Neo-Assyrian Research Articles

The Economic Relations of the Neo-Assyrian Empire with Egypt

Analyse des sources assyriennes: inscriptions, bas-reliefs. Caractere particulier des relations commerciales assyro-egyptiennes (mise a part la periode breve, 17 ans, de l'occupation de l'Egypte par Asarhaddon (671-655 av. J.-C.): la frontiere etait au torrent d'Egypte, (El-Arich sans doute), et les Assyriens devaient s'en remettre soit aux Bedouins du Sinai, soit aux marins philistins ou pheniciens, pour se procurer des produits de luxe (animaux africains, bijoux, or) en Egypte. Installation d'un karu (quai commercial de marchands egyptiens) a la frontiere.

Some Remarks On Conditions in the Assyrian Countryside *)

In 1901 C.H.W. Johns published an interesting group of texts from the archives of the Neo-Assyrian kings at Nineveh, under the title of 'An Assyrian Doomsday Book or liber censualis of the district round Harran, in the seventh century B.C.'. In contrast to some of his later work, Johns' copy of the texts was remarkably good, and with the edition he gave a full discussion of the evidence provided by the group of texts in differing spheres. No doubt partly because this edition was so thorough, the Doomsday Book has received little attention from scholars since then, apart from passing references. Only quite recently, with the quickening interest in Neo-Assyrian studies, have serious attempts been made once more to investigate these texts (they constitute an important part of the evidence in Dr. J. Zablocka's discussion of the agrarian conditions of the Neo-Assyrian empire, and are discussed also in G. van Driel, Bi.Or. XXVII 3/4 (1970) 175; V.A. Jakobson, in I.M. Diakonoff (ed.) Ancient Mesopotamia 277-295; and in a forthcoming book by the reviewer 'Taxation and Conscription in the Assyrian Empire' Rome 1974). However, in none of these cases has a complete re-examination of the texts been attempted, and this is what the book under review has done; in addition, the author has included 'Schedules' from the Niniveh archives, which have never been properly edited before.

Geographical Study and Urban Investigations in the Province of Ḫabḫu in the Light of Assyrian Sources

The province of ḫabḫu is one of the vast provinces located on the northern border of Assyria. This province was frequently mentioned in many cuneiform sources from the Neo-Assyrian period. It was a strategic center and a linking area on the famous Assyrian Royal Road It was coveted by the two main powers in the ancient Near East: namely the Kingdoms of Urartu and Assyria, because its location on commercial roads, its major mineral production and horses breeding areas. The Extensions and Geographical Scope of the Province of ḫabḫu: From some of the Assyrian kings' annals, we conclude that this Assyrian province represents a border area for Assyria, extending from the Upper Zab River to the border with the Hittites, i.e. from the Zab River seemed to have been the province's eastern border, which included Alluba, modern Zakho. It extended westwards to the Hittite border in central Asia and Anatolia. This means it used to include: Ibin Omar Island in south-eastern Turkey, Zakho, Amadiyah, Alqush, Shikhan and Aqrah, with its center located in the town of Amadiyah. The scholar managed to discover and match many of the villages, towns and cities that were affiliated to this province, of those that remained unidentified by researchers, with local sites and archaeological hills at present.

The Office of Šaknu in Neo-Assyrian Times. II

The Office of Šaknu in Neo-Assyrian Times. II

The Office of Šaknu in Neo-Assyrian Times. I

The Office of Šaknu in Neo-Assyrian Times. I

The City of Assur in 714 B. C.

HIS essay is to investigate a small group of documents of the neoAssyrian period from the point of view of literary criticism. The texts are, in chronological sequence: BM 82-5-22, 534 (letter of Shalmaneser IV, see Ungnad, OLZ 1918 72 ff.), K.7599 and K.2852+ 966 a (letter of Esarhaddon, see Borger Esarh. ? 68), and TCL 3 (letter of Sargon II, see Thureau-Dangin TCL 3, Meissner ZA XXXIV, 113 ff. and Weidner AfO XII, 144 ff.). An attempt will be made to establish whether such criteria as style of presentation, diction, literary aspiration, etc., can shed some light on the function and importance of these texts, which are usually and, in my opinion, not quite adequately termed Gottesbriefe or also Erstberichte. Because the letter of Sar-

The Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian Vassal Oaths and the Prophet Ezekiel

The Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian Vassal Oaths and the Prophet Ezekiel

Assyrian Writing-Boards

In Iraq, Vol. XVI, Pt. I, pp. 98–107, Professor Mallowan described the unique discovery of Assyrian writing-boards made of ivory and wood at Nimrud in 1953. They had been preserved in silt below water-level in a well in Room A B of the “North-West” Palace of Aššur-naṣir-pal. It is claimed that these boards, which originally formed a polyptych, are the earliest form of ancient book and as such warrant a more detailed study. In the article which follows, on pages 14 ff., Miss Howard describes the ivory boards and discusses the technique employed in their manufacture. It therefore remains to add such further evidence for the use of writing-boards in the Neo-Assyrian period as is available from contemporary literature. Scholars have long suspected that the Assyrians must have used wax-covered boards as a writing-material, but no example had hitherto been found.