A Companion to Assyria Read online

  Table of Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Notes on Contributors

  Acknowledgments

  Introduction Aims and Scope of this Book

  Assyrian Civilization and its Study: Some Fundamentals

  Trends in Research on Ancient Assyria and their Ideological Background

  The Assyrian Cultural Heritage Crisis

  References

  PART I: Geography and History CHAPTER 1: Physical and Cultural Landscapes of Assyria Introduction

  Physical Environment of Assyria

  Cultural Landscapes: Past Research and Methods

  Emergent Landscapes of the Early Bronze Age

  Imperial Landscapes of the Neo‐Assyrian Period

  Conclusions and Future Prospects

  Acknowledgments

  References

  Further Reading

  CHAPTER 2: “Assyria” in the Third Millennium BCE Introduction

  Regionalization (3200–2700 BCE)

  The Second Urban Revolution (2700–2400 BCE)

  The Ebla World‐System (2400–2300 BCE)

  Merchants and Empires (2300–2000 BCE)

  Conclusion

  References

  Further Reading

  CHAPTER 3: The Old Assyrian Period (20th–18th Century BCE) Sources, Rulers, and Chronology

  Old Assyrian History

  The Political Institutions of Ashur

  The End of the Old Assyrian Period

  Abbreviations

  References

  Further Reading

  CHAPTER 4: Economy, Society, and Daily Life in the Old Assyrian Period Introduction

  Ashur and Kaniš

  Slaves

  The Assyrian Family

  Economy and Daily Life

  References

  Further Reading

  CHAPTER 5: The Transition Period (17th to 15th Century BCE) Two King Lists and the Period after Šamši‐Adad I

  Signs of Prosperity

  Mittanian Dominion

  References

  Further Reading

  CHAPTER 6: The Middle Assyrian Period (14th to 11th Century BCE) Assyria Joins the Scene

  The First Half of the 13th Century BCE

  Territorial Expansion and Consolidation: A First Attempt

  The Decline of Power in the Period after Tukulti‐Ninurta I

  Territorial Expansion and Consolidation: A Second Attempt

  Concluding Remarks

  Abbreviations

  References

  Further Reading

  CHAPTER 7: Economy, Society, and Daily Life in the Middle Assyrian Period The Middle Assyrian State

  The King

  The Royal Palace

  The Administrative Structure of the Middle Assyrian Kingdom

  The Military

  Recruitment and Labor Administration

  Taxation

  Middle Assyrian Society: Social Strata

  The Middle Assyrian Family

  Ethnic Groups

  Abbreviations

  References

  Further Reading

  CHAPTER 8: The Neo‐Assyrian Period (ca. 1000–609 BCE) Introduction

  Chronology and Sources

  The Crisis Years (ca. 1050–935)

  The Reconquista Period (934–824)

  Internal Conflicts and Fragmentation of Power: The Age of the “Magnates” (823–745)

  Genesis of an Empire: Assyria from Tiglath‐pileser III to Sargon II (744–705)

  Imperial Heydays: From Sennacherib to Assurbanipal (704–631)

  Assyria’s Downfall (631–609)

  The “Afterlife” and Legacy of the Assyrian Empire

  Abbreviation

  References

  Further Reading

  CHAPTER 9: Economy, Society, and Daily Life in the Neo‐Assyrian Period The Crucible of Mass Deportation

  The Heartland of Assyria

  The Provinces

  The Nineveh Region

  Farmers and Pastoralists

  Four Vignettes of Neo‐Assyrian Life

  Abbreviations

  References

  Further Reading

  CHAPTER 10: Post‐Imperial Assyria Introduction

  The Early Post‐imperial Period

  Restructuring and Revitalization: The Seleucid and Arsacid Periods

  References

  Further Reading

  PART II: The Fringes of Empire CHAPTER 11: Assyria and the North The Eastern Taurus Mountains

  Eastern Anatolia and Urartu

  The Western Taurus and Central Anatolia

  References

  Further Reading

  CHAPTER 12: Assyria and the East The Assyrian Expansion in the East

  Western Iran beyond Assyria’s Provinces

  Elam and Anšan

  References

  Further Reading

  CHAPTER 13: Assyria and the West Introduction

  The Levant until the Time of Tiglath‐pileser III: Exploration and Exploitation

  The Levant at the Time of Tiglath‐pileser III: The Great Annexation

  The Levant after Tiglath‐pileser III: The Taming of the Insurgents

  References

  Further Reading

  CHAPTER 14: Assyria and the Far West Abbreviations

  References

  Further Reading

  CHAPTER 15: Assyria and the South Introduction

  The Third and Second Millennium BCE

  The First Millennium BCE

  Abbreviations

  References

  Further Reading

  CHAPTER 16: Assyria and the Far South Introduction

  From the Beginnings to the Reign of Tiglath‐pileser III

  Sargon II and Sennacherib

  From Esarhaddon to the Downfall of the Assyrian Empire

  Conclusion

  Abbreviations

  References

  Further Reading

  PART III: Elements of Assyrian Civilization CHAPTER 17: Languages and Writing Systems in Assyria Languages

  Writing Systems

  Main Features of Assyrian Grammar

  Abbreviations

  References

  Further Reading

  CHAPTER 18: Assyrian Religion The City of Ashur and its Temples in the Third Millennium BCE

  The God Assur

  The Theology of Assur and His Elevation to Universal Dominion

  Assur, His Earthly Representative, and the Community of Gods

  Politics as Religion and Religion as Politics

  Swan Song

  References

  Further Reading

  CHAPTER 19: Assyrian Literature Old Assyrian Period

  Middle Assyrian Period

  Neo‐Assyrian Period

  References

  Further Reading

  CHAPTER 20: Assyrian Scholarship and Scribal Culture in Ashur Assyrian Interest in Babylonian Scholarship

  Middle Assyrian Scholarship

  The Alleged Royal Library of Tiglath‐pileser I

  Middle Assyrian Scholarly Families

  The Scholars of Ashur between the Ninth and the Seventh Century bce

  References

  Further Reading

  CHAPTER 21: Assyrian Scholarship and Scribal Culture in Kalu and Nineveh Introduction

  Libraries of Neo‐Assyrian Scholars and Temples

  The Growing Role of Divination and Scholarship for the Neo‐Assyrian Kings

  How the Neo‐Assyrian Kings Obtained Access to Babylonian Scholarship

  Assembling Tablets for Assurbanipal’s Library in Nineveh

  The Archaeology of the Royal Library in Nineveh

  The Tablets of the Library Collection in Nineve
h Written by Babylonian Scholars

  The Tablets of the Library Collection in Nineveh Written by Assyrian Scholars

  Abbreviations

  References

  Further Reading

  CHAPTER 22: Assyrian Legal Traditions The Many Strands of Assyrian Legal Traditions

  Old Assyrian Legal Practices

  Middle Assyrian Legal Practices

  Neo‐Assyrian Legal Practices

  References

  Further Reading

  CHAPTER 23: Assyrian Cities and Architecture Introduction

  Ashur in the Third Millennium BCE

  The Old‐Assyrian Period

  The Transition Period (17th to 15th centuries BCE)

  The Middle Assyrian Period

  The Neo‐Assyrian Period

  References

  Further Reading

  CHAPTER 24: Assyrian Art Introduction

  Ashur in the Third Millennium BCE

  The Old Assyrian Period

  The Middle Assyrian Period

  The Neo‐Assyrian Period: Sculpture and Painting

  The Neo‐Assyrian Period: Portable Arts

  References

  Further Reading

  CHAPTER 25: Assyrian Technology Introduction

  City Planning and Monumental Buildings

  Hydraulic Engineering

  Bridges

  Transportation of Materials and Heavy Loads

  Abbreviations

  References

  Further Reading

  CHAPTER 26: Assyrian Warfare References

  Further Reading

  CHAPTER 27: Thoughts on the Assyrian Empire and Assyrian Kingship Translatio imperii

  World Empires: Size vs. “Mission”

  Enlarging Assyria

  Prerequisites of the Imperial Project

  Imperial Practice and Theory

  Destruction and Reconstruction

  The Advantages of Direct Rule

  References

  Further Reading

  PART IV: The Afterlife and Rediscovery of Assyria CHAPTER 28: Assyria in Late Babylonian Sources Assyria in the Royal Inscriptions of the Babylonian Empire

  Assyria in Everyday Documents

  Assyria in the View of the Persians

  Hellenistic Babylonia Remembers Assyria

  References

  Further Reading

  CHAPTER 29: Assyria in the Hebrew Bible Introduction

  Terminology

  History

  Stories

  Political Ideology and Law

  More Immediate Assyrian Influences on Religion and Culture in Israel and Judah?

  Conclusions

  Abbreviations

  References

  Further Reading

  CHAPTER 30: Assyria in Classical Sources Assyria’s Changing Image in Greek and Roman Texts

  Assyrian Rulers in Classical Sources

  References

  Further Reading

  CHAPTER 31: The Archaeological Exploration of Assyria Botta, Layard, and the Rediscovery of Assyria in the Nineteenth Century

  Twentieth Century Excavations of Assyrian Sites

  References

  Further Reading

  CHAPTER 32: Assyrian Christians Introduction

  Assyria and Assyrian in Pre‐Modern Syriac Sources

  Assyrian Christians in Nineteenth‐Century Literature from the West

  Assyrian Identity and the Church of the East

  Assyrian Identity and the Greater Syriac Heritage

  Conclusion

  Appendix: The Churches of the Syriac Heritage

  Acknowledgments

  Abbreviation

  References

  Further Reading

  List of Assyrian Kings

  Index

  End User License Agreement

  List of Tables

  Chapter 03 Table 3.1 The Old Assyrian part of the Assyrian King List

  Chapter 05 Table 5.1 Names of rulers in AKL, KAV 14, and the Puzur‐Sîn inscription

  Chapter 17 Table 17.1 Independent personal pronouns

  Table 17.2 Independent possessive pronouns

  Table 17.3 Pronominal suffixes

  Table 17.4 Noun declension

  Table 17.5 Adjectival declension

  Table 17.6 Verbal prefixes and suffixes (long final vowels are used in OA/MA; in NA, however, these are shortened)

  Table 17.7 Verbal classes

  Table 17.8 Finite forms in the basic or G‐stem

  Table 17.9 Commands and requests

  Table 17.10 Stative

  Chapter 21 Table 21.1 Text genres found in the Neo‐Assyrian Libraries in Kalu, uzirina, and Nineveh (here only the ones written in Babylonian ductus)

  Table 21.2 Divinatory texts from Nineveh written in Babylonian ductus

  Table 21.3 Religious texts from Nineveh written in Babylonian ductus

  List of Illustrations

  Chapter 01 Figure 1.1 Topography, hydrology, and major sites of Assyria (northern Iraq, northeastern Syria, and southeastern Turkey).

  Figure 1.2 EBA sites and linear trackways in the region of Tell Brak and Tell Beydar (based on Ur 2010b Map 3).

  Figure 1.3 The evolution from nucleated to dispersed settlement in the Hamoukar and North Jazira Project areas (based on data from Wilkinson and Tucker 1995, Ur 2010b). A. Urban settlement and trackways in the later EBA, ca. 2600–2000 BCE; B. Rural settlement in the Iron Age (early 1st millennium BCE).

  Figure 1.4 Sites, canals, and other features in the Assyrian imperial core.

  Figure 1.5 Austen Henry Layard exploring Sennacherib’s monumental relief at Khinis, as depicted by Frederick Cooper.

  Chapter 02 Figure 2.1 Map of Northern Mesopotamia, 3000–2000 BCE, with archaeological sites mentioned in the text.

  Figure 2.2 Leilan Lower Town South, 1989, Worker’s Neighborhood (ca. 2300–2200 BCE).

  Chapter 03 Figure 3.1 Schematic illustration of the movement of goods in the Old Assyrian overland trade

  Figure 3.2 Assur and the political world of Northern Mesopotamia during the Šamši‐Adad period

  Figure 3.3a Seal of Sargon, son of Ikunum, ensí of Assur. Photo of Kt c/k 1389 (T. Özgüç 2003: 19 no. 5). Photo kindly supplied by the excavator, T. Özgüç.

  Figure 3.3b Seal of Assur, of the nisḫatu‐tax, of the City Hall

  Chapter 04 Figure 4.1 Anatolia during the Old Assyrian period.

  Figure 4.2 The Old Assyrian letter Kt 88/k 625. Ankara, Anadolu Medeniyetleri Müzesi.

  Figure 4.3 An Old Assyrian letter comprising a main tablet and a small second one preserved together in their sealed envelope. Kt 93/k 211, Ankara, Anadolu Medeniyetleri Müzesi.

  Figure 4.4 Private houses in the lower town level II, reconstruction.

  Chapter 06 Figure 6.1 The political landscape of the Middle Assyrian period.

  Chapter 07 Figure 7.1 Conscription and labor organization in Middle Assyrian times.

  Chapter 08 Figure 8.1 Metal brazier with turrets and wheels. The king, while keeping warm, would gaze at what looked like a conquered city on fire. Kalḫu, Fort Shalmaneser, Neo‐Assyrian period.

  Figure 8.2 Map illustrating the various stages of the expansion of the Neo‐Assyrian state.

  Figure 8.3 Letter to the Assyrian king Esarhaddon reporting a conspiracy in the city of Ashur (YBC 11382).

  Chapter 09 Figure 9.1 A family of deportees leaving a captured Babylonian city on an ox‐cart: a man (boy?) and two women, one carrying a bag with her possessions. Detail from the wall decoration of Tiglath‐pileser III’s Central Palace in Kalḫu, later reused in Esarhaddon's Southwest Palace. British Museum, ANE 118882.

  Figure 9.2 The Neo‐Assyrian provinces, with the position of Ashur, Nineveh, Arba’il, Kalḫu, and Dur‐Šarrukin marked by asterisks. The dashed lines indicate the provincial boundaries, but note that these are often hypothetical. For details see Radner 2006.

  Chapter 10 Figure 10.1 Sites of the Late Assyrian to Arsacid periods mentioned in the text. Map by
S. R. Hauser based on a topographical map by M. Grosch, SFB 586.

  Figure 10.2 The sacred precincts of Ashur and Hatra in the first centuries AD.

  Chapter 17 Figure 17.1 Three Assyrian letters (obverse). Left: The Old Assyrian letter BM 115199; Middle: Cast of the Middle Assyrian letter TCH 92.G.152; Right: The Neo‐Assyrian letter ND 2703;

  Figure 17.2 Assyrian and Aramaic scribes as depicted on a Neo‐Assyrian relief.

  Figure 17.3 Assyrian‐Aramaic triangular corn‐loan docket (after Fales 1986, fig. 3).

  Chapter 18 Figure 18.1 View from the roof of the temple of Assur westwards towards the ziggurat and the northern part of the city of Ashur; reconstruction.

  Figure 18.2 King Sennacherib, depicted twice, worshipping the god Assur and his wife Mullissu. Assur is standing on a mušuššu‐dragon, a feature adopted from the cult of Marduk of Babylon. Khinnis, “Großes Relief.”

  Chapter 21 Figure 21.1 A colophon with the name of Assurbanipal added in ink on a cuneiform tablet from Nineveh. K. 11055 + D.T. 273.

  Figure 21.2 Libraries and archives located on Kuyunjik (drawn by J.C. Fincke, after Reade 2000: 407–18, 421–7, and Smith 1875: 94–102, 138–43).

  Chapter 23 Figure 23.1 Ashur, city plan; adapted by the author from Andrae 1938: Beilage.

  Figure 23.2 Nineveh, plan of the mound of Kuyunjik.

  Figure 23.3 Kalḫu (modern Nimrud), plan of the citadel.