The rest of the letter is hard to make out. It was dated on the twenty-sixth of Tammuz, in the Eponymy of Nabu-shar-aheshu, probably B.C. 645.

(M805) Bel-ibni had a great hatred for Nabu-bel-shumate. For the latter had years before laid hands upon Bel-ibni's eldest brother, Belshunu, and put him in prison. This we learn from a letter to the king,(890) which, although the name of the writer is lost, is clearly from Bel-ibni. The first few lines yield no connected sense, but name Umman-shimash and the nobles with him:

When they assembled they spoke evil words against their king. From those days they kept on plundering his land. Before the forces of the lord of kings, my lord, want, like a pestilence, entered the land. When the forces of the lord of kings, my lord, have arrived at Dur-ili, they shall not take a holiday; that smitten of Bel, accursed of the gods, Nabu-bel-shumate, and the sinners with him, they shall capture and give them to the lord of kings, my lord. And the Assyrians, as many as are with them, they shall release and send to the lord of kings, my lord. Belshunu, my eldest brother, a servant of the lord of kings, my lord, now four years ago, did that smitten of Bel, that accursed of the gods, Nabu-bel-shumate, when he revolted, bind hand and foot with bronze and imprison him.

The rest is obscure, but names Salmu-shar-ikbi as sending news to the palace.

(M806) The Belshunu here named is probably the Eponym of B.C. 648, who was then governor of Hindana, who also dates a letter from the king to Umman-shimash, which names Bel-ibni. There are over fifty references in the letters to Bel-ibni, most of which directly connect him with these events. His duties in command of the Sealand brought him into relations with the many Elamites, who in the frequent revolutions in that land, fled for refuge to the Assyrians. Here is one of the best of his letters to the king:(891)

(M807)

To the lord of kings, my lord, thy servant Bel-ibni. May Ashur, Shamash, and Marduk decree length of days, cheer of heart, and health of body to the lord of kings, my lord. Shuma, son of Shum-iddina, son of Gahal, sister's son to Tammaritu, fled from Elam and came to the Dahhai. From the Dahhai, when I had taken him, I made him cross over. He is ill. As soon as he has completely recovered his health, I will send him to the king, my lord. A messenger is here from Natan and the Pukudu, who are in Til-Humba, to say that they came before Nabu-bel-shumate at the city Targibati. They took an oath, by God, one with another, saying, "According to agreement we will send thee all the news we hear." And according to contract they furnished fifty oxen for money at his hands, and said to him, "Let our sheep come and among the Ubanat in the pasture let them graze among them. Thou mayest have confidence in us." Now let a messenger of the king, my lord, come and make Natan learn in his mind, that "if thou dost send anything for sale to Elam, or one sheep be allotted to pasture in Elam, I will not suffer thee to live." I have sent trustworthy reports to the king, my lord.

The incident here referred to, the reception of the fugitive Shuma, who probably on account of his illness was unable to join his uncle Tammaritu, is very similar to that related of Tammaritu himself. This King of Elam succeeded his cousin Ummanigash, whom he dethroned, but after a short reign was himself dethroned by the usurper Indabigash. He and his brothers and family and eighty-five princes of Elam, his supporters, fled by sea from Elam to the marshes at the mouths of the Tigris and Euphrates. There he fell sick. But Ashurbanipal sent him a friendly message, and he came before the Assyrian governor, and kissed the ground in token of submission. We learn that Marduk-shar-usur was the officer who received him, and a very mutilated letter seems to refer to it. He was probably the Rabshakeh to whom Bel-ibni wrote(892) complaining of certain slanders about him. So even the faithful servant was not entirely free from court intrigues. In another letter Bel-ibni refers to his having received and sent on to the king, Tammaritu, his brothers, family, and nobles.(893)

(M808) Like Ummanigash and Indabigash, Tammaritu corresponded with Ashurbanipal. We have letters from him to the King of Assyria and from Ashurbanipal to him. Unfortunately these letters are very imperfect, or not yet published. He is mentioned continually in the letters. There were several of the name: (1) son of Urtaku, third brother of Teumman, (2) son of Teumman, slain with his father, (3) son of Ummanigash, King of Elam, succeeded his cousin Ummanigash, whom he dethroned, (4) son of Attamitu. To which of these a reference is made is often hard to decide.



VII. Letters Regarding Affairs In Southern Babylonia

(M809) (M810) Another group refers to the events at Ur, in the far south of Babylonia. Sin-tabni-usur, son of Ningal-iddina, was governor there during the time of Shamash-shum-ukin's great rebellion. This we learn from some of the forecast tablets, published in George Smith's Assurbanipal.(894) The greater part of these tablets is unintelligible, containing a record of the omens observed, probably on inspection of the entrails of the slaughtered sacrifices. What these symptoms were cannot yet be determined. Much has been done by Boissier in his Textes Assyriens relatifs au Presage, and many articles contributed to various journals. The omens are generally such as also occur in the tablets published by Dr. Knudtzon in his Gebete on den Sonnengott, and ably discussed by him there. The tablet evidently was meant to submit these omens to some oracle that a prediction might be given on their authority. The king also usually stated his cause of anxiety and asked for guidance and direction. These forecast tablets, many of which are dated, are of the greatest service for the chronology of the period. They have been partly discussed by the present writer.(895) Thus the two, which refer to Sin-tabni-usur, announce that he is governor of Ur, and seem to inquire whether he can be relied upon to prove faithful. We may conclude that his appointment took place in Ab, B.C. 648.

(M811) From a letter,(896) which G. Smith(897) ascribes to Kudur, governor of Erech, we learn that he had heard from Sin-tabni-usur, who reports that a messenger had arrived from Shamash-shum-ukin, inciting the people to rebel against Ashurbanipal. As a result,

"the Gurunammu have rebelled against me. Re-enforce me at once."

The good Kudur sent five or six hundred archers and joined Aplia, the governor of Arrapha, and Nurea, governor of Sameda, and went to Ur. He was able to seize the leaders of the revolt, among them Nabu-zer-iddin. But someone had captured Sin-tabni-usur. Bel-ibni is named, and later Nabu-ushezib, the archer, but the text is too mutilated to make out a clear account. But it seems likely that Sin-tabni-usur was rescued, and being re-enforced, held out well for his master. Ashurbanipal writes to assure him of his continued confidence.(898)

(M812)

Message of the king to Sin-tabni-usur: It is well with me. May thy heart be cheered. Concerning Sin-shar-usur, what thou didst send. How could he say evil words of thee and I hear anything of them? Shamash perverted his heart and Ummanigash slandered thee before me and would give thee to death. Ashur, my god, withholds me. I would not willingly slay my servant, and the support of my father's house. In that case, thou wouldst perish with thy lord's house. I would not see that. He and Ummanigash have compassed thy death, but because I know thy faithfulness I have increased my favor and bestowed honor upon thee. Is it not so? For these two years thou hast not caused hostility or want to thy lord's house. What could they say against a servant who has loved his lord's house and I believe it? And with respect to the service which thou and the Assyrians, thy brothers, have done, what thou sendest, all that thou hast done and the guard thou hast kept, ... which is pleasing before me [I will reward] and return thee favors to thy children's children.

(M813) It is clear that Sin-shar-usur and Ummanigash had been intriguing against Sin-tabni-usur. There are several persons of the name Sin-shar-usur about this time. No less than three Eponyms bear the name after B.C. 648. The aba mati, or governor of Hindana, or the arku might be meant here. But there was a brother of Sin-tabni-usur, of this name, who perhaps coveted his post. Among the many unpublished texts which refer to him one may, perhaps, be found to explain the hostility. Nor is it clear which Ummanigash is meant. There was one of the three sons of Urtaku, who took refuge at the court of Ashurbanipal, when their father was murdered and dethroned by his brother, Teumman. When the Assyrian king espoused his cause, he was enabled by Assyrian troops to defeat and slay the usurper Teumman and take the throne of Elam. But he was faithless and allied himself with Shamash-shum-ukin. He was dethroned by his cousin, Tammaritu, shortly before the fall of Shamash-shum-ukin. That he, while at the Assyrian Court, should have slandered the governor of Ur, is quite in accordance with his character, but what was his purpose, or what he alleged, we do not know. There was another Ummanigash, brother of Urtaku; another, son of Umbadara; another, a son of Amedirra. The latter raised a rebellion against Ummanaldash, as we learn from a report by Bel-ibni.(899) After his usual salutations, Bel-ibni reports,

(M814)

When I left the Sealand, I sent five hundred soldiers, servants of my lord, the king, to the city Sabdanu, saying, "Hold a fort in Sabdanu and make raids into Elam, slay and make prisoners." When they went against Irgidu, a city two leagues this side of Susa, they slew Ammaladin, the sheik of Iashi'ilu, his two brothers, three brothers of his father, two of his brother's sons, Dala-ilu, son of Abi-iadi', and two hundred well-born citizens of that city. They had a long journey before them. They took one hundred and fifty prisoners. The sheiks of Lahiru and the people of Nugu', when they saw that my raiders had extended on their farther side, were full of fear, sent word and took the oath to Mushezib-Marduk, my sister's son, a servant of the king, my lord, whom I had appointed over the fort, saying, "We will be servants of the King of Assyria." When they had gathered their bowmen, as many as they had, they went with Mushezib-Marduk, and marched into Elam.

Here follows a bad break in the narrative, but Ikisha-aplu is named, and Bel-ibni promised to send on to the king whatever they captured and brought to him. The letter then resumes:

News from Elam: they say that Ummanigash, son of Amedirra, has rebelled against Ummanaldash. From the river Hudhud as far as the city Ha'adanu they have sided with him. Ummanaldash has gathered his forces, and they are now encamped on the river opposite one another. Ikisha-aplu, whom I have sent to the palace, has penetrated their designs. Let one question him in the palace.

(M815) Kudur, governor of Erech, who sent news of the outbreak of rebellion in the south, gives us further information about Mushezib-Marduk, who was a favorite with the king. After a long salutation occupying nearly the whole of the obverse, with a short reference to a certain Upaku, the reverse side goes on:(900)

Mushezib-Marduk, Bel-ibni's sister's son, who has come two or three times into the presence of the king, my lord, on a message from Bel-ibni, Bel-ibni has appointed him concerning it (the case in hand). The gate-keepers have told him that those soldiers are not lovers of the house of my lord. It is not good for them to cross over to our midst. They will give news of the land of the king, my lord, to Elam, and if there be a famine in Elam, they will furnish them provisions. To the king, my lord, I have sent; let the king, my lord, do what he sees fit.

(M816) The king himself writes to Bel-ibni(901) in a most friendly way about Mushezib-Marduk:

Message of the king to Bel-ibni: I am well. May thy heart be cheered. Mushezib-Marduk, about whom thou didst send, in the fulness of time he shall enter my presence, I will appoint the paths for his feet (i.e., make a way for his advancement). The holiday in Nineveh is not finished.

Mushezib-Marduk is also mentioned by Nabu-zer-ukin, in a letter to the king,(902) in close connection with Shum-iddin, the governor of Dur-ilu. It is not clear what the writer had to say of him, but farther on in the letter Bel-ibni is named. The same Nabu-zer-ukin is mentioned in a tablet of epigraphs,(903) where he is associated with Shamash-shum-ukin, Tammaritu and Indabigash. He is there said to be son of Nabu-mushesi. In another letter he writes with Adadi-shum-usur, Nabu-shum-iddin, Ardi-Ea, and Ishtar-shum-eresh to the king,(904) but hardly anything remains except a mention of Nineveh. The same group of writers is elsewhere associated with Nabu-mushesi. Of another letter(905) from him to the king only the introduction is found.

(M817) Kudur, governor of Erech, was a frequent correspondent with the king. A score of letters from him to the king, or from the king to him, are preserved. They are nearly all concerned, more or less, with the events during the great rebellion. There were several others of the name, one an Elamite prince, son of Ummanaldash. The name itself may be Elamite and may point to a strong admixture of Elamite blood in Erech. The element Kudur occurs in such names as Kudur-Mabug, Kudur-Nahunte, and Kudur-lagamar, the prototype of Chedorlaomer. There was another Kudur, son of Dakkuri, who was brought captive to Assyria with Shum-iddin. We may take as one example:(906)

To the king of countries, my lord, thy servant Kudur. May Bel and Nabu decree peace, health, and length of days for the king, my lord, forever. Since I was in the enemy's country the Pukudu have made an end of the Bit-Amukani, servants of my lord, the king, by their attacks. The cities which were to be held for the king, my lord, they captured. Let the servants of the king, my lord, march. They have occupied the cities, killed the men and ravished the women. Also they have attacked Saba, the body-guard. The day they reached Bit-Amukani, it is said, the attackers attacked the body-guard. I sent soldiers, saying, "Go, slay 'Ala' with the pike, save the garrison and take them captive." When on the king's canal they attacked Nabu-shar-usur, the colonel, he took them captive. Let the king, my lord, inquire of them, as he can. The king, my lord, knows how Bit-Amukani is destroyed. The Pukudu keep their land. The soldiers with us have not set out, and they are the attackers, and we abhor the alienation of territory. Let the king, my lord, give orders and the soldiers shall set out against the cities, where they dwell.

It seems that the men of Pekod (see Jer. i. 21, Ez. xxiii. 23) had made an attack upon Bit-Amukani and nearly destroyed the country. Kudur moved into the country, but sent for explicit orders as to what he should do. He changes his subject rather abruptly at times and it is not quite clear always of whom he is speaking. The most obscure sentence is where he says that "we abhor the alienation of territory," literally "the sin of the land." It seems that a land sinned when it was occupied by an enemy.

Ashurbanipal was deeply attached to his faithful servant, as the following letter shows:(907)

(M818)

To the king of countries, my lord, thy servant Kudur. Erech and E-anna (the temple there) be gracious to the king of countries, my lord. Daily I pray to Ishtar of Erech and Nana for the health of the king, my lord's life. Ikisha-aplu, the doctor, whom the king, my lord, sent to heal me, has restored me to life. The great gods of heaven and earth make themselves gracious to the king, my lord, and establish the throne of the king, my lord, in the midst of heaven forever. I was one who was dead and the king, my lord, has restored me to life. The benefits of the king, my lord, toward me are manifold. I will come to see the king, my lord. I say to myself, I will go and I will see the face of the king, my lord; then I will return and live. The chief baker made me return to Erech from the journey, saying, "A special messenger has brought a sealed despatch to thee from the palace, thou must return with me to Erech." He sent me this order and made me return to Erech. The king, my lord, must know this.

The king had sent a doctor who had restored Kudur, when he had despaired of himself. Then he started to come and thank the king in person, but when on the road the chief baker (if that was his right title) recalled him, because a sealed despatch had reached Erech addressed to him from the king. He sends at once this letter, not having reached Erech again; at any rate, he does not refer to the contents of the despatch.



Letters About Elam And Southern Babylonia

(M819) In Elam, during the reign of Ashurbanipal, there was a protracted series of revolutions, interspersed with invasions of, or by, Assyria. The result was the utter decay of Elamite power, and after Ashurbanipal's final reduction of the country and sack of Susa, the land was an easy prey to the Aryan invaders. From the story, as told by Ashurbanipal, the Elamites richly deserved their fate, and lest we should suspect him of undue partiality, the matter-of-fact letters of his officers give us substantial grounds for crediting his view. It seems that Urtaku, who came to the throne of Elam in B.C. 675, was always on good terms with Assyria. We have a letter from Esarhaddon to him(908) in very friendly terms. It begins:

(M820)

Letter of Esarhaddon, King of Assyria, to Urtaku, King of Elam: I am well. Peace to thy gods and goddesses. There is peace in my land and with my nobles, peace be to Urtaku, King of Elam, my brother. There is peace with my sons and my daughters, peace be to thy nobles and thy land. Now what Ashur, Sin, Shamash, Bel, Nabu, Ishtar of Nineveh, Ishtar of Arbela, the gods ... have said, I have (fully?) accomplished.

(M821) The rest is obscure by reason of lacunae. The reverse seems to be inscribed with numerals, perhaps relating to items of presents sent. Ashurbanipal kept up the friendship, and, when a famine broke out in Elam, allowed some (M822) (M823) Elamites to take refuge in his land, and afterwards restored them to their country. He also sent grain into Elam itself. But, perhaps as consequence of having spied out the land, the Elamites contrived to make Urtaku attack Assyria. He was incited to this act by Bel-ikisha, prince of the Gambulai, who inhabited the marshes about the mouth of the Uknu, or Blue River, perhaps the modern Karoon, bordering on Elam. Bel-ikisha rebelled against Assyria, and with his troops joined Elam. Nabu-shum-eresh, the TIK-EN-NA, apparently sheik of the district of Dupliash, another Assyrian subject, seems to have done the same. Marduk-shum-ibni, the general of Urtaku, who led the invasion, was evidently not an Elamite, but perhaps a Chaldean, or renegade Babylonian. At any rate, the Elamites invaded Akkad and covered the land like grasshoppers. They laid siege to Babylon. On the approach of the Assyrian army, the invaders fled. Urtaku died. Bel-ikisha was killed by a wild boar. Nabu-shum-eresh was smitten with dropsy and died. "In one year the gods cut them off." The throne of Elam fell to Teumman, a brother of Urtaku, who maintained a hostile attitude. Dunanu, son and successor of Bel-ikisha, joined Teumman. Ashurbanipal accordingly invaded Elam, defeated and slew Teumman, ravaged the land of Gambulu and captured Dunanu, who was taken to Nineveh and made to march in the triumphal procession, with the head of Teumman slung about his neck, and was finally tortured to death.

(M824) All the time that Shamash-shum-ukin was king in Babylon, Ashurbanipal seems to have retained the rule over Southern Babylonia. At any rate, the governors of the cities there wrote to him as their king and lord. The above-mentioned revolt in Gambulu was a direct concern of the governor of Erech, who seems to have suffered severely. As late as the twentieth year of Ashurbanipal, Nabu-ushabshi was governor there. We have many letters from him to the king. One(909) refers to the above events:

To the king of countries, my lord, thy servant Nabu-ushabshi. Erech and E-anna (the temple of Ishtar at Erech), be gracious to the king of countries, my lord. Daily I pray to Ishtar of Erech and Nana for the well-being of the life of the king, my lord. The king, my lord, sent, saying, "Take troops and send against Gambulu. The gods of the king, my lord, assuredly know how, from the time that Bel-ikisha revolted from the hands of the king, my lord, and went to Elam, he plundered my father's house and went about to kill my brother."

Then comes a break, in which the fragments indicate that Nabu-ushabshi prayed daily for revenge. Then we read:

Now as the king, my lord, has sent, I will go and fulfil all his bidding. If on any ground, over there, the inhabitants of Gambulu will not obey, if it be pleasing to the king, my lord, let a messenger come and let us assemble all Akkad and we will go with him, we will win back the land and give it to the king, my lord. I have sent. Let the king, my lord, do what he will. Preserve this letter.

The last request is very unusual, but we are glad it was obeyed. Another of his letters refers to the intrigues of Pir'-Bel, son of Bel-etir. This Bel-etir may be the son of Nabu-shum-eresh, who, with his brother, Nabu-na'id, was carried captive to Nineveh, along with Dunanu, and there made to desecrate the bones of their father. But it seems possible that we have here to do with another Bel-etir, as these events seem earlier in the history. After the same introduction as before, the letter(910) reads:

Pir'-Bel, the son of Bel-etir, sometime after he and his father went, some ten years ago, to Elam, came again from Elam to Akkad, he and his father. When they came, whatever was evil against Assyria, they kept on doing in Erech. Afterwards when they went back to Elam, Bel-etir, his father, died in Elam; and he in Marchesvan brought letters to me, and to Aplia, the governor, we sent the letters on by Daru-Sharru, the body-guard.

After some broken lines:

"Now a certain servant of ... came with him to Erech."

we read:

If he say to the king, my lord: "I have come from the land of Elam," let not the king, my lord, believe him. From the time when in the month of Marchesvan, he brought the letters and we sent them to the king, my lord, until now, he has not returned to Elam. If the king, my lord, desire to verify these words, Idua, a servant of Kudur, who brought him to Erech, the contents are known to him [there are some very obscure phrases in the next two lines], and those letters, what lies are written, let him tell the king, my lord, and as to those letters, which, in the month of Marchesvan we sent to the king, my lord, by the hands of Daru-sharru, if the king, my lord, does not understand, let the king, my lord, ask Daru-sharru, the body-guard. To the king, my lord, I have sent, let the king, my lord, be aware.

(M825) One event, very characteristic of the times, is the subject of three letters. The sanctuary of Ishtar, at Erech, was celebrated far and wide, and on one occasion the King of Elam sent gifts to it. These Nabu-ushabshi seems to have been unable to possess himself of, or to send to the king. Thus, we read:(911)

To the king of countries, my lord, thy servant, Nabu-ushabshi [after the same introduction as before]; the sheep of the temple and of the city Pukudu are detained in the city Ru'ua, two shepherds of them, one belonging to the temple, and the second from Pukudu, three white horses with harness and trappings of silver, and fittings of bronze. On the trappings were written ... which the King of Elam had sent to Ishtar of Erech. The horses, which they brought, I will now preserve. Before the king, my lord, I was afraid and in the temple I will not place them, until the shepherds bring the three horses. To the king, my lord, I have sent, and the bronze inscribed fittings, when I see them, I will send on to the king, my lord. What the king my lord will, let him do.

The king replied:(912)

To Nabu-ushabshi, concerning the horses about which thou didst send, as yet thou hast not sent them to me. I have sent Ashur-gimil-tirru, the abarakku, and troops with him. Whatever is good to do, that do; whether the River Harru be dammed, or whether those people come, and as to the contents of the letter which thou didst send. Bel-etir, Arbaia, the colonels, two hundred horses in their hands, I have sent to thee; let them stand on your side, let them do the work.

Evidently in consequence of this, we have another letter,(913) where both writer and recipient are unknown. It is much injured, and while there are a few sentences intelligible, it is not easy to say to what they refer. But on the reverse after the first six or seven lines, the words of the last letter are repeated verbatim. It is perhaps another letter from the king to Nabu-ushabshi. The governors of Lahiru and Arbaha are said to be with the receiver of the letter.



IX. Miscellaneous Assyrian Letters

(M826) A very interesting group may be made up of letters concerned with omens and predictions. The Assyrian kings were firm believers in omens. They did not venture upon any great undertaking without consulting the augurs. We have numerous letters telling the king what days were propitious for certain projects which he had formed. For the most part, the whole point is obscure to us. We know neither the purpose he had, the omens relied on, nor the real grounds of the decision. Very often translation is impossible. In some cases the publication of the innumerable omen texts may give some light on the subject, but usually it is quite impossible to see how these were made to apply to the actual case. It is very like the case of Nebuchadrezzar's dream. We are without any data to work from.

(M827) Here is an example of some interest, and more easily understood than many:(914)

To the king, my lord, thy servant Nabua. May Nabu and Marduk be gracious to the king, my lord. On the seventh of Kislev a fox entered into the city, and fell into a well, in the grove of Ashur. They got him out, and killed him.

Whether this was a good or evil omen, or even an omen at all, we do not know. Nabua is a very common name. There are fourteen or fifteen astrological reports which bear his name. In these he appears as an inhabitant of the city Asshur. The name occurs some forty times in the contracts, but it is clear that there were several of the name. Perhaps the scribe who appears from B.C. 668 down to post-canon times may be our writer, but, as he lived at Nineveh, that is doubtful.

(M828) Another case which is fairly intelligible is a letter of Balasi and Nabu-ahe-erba,(915) on a question of auspicious days for a journey. It reads:

To the king, our lord, thy servants, Balasi and Nabu-ahe-erba. Peace be to the king, our lord. May Nabu and Marduk be gracious to the king, our lord. As to Ashur-mukin-palea, about whom the king, our lord, has sent to us, may Ashur, Bel, Sin, Shamash, and Adad be gracious to him. May the king, our lord, see his well-being. Things are auspicious for a journey. The second is auspicious. The fourth extremely auspicious.

We have fairly frequent references to Ashur-mukin-palea in a way that shows that he was delicate. From a letter of Ardi-Nabu's we learn that the order of seniority in the family of Esarhaddon was Ashurbanipal, Shamash-shum-ukin, Sherua-etirat (a princess), Ashur-mukin-palea, Sharru-shame-ersiti-balatsu-(ikbi). He is often named in the letters, usually as king's son. But despite his delicate health he survived to be made high-priest of Sin at Harran, by his royal brother, and even as late as B.C. 648 his name occurs in the contracts.(916)

(M829) Balasi is a frequent writer of astrological reports, some five and twenty being preserved, besides some fifteen letters. In the latter he is associated with Nabu-ahe-erba no less than seven times, once with Ishtar-shum-eresh also. In these cases we probably have the same person. But the name occurs often in the contracts, and there belongs to at least three different men. Nabu-ahe-erba was the writer of some five and thirty astrological reports, besides some seven or eight letters, usually with Balasi. The name belongs to several persons named in the contracts.

(M830) Ardi-Ea was also a frequent writer to the king. Besides three or four astrological reports, he wrote nine letters to the king. He is generally associated with Adadi-shum-usur, Ishtar-shum-eresh, Akkullanu, or Marduk-shakin-shum. But one letter,(917) written to Sargon II., and mentioning Merodach-Baladan II., clearly belongs to another Ardi-Ea. Most of his letters are defective. The most intelligible(918) reads thus:

To the king, my lord, thy servant Ardi-Ea. Peace be to the king, my lord. May Nabu, Marduk, Sin, Ningal, and Nusku be gracious to the king, my lord. Sin, Ningal (and other gods) shall grant health, long days, to the king, my lord. Day and night I pray for the life of the king, my lord.

(M831) The great group of writers with whom he is associated is responsible for a large number of letters. Adadi-shum-usur wrote some thirty-five letters and five or six astrological reports. He is especially prolix in his introduction. Here is a specimen:(919)

To the king, my lord, thy servant Adadi-shum-usur. Peace be to the king, my lord. May Nabu and Marduk be excessively gracious to the king, my lord. The king of gods shall decree the name of the king, my lord, to the kingdom of Assyria. Shamash and Adad, in their changeless regard to the king, my lord, have confirmed him in the kingdom of all lands. A gracious reign, settled days, years of righteousness, plenteous rains, copious floods, high prices. The gods are reverenced, the fear of God increased, the temples are flourishing. The great gods of heaven and earth are exalted in the reign of the king, my lord. Old men dance, young men sing, the women and girls are given in marriage, the bridegrooms marry wives, marriages are consummated, sons and daughters are begotten, children are born. To those that have sinned and look for death, the king, my lord, has given new life. Those that for many years (M832) were captive, thou hast freed. They that many days were sick have recovered. The hungry are satisfied. The lean grow fat. The plantations are covered with fruits. Only I and Ardi-Gula among them have our soul depressed, our heart disturbed. Lately has the king, my lord, shown love for Nineveh, to his people, to his chiefs, saying, "Bring your sons, let them stand before me." Ardi-Gula, my son is he, let him stand with them, before the king, my lord. We with all the people will rejoice indeed, and dance for joy. My eyes are set upon the king, my lord. They that stand in the palace, all of them, love me not. There is not a friend of mine among them, to whom I might give a present, and they would receive it, and take up my cause. Let the king, my lord, take pity on his servant. Among all those people, I hope none of my slanderers may see the purpose of their hearts against me.

Judging from the frequent mention of Ardi-Gula in other letters and that he wrote to the king about his sons, Ashurbanipal and Shamash-shum-ukin, we may be sure the old courtier got his request, and that he was writing to Esarhaddon. The letters of Adadi-shum-usur concern domestic affairs, the sickness of one, an auspicious day, the health of another, rarely does he mention any news of public interest. The persons about whom he writes are the members of the royal family, Esarhaddon's children and the above-named circle of officials. The king sent him to see certain sick folk,(920) he writes about an eclipse, or a ring, or something of the sort. He usually gives a very long introduction; often the real message occupies only a few lines.

(M833) Marduk-shakin-shum is another of the same group, with twenty-five letters. They are of the same domestic nature as the last. Ishtar-shum-eresh is the writer of a score of letters and about thirty astrological reports. He was evidently a younger member of the group, son of Nabu-zer-lishir, and chief scribe to Ashurbanipal. In the reign of Esarhaddon he ranked as a masmassu. Akkullanu, who was an erib biti, of Asshur, writes sixteen letters and some dozen astrological reports.

(M834) We have seen that in the second epoch the king had to fix the time when intercalary months should be inserted. In this period the calendar was very carefully regulated by astronomical observations. As a new month began on the day on which the new moon was seen, it is clear that a month would often exceed twenty-nine days, but that a new moon might sometimes be seen on the twenty-ninth. Nabua, the astronomer of the city Asshur, sends a number of such letters as:(921)

On the twenty-ninth, we kept watch, we did not see the moon. Nabu and Marduk be gracious to the king, my lord. From Nabua of Asshur.

So Nabu-shum-iddin writes:(922)

To the Gardener, my lord, thy servant Nabu-shum-iddin, the rabute of Nineveh. Nabu and Marduk be gracious to the Gardener, my lord. On the fourteenth we kept watch on the moon. The moon suffered an eclipse.

The gardener, or rather irrigator, may be a royal title. At present these observations are useless to us in our attempts to fix chronology, as we do not know the month and year of many of them.

(M835) The queen-mother was always an important personage in the state and she had very great influence indeed at court. But probably few ladies ever obtained a higher degree of power than did Naki'a, or Zakutu as she was also called, the wife of Sennacherib and mother of Esarhaddon. She had a sister Abirami.(923) The queen-mother resided in Lahiru, but there seem to have been more than one city of the name. Her necklace, or some part of it, is in private possession and has been described by Professor Scheil.(924) She survived her son, and, with her grandsons, Ashurbanipal, Shamash-shum-ukin, and the nobles of Assyria, issued a proclamation to the empire, declaring Ashurbanipal the true heir to the throne.

(M836) It is, of course, uncertain whether the person addressed as mother of the king is always Zakutu, since we cannot always date the letters. But the letter of Na'id-Marduk,(925) which names Ummanigash as King of Elam, was certainly addressed to her. Na'id-Marduk was a son of Merodach Baladan, who, in the reign of Esarhaddon, when his brother Nabu-zer-kinish-lishir was killed by Ummanaldash II., threw himself on the mercy of Esarhaddon and was by him made ruler of his ancestral domain of Bit Jakin, as a vassal king. He speaks for himself:

To the mother of the king, my lord, thy servant Na'id-Marduk. Peace be to the mother of the king, my lord. May Ashur, Shamash, and Marduk give health to the king, my lord. May they decree the cheer of heart of the mother of the king, my lord. From Elam they came to me, saying, "They have seized the bridge." When they came, I sent to the mother of the king, my lord. Now let the bridge be restored and the bolts of the bridge strengthened. They say, "They have burnt it." I have not sent them, we do not know. They came, it was gone. To the mother of the king, my lord, I will send. Do thou, my lord, send troops. The son of Ningal-iddina has gone to the King of (Elam?) and taken the side of Hubanigash. [Several lines follow with only fragments of sentences.] "Since these are trustworthy reports, whatever the Chaldees in future send to the gods of the king, my lord. If a messenger of the King of Elam does not bring messages to me, he shall enter and I will see him, and whatever is his message, he shall explain until I understand." They came on the second of Ab, his messenger came to me to the border; he did not pass over to hinterland, and I sent my messenger to the palace. My lord, may he decide, and what is right for the house of my lord, fulfil.

It is evident that the writer regards the queen-mother as so thoroughly identical with the king that he does not scruple to address her as "my lord." Despite several lacunae the general sense is clear. After the break the passage in quotation marks seems to be quoted from a report made to the writer. The sons of Ningal-iddina were Sin-tabni-usur, Sin-balatsu-ikbi, and Sin-shar-usur, all of whom were in important commands in Southern Babylonia. It seems probable that the events referred to in this letter are those which led up to the Elamite invasion of Babylonia, when they came raiding as far as Sippara. Esarhaddon was away at the time in the west. There is no record of how they were driven back.

Here is a letter from the king to his mother:(926)

(M837)

Message of the king to the king's mother: I am well. Peace be to the king's mother. Concerning Amushe's servant, what thou didst send me, as the king's mother has told me, I will at once order. What thou hast said is extremely good. Wherefore should Hamunai go?

The meaning is obscured for us by our complete lack of information as to the persons concerned. We may conjecture that Hamunai was the servant of Amushe, but we do not know. However, we see that the queen mother gave good advice.

(M838) Zakutu must often have been a prey to great anxiety, left in command as she was in Assyria, with her warrior son nearly always away and such awkward neighbors as the Elamites. But she was on the whole faithfully served. It seems that the proud nobles of Assyria became restless during Esarhaddon's long absences, for we learn from the Babylonian Chronicle that, in B.C. 670, Esarhaddon put a number of them to death. Here is a letter, however, from an attached subject:(927)

To the mother of the king, my lady, thy servant Aplia. May Bel and Nabu be gracious to the mother of the king, my lady. Every day I pray Nabu and Nana for life and health and length of days, for the king of lands, my lord, and for the mother of the king, my lady. May the mother of the king, my lady, be bright. A messenger of good news from Bel and Nabu has come from the king of lands, my lord.

There is a suggestion in the mention of Nana that Aplia wrote from Erech. He may be the Aplia afterwards associated with Bel-ibni and Kudur in the south. If so, we may suppose that the messenger came from Esarhaddon, from Egypt, by way of Southern Babylonia. One would suppose that a messenger from Canaan, or the west, would reach Nineveh, before Chaldea. But, of course, the queen-mother may have been at Lahiru. Only it is doubtful whether she lived there, while Esarhaddon was away.

It is more likely still that the Aplia is the same as the rab ali of Lahiru, who in B.C. 678 was over the house of the queen-mother there.(928)

(M839) Another letter(929) conveys assurance of fidelity:

To the mother of the king, my lord, thy servant Asharidu. May Nabu and Marduk be gracious to the mother of the king, my lord. Daily I pray to Nergal and Laz for the life and health of the king, and the king's mother, my lords. There is peace in the city and temples of the king and now I keep the watch for the king, my lord.

That Asharidu is the same as the writer of some thirty astrological reports who was the son of Danka, a katnu, and servant of the king, may be doubted. He is more likely to be the author of several letters who seems to have been connected with Borsippa. Another letter(930) is from Nergal-sharani in response to another about some sacrifices, sent by the queen-mother. He prays for a thousand years of rule for Esarhaddon, so there can be no mistake about the period. He recounts the preparations made—an ox, two sheep, and two hundred geese. But he says that Ninkai, the handmaid of the queen-mother, for some reason, will not perform the sacrifice. The queen-mother is asked to send authority for someone to open the treasury and perform the work. The letter is defective and obscure by reason of unknown words. Nergal-sharani may be the same Ashur-shum-usur who so often writes to the king about this time. Again Nabu-shum-lishir writes to the queen-mother(931) about a woman, Kallati, who was intrusted to the writer in the house of Shama', and about some sheep.

(M840) (M841) Another group includes the letters which refer to medical treatment. Here especially Dr. C. Johnston, himself a medical man, has made a most valuable start in his Assyrian Epistolary Correspondence, and we can hardly do better than to follow his guidance. As a rule, what these ancient peoples said and thought of disease is very obscure to us. Many terms were then, as now, used in the medical vocabulary which were well known in ordinary language, but which were given a distinctly different technical meaning. Great attention was paid to surgery and medicine, as is shown by the clauses in the Code.(932) There are also a great number of tablets dealing with medicine, some of which have been published. Long ago Professor Sayce discussed one such text under the title, "An Ancient Babylonian Work on Medicine,"(933) and from the British Museum Catalogue fully four hundred and fifty such texts are known. Dr. C. F. H. Kuechler in his Beitraege zur Kenntniss der Assyrischen Medicin has made great progress toward settling the reading and meaning of certain words and phrases. Dr. Baron Felix von Oefele, who has devoted much study to ancient medicine in general, has made noteworthy contributions to the study, by his articles in learned journals. Still, the (M842) great obstacle is that so much of the materia medica, which was a very full one, is unknown; and the diseases appear under names which do not assist us in determining the meaning. The medical treatises considered affections of all parts of the body, and made much of symptoms. They prescribe roots and oils and a great variety of powdered drugs. Some of the treatment is evidently based on extended trial and observation. But also much reliance was placed on charms, and diseases were associated with demons. To drive away the demon, as well as cure the pain, was the doctor's duty. There was full recognition of the mental factor in sickness.

(M843) With considerable hesitation the following two letters from the physician Ardi-Nana to the king Esarhaddon are given, in which Dr. C. Johnston's rendering is closely followed. In the first, Ardi-Nana reports on the state of a patient, perhaps one of the young princes, who was suffering from a disease of the eyes, or perhaps facial erysipelas. He was progressing so well that the physician piously opines that some god has taken the case under his care. The gods who were special patrons of the healing art were Ninip and Gula, whose blessing the physician accordingly invokes. We read:(934)

To the king, my lord, thy servant Ardi-Nana. May it be peace in the highest degree to the king, my lord; may Ninip and Gula give cheer of heart and health of body to the king, my lord. It is extremely well with that poor man whose eyes are diseased. I had applied a dressing to him, it covered his face. Yesterday, at evening, I undid the bandage which held it, I removed the dressing which was upon him. There was pus upon the dressing as much as the tip of the little finger. Thy gods, if any of them has put his hand to the matter, he has indeed given his order. It is extremely well. Let the heart of the king, my lord, be cheered. In seven or eight days he will be well.

There is also another letter(935) from Ardi-Nana to the king, but part of it is too defective to render. It begins in exactly the same way as before, save that greeting is also sent to the king's son.

For the cure which we wrought on ... we were given five-sixths of a shekel. The day he came, he recovered, he recovered his strength, he stayed until.... Concerning the patient who had blood run from his nose, the messenger has told me, saying, "Yesterday, at evening, much blood ran." Those dressings are not with knowledge. They have been placed upon the breathing passages of the nose and oppress the breathing and come off, because of the bleeding. Let them be placed within the nostrils, they will preserve the breath and the blood will be held back. If it is right in the sight of the king, in the morning I will come and prescribe for him. Now let me hear his well-being.

The messenger here was a RAB MU-GI, in which title it has been proposed to see the original of the Rabmag of Jeremiah xxxix. 3. He was a high official charged with the care of horses and chariots, and here sent to hear news of the patient. There is no evidence that he had any medical knowledge himself. In another letter,(936) Ardi-Nana writes concerning Ashur-mukin-palea, a younger son of Esarhaddon and brother of Ashurbanipal. He bids the king not to fear. The young prince seems to have been in the doctor's care. Further he writes about the health of a tooth (of the prince's?) about which the king had sent to inquire. He had greatly improved its condition (literally, uplifted its head). In another letter,(937) also partly defective, he directs the king to anoint himself as a protection against draughts (?), to drink pure water, and to wash his hands frequently in a bowl. Presently the rash (?) will disappear. In another still more defective letter(938) he mentions the plant martakal, to which magical efficacy was ascribed. Another long letter,(939) after the same complimentary opening as the others, goes on:

Continually has the king, my lord, said to me, thus, "The nature of my disease is this, thou hast not seen to it, its recovery thou hast not effected." Formerly I said before the king, my lord, "The ulcer is incurable (?), I cannot prescribe for it." Now, however, I have sealed a letter and sent it. In the presence of the king, let them read it, I will prescribe for the king, my lord. If it be agreeable to the king, my lord, let a magician do his work on him. Let the king apply a lotion (?). Shortly the sore will be loosed. This lotion of oils (?) let the king apply two or three times. The king will know if the king says ...

The rest is obscure, simply because we do not know what the disease, or remedy, was.

Shamash-mitu-uballit, probably the youngest son of Esarhaddon, writes to the king, but whether to his father or his brother Ashurbanipal does not seem clear, about the health of a lady, in whose well-being the king seemed to take interest.(940)

To the king, my lord, thy servant Shamash-mitu-uballit. Verily peace be to the king, my lord, may Nabu and Marduk be excessively gracious to the king, my lord. Verily the king's handmaid, Bau-gamelat is excessively ill, she can eat nothing. Forsooth let the king, my lord, send an order and let a doctor come and see her.

(M844) There is also an interesting letter concerning the appointment of a successor to a dead official,(941) sent by a writer whose name is lost:

To the king, my lord, thy servant, ... verily peace to the king, my lord. May Ashur and Beltu be gracious to the king, my lord. Concerning the overseer of the house of the seers, who is dead, as I said in the presence of the king, my lord, to wit, his son, his brother's son, are alive. Now his son, his brother's son, and Simanai, the son of Nabu-uballit, and the son of the father's brother, of Ashur-na'id, the deputy priest, with them, shall come into the presence of the king, my lord. Whoever shall find favor in the sight of the king, my lord, let the king, my lord, appoint.

It is clear that succession was not purely hereditary. Even when the son was alive, he might be passed over in favor of a cousin, or for a still more distant relation. There are many other interesting cases where the king inquires for the proper persons to be placed in the offices vacated through death or deposition. For example, when Esarhaddon began to set in order the temple services, he heard the following report:(942)

To the king, my lord, thy servant Akkullanu. Peace be to the king, my lord. Nabu and Marduk be gracious to the king, my lord. In the long desuetude of the customary rights of Ashur, regarding which the king, my lord, sent word to his servant, saying, "Who among the magnates have not complied, have not given, be it much or little (their default)," yesterday I could not write to the king, my lord. Now these are the magnates who have not given their dues: the governors of Barhalza, Rasappa, Kalzi, Isana, Bele, Kullania, Arpadda; these have failed to pay their dues. Rasappa, Barhalza, Dikukina, the chief of the vineyards, Daian-Adadi, Isana, Halziatbar, Birtu, Arzuhina, Arbailu, Guzana, Sharish, Dihnunna, Rimusu, all these have not given the barley and wheat due from them. And as to the overseer of the bakehouse, the overseer of the larder and the chief purveyors, concerning whom the king, my lord, inquired, they are removed from their posts, and this is alleged as the reason: The overseer of the bakehouse is a child, Sennacherib removed him; Ashur-zer-iddin, the priest of Nineveh, slandered him. I was frightened at the troubles. He had not committed any great crime.... The overseer of the larder had broken (?) a dish of Ashur's, for this deed thy father removed him from charge of Ashur's dish, and appointed a turban-maker's son; he is without education. And concerning the chief purveyors, Sennacherib made a reduction of their allowances, and the son of the turban-maker receives the rest. Now for six years he has been dead and his son indeed stands in his office. Justice has been in abeyance since Sargon. Sennacherib was the remover. This is according to their reasons. The king, my lord, as he will, let him do.

The text is difficult, partly because some signs are defaced, partly because some words could be read more ways than one, and others are obscure. It seems quite clear that the cult of Ashur had greatly suffered. We know from the Harran census that certain lands were charged with dues to the temples, others with salaries to officials. The list of defaulters is of geographical value. The deposition of rightful temple officers and the intrusion of unworthy substitutes, on slight grounds, is charged to Sennacherib. He was evidently estranged from the cult of Ashur. Doubtless a comparison of other letters will clear up some of the obscurities, but sufficient is clear to indicate the importance of such documents.

(M845) It is of interest to note that we have a few letters sent by women. We may select the following:(943)

To the scribe of the palace, my lord, thy handmaid Sarai. Bel, Beltu (of Nineveh?), Beltu of Babylon, Nabu, Tashmetum, Ishtar of Nineveh, Ishtar of Arbela, be gracious to my lord. Long days, health of mind, health of body, may they give to my lord. The servants of my lord, whom the governor of Bit Naialani took, seven souls in all, he gave to Marduk-erba. Now the people are here, they have come to me and say thus: "Say to the scribe of the palace, Do not cause them to enter into the house of Marduk-erba." The saku has sealed for them, now he is with them.

Evidently the lady Sarai had great influence with the scribe of the palace; perhaps she was his wife. The reason why the governor took certain servants of his and gave them to Marduk-erba is not clear. Perhaps they were sold for some government claim. It seems that the lady wished to keep them back, but that the purchaser had called and was about to take them away, unless the scribe in some way intervened.

(M846) A few quite private letters found their way into the archives of Nineveh, unless indeed this is a mere freak of the discoverers. Thus:(944)

Note from Marduk to Kurigalzu, his brother: Bel and Nabu seek the peace of my brother. Wherefore have I not seen thy messenger? Until he enter Borsippa, when I see thy messenger, my heart shall drink the wine of joy. Let my brother send so many pots.

Here is another from Borsippa:(945)

Note from Bel-upak to Kuna, his father: Peace be to my father. Daily I pray to Nabu and Nana for my father's health of life and I have fulfilled the duty to Ezida (the temple of Nabu at Borsippa) for thy sake. When I inquired of Mar-biti (a divine name) for thy sake, a fixed time of peace was taken up to the fourth day. Thy workman is informed concerning everything whatever is safe according to his (the god's) word.

(M847) As before remarked, many letters are notices of the movements of horses. These are really obscure in that we do not know what the real purpose of the reports was. They are very similar to many reports which lack the form of address that marks a letter. Many of the terms applied to the horses are also obscure and there is no way to translate them. In other cases we have reports to the king or his officials on various every-day subjects. A list of slaves assigned to one or more men, a list of guests, men of high rank, sent to stay with certain officials, lists of furniture and effects, including books, sent to Harran with one of the princes, all serve to throw light upon the daily life at the court of Nineveh. Incidentally we have many hints for history as well as life and manners. But such lists and reports do not lend themselves to translation.

(M848) A group of texts, very similar to the letters, only with an especial character of their own, are the inquiries addressed by Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal to the oracle of the sun-god. Their great interest lies in the fact that they usually state the events which cause the king's anxiety and so make important contributions to history. But the larger part of them consist of a detailed statement of what omens have been observed by the augurs on examining the entrails of the sacrifices. On these it is probable that the sun-god was to base his opinion. He would know and declare what they portended.

(M849) Occasionally a letter serves to make a contribution to some subject which is of interest apart from the events of the day. Thus, information is furnished regarding metrology in a letter primarily concerned with materials for the repair of a temple or palace.(946) There we read of "six articles of mismakanna wood, six KA apiece, one cubit long and one cubit thick." The thickness is clearly a cubit each way, and we learn that a cubit cube contained six KA. There are many letters and fragments which concern beams of wood and stones sent from great distances for buildings and repairs. When these are all published and considered together, no doubt they will clear up the difficulties which at present render translation impossible.

(M850) A fragmentary report—it may have been a letter—gives a diary of a journey. If we could complete it, or find a few more like it, we should have a knowledge of geography such as we have not for any other part of the world for early times.(947) We may summarize it as follows: On the sixth, the writer went from Bagarri to Sari, from Sari to Arzuhina, from Arzuhina to Tel-Arzuhina. He stated the distances from city to city, but these are now lost. This was the first journey. The second journey was from Tel-Arzuhina to Dur-sisite. The third journey was from Dur-sisite to Maturaba, from Maturaba to Dur-Taliti. The fourth journey was from Dur-Taliti to Babiti, from Babiti to Lagabgalagi. The fifth journey was from Lagabgalagi to the river Radanu, thence to Asri. The sixth journey was from Asri to Arrakdi. The seventh journey was from Hualsundi to Napigi, thence to Dur-Ashur. Here we get the whole distance from Arrakdi to Dur-Ashur as two kaspu, twenty-four us, twenty-four u. The identification of these places would be of enormous value for a determination of the Assyrian measures of length. The distances are correct to the cubit. The eighth journey was from Dur-Ashur to Tarzini, thence to Banbala. The ninth journey was from Banbala to Ishdi-dagurrai, thence to Gupni-Bel-Harran, one kaspu, five us, fifty-four u. The tenth journey was from Gupni-Bel-Harran to Dur-Adadi-rimani, thence to Dur-Tukulti-apil-esharra, on the seventeenth. Several of these places are already known. Others may be identified with some certainty. The whole would have a great value if preserved complete.



X. Letters Of The Second Babylonian Empire

(M851) Some Babylonian letters of the Second Empire are to be found in the great collections published by Strassmaier. For the most part they are of a business nature, asking for some payment to be made or some object sent on.

Thus,(948) one reads:

(M852)

Note from Nabu-shum-lishir to Bel-uballit and Ki ... my brothers. Bel and Nabu decree the well-being of my brothers. Two GUR of dates to Bel-nasir, two GUR to Shamash-pir'-usur, from the store for seed let my brothers give. Adar the ninth, year eleven, Nabonidus, King of Babylon.

Or,(949)

(M853)

Note from Shamash-erba to Har-ibni, my brother: When I send Shamash-uballit to thy presence, do thou send ninety KA of meal by his hand. Verily thou knowest. Besides the twelve KA of meal before is this. Adar the thirteenth.

A somewhat longer but imperfect letter(950) reads:

(M854)

Note of Nadinu to the priest of Sippara, my brother: Verily, peace be with thee. To my brother, may Bel and Nabu decree the well-being of my brother. When to my brother I [send], to the presence of my lord.... Thou, my lord, knowest why seeds for the kepu of Rahza I sent, and money for the seeds I gave him. He received it. Let me hear news and the welfare of my brother.

Of some interest for the nature of public works is:(951)

Note from Shapik-zer to Har-ibni, my brother: The gods decree thy well-being. Give ninety-six KA of meal to the men who are digging the canal. Kislimnu, the twentieth, fifth year, Cyrus, King of Babylon, king of lands.

Or this:(952)

(M855)

Note from the priests to Har-ibni, our brother: The gods decree thy welfare. Give thirty-six KA of meal to Ardi-Har, for the king's men who dig the canal. Kislimnu the twenty-fifth, year five, Cyrus, King of Babylon, king of lands.

The following is another of the best-preserved letters of this period:(953)

(M856)

Note from Nergal-ah-iddin to Iddin-Marduk, my father: Bel and Nabu decree the health and well-being of my father. Concerning the money my father sent; the money is little, which has been given for dates. Two minas of silver is needed. Let my father send it. Concerning that (?), as it is good to thee. I have none. See, Nabu-mattua I have sent to my father. The governor has gone to Babylon. As long as he is not here (?) at his side, he demands. Let me hear news of my father. Whether it be corn or whether it be anything that is with me, I will give to my father. Thy word is indisputable with me.

(M857) For the most part the others are fragmentary and of no special interest. It is noteworthy that they all begin with much the same form of greeting.

Dr. T. G. Pinches published the text of three letters of this period in Recueil des Travaux.(954) Two are very fragmentary; the third reads thus:

Note from Suka to Bel-zer-ibni, my father: May Bel and Nabu decree health and wealth to my father. Now I am going without the ass. Give the ass to Shamash-etir; let him send it. Give him the clothes (?).

Here is an interesting letter:(955)

Note from Daian-bel-usur to Shirku, my lord: Every day I pray to Bel and Nabu for the health of my lord's life. Concerning the lambs, which my lord sent, Bel and Nabu know that there is a lamb from before thee. I have set the crop and fixed the stable. I have seen thy servant with the sheep; send thy servant with the lambs, and direct that one lamb from among them be offered as a gift to Nabu. I have not turned so much as one sheep into money. On the twentieth I worked [or sacrificed] for Shamash. I saw fifty-six. From his hands I sent twenty head to my lord. The garlic which the governor received from my lord, the owners of the field, when they came, took possession of; the governor of fields sold it for money. I am deprived of the yoke of the harrow (?). As to what my lord said to me, saying, "Wherefore hast thou not sent a messenger and measured out the crop?" Forthwith (?) I will send to thee, let a messenger of thy appointing (?) take it and keep it.

Several words in this text are not found elsewhere, but very strangely we know much about the persons. Shirku, whose other name was Marduk-nasir-aplu, son of Iddina, was of the important commercial house of Egibi, and lived in the reign of Darius. He was a great ship-owner, and had the tolls of a certain bridge. He travelled to Elam in the fifth year of Darius. A great many of his business transactions are detailed by Dr. Pinches.(956) Daian-bel-usur and his wife Nana-bel-usri were slaves of Shirku, who pledged them with their six children, at one time. In the sixteenth year of Darius their master gave them as part of her dowry, to Amat-Bau, daughter of Kalba. They lived in the town of Suppatum.

The reader has now before him a few specimens of this extremely valuable but very obscure class of literature. As time and study avail to clear up the obscurities, much more will be learned of the life and customs of these ancient peoples. Enough may have been given to stimulate research, and interest a wider circle of readers. It is the writer's hope that many may be led, even by these scattered and disjointed specimens, to undertake such studies as may render more perfect his slight contribution and rescue from oblivion the heroes of a bygone civilization.



APPENDIX



I. The Prologue And Epilogue To The Code Of Hammurabi

The prologue and epilogue of the Code are very difficult to translate. Often the phrases are simply stock expressions which occur in most of the royal inscriptions. The meanings of many of these have degenerated to mere titles of courtesy and their original significance is obscure. But early translators found no difficulty in guessing the most complimentary things to say, and more recent scholars in their efforts to be exact become grotesque. When an ancient king called himself a "rabid buffalo" it doubtless gave him satisfaction, but it would be very rude for us to do so. On the other hand, it is very tiresome to an English reader to read a sentence of three hundred lines in length before coming to a principal verb. Such a sentence, a string of epithets and participles, is here broken up into short clauses and the participles turned into finite verbs. This is done, not because the translator is entirely ignorant of grammar, but in pity for the reader. This further necessitates turning the third person singular, in which the king speaks of himself, like a modern acceptance of an invitation to dinner, into the more simple direct narration in the first person. Anyone who wishes to compare this translation with the original will please recall that this is done for ease in understanding, not because the original was misunderstood.

A more serious difficulty is, that, as it was customary to apply the same honorific titles to both a god and the king, it is often uncertain to which the original meant to apply them. This may have been left intentionally vague. Some translators have taken on themselves to settle to which they will refer the epithet, to the god or to the king. Such translations are only interesting as a record of private opinions. They settle nothing, do not even give a presumption in favor of anything. It is more honest to leave the translation as vague as the original, when this can be done. This part of the stele is full of rare words, or what is just as bad, words which invariably occur in the same context. If a king calls himself by some strange honorific title, it is no assistance to understanding the meaning of it that a score of successors should do the same. Of many words, all we can conjecture is that the king was honored by them. There is nothing to indicate what they really meant. In some cases "mighty" is as likely to be correct as "wise." There is no reason why we should prefer either rendering. Both can hardly be right, neither may really be. Some king may once have prided himself on being an expert potter, as a modern monarch might on being a photographer. If he called himself on a monument a "superb potter," all his successors would keep the title, though they never made a pot in their lives. We have only to peruse the titles of modern monarchs to be sure of the fact. It is, therefore, to be hoped that no one will build any far-reaching theories upon logical deductions from the translations given here or elsewhere of such honorific titles.

Prologue To The Code Of Hammurabi

When the most high God (Anu), king of the spirits of heaven (Anunnaki), (and) Bel, lord of heaven and earth, who settles the fates of all, allotted to Marduk, the first-born of Ea, the lord God of right, a rule over men and extolled him among the spirits of earth (Igigi), then they nominated for Babylon a name above all, they made it renowned in all quarters, and in the midst of it they founded an everlasting sovereignty, whose seat is established like heaven and earth; then did God (Anu) and Bel call me by name, Hammurabi, the high prince, god-fearing, to exemplify justice in the land, to banish the proud and oppressor, that the great should not despoil the weak, to rise like the sun over the black-headed race (mankind) and illumine the land, to give health to all flesh. Hammurabi the (good) shepherd, the choice of Bel, am I, the completer of plenty and abundance, the fulfiller of every purpose. For Nippur, and Durili (epithet of Nippur or part of it?), I highly adorned E-KUR (the temple of Bel there). In powerful sovereignty I restored Eridu and cleansed E-ZU-AB (temple of Ea there). By onslaughts on every side (the four quarters) I magnified the name of Babylon and rejoiced the heart of Marduk my lord. Every day I stood in E-SAG-GIL (the temple of Marduk at Babylon). Descendant of kings whom Sin had begotten, I enriched the city of Ur, and humbly adoring, was a source of abundance to E-NER-NU-GAL (the temple of Sin at Ur). A king of knowledge, instructed by Shamash the judge, I strongly established Sippara, reclothed the rear of the shrine of Aya (the consort of Shamash), and planned out E-BAB-BAR (temple of Shamash at Sippara) like a dwelling in heaven. In arms I avenged Larsa (held by the Elamite, Rim-Sin), and restored E-BAB-BAR (temple of Shamash at Larsa) for Shamash my helper. As overlord I gave fresh life to Erech, furnishing abundance of water to its people, and completed the spire of E-AN-NA (temple of Nana at Erech). I completed the glory of Anu and Ninni. As a protector of my land, I reassembled the scattered people of Nisin (recently reconquered from the Elamites) and replenished the treasury of E-GAL-MAH (temple of Nisin). As the royal potentate of the city and own brother of its god Zamama, I enlarged the palace at Kish and surrounded with splendor E-ME-TE-UR-SAG (the temple at Kish). I made secure the great shrine of Ninni. I ordered the temple of Harsagkalama E-KI-SAL-nakiri, by whose assistance I attained my desire. I restored Kutha and increased everything at E-SID-LAM (the temple there). Like a charging bull, I bore down my enemies. Beloved of TU-TU (a name of Marduk) in my love for Borsippa, of high purpose untiring, I cared for E-ZI-DA (temple of Nabu there). As a god, king of the city, knowing and farseeing, I looked to the plantations of Dilbat and constructed its granaries for IB (the god of Dilbat) the powerful, the lord of the insignia, the sceptre and crown, with which he invested me. As the beloved of MA-MA (consort of IB), I set fast the bas-reliefs at Kish and renewed the holy meals for Erishtu (goddess of Kish). With foresight and power I ordered the pasturages and watering-places for Sirpurla and Girsu and arranged the extensive offerings in E-50 (the temple of "the fifty" at Sirpurla). I scattered my enemies. As the favorite of Telitim (a god), I fulfilled the oracles of Hallab and rejoiced the heart of GIS-DAR (its goddess). Grand prince, whose prayers Adad knows well, I soothed the heart of Adad, the warrior in Bit Karkara. I fastened the ornaments in E-UD-GAL-GAL (temple there). As a king who gave life to Adab, I repaired E-MAH (temple at Adab). As hero and king of the city, unrivalled combatant, I gave life to Mashkan-Shabri and poured forth abundance on SIT-LAM (temple of Nergal there). The wise, the restorer, who had conquered the whole of the rebellious, I rescued the people of Malka in trouble. I strengthened their abodes with every comfort. For Ea and DAM-GAL-NUN-NA I increased their rule and in perpetuity appointed the lustrous offerings. As a leader and king of the city, I made the settlements on the Euphrates to be populous. As client of Dagan, who begat me, I avenged the people of Mera and Tutul. As high prince, I made the face of Ninni to shine, making the lustrous meals of NIN-A-ZU secure. I reunited my people in famine by assuring their allowances within Babylon in peace and security. As the shepherd of my people, a servant whose deeds were acceptable to GIS-DAR in E-UL-MASH (temple of Anunit) in the midst of Agade, noted for its wide squares, I settled the rules and set straight the Tigris. I brought back to Asshur the gracious colossus and settled the altar (?). As king of Nineveh I made the waters of Ninni to shine in E-DUP-DUP. High of purpose and wise in achievement for the great gods, descendant of Sumu-lail, eldest son of Sin-muballit, long descended scion of royalty, great king, a very Shamash (or sun) of Babylon, I caused light to arise upon Sumer and Akkad. A king who commanded obedience in all the four quarters, beloved of Ninni am I. When Marduk brought me to direct all people and commissioned me to give judgment, I laid down justice and right in the provinces, I made all flesh to prosper. Then—(the words of the Code are the completion of the sentence. The king implies that its regulations were the outcome of this legislative decision).

The Epilogue

The judgments of righteousness which Hammurabi, the powerful king, settled, and caused the land to receive a sure polity and a gracious rule.

I am Hammurabi, the superb king. Marduk gave me to shepherd the black-headed race, whom Bel had assigned me. I did not forget, I did not neglect, I found for them safe pastures, I opened the way through sharp rocks, and gave them guidance. With the powerful weapon that Zamama and Ishtar granted me, by the foresight with which Ea endowed me, with the power that Marduk gave me, I cut off the enemy above and below, I lorded it over the conquered. The flesh of the land I made to rejoice. I extended the dwellings of the people in security. I left them no cause to fear. The great gods chose me and I am the shepherd that gives peace, whose club is straight; of evil and good in my city I was the director. I carried all the people of Sumer and Akkad in my bosom. By my protection, I guided in peace its brothers. By my wisdom, I provided for them. That the great should not oppress the weak, to counsel the widow and orphan, in Babylon, the city of Anu and Bel, I raised up its head (the stele's) in E-SAG-GIL (temple of Marduk there), the temple whose foundation is firm as the heaven and earth. To judge the judgment of the land, to decide the decisions of the land, to succor the injured, I wrote on my stele the precious words and placed them before my likeness, that of a righteous king. The king that is gentle, king of the city, exalted am I. My words are precious, my power has no rival. By the order of Shamash, the judge supreme, of heaven and earth, that judgment may shine in the land; by the permission of Marduk, my lord, I set up a bas-relief, to preserve my likeness in E-SAG-GIL that I love, to commemorate my name forever in gratitude. The oppressed who has a suit to prosecute may come before my image, that of a righteous king, and read my inscription and understand my precious words and may my stele elucidate his case. Let him see the law he seeks and may he draw in his breath and say: "This Hammurabi was a ruler who was to his people like the father that begot them. He obeyed the order of Marduk his lord, he followed the commands of Marduk above and below. He delighted the heart of Marduk his lord, and granted happy life to his people forever. He guided the land." Let him recite the document. Before Marduk, my lord, and Sarpanitum, my lady, with full heart let him draw near. The colossus and the gods that live in E-SAG-GIL, or the courts of E-SAG-GIL, let him bless every day before Marduk, my lord, and Sarpanitum, my lady.

In the future, in days to come, at any time, let the king who is in the land, guard the words of righteousness which I have written on my stele. Let him not alter the judgment of the land which I judged nor the decisions I decided. Let him not destroy my bas-relief. If that man has wisdom and is capable of directing his land, let him attend to the words which I have written upon my stele, let him apprehend the path, the rule, the law of the land which I judged, and the decision I decided for the land, and so let him guide forward the black-headed race; let him judge their judgment and decide their decision, let him cut off from his land the proud and violent, let him rejoice the flesh of his people. Hammurabi, the king of righteousness, to whom Shamash has granted rights, am I. My words are precious, my deeds have no rival. Above and below I am the whirlwind that scours the deep and the height. If that man has hearkened to my words which I have written on my stele and has not frustrated justice, has not altered my words, has not injured my bas-reliefs, may Shamash make lasting his sceptre; like me, as a king of righteousness, let him guide his people in justice.

But if that man does not hearken to my words which I wrote on my stele, forgets my curses, fears not the malediction of God, sets aside the judgment which I judged, alters my words and destroys my bas-reliefs, effaces my inscribed name and writes in his own name; or, for fear of these curses has charged another to do so; that man, be he king, lord, patesi, or noble, whose name is ever so renowned, may the great god (Anu), the father of gods, who named my reign, turn him back, shatter his sceptre in pieces, curse his fortunes; may Bel the lord who fixes the fates, whose command is not set aside, who extended my sovereignty, cause for him an endless revolt, an impulse to fly from his home, and set for his fortune a reign of sighs, short days, years of want, darkness that has no ray of light and a death in the sight of all men. May he decree with his heavy curse the ruin of his city, the scattering of his people, the removal of his sovereignty, the disappearance of his name and his race from the land. May Beltu, the great mother, whose command is weighty in E-KUR, the lady who made my plans prosperous, make his words in the matter of justice and law to be hateful before Bel. May she bring about the downfall of his country, the loss of his people, the efflux of his life like water, by the order of the Bel, the king. May Ea, the grand prince, whose destiny takes premier rank, the messenger of the gods, who knows all, who has prolonged my life, distort his understanding and intellect, curse him with forgetfulness, dam up his rivers at their source. In his land may Ashnan (the deity of wheat), the life of the people, not grow. May Shamash, great judge of heaven and earth, who governs the creatures of life, the lord of help, cut off his sovereignty; judge not his judgment; carry away his path; annihilate the march of his armies; cast an evil look upon him to uproot his rule, and fix for him the loss of his land. May the evil sentence of Shamash quickly overwhelm him; deprive him of life among the living above; and below in the earth, deprive his ghost of water. May Sin, the lord of the sky, the god who creates, whose ray is splendid among the gods, deprive him of crown and throne of kinship; surround him with a great shirt of pain, a heavy penalty, that will not leave his body, and make him finish his days, month by month, through the years of his reign, in tears and sighs. May he multiply for him the burden of royalty. May he grant him as his lot a life that can only be likened to death. May Adad, lord of abundance, great bull of the sky, and the earth, my helper, withdraw the rain from the heavens, the floods from the springs; destroy his land with hunger and want; thunder in wrath over his city, and turn his land to deluge mounds. May Zamama, great warrior, first born of E-KUR, who goes at my right hand on the battlefield, shatter his weapon and turn for him day into night. May he place his enemy over him. May Ishtar, the lady of conflict and battle, who prospered my arms, my gracious protector, who loved my reign, in her heart of rage, her boundless fury, curse his sovereignty; turn all his mercies to curses, shatter his weapon in conflict and battle, appoint him trouble and sedition, strike down his heroes, and make the earth drink of their blood, scatter the plain with heaps of the carcasses of his troops, grant them no burial; deliver himself into the hands of his enemy, cause him to be carried in chains to the enemy's land. May Nergal, the powerful one of the gods, who meets with no rival, who caused me to obtain my triumphs, burn up his people with a fever like a great fire among the reeds. With his powerful weapon may he drink him up, with his fevers crush him like a statue of clay. May Erishtu, the exalted lady of all lands, the creator-mother, carry off his son and leave him no name. May he not beget a seed of posterity among his people. May Nin-karrak, the daughter of Anu, the completer of my mercies in E-KUR, award him a severe malady, a grievous illness, a painful wound, which cannot be healed, of which the physician knows not the origin, which cannot be soothed by the bandage; and rack him with palsy, until she has mastered his life; may she weaken his strength. May the great gods of heaven and earth, the Anunnaki, in their assembly, who look after the halls and the courts of this E-bar-ra (temple of Shamash at Sippara, where the stele was clearly set up), curse with a bitter curse his dynasty, his land, his soldiers, his people, and his subjects. May the judgments of Bel, which in his mouth are irrevocable, curse him and quickly overcome him.



II. Chronology

The following tables make no pretence to finality. In Babylonian history no date before B.C. 747 can be considered absolutely fixed. In Assyrian history the Eponym Canon certainly goes back to about B.C. 893. Then scattered notices in later writers enable us to approximate to earlier dates and the varied synchronisms between Assyrian and Babylonian kings render the dates probable, as far back as the First Dynasty of Babylon. There is only one fixed date before that, the period of Sargon I., which depends on a statement of Nabonidus.

The sequence of monarchs is, however, very probably correct. As knowledge increases, more names will be added to fill up the gaps, and dated documents will give the lengths of the reigns. A discussion of the grounds for the dates cannot be given here. The reader may refer to Dr. P. Rost, in the Mittheilungen der Vorderasiatischen Gesellschaft, 1897, No. 2, and Orientalistische Litteratur-Zeitung, 1900, pp. 143, 175, 212. Radau's Early Babylonian History may be consulted for the earliest dates.

In the early periods, a vertical line between two names denotes that the second was son of the former. This is often all we know, but it is useful to mark the fact, as we cannot then insert other rulers between them. Names printed in capitals are either Sumerian or their true pronunciation is unknown. When these capitals are in Roman type, we know that they were kings or Patesis; when they are printed in italic, we only know that they were the parents of those whose names follow. We do not then know whether they reigned or not.

For Assyrian chronology, see Annals of the Kings of Assyria, by Budge and King, 1902.

Assyria

Early Patesis, Dates Conjectural, Order Uncertain

Ushpia, Ilushuma, Irishum, circa B.C. 2100 Ikunum, Ishme-Dagan, circa B.C. 1930 Shamshi-Adad I., circa B.C. 1910 Igur-kapkapu, Shamshi-Adad II., Bel-upahhir (?), Shamshi-Adad III.

Early Kings, Dates Conjectural

circa B.C.

Bel-ibni, Sulili (?), Bel-kapkapu, 1700 Ashur-bel-nisheshu, 1500 Puzur-Ashur, 1470 Ashur-nadin-ahe, 1430 Ashur-uballit, son, 1420 Bel-nirari, son, 1400 Pudi-ilu, son, 1397 Adad-nirari I., son, 1395 Shulmanu-asharid (Shalmaneser) I., son, 1380 Tukulti-Ninip I., son, 1340 Ashur-nasir-pal I., 1330 Ashur-narara, 1300 Nabu-daian, 1295 Bel-kudur-usur, 1290 Ninip-apil-esharra, 1285 Ashur-dan, son, 1260 Mutakkil-Nusku, son, 1250 Ashur-resh-ishi, son, 1220 Tukulti-apil-esharra (Tiglath-pileser) I., son, 1200 Ashur-bel-kala, son, 1090 Shamshi-Adad IV., brother, 1080 Ashur-nasir-pal II., 1050 Erba-Adad (?), Ashur-nadin-ahe, Ashur-erbi, Tukulti-apil-esharra (Tiglath-pileser) II., 950 Ashur-dan II., son, 930 Adad-nirari II., son, 911

Dates Certain From Eponym Canon

B.C. Tukulti-Ninip II., son, 890 Ashur-nasir-pal III., son, 884 Shulmanu-asharid (Shalmaneser) II., 859 Shamshi-Adad V., 824 Adad-nirari III., 811 Shulmanu-asharid (Shalmaneser) III., 782 Ashur-dan III., 772 Ashur-nirari II., 754 Tukulti-apil-esharra (Tiglath-pileser, Pul) III., 745 Shulmanu-asharid (Shalmaneser) IV., 726 Sharru-ukin (Sargon) II., 721 Sin-ahe-erba (Sennacherib), son, 704 Ashur-ah-iddin (Esarhaddon), son, 680 Ashur-bani-pal (Asnapper), son, 668 Ashur-etil-ilani, son, 625 Sin-shum-lishir, (?) Sin-shar-ishkun, (?) Fall of Nineveh, 607



III. Weights And Measures

I. Weights

1 shekel = 180 se. 1 mina = 60 shekels. 1 talent = 60 minas.

The weight of the mina may be reckoned in round numbers as 500 grams.

II. Measures Of Capacity

Early Scale

1 GIN = 180 se (?). 1 KA = 60 GIN. 1 GUR = 300 KA.

Later Scale

1 GUR = 180 KA.

III. Measures Of Length

1 ell (U) = 60 ubanu. 1 kanu = 6 ells. 1 GAR = 2 kanu. 1 KASBU = 1,800 GAR.

On other measures see A. D. D., ii., pp. 197-218. The ell is about half a metre.

IV. Measures Of Surface

1 GIN = 180 se. 1 SAR = 60 GIN. 1 GAN = 1,800 SAR.

The area of the SAR was one GAR square, or 6 metres square. Areas were also measured by the amount of corn required to sow them, or their average yield, that is by the GUR and KA.

V. Measures Of Time

1 day = 12 double hours. 1 month = 30 days, average. 1 year = 12 months, average.

Further details may be obtained from Zimmern's Das Princip unserer Zeit-und Raumteilung, in the Berichten d. philolog. histor. Classe d. Koenigl. Saechs. Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig. November 14, 1901.



IV. Bibliography Of The Later Periods

THE NEW BABYLONIAN EMPIRE

*Nabopolassar.*—Strassmaier published nineteen texts in Z. A., iv., pp. 141-45, of which three are transcribed and translated in K. B., iv., pp. 177-81. Dr. Pinches gave another, C. T., iv., p. 14, and another in Peek-Pinches, p. 3. Dr. Moldenke gave nine other texts in his Cuneiform Texts from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

*Nebuchadrezzar II.*—Strassmaier published 460 texts in Hefts V.-VI., of the Babylonische Texte, of which thirty-one are transcribed and translated in K. B., iv., pp. 180-201, and forty are discussed in Kohler-Peiser's Aus Babylonischen Rechtsleben. Two texts are published by Pinches, C. T., iv., p. 38, two more in Peiser's Babylonische Vertraege, six texts from the Liverpool Museum were published by Strassmaier in the Actes du VI. Congres Internationale des Orientalistes, 1883. Some of the above texts belong, however, to the reign of Nebuchadrezzar III.

*Evil-Merodach.*—Evetts published twenty-four texts in Babylonische Texte, Heft VI., B, of which K. B., iv., pp. 200-3, gives transcriptions and translations of two. Kohler-Peiser discuss eight in Aus Babylonischen Rechtsleben and add one more. Strassmaier published two from the Liverpool Museum in the Actes du VI. Congres Internationale des Orientalistes, 1883.

*Neriglissar.*—Evetts published seventy-two texts in Babylonische Texte, Heft VI., B, pp. 25-82. Of these four are transcribed and translated in K. B., iv., pp. 202-7 and Kohler-Peiser discussed fourteen in Aus Babylonischen Rechtsleben. In Babylonische Vertraege, Peiser published another; and Strassmaier published three from the Liverpool Museum in the Actes du VI. Congres Internationale des Orientalistes, 1883.

*Laborosoarchod.*—Evetts published six texts, Babylonische Texte, Heft VI., B, pp. 85-90. Of these, one is transcribed and translated in K. B., iv., pp. 206-7. Strassmaier published four in the Actes du VIII. Congres Internationale des Orientalistes, 1889.

*Nabonidus.*—Strassmaier published 1134 texts in Babylonische Texte, Heft I.-IV. Of these, K. B., iv., pp. 206-59, gives transcriptions and translations of fifty-six, and three fresh texts from copies by Peiser, Pinches, and Revillout. Kohler-Peiser discuss sixty-five of them in Aus Babylonischen Rechtsleben and add one more. Pinches published two, C. T., iv., pp. 30-41, and four in Peek-Pinches. Dr. Peiser gave another in Keilschriftliche Acten-Stuecke, No. 3, two from the British Museum. Strassmaier published six from the Liverpool Museum in the Actes du VI. Congres Internationale des Orientalistes, 1883. Dr. Moldenke gave forty-two texts in his Cuneiform Texts in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

PERSIAN PERIOD

*Cyrus.*—Strassmaier published 384 texts in Babylonische Texte, Heft VII., of which K. B., iv., pp. 253-85 gives transcriptions and translations of twenty-four, and Kohler-Peiser discussed thirty-four in Aus Babylonischen Rechtsleben, adding four new texts. In Keilschriftliche Acten-Stuecke, Peiser gave two more; in Babylonische Vertraege, fourteen more. Strassmaier gave two from the Liverpool Museum, in the Actes du VI. Congres Internationale des Orientalistes, 1883. Pinches published another in Peek-Pinches, Dr. Budge another in Z. A., vii., p. 219.

*Cambyses.*—Strassmaier gave 441 texts in Babylonische Texte, Heft VIII.-IX., but in these no distinction is made between the reigns of Cambyses and Cyrus, Cambyses alone, Cyrus alone. K. B., iv., pp. 260-63 gives transcription and translation of four, followed by twenty-five of Cambyses alone and fourteen of Cyrus alone. Kohler-Peiser discussed twenty-one in Aus Babylonische Rechtsleben. Peiser gave seventeen more in Babylonische Vertraege from the Berlin Museum and one from the British Museum. Strassmaier gave three from the Liverpool Museum, and one in possession of Golenischeff in the Actes du VI. Congres Internationale des Orientalistes. Pinches published one in C. T., iv., one in Peek-Pinches. Dr. G. A. Barton published two in the American Journal of Semitic Languages, January, 1900.

*Barzia.*—Strassmaier published nine texts, Z. A., iv., pp. 147 ff., of which four are transcribed and translated, K. B., iv., pp. 294-98. Peiser gave three more in Babylonische Vertraege. Strassmaier published one from the Liverpool Museum in the Actes du VI. Congres Internationale des Orientalistes, 1883.

*Nebuchadrezzar III.*—In K. B., iv., pp. 298-303, three are transcribed and translated from those published above and ascribed to Nebuchadrezzar II.

*Darius.*—Strassmaier has published 579 texts in Babylonische Texte, Heft X.-XII., of which K. B., iv., pp. 302-11 gives transcription and translation of nine. Kohler-Peiser discuss ninety-six in Aus Babylonischen Rechtsleben and add seven more. Pinches published six in C. T., ii., p. 2; iv., pp. 21, 32, 41, 43, 44; and twelve in Peek-Pinches. Peiser gave fifteen in Keilschriftliche Acten-Stuecke, and fifty-five in Babylonische Vertraege from the Berlin Museum, twenty-four from the British Museum. Dr. G. A. Barton gave twenty-seven in American Journal of Semitic Languages, January, 1900. Strassmaier gave six from the Liverpool Museum in the Actes du VI. Congres Internationale des Orientalistes, 1883. Dr. Budge published three in Z. A., iii., pp. 216 ff.

*Shamash-erba.*—Strassmaier published one text of this period in Z. A., iii., p. 157 f.

*Xerxes.*—Evetts published four texts, Babylonische Texte, Heft VI., B, pp. 91-94; of these K. B., iv., pp. 310-11 gives transcription and translation of one. Pinches published one, C. T., iv., p. 34, Dr. G. A. Barton gave one in American Journal of Semitic Languages, January, 1900. Strassmaier published seven in the Actes du VIII. Congres Internationale des Orientalistes, 1889.

*Artaxerxes.*—Professor Hilprecht and Dr. Clay have published 119 texts with transcriptions and translations of twelve, in the ninth volume of the series of Cuneiform Texts of the collections of the University of Philadelphia. Kotalla has given transcriptions and translations of others in B. A. S., iv. Dr. Peiser gave a transcription and translation of one from his own copy, K. B., iv., pp. 312-13. Kohler-Peiser give two more in Aus Babylonischen Rechtsleben. Dr. G. A. Barton gave four in American Journal of Semitic Languages, January, 1900. Strassmaier published nine in the Actes du VIII. Congres Internationale des Orientalistes, 1889, and one in Z. A., iii., p. 158.

MACEDONIAN PERIOD

*Alexander IV.*—Strassmaier, Z. A., iii., p. 150, transcribed and translated one, also K. B., iv., pp. 312-13. Pinches gave one, C. T., iv., p. 39.

*Seleucus II.*—Oppert, Doc. Jur., pp. 301 ff., gave two, one given again, K. B., iv., pp. 312-17. Pinches gave another, C. T., iv., p. 29. Strassmaier published one in Actes du VIII. Congres Internationale des Orientalistes, 1889; and one, Z. A., iii., p. 152 f.

*Demetrius.*—Strassmaier published two, Z. A., iii., pp. 148-50.

*Antiochus III.*—Strassmaier published one, Z. A., iii., p. 150 f., transcribed and translated also, K. B., iv., pp. 316-17.

ARSACIDE PERIOD

Strassmaier published sixteen texts, Z. A., iii., pp. 143 ff., one is given in transcription and translation, K. B., iv., pp. 318-19.



INDEX

Superior Roman numerals refer to sections of the early Babylonian laws, superior arabic numerals to the laws of the Code of Hammurabi, and superior capitals to the later Assyrian or Babylonian laws.

Abatements: for loss of crop, 48, 45, 46 for loss of interest, 48, 48

Abeshu', letters of, 328

Accidental loss: by drought, etc., payment postponed, 48, 48 by storm or rain falls on tenant, 48, 45 shared by tenant and owner if rent unpaid, 48, 46

Accounts and business documents: account books, 295 acknowledgment of advances, 302 amounts of food-stuffs, 301 Assyrian lists, 298 conditions of service with flock and herds, 296 herdsman's, 297 its obscurity, 297, 298 iron articles, mention of, 302 leather, 301 receipts for loans, 295 records of measurements, 296 repairs and expenses, 296 sheep-shearing, 300 skins, 301 steward's accounts, 302 weaving, 300 wool, memoranda regarding, 299

Adjournment of case: not to exceed six months, 45, 13 to call witnesses, 45, 13

Adoption: adoption implied inheritance, 157, 160 brought responsibilities to both parties, 155 by craftsman, who has taught him his handicraft, 61, 188, 189; he cannot be redeemed, 61, 188; but redeemable if not taught, 61, 189 by deed signed and sealed, 155 by wealthy persons, 160 consent of others in the family, 156 duties of adopted children, 158, 159 such as service, 159 form of adoption, 157 frequency and reasons for, 154 if disinherited, he receives one-third of son's share before leaving, 61, 191 but not field, garden, or house, 61, 191 method of procedure, 155 of child of unknown parents, 61, 186 who shall return to parents when known, 61, 186 of royal favorite, or courtier, or votary, 61, 187; who shall not be reclaimed, 61, 187 of natural son, 61, 185 precautions against suits, 159 punishment of adopted children, 160 pure and simple, 156 repudiation and disinheritance, 157 sq. repudiation by adopted son punished, 61, 192 sq. rights of adoption to be accepted, 61, 190 system considered, 154 sq.

Adultery: charges of, 54, 129, 131, 132 of wife of captive excused, 54, 134 penalties for, 117, 118 penalty, strangling, 54, 129 drowning, 54, 133

Advocate or pleader, 88

Affidavit as to cause of death, 65, 249

Agent. See Merchant: disputing with principal, 51, 106, 107 his power of attorney, 44, 7, 292 his relations with the principal, 51, 100-107 if loses or unsuccessful, or robbed, repays capital, 51, 101-103 must give strict account of intromissions, 51, 104 must have power of attorney, 69 must keep accounts, 51, 100 of money received, 51, 100 of interest due, 51, 100 must receive sealed acknowledgment, 51, 104 pays threefold for misappropriation, 51, 106 relation to the merchant, 281 sq.

Agnates, their power, 137

Agriculture, its form, duties, and risks, 48 sq.

Alienation: by assignments, 218 by business transfer, 218 by donations and bequests, 218 sq. by gifts to votary, daughter, wife, 220, 221 consent of legal heirs, 221 of property, 218 sq. of public property forbidden, 47, 33 sq. restricted by family rights, 219

Allowances: to divorced wife, 54, 137 usufruct to bring up the children, 54, 137

Alteration of bond by post-dating, 48, 48

Ammi-ditana, letters of, 328

Ammi-zaduga, letters of, 329

Ancestors: as a family bond, 120. See Family

Ancestral: domain, lands subject to, 187 estates, 194

Apprentice, slave taught as, 181, 182

Armenia, references to, in Sennacherib's letters to Sargon, 338 sq.

Artificers of the temple, 213

Ashurbanipal: friendly letters of, 360 sq. inquiries about oracles, 379 letters illustrating his reign, 347 sq., 352, 353 sq., 361 sq. son of Esarhaddon, 366 value of his library, 6, 10, 31