Confirmation of Endowments to Priests and Officials by Samsi-Adad V and his son Adad-Nirari III and by Sargon in the Reign of Sennacherib

Abstract

Dr. Johns left among his papers a closely written and almost complete manuscript to which he had given no distinctive title. In looking over this manuscript I saw at once that he had copied and joined up K. 2800, Sm. 318, and K. 2655. At any rate, it is obvious that he would have made these joins, if he had been able to return to the British Museum, and would have seen that K. 2655 actually completes the copy of the last edict of Adad-nirari III on the obverse. A discovery of this kind is too important to remain in obscurity, and the discovery surely ought to go to the illustrious scholar who made it. There was only a transcription of the text in the manuscript, and after copying and joining up the three fragments I have given the author's edition with some notes to bring it up-to-date, as the author would undoubtedly have done better than myself. Moreover, Dr. Johns has also given an edition of his own text, K. 3042, in his Assyrian Deeds and Documents, 1077, referring to ancient endowments by Shalmaneser, Tiglathpileser, Adad-nirari III, and Sargon, and confirmed by Sennacherib. This text has also remained unedited for many years. The manuscript, therefore, contained not only a new document of extraordinary importance, but the first edition of an equally important document, and the two texts throw much light upon the history of Assyria from Šamš-Adad III to Sennacherib.