what; of; on account of: sa [LÚ].A.BA 6:2, LÚ.A.BA.MES 22:4
2:2, 3, 3:1, 4:2, 5:2, 6:4, 5, 7:3, e.7, 8 r.2, udé-, "alone" ú-[di-iá\0
12:4, r.2, 13:8, 22:9, 13, 17, r.5, 7, 8, 13, urna, "now": ú-ma-a 22 r.l O
15, 18, [sa 5:3, 10 e.6, [s]a 22:4, sá 4:3, umraanu, "crañsman, artisan": ~LÚ,um-ma-
5:3, 6:2,18:4 ni 22:7, LÚ,wn-ma-nu 13 e.9
sahartu, "legging": TÚG.sa-ha-ra-te 8:2 ümu, "day": UD-mu 6:5, 7 e.7, UD,#.KAM]
sakánu, "to place, put": sá~ki-in 22 r.3, sá- 10 r.5, 23 r.l, [UD.^.KÁM] 15:6, UD.6.
ki-nu-u~ni 22 r.l 9 KAM 7 r,7, UD.lf^: 29 r.2, UD.10.KAM 5
sakintu, "harem manageress": MÍ.GAR-[/w] r.l, UDj.10.KAM 4 r.l, UD.ll.KÁM 17:3,
11 r.2 UD.19 11 r.5, UD,19.K[ÁM] 11 r.l, u]D.
samü, "to listen, obey": i~sá-[mu~u-m 19.KAM 16:4, UD.20 13 r.7, UD.20.KAM 1
22:22 r.2, UD.24.KÁM 12 r.3, UD.26.KAM 3 e.3,
saniu, "second": 2-u 6:2 UD.27 13:4, 6,UD.29.KAM 14:4
sapáru, "to send": ás~pur-an-ni 22 r.13, a- upnu, "palm of hand": [up-ni-ia] 22:14
sá-par-u~ni 22 r,20, is-s[ap-ru 22 r.5 urdu, "servant, subject": [ARAD-k]a 22:2
saqiu, "cup-bearer": LÚ.KAS.LUL 8 r.l usparu, "weaver": LÚ.US.BAR.MES 22:12
sattu, "year": MU 24 r.7 usabu, "to sit, dwell; (S) to settle": se-si-bi
se5u, "grain": SRUM.MES 4:1, 5:2, 5, [§E. 19:10
UM,ME§ 4:6, see also kurumrautu and utru, "extra": ut-ru-tú 10:3
uttutu uttutu, "barley": SE.BAR 12:7, r.4, 13:1,
slbu, "witness": IGI 1 r.4, 5, 6, 2 e.8, r.l, 2, 15:1, §]E.BAR 12:7, see also kurummutu
3 r.l, 2, 4 r.4, 5, 6, 6 r.2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 r.4, and se?u.
5, 6, s.l, 8:7, e.8, 9, r.l, 10 r.3, 4, 23 r.l,
[IGI 4 r.3, 5 r.2, 3, 4, 5, 20:2, 3, 4, [l]Gl 6
r.7, [!G]l4s.l
sillín, "second-best": si-ih-[U~ia 22 r.4
snnu, "price, purchase": SÁM 19:12
Personal Ñames r.6, 7 r.6
NaM-tappüli-alik (eponym of year 613*):
Ahüa-eriba: ÂB-W-Q-SU 4:3, 7 s.l,:i IdPA-TAB-ÍW-D]U 5 r.l, IdPA]-TAB-ÍM-DU 4
a-su] 5:3, ÂB-w-o-sfu] 6 r,3 r.2
Ahu-le'i: I§E§-/I 6 r.5 Nabü-tarsi (tanner): MPA-LÁL 6 r.2, IdPA-
Assür-ahu-iddina (cupbearer): I\S-PAB-AS LÁL-^7 7 r.4
8 r.l Nabü-usaffim: Id?A-ú-[s]al-Um 15:3
Assür-sarrani (post-empire eponym): las- Qiti-üáni: V-Í/-DINGIR,MES 12:2, lq]í-ti-
sur-MAN-a-m 1 r.3 DING]IR.MES 23:2
Átanalj-ilí: la-ta-na-[ah-DiNGm] 10 r.3 Sas! (scribe of Istar of Arbela): ^sa-si-i 4
Baiá: *ba-ia~a 1:2 r.3, lsa-si-i I r.l, 6:1, 7 e.6, â-sfj-i 5 r.2
Battütu: lba-tu-t[u 20:3 Sábu-damqu: IERiM-siG5 1 :4
BélU-emüq-qalli: ÂSAN-TWW^-QÁL 7 r.5 Sakldl-Ia: lsá~ki[l-ia\8
Bel-Harrán-belu-usur (ruller): JEN- Samanitu: MÍJá-ma~m-tí 9:4
KASKAL-EN-PAB 6:5,7:4 Samas-iqbi: ldimj-iq-bi 4 r,5,
Burki[...]: lbur-ki~[x 10 r.4
^
Daián-Kurbail: lT>i.i£UD-kur-ba-ü 2 e.8, Sarru-báni: lMAN-ba-ni 6:4, 7:3
lm,l^K>-kur-ba-[lT\ r.l Sa-ifi-dubbu: lsá-im(m.-du-bu 1 r.4, lsa~
Dannat-sarrüssu: ân-nat-UJGAL-su 6 r.7 v DINGIR.MES-ífw-Z>W 2 r.2
Cabría: lgab~ri~ia 17:2 Sulmu-ahhe: IDi-777w-PAB.MES 2:4, lDi~\mu-
Gírítu: lgi~ri-te 8 r.3, V-"-[í]e 8:4 v PAB.MES 3:2^
Haldi-nasir (boatman): lhal-di-?AB 8 e.9 Sumu-lesir (Subrian augur): IMU-GIS 4 r.6,
Hasdaia: lhas~da-a-a 4:4, 5:1,4 5 r.5, ta-Gis] 3:1, Imi-le-sir2:3, 6
íbbi-ahhesa: MÜ-W-PARME§-¿?4 9:1 Ubru-Harrani (city manager):
URU.KASKAL 8:7
DI: MÍ./-//9:2 Ubru-Issar: IsuHUS-d15 6 r.4,
Hu-etir: JDINGIR-KAR-Z> 4 r.4, 3 r.2, ÛHUS-IS 1 r.5, 2 r.l
KAR-Z> 5 r.3 Udmu: lú~din-ni 1:3
Hu-iddina: JDING[IR-AS] 12:4, JDING[IR- Urdu-[...]: ^[RAjD-^ 24:4
su]M-wa23:4 Ütu-ilu: MÍ.ZÍ-ÍW-DINGIR 9:5
Kaldaiu ("Chaldean"): lkal-da-a-a 9 r.l broken: IA.-[X 6 s.l, Id[;t 24:5, fx 24:2, 4,
Kiqillanu (scribe): lki-qi-la-nu 8 e.8 ^ 5:1, 20:4, J[^ 12:6, r.2, 18:2, 4, ^[jc
Kubaba-báni: l]kü-bab-ba~ni 20:2 10 r.l, 12:9, Ix]x-ás~D]NGJK-a-a 19 r.3
Kurbánü: lkur-ba-nu~u 1 r.l
Libüsu (horse trainer): lli~bu-sú 13 r. 8
Lidbübu (baker): llid-di-bu-ub 13:5
Lüqu (scribe): ^/^M-qw 4 s.l Geographical Ñames
Mannu-kl-Adad: ân-nu-ki-dW 13 r.4
Mannu-la-Libbali: âw-ww-GiM-URU. SÁ- Armaiu "Aramean": ~KUR.ár-ma~a-a 22:5
TIRU 22:2 Assüraiu "Assyrian": KU[R].aj-^wr-a-a
Mullissu-umníí: Mf.íMN.LÍL-AMA 9:3 22:5
Musallim-Samas (oü-presser): lm[u-s]al- Bábili (Babylon): KÁ.DINGIR,KI 13:3
Hm-duw 10:3 Kapar-Büdaia "hamlet of Büdaia":
Nabü'áya: IáPA-u-a~a 1 r.6 URU.SE-^w-^fa-a-a] 12:3, URU, [SE-^W-
Nabü-kenu-usur: WPA-GIN-PAB 22 r.9, d\a-a-a 23:3
WPA-[GIN-PAB 22 e.23 Kapar-Zizánu-ilI "hamlet of Zizanu-ilT":
Nabü-sar-ahhesu: IdPA-MAN-PAB,MES-^M 6 15:4
108 SIMO PARPÓLA
Kapar-[...] "hamlet of [FN]": egertu, "letter(-order)", 31

12r.l,[URU,SE~I;t24:3 É-MÍ.MES, "harem", 71
Ninuwa (Nineveh): MNA.KI 4:2, 5, 5:3, 6:2, GIS.GAR - iskáru, "statefield",67
v NINA,[KI 24 r.6, [MNA.KI 5:5 homer(ANSE), 10,2951,35
Subriaiu "Subrian": sub~ri-ia~a-a 4 r,7 ilku, 51
Til-mas[q§ti: u]RU.DUL-7wa^-^[aí 16:2 ilu, "god" (pl. ili), 36-37
broken:uKU.|>27:3, Istar of Nineveh, 47-48,72, 90
kurbñnü., 30
Divine Ñames KUR.MES, "horses", 91
la-din (crasis for la iddin), 54
Issar sa Ninuwa (Istar of Nineveh): 15 sá LÚ.SAL = assinnu,, "man-woman", 47-48
MNAKI 6:2 LÚ*,GAL-TÚG,KA,KÉS = rob klSÍr, "cohort
commander", 92
Month Ñames LÚ.TÚG.UD (=püsaia7\100
TÚG.ma-qa-tu-tú, 56
Nisannu (Nisan, the Ist month): ITI.BARAG MES (as determinative of collective and
1 r.2, m.BARA[G] 3 e,3 material nouns), 29-30
Simánu (Sivan, the 3rd month): m.siG4 11 muatu, "death", 94
w r.l, 3,12 r.3,13:4,6,r.7,14:4 nasü, "to receive", 36-37
Sabatu (Shebat, the llth month): m,zfe 7 TÚG.nik-si9 57
r.7,15:6 padakku, "grain silo", 3364
Tamüzu (Tammuz, the 4th month): [rrjisu prophet, 99-100
17:3 qa, 2951,42
Tasritu (Tishri, the 7th month): m.DU6 22 rab ali, "city manager", 59, 88-89
r.8, rn.D[u610r.5 receipts, 32-33, 37
royal barley, 37-38
Words Discussed saharráte, "leggings",56
si-pi-tú, "cummerbund", 56
qffidavit, 60 'sa (~ Aram, d-\, 35, 91
alatu, 38,70-73,76 sakintu, 67,71-72
a-ma~la, 58 Samanitu (ôm on the eighth day"), 62
fl-ní-w, "this", 57 sa Sarru-bani, 49-50
assinnu,, 48 SKBAR, 69-70
askápu, "cobbler", 51 SE.PAD, 29
aslaku, 50100 SE.PAD.MES, 6511?, 70
Assür-sarrani (PE eponym), 30 SE.UM.MES, "grain", 41
Atargatis, 50 supaliíu halluptu, "felt armour", 56
BetKidmün,2440,50,72 temple scribe, 47, 90
bet tisir, "box", 93 TÚG.DtiL = naMaptu, "coat, armour", 57
dagil issüri, "augur", 43, 98-99 ubm, "client", 31
ditto-sign (as word-separator and abbrevia- wdTroi, "vulture(?)", 29
tion for AN§E), 35 wnmánu, "military erañsman", 75, 92
Ea-sarru, 50" white garments, 50
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Albenda P. 1991, "Decorated Assyrian Knob-Plates in the British Museum", Iraq 53,43-53,
Algaze G, 1989, "A New Frontier: First Results of the Tigris-Euphrates Archaeologieal Recon-
naissanee Prqject, 1988", Journal ofNear Eastern Studies 48,241-281,
Algaze G, - Breunmger R. - Lightfoot C. - Rosenberg M. 1991, "The Tigris-Euphrates Ar-
chaeologieal Reconnaissanee Prqject: A Preliminary Report of the 1989-1990 Seasons",
Anatolica 17,175-240,
Algaze G, - Breuninger R. - Knudstad J, 1994, "The Tigris-Euphrates Archaeologieal Recon-
naissanee Prqject: Final Report of the Birecik and Carchemish Dam Survey Áreas", Ana-
tolica 20,1-96.
Andrae W, 1909, Der Anu-Adad~Tempel in Assur (Wissenschaftliche Veroffentlichung der
Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft 10), Leipzig,
Annus A. 2002, The GodNinurta in theMythology and Royal Ideology ofAncient Mesopotamia
(State Archives ofAssyría Studies 14), Helsinki,
Baker H. 2001, The Prosopography ofthe Neo-Assyrian Empire, Vol, 2, Part u, Helsinki.
Barthélémy A, 1935, Dictionnaire arabe-francais des dialectes de Syríe: Alep, Damas, Liban.
París,
Beyer K, 1998, Die aramaischen Inschriften aus Assur, Hatra und dem übrigen Ostmesopota-
mien, Gottingen.
Borger R, 1956, Die Inschriften Esarhaddons, Konigs von Assyríen (Archiv jur Orientfor-
schung., Beiheñ 9, Graz,
1996, Beitráge zur Inschríftenwerk Assurbanipal, Wiesbaden,
Bom H. — Seidl U. 1995, Schutzwqffen aus Assyríen und Uraríu (Sammlung Axel Guttmann,
Bd. 4), Berlin - Mainz,
Bunnens G, 1997a, "[New Texts from Til Barsip:] The Archaeologieal Context", Abr-Nahrain
34, 61-65,
1997b, "Til Barsip under Assyrian Domination: A Brief Account ofthe Melbourne Uni-
versity Excavations at Tell Ahmar", in S, Parpóla - R.M, Whiting (eds.), Assyría 1995,
Proceedings ofthe lOth Anniversary of the Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project,, Helsinki, 17-
28,
Colé S.W. - Machinist P. 1999, Lettersfrom Priests to the Kings Assurbanipal and Esarhaddon
(State Archives ofAssyría 13), Helsinki.
Da Riva R. - Frahm E, 1999-2000, "Samas-sumu-ukün, die Herrín von Ninive und das babylo-
nische Konigssiegel", Archiv jur Orientforschung 46/7,156-182.
Dalley S. 1997, "Neo-Assyrian Tablets from Til Barsip", Abr-Nahrain 34, 66-99.
Dalley S, - Postgate J.N, 1984, The Tablets from Fort Shalmaneser (Cuneiform Texts from
Nimrud III), London,
Dalman G. 1938, Aramaisch-neuhebraisches Handworterbuch zu Targum, Talmud und Midrasch,
Gottingen.
Deszó T. 2004, "Panzer", in Reallexikon der Assyríologie 10,319-323.
2006. "The Reconstruction of the Assyrian Army (as Depicted on the Assyrian Palace
Reliéis, 745-612 B.C.)", forthcoming.
n.d. "Reconstruction ofthe Assyrian Army of Sargon n (721-705 B.C.) Based on Nimrud
Horse Lists" (unpublished manuscript).
110 SIMO PARPÓLA
Deszo T. - Curtís J, 1991, "Assyrian Iron Helmets from Nimrud now in the British Museum",
Iraq 53,105-126.
Fadhil A, - Radner K, 1996, "Áste, Oras und Esel", Baghdader Mitteihmgen 27,419-428.
Fales F.M, 1977, "Un dieu comme 'juge' dans un texte néo-assyrien", Revue d'Assyriologie 71,
177-179.
1979, "A List of Assyrian and West semitic Women's Ñames", Iraq 41, pp. 55-73.
Finkelstein J.J. 1953, "Cuneiform Texts from Tell Billa", Journal of Cuneiform Studies 7, 114-
176.
Frankena R. 1954, Tákultu. De sacrale maaltijd in heí Assyrische ritueel, meí een overzicht over
de in Assur vereerde goden, Leiden.
Galter H. 1983, Der GottEa/Enki in der akkadischen Überlieferung, Graz.
Grayson A.K. 1975, Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles (Texts from Cuneiform Sources 5),
Locust Valley.
1991, Assyrian Rulers ofthe Early First Millennium BC, I (1114-859 BC) (The Royal In-
scriptions ofMesopotamia, Assyrian Periods, 2), Toronto.
1996, Assyrian Rulers ofthe Early First Millennium BC, II (858-745 BC) (The Royal In-
scriptions ofMesopotamia, Assyrian Periods, 3), Toronto.
Groneberg B. 1986, "Die sumerisch-akkadische Inanna/Istar: Hermaphroditos?", Die Welt des
Oríents 17,25-46.
Hameen-Anttila J. 2000, A Sketch of Neo-Assyrian Grammar (State Archives ofAssyría Studies
13), Helsinki.
Herbordt S. 1992, Neuassyrische Glyptikdes 8,-7, Jh. v, Chr. (State Archives ofAssyría Studies
1), Helsinki.
Holscher M. 1996, Die Personnennamen der kassitenzeitlichen Texte aus Nippur (Imgula 1),
Münster.
Horig M. 1979, Dea Syria, Studien zur religiosen Tradition der Fruchtbarkeitsgottin in Vorde-
rasien (Alter Orient und Altes Testament 208), Neukirchen-Vluyn.
Jas R. 1996, Neo-Assyrian Judicial Procedures (State Archives ofAssyría Studies 5), Helsinki.
Kataja L. 1987, "A Neo-Assyrian Document on Two Cases of River Ordeal", SAAB 1, 65-68.
Kessler K. 1980, Untersuchungen zur historischen Topographie Nordmesopotamiens, Wiesba-
den.
Kilmer A.D. 1982, "A Note on an Overlooked Word-Play in the Akkadian Gilgamesh", in G,
van Driel et al (eds.), Zikir Sumim: Assyriological Studies Presented to F, R, Kraus on the
Occasion ofhis Seventieth Birthday, Leiden, 128-132.
Lambert W.G, 2005, "Letter of Sin-sarra-iskun to Nabopolassar", in I. Spar - W.G. Lambert
(eds.), Literary and Scholastic Texts ofthe First Millennium B,C, (Cuneiform Texts in the
Metropolitan Museum ofArí 2), 203-210.
Lanfranchi G.B. - Parpóla S. 1990, The Correspondence ofSargon II, Part 2: Lettersfrom the
Northern and Northeastern Provinces (State Archives ofAssyría 5), Helsinki.
Lapinkivi P. 2004, The Sumerian Sacred Marriage in the Light of Comparaüve Evidence (State
Archives ofAssyría Studies 15), Helsinki.
Larsen M.T. 1976, The Oíd Assyrian City-State andlts Colonies (Mesopotamia 4), Copenhagen,
Lightfoot J.L. 2003 (ed. and transí.), Lucian On the Syrian Goddess, Oxford.
Luukko M. 2004, Grammaücal Varíation in Neo-Assyrían (State Archives ofAssyría Studies 16),
Helsinki.
MallowanM.E.L. 1953, "The Excavations at Nimrud (Kalhu), 1952", Iraq 15,1-42.
Matney T. 1998, "Preliminary Report on the First Season of Work at Ziyaret Tepe in the Diyar-
bakir Province", Anatolica 24, 7-30.
Matney T, - Somers L, 1999, "The Second Season of Work at Ziyaret Tepe in the Diyarbakir
Province: Preliminary Report", Anatolica 25,203-219,
Matney T, - Bauer A. 2000, "The Third Season of Archaeological Survey at Ziyaret Tepe, Di-
yarbakir Province, Turkey, 1999", Anatolica 26,119-128.
Matney T. - Roaf M. - MacGinnis J, - McDonald H. 2002, "Archaeological Excavations at Zi-
yaret Tepe, 2000 and 2001", Anatolica 28,47-89.
Matney T. - MacGinnis J. - McDonald H. - Nicoll K. - Rainville L. - Roaf M. - Smith M.L.
- Stein D. 2003, "Archaeological Investigations at Ziyaret Tepe, 2002", Anatolica 29, 175-
221.
Matney T. - Rainville L. (eds.) 2005, "Archaeological Investigations at Ziyaret Tepe, 2003 and
2004", Anatolica 31,20-68.
Matóla R, 2000, The King's Magnates. A Study ofthe Highest Officials ofthe Neo-Assyrian
Empire (State Archives ofAssyría Studies 11), Helsinki,
Menzel B. 1981, Assyrische Tempel (Studia Pohl: Series Maior 10/I-II), Rome.
Nissinen M. 1998a, Homoeroticism in the Biblical woríd, A Historical Perspective, Minneapo-
lis.
1998b, References to Prophecy in Neo-Assyrian Sources (State Archives ofAssyría Studies
7), Helsinki.
2001, "Akkadian Rituals and Poetry of Divine Love", in R.M. Whiting (ed.), Mythology
and Mythologíes. Methodological Approaches to Intercultural Influences (Melammu Sympo-
sia 2), Helsinki, 93-136.
Nissinen M. - Parpóla S. 2004, "Marduk's Return and Reconciliation in a Prophetic Letter from
Arbela", Studia Orientalia 99,199-219.
Oates J. - Gates D. 2001, Nimrud. An Assyrian Imperial City Revealed, London.
Parker, Barbara 1954, "The Nimrud Tablets, 1952 — Business Documents", Iraq 16,29-58.
1957,4SNimrud Tablets, 1956 — Economic and Legal Texts from the Nabü Temple", Iraq
19,125-138.
Parker, Bradley 1997a, "The Northern Frontier of Assyria: An Archaeological Perspective", in
S. Parpóla - R.M. Whiting (eds.), Assyria 1995, Proceedings ofthe lOth Anniversary ofthe
Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project, Helsinki, 217-244,
1997b, "Garrisoning the Empire: Aspects ofthe Construetion and Maintenance of Forts on
the Assyrian Frontier", Iraq 59,77-87.
1998, "Archaeological Evidence for the Location of Tushan: A Provincial Capital on the
Northern Frontier of Assyria", in J. Prosecky (ed,), Intelectual Life oftheAncientNearEast.
Papers Presented at the 43rd Rencontre assyriologique internationale, Prague, 299-314.
2001, The Mechanics of Empire: The Northern Frontier of Assyria as a Case Study in
Imperial Dynamics., Helsinki.
Parpóla S. 1970, Neo-Assyrian Toponyms (Alter Orient und Altes Testament 6), Neukirchen-Vluyn.
1976, review of J.V. Kinnier Wilson, The Nimrud Wine Lisís, Journal for Semitic Studies
21,165-174.
1983a, Letters from Assyrian Scholars to the Kings Esarhaddon and Assurbanipal, Parí
II: Commentary and Appendices (Alter Orient und Altes Testament 5/2), Neukirchen-Vluyn.
1983b, "Assyrian Library Records", Journal ofNear Eastern Studies 42,1-29.
1988, "The Reading ofthe Neo-Assyrian Logogram LÚSMUG.KUG.GI, 'Goldsmith' " State
Archives of Assyria Bulletin 2, 77-80.
J
112 SIMO PARPÓLA
— 1993, "The Assyrian Tree of Life: Tracing the Origins of Jewish Monotheism and Greek
Philosophy", Journal ofNear Eastern Studies 52,161-208.
—1995, "The Assyrian Cabinet", in M, Dietrich - O. Loretz (eds.), Vom Alten Orient zum Alten
Testament Festschrift für Wolfram Freiherrn von Soden zum 85, Geburtstag {Alter Orient
und Altes Testament 240), NexiMrchen-Vhiyn, 379-401,
— 1997a, "The Man Without a Seribe and the Question of Literacy in the Assyrian Empire",
in B, Pongratz-Leisten - H. Kühne - P. Xella (eds.), Ana sade Labnani lü allik, Festschrift
für Wolfgang Rollig {Alter Orient und altes Testament 247), Neuldrchen-Vhiyn, 315-324.
— 1997b, Assyrian Prophecies (State Archives ofAssyría 9), Helsinki.
— 1998, "The Esoteric Meaning of the Ñame of Gilgamesh", in J. Prosecky (ed.), Intellectual
Life of the Ancient Near East, Papers Presented ai the 43rd Rencontre assyriohgique
Internationale, Fragüe, Juty 1-5,1996,, Prague, 315-329,
— 2000, "Monotheism in Ancient Assyria", in B. Nevling Porter (ed,), One God or Many?
Concepts ofDivinity in the Ancient World (Transactions of the Casco Bay Assyriological
Institute 1), Casco Bay, 165-209.
— 2001, "Mesopotamian Precursors of the Hymn of the Pearl", in R.M. Whiting (ed.), Myth-
ology and Mythologies, Methodological Approaches to Intercultural Influences (Melammu
Symposia 2), Helsinki, 181-193.
— 2004, "The Leftovers of God and King: On the Distribution of Meat at the Assyrian and
Achaemenid Imperial Courts", in L. Milano - C. Grottanelli (eds.), Food and Identity in the
Ancient World (History of the Ancient Near East, Studies 9), Padova, 281-312.
n.d., "The Neo-Assyrian Harem", ms. submitted to M. Trolle Larsen (ed.), The Gold of
Nimrud: Hidden Treasures oflraq (forthcoming).
Parpóla S. - Watanabe K. 1988, Neo-Assyrian Treaties and Loyalty Oaths (State Archives of
Assyria 2), Helsinki.
Payne Smith R. - Payne Smith J. 1893, A Compendious Syriac Dictionary, Oxford.
Pedersén O. 1986, Archives and Librarles in the City ofAssur, Pan II (Studia Semítica Upsa-
liensia 8), Uppsala.
Pongratz-Leisten B, 1994, Ina sulmi Trub: Die kulttopographische und ideologische Program-
mattk der otéfta-Prozession in Babylonien und Assyrien im L Jahrtausend v, Chr, (Baghda-
der Forschungen 16), Mainz,
Postgate J.N, 1973, The Governor's Palace Archive (Cuneiform Texis from Nimrud u), London.
1974a, Taxation and Conscription in the Assyrian Empire (Studia Pohl Series Maior 3),
Rome.
1974b, "The bit afátí in Assyrian Nabü Temples", Sumer 30, 51-74.
1976, Fifty Neo-Assyrian Legal Documenta, Warminster,
2001, "Assyrian Uniforms", in W.H. van Soldt et al (eds.), Veenhof Anniversary Volume,
Studies Presented to Klaas R, Veenhof on the Occasion ofhis Sixty-fifth Birthday, Leiden,
373-388.
Postgate J.N, - Fales F.M. 1992, Imperial Administrative Records, Parí I: Palace and Temple
Administration (State Archives of Assyria 7), Helsinki.
Radner K. 1995, "The Relation Between Format and Content of Neo-Assyrian Texts", in R.
Mattila (ed,), Nineveh 612 BC. The Glory andFall of the Assyrian Empire, Helsinki, 63-77.
1997a, Die neuassyríschen Privatrechtsurhmden ais Quellejur Mensch und Umwelt (State
Archives ofAssyría Studies), Helsinki.
1997b, "Vier neuassyrische Privatrechtsurkunden aus dem Vorderasiatischen Museum,
Berlín", Altorientalische Forschungen 24,115-134.
— 1999, "Money in the Neo-Assyrian Empire", in J,G, Dercksen (ed.), Trade andFinance in
Ancient Mesopotamia (MOS Studies 1), Leiden, 127-157,
— 2002, Die neuassyrischen Texte aus TaíJ Séh Hamad (Berichte der Ausgrabungen Tall Seh
Hamad/Dür-KaíHmmu 6), Berlín.
2004, Das mittelassyrísche Tontafelarchiv von Giricano/Dunnu~sa-Uzibi (Subartu 14),
Turnhout
Radner K. - Schachner A. 2001, "From Tushan to Amedi: Topographieal Questions Concerning
the Upper Tigris Región in the Assyrian Period", in N. Tuna - J. Óztürk - J. Velibeyoglu
(eds.), Salvage Project of the Archaeological Herítage of the Ilisu and Carchemish Dam
Reservoirs Activities in 1999, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, 729-776.
Reade J. 2003, "Why Did the Medes Invade Assyria?", in G.B. Lanfranchi - M. Roaf- R. Rol-
linger (eds.), Continuity ofEmpire(?): Assyria, Media, Persia (History of the Ancient Near
Est/Monographs 5), Padova, 149-167.
Reade J. - Postage J.N, 1977-80, "Kalhu", Reallexikon der Assyriologie una Vorderasiatischen
Archaologie 5/in-IV-V-VI, Berlin-New York, 303-323.
Rosenberg M, - Togul H. 1990, "The Batman river Archaeological Site Survey", Anatolica 27,
241-254.
Saggs H.W.F. 1956-63, "The Nimrud Letters 1952-Part II", Iraq 18 (1956), 40-56 [nos. 28 and
29] plus "Part III", Iraq 21 (1959) 158-179 [no. 49] plus "Part VI": Iraq 25 (1963) 70-80
[no. 67].
Sokoloff M. 1990, A Dictionary ofJewish Palestinian Aramaic, Jerusalem.
Stamm JJ. 1939, Die akkadische Namengebung, Leipzig.
Summers G, 1991, "Kummuh and Assyria: The Evidence from Tille Hoyük", Asia Minor Stu-
dien 3,1-6.
Tallqvist K. 1905, Neubabylonisches Namenbuch {Acta Societatis Scientiarum Fennicae XXXII/2),
Helsingfors.
1914, Assyrian Personal Ñames, Helsingfors.
Thureau-Dangin F. et al 1931, Arslan-Tash, París 1931.
Turner G. 1968, "The Palace and Batiment aux Ivoires at Arslan Tash: A Reappraisal", Iraq 30,
62-68,
Veenhof K. 1972. Aspects of Oíd Assyrian Trade and lis Terminology, Leiden.
Waters M. 2002, "A Letter from Ashurbanipal to the Elders of Elam (BM 132980)", Journal of
Cuneiform Studies 54,79-86.
Weissert E, 1997, "Royal Hunt and Royal Triumph in a Prism Fragment of Ashurbanipal (82-5-
22,2)", in S. Parpóla - R.M. Whiting (eds.), Assyria 1995. Proceedings ofthe lOth Anniver-
sary Symposium ofthe Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project, Helsinki, 339-358.
Wiseman DJ. - Kinnier Wilson J.V. 1951, "The Nimrud Tablets, 1950", Iraq 13,102-122.
Zadok R, 1977, On West Semites in Babylonia Duríng the Chaldean and Achaemenian Periods,
Jerusalem.
11

Parpola2008 AP 2009, SAAB17

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Parpola2008 AP 2009, SAAB17

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

State Archives ofAssyría Bulletin

Volume XVII (2008)

CUNEIFORM TEXTS FROM ZIYARET TEPE (TUSHAN), 2002-2003

1. For abbreviations and acknowledgments see fh. 7, below,

Fig. 2. Map showing the location of Ziyaret Tepe (Tushan)

The Discovery and Decipherment of the Tablets

E7QQ 900 SCO 10QQ 1100 1200 1300 1400 150Q

Fig. 4. Thomas Burns at the findspot of the first tablets

Fig. 7. The "tablet córner" at the expedition house (photo SP).

Box ZT # Locus ZTT# Description at time ofdiscovery Size mm Remarks

Fig. 10. Ziyaret Tepe, Operation G, 2002. Location of tablet findspots.

The Archaeological Context

8. Calculated with ABE Volume Calculator (http://www.abe,msstate.edu/~ño/tools/vol^arrel.html) using

ZTT# Type oftext Formal Central persons Eponym year Date

The Date of the Tablets

The Contents of the Tablets

ZTTtt Formal Date Subject Homers Source / Recipient Remarks

The Scribes and Officials Figuring in the Tablets

ZTT# Locus Type Shape Size w/h Subject Matter

The Establishment Behind the Archive

15. See note on ZTT 22:1.

Fig. 12, Two large pithoi in Room 8 (photo SP).

The Identity of the Building Complex uncovered in Operation G

29. Matney et al 2002.

Fig, 13. John MacGinnis, director of Operation G, at work on the

The Identification of Ziyaret Tepe with Tushan

Tablet Size (mm) Colour Line Height Interlinear

Table VIL Physical characteristics of ZTT 22 compared with letters

Transliterations, Translations and Commentary

1. ZT 12041 (Plates I-II)

fers to single-column vertical tablets (the standard format of letters in Neo-Assyrian),

Postgate distinguishes between three main types of receipts: 1) those in which an

2. ZT 12038 (Plates Ü-IV)

3. ZT 12040 (Plates V-VI)

4. ZT 12048 (Plates VI-VII)

5. ZT 12049 (Píate VIII)

6. ZT 12070 (Plates VHI-IX)

5. IGIIEN-KASKAL-rEN-PAB Ltf.TÚG.UD atthe disposal of Bel-Harran-belu-usur,

found together in contemporary texts,

83. E.g. weighing silver in SAA 13 188:11-12.

scribed as "woman-like, effeminate" and closely associated with kurgarrü in lexical,

101. E.g., SAAB 5 #15; StAT 2 19-26 and 228.

7. ZT 12070* (Plates X-XI)

3. sa IMAN-(ba-ni) The (man) of Sarru-bani is

8. ZT 12073 + 12074 (Píate XI-XII)

9. ZT 12081 (Píate XII)

110. See Deszo 2004 and 2006,

10. ZT 12039a (Píate Xffl)

3. IGI Ia-ía-wa-[a¿-DiNGiR?] Witness: Átana[h-z7f],

11. ZT 12039b (Píate XTV)

12. ZT 12071 (Píate XV)

124. For references see the dictionaries,

13. ZT 12082 (Píate XV)

133, See Wei&&e.Tt 1991 %cf, Postile , 61

2. 6 : Irf-du-a 6 homers (to) Iddu^a,

5. 4 llid-di-bu-ub 4 (to) Liddibub,

1.4~me21 : 4BÁN 421.4homers

3, 1-Twe 47 : ÍTJ« É 147 homers in the house of

5. 20 : 9BÁN a-w 20.9 homers to

14. ZT 12077 (Píate XVI)

ZT 12077 (Reverse uninscribed)

137. AO 6459 = RAcc. p. 89:3 and 14.

3. ina IGI LÚ*.MNDA.MES-/n at the disposal of the bakers.

139. O 3669, ND 43 16 and ND 5468.