FINAL PROJECT: THE THIRD CAMPAIGN OF SENNACHERIB FROM THE CHICAGO PRISM, ORIENTAL INSTITUTE, UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO (OIM

A2793)

by Joshua D. Tyra Box T2693

Dr. Averbeck Old Testament 7021 (Akkadian II) Trinity Evangelical Divinity School May 2012

Abbreviations ANET ARAB AS BAL CAD CDA GA GAG James B. Pritchard, ed., Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, 3d ed., with supplement (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1969) Daniel David Luckenbill, Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia, ed. James Henry Breasted, vol. 2 (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1926) Daniel David Luckenbill, The Annals of Sennacherib, ed. James Henry Breasted, Oriental Institute Publications II (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1924) Rykle Borger, Babylonisch-Assyrische Lesestcke, vol. 2, 2nd ed. (Rome: Pontificium Institutum Biblicum, 1979) Ignace J. Gelb et al., ed., The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago (Chicago: Oriental Institute, 1956) Jeremy Black, Andrew George, and Nicholas Postgate, eds., A Concise Dictionary of Akkadian (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 1999) John Huehnergard, A Grammar of Akkadian, 2nd ed. (Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns, 2005) Wolfram von Soden and Werner R. Mayer, Grundriss der Akkadischen Grammatik, 3rd ed., Analecta Orientalia 33 (Rome: Pontificium Institutum Biblicum, 1995)

HALOT Ludwig Koehler and Walter Baumgartner, The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, ed. M. E. J. Richardson (Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 1994) MEA RT SB Ren Labat and Florence Malbran-Labat, Manuel dpigraphie akkadienne, 6th ed. (Paris: Librairie Orientaliste Paul Geuthner, 2002) Mordechai Cogan, The Raging Torrent: Historical Inscriptions from Assyria and Babylonia Relating to Ancient Israel, A Carta Handbook (Jerusalem: Carta, 2008) Anson F. Rainey and R. Steven Notley, The Sacred Bridge: Cartas Atlas of the Biblical World (Jerusalem: Carta, 2006)

1 Introduction Mordechai Cogan calls the account of the third campaign of Sennacherib probably the most discussed Neo-Assyrian inscription,1 due especially to the parallel accounts in 2 Ki 18-19, 2 Chr 32, and Is 36-37. It is rare to see such a spectacular convergence of the Old Testament with extra-biblical historical records, though the exact nature of that convergence remains a hot topic in biblical studies and Assyriology. The Text and its Date The text presented here is that of the Chicago Prism, held at the University of Chicagos Oriental Institute (OIM A2793). It is the latest version of Sennacheribs campaign accounts, dated to the eponymy of Gahilu in 689 BC,2 some 11 years after the events of the third campaign (701 BC). The oldest version of the text is the Rassam Cylinder, dated to 700 BC, just a year after the campaign.3 The Taylor Prism in the British Museum, of which the Chicago Prism is a better preserved copy, dates to 691 BC.4 The principal difference in our text from the Rassam cylinder (other than minor points of orthography) is that the list of the tribute paid to Sennacherib by Hezekiah is only half as long as that in Rassam.5 Historical and Chronological Issues One Western Campaign, or Two? Understanding how the biblical and Assyrian accounts fit together is a difficult problem. The main issue is one of chronology, and the facts are as follows. The Bible states that the fall of Samaria to Assyria, dated to 722 or 723 BC,6 occurred in the sixth year of Hezekiahs reign (2 Ki 18:10). This would place Hezekiahs accession at around 729, given the overlapping regnal years.7 The Bible goes on to state that Sennacherib threatened Judah in Hezekiahs 14th regnal year (2 Ki 18:13), which would be 715/714 much too early for the 701 date suggested by the Rassam cylinder.8 This discrepency has given rise to the theory that Sennacherib actually conducted two western campaigns, one in 715/714 (the campaign of the biblical texts) and another in 701, of which the Rassam cylinder and the Prisms must be a composite account.9 On this point scholars are divided. Cogan firmly believes in a single 701 BC campaign, citing
Mordechai Cogan, Sennacheribs Siege of Jerusalem (2.119B), in The Context of Scripture II: Monumental Inscriptions from the Biblical World, ed. William W. Hallo and K. Lawson Younger, Jr. (Leiden: Brill, 2000), 302. 2 ARAB, 115. 3 The accounts prior to the Rassam cylinder mention only two campaigns, helping to fix the date of the third campaign at 701 BC (RT, 111112). 4 ARAB, 2:115. 5 RT, 115. 6 See Bob Becking, Chronology: A Skeleton Without Flesh? Sennacheribs Campaign as a Case-Study, in Like a Bird in a Cage: The Invasion of Sennacherib in 701 BCE, ed. Lester L. Grabbe, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series 363; European Seminar in Historical Methodology 4 (London and New York: T. & T. Clark, 2003), 53. 7 K. A. Kitchen, The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt, 1100-650 B.C., 2nd ed. with Supplement. (Warminster, England: Aris & Phillips, 1986), 494. 8 Becking, A Skeleton Without Flesh? 53. 9 Lester L. Grabbe, Of Mice and Dead Men: Herodotus 2.141 and Sennacheribs Campaign, in Like a Bird in a Cage: The Invasion of Sennacherib in 701 BCE, ed. Lester L. Grabbe, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series 363; European Seminar in Historical Methodology 4 (London and New York: T. & T. Clark, 2003), 60.
1

2 the lack of evidence for a second campaign.10 Though Rainey does not deal directly with the issue, his narrative reconstruction of the third campaign assumes a one campaign theory.11 It is notable that even Becking, a proponent of the two campaigns theory, must admit there is no direct evidence for a second western campaignthough he stresses, there is no direct evidence against it, either.12 Kitchen harmonizes the chronological evidence by proposing a co-regency of Hezekiah with his father Ahaz from 729, with his first year of sole reign being 716/715.13 On this scheme, 2 Ki 18:10 will refer to the fall of Samaria in the sixth year of Hezekiahs co-regency, and 2 Ki 18:13 to the invasion of Sennacherib in Hezekiahs 14th year of sole reign. This is perhaps not the tidiest of solutions, since it raises the question of why the author of Kings would have dated the events in this inconsistent fashion;14 but it is a solution. The Siege of Lachish in the Bible, the Assyrian Annals, and the Nineveh Reliefs A related historical issue is the siege of Lachish, which is mentioned in the biblical account (e.g. 2 Chr 32:9) and which is given the utmost prominence in Sennacheribs own victory reliefs at his palace in Nineveh, and yet is totally absent from the Assyrian third campaign account. This situation is not really a problem so much as it is an example of the well-known selectivity of ancient history writers, both within and without the biblical corpus. We are left to speculate as to the reasons for omitting Lachish in the Annals and emphasizing it at Nineveh. In Cogans view, one suspects that the choice of Lachish to represent the battles in Judah was due to the fact that Sennacherib had set up his camp at the site and was on the scene personally supervising the events depicted in this grand relief.15 Rainey ascribes to Sennacherib a more propagandistic motivation: Since Jerusalem was not taken, it was necessary to pick another site for the glorification of the Assyrian army during the third campaign.16 I would also point out that the campaign account mentions Sennacherib as capturing 46 unnamed Judean cities (III:18III:23), and it seems not unlikely that just one of those might be Lachish.17

RT, 112; Mordechai Cogan, Sennacheribs Siege of Jerusalem: Once or Twice?, Biblical Archaeology Review, no. 27 (2001): 4045, 69. 11 SB, 740741. 12 Grabbe, Of Mice and Dead Men, 56. 13 Kitchen, The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt, 1100-650 B.C., 494. 14 Kitchen has an answer for this: A new king might continue his old year-numbering at his accession to sole power, or choose to make a complete break to affirm that a different regime was now in power. A good example of the latter is Hezekiah starting a new year-numbering after the death of Ahaz, with whose pro-Assyrian policies he clearly disagreed K. A. Kitchen, On the Reliability of the Old Testament, Paperback ed. [Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2006], 29). 15 RT, 124. 16 SB, 243. 17 A similar situation exists with the biblical account of Shishak/Shoshenqs invasion of Judah and Israel in 925 BC. The Bible only mentions his campaign in Judah, and specially mentions his threatening Jerusalem. Shoshenqs own victory relief mentions a great many northern Israelite cities not referenced in the Bible, and fails to list Jerusalem. The solution is either that Jerusalem is among the 80-odd place names which are no longer readable on the relief, or that it is not listed because it simply wasnt conquered: just like Hezekiah, Rehoboam stripped the gold from the temple and paid the Pharaoh, who, unlike Sennacherib, was thereby placated and left Jerusalem alone.

10

3 Tirhakah/Taharqa: When is a Pharaoh not a Pharaoh? In 2 Ki 19:8-9a, Sennacherib hears that the forces of Tirhakah, king of Nubia, are coming to fight him. In 701 Tirhakah (Eg. Taharqa) was still eleven years away from being king of anything. He did not accede to the throne of Egypt and Cush until 690. The tendency to view this fact as an anachronism in the biblical text has unfortunately contributed to the creation of a second two campaigns theory, with the first western campaign taking place in 701 and the second in 688, to give Taharqa time to become king.18 However, Kitchen points out that the assassination of Sennacherib by his own sons (2 Ki 19:37; Is 37:38) dates the present text of 2 Ki to not before 681/680, when that event occurred.19 Thus the book was written or put in its final form when Taharqa was already king, and the biblical author is merely using the same type of expression a modern American would use, e.g., When President Obama was 20 years old... (he wasnt President then, but he is now). Petty Kings and Pad of Ekron The third campaign account contains 14 personal names of the conquered or tribute-paying kings of Phoenicia, Philistia, and the rest of the Levant. None of these is mentioned by name in the Bible except for Hezekiah (indeed, king is probably too grand a term for some of these local rulers, and the biblical writers would have had little reason to mention them). And yet, the text connects one of these rulers, Pad king of Ekron, with Hezekiah. Apparently the rebellious Ekronites had deposed their pro-Assyrian king Pad and imprisoned him in Jerusalem under Hezekiah (II:73-II:77). After dealing most harshly with the rebels, Sennacherib has Pad released from prison (part of the tribute he exacts from Hezekiah?) and reinstalls him on the throne of Ekron (III:14-III:17). This incident shows Hezekiahs collusion in the local anti-Assyrian rebellion, and is markedly absent from the biblical account. Rainey, a little cynically, proposes a reason for this omission: the incident would severely tarnish the image of King Hezekiah, the persecuted saint and hero of the deliverance of Jerusalem.20 I think there is reason to question Raineys conclusion. The biblical accounts do not hide the fact that Hezekiah was not eager to submit to Assyria. In fact, they show him trying every political expedient to quell the Assyrian threat: he attempts to pay off Sennacherib with heavy tribute, hoping he will go away (2 Ki 18:14-16); and the Rabshakehs comments suggest that Hezekiah was involved in summoning the Egypto-Nubian reinforcements to counteract Assyria (2 Ki 18:19-25). The Pad episode would be just one more instance of Hezekiahs anti-Assyrian activism, and if it had been included in the Bible, his image could hardly be tarnished any further. The biblical text already portrays him as a desperate king taking desperate measures. The point is that after every political expedient had failed, it was God who saved Jerusalem, and not Hezekiahs wealth or the Egyptian chariotry. The End of the Story: What Really Happened at Jerusalem? The central crux in squaring the biblical and Assyrian versions is the seemingly divergent accounts of the siege of Jerusalem. The Bible reports Gods miraculous intervention in sending his angel to strike dead 185,000 Assyrian soldiers, after which Sennacherib went home to Nineveh (no doubt highly demoralized) (2 Ki 19:35-37; Is 37:36-38; 2 Chr 32:21). On the other hand, the Assyrian account reports a victory over Hezekiahor at least, fails to mention a defeat. Sennacherib says he confined Hezekiah
18 19

Becking, A Skeleton Without Flesh?, 59. Kitchen, The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt, 1100-650 B.C., 554. 20 SB, 241.

4 in Jerusalem like a bird in a cage21 (III:27-III:30), he parceled out captured Judean land to the kings of Philistia (III:30-III:34), and on his return to Nineveh, he received heavy tribute (heavier than that mentioned in the Bible) from Hezekiah (III:35-III:49). And yet it is very instructive to attend to what he leaves unsaid. The victory formula which he uses repeatedly for other defeated cities (alme, akud, alula allassun I surrounded, I conquered, I carried off their plunder[II:72, III:7; also plundered in III:31]) he does not use when referring to Jerusalem, nor does he mention any captives from there. That there is something fishy in Sennacheribs account is all but confirmed by a passage in Herodotus (2.41), which, though it is set in Egypt and differs in many details, reads like a distant, garbled echo of the biblical account: The next king was the priest of Hephaestus, whose name was Sethos... So presently came king Sanacharib against Egypt, with a great host of Arabians and Assyrians; and the warrior Egyptians would not march against him. The priest, in his quandary, went into the temple shrine and there bewailed to the gods image the peril which threatened him. In his lamentation he fell asleep, and dreamt that he saw the god standing over him and bidding him take courage, for he should suffer no ill by encountering the host of Arabia: Myself, said the god, will send you champions. So he trusted the vision, and encampled at Pelusium with such Egyptians as would follow him, for here is the road into Egypt; and none of the warriors would go with him, but only hucksters and artificers and traders. Their enemies too came thither, and one night a multitude of fieldmice swarmed over the Assyrian camp and devoured their quivers and their bows and the handles of their shields likewise, insomuch that they fled the next day unarmed and many fell. And at this day a stone statue of the Egyptian king stands in Hephaestus temple, with a mouse in his hand, and an inscription to this effect: Look on me, and fear the gods.22 Grabbe is rightly cautious about not conflating this very different account with the biblical one,23 and yet the similarities are remarkable: 1) the Assyrians are invading a country in roughly the right neighborhood, 2) Sennacherib is mentioned by name, 3) there is an appeal to a god for salvation, 4) the god promises to send deliverance, 5) and the deliverance comes in a miraculous way.24 Though here, one might observe, it almost seems easier to believe the angel of the LORD came down than that thousands of mice were selectively ravenous for the edible parts of weapons!

Tadmor points out that the same language of confining or imprisoning (esrum) inside a city via blockade was used earlier by Tiglath-Pileser III to describe the punishment meted out to an unsubmissive yet surviving enemy (Sarduri of Urartu), and was a way of putting a good spin on an outcome that would reflect badly on Assyria. The exact words that appear in our text (confined him like a bird in a cage) were also used by TPIII to describe his treatment of Rezin of Aram-Damascus, though the latter was eventually executed after a protracted siege. According to Tadmor, Sennacherib would have co-opted this face-saving language from the earlier king (Hayim Tadmor, Assyria at the Gates of Tushpa, in Treasures on Camels Humps: Historical and Literary Studies from the Ancient Near East Presented to Israel Ephal, ed. Mordechai Cogan and Danel Kahn [Jerusalem: The Hebrew University Press, 2008], 271272). 22 Quoted in Grabbe, Of Mice and Dead Men, 135. 23 Ibid., 135136. 24 Because of these five obvious points of similarity, I disagree with Grabbes statement, The only resemblance between the two is that Sennacherib is defeated. Whatever gave rise to the Herodotean story, it was not the biblical version. This can be stated on internal grounds alone (Ibid., 137).

21

5 Outline of the Third Campaign to atti (Syria, Phoenicia) and Amurru (the Levant) I. Phoenicia a. II:37-II:49 Lul king of Sidon flees and dies at sea; Sennacherib subdues Phoenicia and puts a king of his choice, Ittbaal, on the throne. Philistia and Trans-Jordan a. II:50-II:60 Sennacherib brings Philistia, Ammon, Moab, and Edom under his control, making them his vassals. b. II:60-II:72 Sennacherib deposes rebellious idq king of Ashkelon and deports him to on the throne. Sennacherib sacks and plunders idqs towns in the Coastal Plain and Shephelah, which had apparently rebelled along with their king. c. II:73-II:77 Sennacherib next deals with rebellious Ekron, whose citizens had deposed their king Pad (loyal to Assyria) and imprisoned him in Hezekiahs. Sennacherib deports the royal family and officials of Ekron. d. The Egyptian Counter-Attack i. II:78-III:17 The Ekronites summon the Egyptians to their aid; a large army of Egyptians and Nubians comes to help them, and Sennacheribs army defeats them in the plain of Elteqeh. Back at Ekron, Sennacherib makes an example of the treacherous officials by gruesomely executing them and hanging their bodies from the ramparts. He secures Pads release from Jerusalem, reinstalls him on the throne, and renews his vassalship. Judah a. III:18-III:38 Sennacherib captures 46 Judean cities, making use of all the accoutrements of Assyrian siege warfare. He deports over 200,000 people and surrounds Jerusalem with siege forts, famously shutting in Hezekiah like a bird in a cage. Sennacherib divides up the land siezed from Judah among his vassal kings in Philistia. b. III:39-III:49 Hezekiah, overwhelmed by the Assyrian kings lordly radiance, sends a huge tribute to Sennecherib at Ninevah after the Assyrian forces have withdrawn. Syria with his entire household. He installs arru-l-dri (possibly the brother of idq)

II.

III.

Relevant Biblical Passages: 2 Kings 18-19, Isaiah 36-37, 2 Chronicles 32 (from the ESV) Sennacherib Attacks Judah (2 Ki 18:13; cf. Is 36:1, 2 Chr 32:1) In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them. Hezekiah Pays Tribute to Sennacherib (2 Ki 18:14-16; not mentioned in 2 Chr or Is) And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, I have done wrong; withdraw from me. Whatever you impose on me I will bear. And the king of Assyria required of Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. 15 And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the LORD and in the treasuries of the kings house. 16 At
14

6 that time Hezekiah stripped the gold from the doors of the temple of the LORD and from the doorposts that Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid and gave it to the king of Assyria. Sennacherib Mentioned at Lachish (cf. Is 36:2) And the king of Assyria sent the Tartan,25 the Rab-saris,26 and the Rabshakeh27 with a great army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. (2 Ki 18:17) After this, Sennacherib king of Assyria, who was besieging Lachish with all his forces, sent his servants to Jerusalem to Hezekiah king of Judah and to all the people of Judah who were in Jerusalem, saying, ... (2 Chr 32:9) Siege of Lachish Mentioned; Egypto-Nubian forces under Tirhakah/Taharqa Mentioned (2 Ki 19:8-9a; cf. Is 37:8-9)
8

The Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, for he heard that the king had left Lachish. 9 Now the king heard concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, Behold, he has set out to fight against you. Sennacheribs Rabshakeh Mentions the Egyptian Counter-Attack (2 Ki 18:19-25; cf. Is 36:4-10) And the Rabshakeh said to them, Say to Hezekiah, Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: On what do you rest this trust of yours? 20 Do you think that mere words are strategy and power for war? In whom do you now trust, that you have rebelled against me? 21 Behold, you are trusting now in Egypt, that broken reed of a staff, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him. 22 But if you say to me, We trust in the LORD our God, is it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem? 23 Come now, make a wager with my master the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them. 24 How then can you repulse a single captain among the least of my masters servants, when you trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? 25 Moreover, is it without the LORD that I have come up against this place to destroy it? The LORD said to me, Go up against this land, and destroy it. Sennacheribs Messengers (Quoted by Isaiah) Mention victory over Egypt (2 Ki 19:23-24; cf. Is 73:24-25)
23 19

By your messengers you have mocked the Lord, and you have said, With my many chariots I have gone up the heights of the mountains, to the far recesses of Lebanon; I felled its tallest cedars,
Akkadian tartnu field marshal, principal military officer (CDA 404).

25 26

from Akkadian rab a ri the one at the head... which includes steward, director, and later eunuch... high official, political or military (HALOT 769). 27 Akkadian rab q chief cupbearer (high official) (CDA 359).

7 its choicest cypresses; I entered its farthest lodging place, its most fruitful forest. I dug wells and drank foreign waters, and I dried up with the sole of my foot all the streams of Egypt.28

24

The LORD Defeats the Assyrians (2 Ki 19:35-37; cf. Is 37:36-38, 2 Chr 32:21)
35

And that night the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. 36 Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went home and lived at Nineveh. 37 And as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him down with the sword and escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place. The Language of the Text This text is of a decidedly mixed character, somewhere on a continuum between Old Assyrian and NeoAssyrian. Many of the Neo-Assyrian features outlined by Huehnergard occur,29 but not in every case where they might be expected. In the words of Aristotle, our scribe was consistently inconsistent. One could attribute this to the highly formal nature of the text and the classicizing tendencies associated with the emulation of previous royal inscriptions, with their set phrases and established rhetorical turns. And yet, the scribes Neo-Assyrian pronunciation shows through in many instances. Phonology Vowel Contractions and Harmony Vowels contract normally, just as in Babylonian: tmtim (< tiamtim sea, II:40), addu (<adduu his mountain, II:40), u (< uu that one acc., II:62), uru (<uruau I brought him D pret. 1cs warm + vent. + 3ms prn. suff., II:64). No words appear in our text which might demonstrate the lack of vowel harmony of the type erbum (vs. Bab. erbum) which Huehnergard mentions, so it is impossible to comment on this feature. However, the short vowel harmony of the type arritim (vs. Bab. arratim) does not seem to be in operation here: allati (rather than *alliti plunder, III:11), iiq (rather than *iuq they kissed, II:60).30

28

Sennacheribs drying up the Nile [= the streams of Maor] is simply metaphorical for his defeating the EgyptoNubian force at Eltekeh, and nothing more (Kitchen, The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt, 1100-650 B.C., 553). 29 GA, 559-603. 30 GA, 599-600.

8 Syllable Structure Our text shows a marked preference for closed syllables with short vowels (CaC-) as over against open syllables with long or short vowels (C-/Ca-) (where C=any consonant and a=any vowel). Where, for example, the lexicons give two variants of a noun CCu/CaC and CaCCu/CaCC, our text almost always opts for the latter: ruqqi rather than rqi (distance, II:39), addu rather than adu (his mountain, II:40), rammu rather than rmu (love in the personal name Aya-rammu Aya is love, II:57). This tendency extends even to foreign place names: idunnu rather than idnu (Sidon, II:41 et passim), Bt-zitti rather than Bt-zti (Beth-Zayta, II:42), Isqallna rather than Isqalna (Ashkelon, II:61 et passim). This phenomenon seems to be a feature of the nominal morphology only, and is no doubt prevented from affecting the verbal system by the semantic weight which vowel length and consonantal doubling carry there (e.g. G dur. iparras, N dur. ipparras, verb. adj. paris, participle pris). Huehnergard states that the abstract nominalizing suffix t is regularly utt in Assyrian,31 which would fit into the abovementioned pattern perfectly. Ironically, whenever a word with this ending is written out fully in our text, it is never written with a double t, e.g. be-lu-ti-ia (my lordship, II:39). This could, of course, be normalized either bltya or bluttya, but I have used the former, given the remarkable consistency our text shows in marking doubled consonants elsewhere. There are several words of this type which are spelled logographically (e.g. giGU.ZA LUGAL--ti = kussi arrti throne of kingship, royal throne, II:47). With these I have used the classical t, since there is no point in being more Assyrian that our Assyrian scribe! Morphology Nominal Inflection Mimation is very rare, occuring only three times: once in the genitive singular (qabal tmtim in the middle of the sea, II:40) and twice in the personal name Tubalum (Itt-Baal, the new king of Sidon, II:47, II:51) which is nominative in form but indeclinable. Mimation never occurs on plural forms. The word-final ending i on genitive singulars and on oblique plurals of the t/-t type shows up mostly as classical i, but also occasionally as e. Masculine Feminine Singular ali third ruqqi distance allati plunder mandatte payment Plural dannti strong erti small dimti towers kalbannte siege machines

Likewise, the masculine plural oblique ending is mostly , but occasionally : emq forces (could be dual), n flocks, pul terrors melamm radiance (pl. form), aramm siege ramps, kadr greeting gifts (a-stem)
31

GA, 601.

9 The mixed character of our text is well demonstrated that both the classical and Neo-Assyrian forms stand side by side in the formula pul melamm The terrors of [my lordly] radiance (II:38). Only one formally distinct accusative singular exists in this text, the word nba number in III:21. The rest are are either in construct or written logographically, obscuring their case endings. The locative-adverbial ending which appears classically as um shows up in our text as u (sidru in a battle line, II:83; birtu in fetters, II:75). Even with the loss of mimation, this ending still causes doubling in the first consonant of a following suffix (ruu [< rum + u ] upon him, against him, III:17). Other adverbial endings -iam, -i occur in the words attiam (yearly, II:49), ari (quickly, II:71), nakri (in a hostile manner, II:77), allati as plunder (III:27). The gentilic adjective -ya (always spelled -Ca-a-a) plays an important role in the often repeated formula PN the GN-ite: Tubalum idunnya Itt-Baal the Sidonian (II:51), Mitinti Asddya Mitinti the Ashdodite (II:54), azaqyah Yahudya Hezekiah the Judean (III:18), etc. Von Soden explains how the afformative ayya, -ya (not always inflected) can be added to foreign place names to create gentilic adjectives; these were apparently originally plural, though Rainey and Luckenbill are united in treating these forms in our text as singular (the Sidonite etc.). Von Soden notes that the suffix may be West Semitic in origin.32 The form is remarkably similar to the determined (emphatic) masc. pl. ending ayy in Aramaic, which also knows a gentilic adjective in y.33 Verbal Inflection The verb forms in our text are all quite standard. The subordinating suffix is u (a l iknuu who did not submit II:61) and the ventive plural is nim. (ikternim they sought help, II:81) The ventive singular is a without mimation (alula I conquered II:72), which nevertheless causes doubling in a following suffix or particle (just like loc./adv. u, see above): uru I brought him (D warm, *urua(m)u > *ur(m)u > uru, II:65); ubilam-ma he dispatched ( (w)ablum, III:48). The Assyrian-style strong conjugation of II-weak verbs is attested once: uaal they were sharpening (D dur. lu, III:1).34 Because our text is in the first person, 1cs verb forms are far and away the most numerous. The only other verb forms are 3ms and 3mp, with one 3fp, agreeing with the dual for hands (ikud [my own hands] conquered, III:5). Otherwise feminine verb forms are totally absent, as is the second person. Another notable verb form is amdai I fought (G pret., III:3), spelled with d rather than t from MB onward, apparently under the influence of sonorant m.35
32 33

GAG, 85. Franz Rosenthal, A Grammar of Biblical Aramaic, 5th printing., Porta Linguarum Orientalium 5 [Wiesbaden: O. Harrassowitz, 1983], 23, 29). 34 See GA, 603. 35 CDA, 190.

10 Pronouns The pronouns are all of the standard form and do not seem to demonstrate the Assyrian peculiarities outlined by Huehnergard (our text has rather than Ass. t, for example).36 Again because of our texts content, the most frequent pronoun is the 1cs ya my, also appearing in two compounds as a (pa at my feet, II:46; ellama before me, II:83; these forms assume a phonetic evolution *um-ya > *-ua > *a).37 The other suffix pronouns are 3ms u (acc., suff.), and 3mp unti (acc.), -un, -unu (suff.; -un is more prevalent). Two demonstratives appear, both 3ms: (that, nom., III:37), u (that one, acc., II:62, III:27). Prepositions and Conjunctions Ultu from is used instead of itu with the same range of meanings (III: 15, III:26, III:31). Several compound conjunctions are used, e.g. ultu qereb from the midst of (III:31), ina qabal in the midst of (III:5). The most common conjunction is ma, which seems to have the same range of functions as it does in Old Babylonian. Numerals A very large number, 200,150 (the number of Judean prisoners), occurs in III:24. It is to be read as follows:

MIN . ME . LIM . DI . ME . NINNU (2 100 1000) + (1 100 + 50) in met lm u meat u am The normalization of this figure is, of course, speculative.

36 37

GA, 600. GAG, 27.

11 Syntax Word Order Because the subject is frequently I, he, or they and hence included in the verb form itself, there are no examples of the traditional VOS word order. The most common sentences begin with the topic, usually a nominal form (and often a long chain of them) which functions either as the direct object or part of an adverbial phrase. This topic is frequently uninflected (casus pendens) and merely introduces the persons or objects of interest. Next follow all the rest of the modifiers of all shapes and sizes, and lastly the verb completes the comment about the topic. Ex.: idunnu rab, idunnu eru ...[16 intervening words]..., raubbt kakki Aur blya isupunt (As for) Great Sidon and Little Sidon ... [and lots of other places]..., the terrors of the weapon of Aur my lord overwhelmed them (II:41-II:46). Though the verb is usually sentence-final, it is not uncommon in this text for an important adverbial or direct object to come right after the main verb, as the last element in the sentence: ...ukn ruu I imposed [my tribute] on him (III:37 et passim), ...ipura rakbu [in order to pay the tribute and do obeisance] he sent his messenger (III:49). Tense While most of the verbs in this straightforward narrative are preterite, the durative is occcasionally used for vividness or progressive aspect in the past: ...-ma i abn [I imposed tribute on him] ...and he was pulling my yoke (II:68). Case The use of the three cases are sometimes confused in our text: ipura rakbu for expected rakbu he sent his messenger(III:49); tmartaunu kabittu their heavy audience-gift(s) is a direct object, but appears as nominative rather than accusative (II:59). When the direct object is at the front of the sentence, quite far away from the verb at the end, it is more apt to describe it as being in the casus pendens or the free form: idunnu rab, idunnu eru ... [16 words intervene] ... raubbt kakki Aur blya isupunt Great Sidon and Little Sidon ... the terrors of the weapon of Aur my lord overwhelmed them (II:41-II:46). Rhetoric and Ideology of Kingship There are quite a few repeated set phrases which must have been common in these royal victory inscriptions. Here are a few examples:

12 The Kings Terrifying Aspect and the Help of Aur pul melamm bltya uup he was overwhelmed by the terrors of my lordly radiance (II:38-39, III:38) raubbt kakki Aur blya isupunt the terrors of the weapon of Aur my lord overwhelmed them (II:45-46) ina tukulti Aur blya in the trust of Aur my lord [I conquered, etc.] (III:1-2) Language Describing the Conquered or Submissive iknu pa they bowed down at my feet(II:46) alme, akud, (alula allassun) I surrounded, I conquered, (and I carried off their plunder) (II:72, III:7, III:23) i abn he was pulling my yoke (II:68) Language Describing the Rebellious or Unrepentent a ana pya ari l iknu who did not quickly bow down at my feet (II:72-73) a l iknuu ana nrya who did not submit to my yoke (II:61-62, III:19) Installing a Loyal King as Vassal ina kussi arrti/blti elun uib I installed him on the royal/lordly throne over them (II:4748, III:16) Exacting Tribute from New Vassals (biltu) mandattu (kadr) bltya ukn ruu the (tribute and) payment (and greeting gifts) of my lordship I imposed upon him (II:48-49, III:17, III:36-37) The rhetoric of the text succeeds in painting the king and the Assyrian army as a fearful juggernaut not to be resisted. This impression is heightened by the poetic force of the language, such as the terrible harshness and finality of ana Aur uru I brought (deported) him to Assyria (II:64). The yoke imagery has many biblical parallels. In the curses at the end of the Sinaitic covenant, Moses tells the Israelites that if they fail to serve the LORD, therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the LORD will send against you, in hunger and thirst, in nakedness, and lacking everything. And he [the LORD] will put a yoke of iron on your neck until he has destroyed you (Deut 28:48, ESV). Ultimately, this is the very curse that is being realized in the third campaign and in 2 Ki 18-19, Is 36-37, and 2 Chr

13 32. Isaiah uses the yoke metaphor himself when he prohesies the downfall of Assyria, after they have been used as a tool to punish Israel: I will break the Assyrian in my land, and on my mountains trample him underfoot; and his yoke shall depart from them, and his burden from their shoulder (Is 14:25, ESV). Though the yoke is a symbol of the oppression of a harsh king (1 Ki 12:4), reappropriated this language and turned it on its head when said, Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light (Mt 11:29-30). It is instructive to compare this royal inscription with an Egyptian one of the same general type. In the relief celebrating the victory of Shoshenq I in Israel and Judah (ca. 925 BC), for example, most of the text is taken up by a long, congratulatory speech of the god Amun to Shoshenq. Practically all the verbs are 2ms, addressed by Amun to the king, whom he refers to as my beloved son; and when a 1cs form occurs, it refers to the god. Add to this the fact that the carving of this relief, which was never finished due to Shoshenqs death, began not with the figure of the king, but with Amun. Amun was fully completed before the carver started on the image of Shoshenq, who remains to this day only a rough outline! The rhetorical focus in this text38 is clearly on the god, not the king (though the king is also important). Contrast this with the third campaign, which is focused instead on the king in the first person, with only a few (almost casual?) references to the support of Aur. These differences reflect the varying ideologies of kingship in Egypt versus Mesopotamia: Egypt had a truly divine concept of the kingship, while Mesopotamia in general thought of the king in terms of the good shepherd motif, or as the earthly regent of the god, not as a son or incarnation of the god himself.

38

See Robert Kriech Ritner, The Libyan Anarchy: Inscriptions from Egypts Third Intermediate Period, ed. Edward Wente, Writings from the Ancient World 21 (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2009), 200212; The Epigraphic Survey of the Oriental Institute, Reliefs and Inscriptions at Karnak III: The Bubastite Portal, vol. 74, Oriental Institute Publications (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1954), plates 211.

14 Column II 37 L16839 B329A i-na al-i gir-ri-ia a-na kurat-ti lu al-lik Ina ali40 girrya41 ana atti l allik42 In my third campaign, I indeed went to atti.43

39

The text is that of the Chicago Prism, held in the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago (OIM A2793). The account of the Third Campaign runs from column II, line 37 to column III, line 49, 96 lines in all. The handcopy marked L is reproduced from AS, 168173. Luckenbills transliteration is found in Ibid., 2934. The handcopy marked B is reproduced from BAL, 2:327335. Borgers transliteration is found in Ibid., 1:7375. While the two handcopies are identical, I have chosen to include both since it is instructive to compare these two very different styles of handwriting. Luckenbills copy has more of the slanting, cramped quality of the prism itself, while Borgers has a standardized feel, almost as regular as a modern Akkadian computer font. 40 ali note the loss of mimation as is common in NA; however, in our text the gen. sg. im appears as i and not as MA/NA e (see GA, 600). 41 girru Weg, Feldzug (road, campaign) (BAL, vol. 2, 249). 42 allik G pret. 1cs alkum to go 43 atti If kurat-ti is read as KUR at-ti, this would give mt atti atti-land; atti was the standard term for North Syria. ...originally signified the Hittite empire and the geographical sphere under Hittite rule; later it came to serve as the name for the states of Anatolia and Upper Syria that were the political and cultural heirs of the Hittite Empire (RT, 35).

15

L B

38

lu-li-i LUGAL urui-du-un-ni pul-i me-lam-me

As for Lul the king of Sidon,48 by the terrors of my lordly 39 L169 B be-lu-ti-ia is-u-pu-u-ma a-na ru-uq-q bltya isup49-ma ana ruqqi radiance50 he was overwhelmed, and far away51

Lul44 ar idunni45 pul46 melamm47

44

Lul Normalizations of his name in the literature are diverse: Luli (Ibid., 115), both (E)lul and Lli (SB, 241), Ll (HALOT, 54), Lul (AS, 29; ARAB, 118). Lul is apparently the Elulaios mentioned in Josephus as king of Tyre (SB, 241). Cogan states that King of Sidon is a traditional title of Phoenician kings (RT, 114115), and Rainey notes that Sidonian(s) is the biblical generic name for Phoenicians (SB, 241). 45 The options for normalizing Sidon are diverse in CAD; with one or both internal vowels either short or long: iduni and apparently indeclinable: idna (Ibid. I:1:302), idnu (Ibid. 4:264), both genitive. CAD does not list any instances with (CAD 8:238), idni (Ibid. 11:I:174), dni (Ibid. 3:18-19), all three genitive; or with a different vowel pattern altogether,

the doubled nn as in our text. The Hebrew gives dn or dn (HALOT, 1021), forms that presumably represent something closer to the native Phoenician realization. 46 pulu Furcht, Furchtbarkeit (fear, fearfulness), freq. pl. esp. in this particular expression (BAL, 2:263; CDA, 278). 47 melemmu, M/NB melammu, mostly pl. fearsome radiance, aura (CDA, 207). In Assyrian, the oblique plural of masculine nouns ends in (GA, 601). 48 As for Lul... Casus pendens. Lul is the direct object of the verb in II:39. See A Grammar of Akkadian, 211212. 49 isup G pret. 3mp sapum to cover, overwhelm + 3ms prn. suff. Here 3mp = passive, lit. they overwhelmed him. 50 my lordly radiance (melamm bltya) cf. m. arrtim royal radiance (CDA, 207). 51 far away (ana ruqqi) ruqqu is an adjective far or a noun distance; ana ruqqi = lit. at a distance (BAL, 2:269). The form ruqqu with short vowel and doubled q is preferred here to the alternate rqu, seemingly part of a general tendency of our text to prefer CaCC syllables over CC syllables (cf. Assyrian arruttu(m) for Babylonian arrtu(m) (GA, 601).

16

L B

40

qa-bal tam-tim in-na-bit-ma ad-da- e-mid qabal tmtim52 innabit53-ma addu mid54 to the midst of the sea he fled, and disappeared. 41 L B
uru

i-du-un-nu GAL- urui-du-un-nu TUR

idunnu rab, idunnu eru,55 As for Greater Sidon, Little Sidon,56

tmtu Meer (sea) (BAL, 2:278). Note the presence of mimation in tmtim. This could be an archaizing feature, or a sign of hesitation between i and im during a period of linguistic change. The uncontracted form is timtu, also the name of the goddess Timat, the primeval sea personified (CDA, 405). Cognate to biblical Hebrew thm, the deep of Gen. 1:2, a purely passive element [in creation] as distinct from Tiamat in Enuma-Eli (HALOT, 1690). 53 innabit N pret. 3cs (infin. nabutum / nbutum) abtum II to flee 54 add, a variant of ad mountain(s); .-u emdu to disappear (lit. to reach ones mountain) (CDA, 345). The base of ad(d) is ad(d)u- (GA, 520), and addu represents the base addu + acc. a + 3ms prn. suff.; mid G pret. 3cs emdum to cling to, reach, etc.; Assyrian has mid for OB mid (GA, 603). Note here the value of KUR as the syllable ad (MEA, 269). 55 log. TUR = eru small, young (BAL, 2:272). 56 Greater Sidon Perhaps the fortified quarter of the city; also referred to in Josh 11:8, 19:28; Little Sidon mentioned only here; it may refer to a particular quarter (the port area?) or to a suburb of the main city (RT, 116).

52

17

L B

42

uru

Bt-zitti,57 ariptu,58 Maalliba,59

-zi-it-ti urua-ri-ip-tu uruma-al-li-ba

Beth-Zayta, Zarapheth, Maalliba,60

(HALOT, 1057), but it is not possible to say definitively whether the place name ariptu/Zarephath is connected to it. The place name is not otherwise cited in CAD. 59 Maalliba Kh. el-Malib; referred to in the inscriptions of Tiglath-pileser III.... It is assigned to the tribe of Asher in Judg 1:31 (Ibid). The biblical references to this town are both emendations (at Josh 19:29 and Judg 1:31), but if these emendations are correct, then the Hebrew would give, Maall, with the doubled lamedh of our text. Options for

Bt-Zitti might be the town of Zayta, south of Sidon (Ibid). Options for normalization of zi-it-ti include Zitti (RT, 116; ARAB, 2:119), Zti (SB, 241). Cogan notes that the name appears in Phoenician as bt zt, presumably house of olives (olive trees), and so Zti may be preferred (RT, 116). However, given the preference in this text for short vowels and doubled consonants, I have chosen Bt-Zitti to reflect the spelling of the text. The place name is not cited in CAD. 58 ariptu On the Mediterranean coast, 13 km south of Sidon. The ancient name is preserved in the nearby village of Sarafand. The prophet Elijah found food and shelter in the home of a woman from this town, Zarephath; see 1 Kgs 17:8-24 (Ibid). The Hebrew is rpa (HALOT, 1058). There is an Akkadian verbal adjective arpu, ariptu, meaning refined (said of silver); fired (said of earthenware); tanned and dyed (leather); colored, red; and, as a substantive, silver (Gelb et al., CAD, vol. 16, 113114). The root rp is well-attested in Semitic languages with a spread of meanings similar to the Akkadian

57

normalization include Maalliba (SB, 241), Maaliba (RT, 116), Maallba (BHS note b at Josh:19:29). The place name does not seem to be cited in CAD. 60 Rainey reads all the instances of URU in this sequence not as determinatives but as logograms, giving l Bt-zitti the town of Bt-zitti, etc. (SB, 241).

18

L B

43

uru

U,61 Akzibi,62 Akk,63 U, Achzib, Acco, 44 L B URU.ME-u dan-nu-ti BD.ME a-ar ri-i-ti lnu dannti, bt drn,64 aar rt65 his fortified cities and walled cities, where66 there were pastures

-u- uruak-zi-bi uruak-ku-

61

U The coastal quarter of Tyre, opposite Tyre Island; ... Many identify it with Tell er-Rashidiyeh near Rs el-Ayin.

Some find the name in the biblical town Hosah [s] in Josh 19:29... but there are phonetic difficulties with this identification (RT, 116). Normalization options include Ushu/Uu (RT, 116; ARAB, 2:119; ANET, 199; HALOT, 337); and U (SB, 241). I have opted for Raineys normalization to show the long u vowel in our text. 62 Akzibi Located on the seacoast at the mouth of Wadi ez-Zib, in the territory of the tribe of Asher (Josh 19:29; Judg 1:31) (RT, 116). Hebrew Az (HALOT, 45). Normalization options: Akzibi (SB, 241); Achzib/Akzib (RT, 116; ANET, 199; ARAB, 2:119). The i ending in our text is apparently the genitive singular. 63 Akk The site of biblical Acco is at Tell el-Fuar, east of the old city of Acco; assigned to the tribe of Asher (Judg 1:31) (RT, 116). Hebrew Akk (HALOT, 823). Normalization options: Akk (SB, 241; ARAB, 2:119); Acco/Akko (RT, 116; ANET, 199). The former seems best to represent the spelling in our text. 64 BD = dru wall (BAL, 2:245). bt drn = walled cities, fortresses (BAL, 2:243). 65 rtu(m) pasture for sheep or horses (CDA, 306). 66 aar aru A place in construct with following genitive nouns is used to express the place where X is, e.g. aar daltim at the place where the door is (CAD 2:456).

19

L B

45

ma-q-ti tuk-la-te- ra-ub-bat giTUKUL da.ur u maqt67 bt tukltu68 raubbt69 kakki Aur70 and watering-places for his fortresses, the terrors of the weapon of Aur, 46 L B EN-ia is-u-pu--nu-ti-ma ik-nu-u e-pu--a blya isupunt71-ma iknu72 pa.73 my lord, overwhelmed them, and they bowed down at my feet.

67

maqtu(m) watering place, irrigation outlet (Ibid., 203). Maqt is governed by aar in the previous line (see fn. 56). Rtu u maqtu pasture and watering-place is a set phrase (CDA, 306); rt u maqt functions as the nomen regens in the construct chain completed by bt tukltu. 68 bt tukltu support centers, fortified towns, refuge locations (BAL, 2:243). 69 raubbatu(m) terror (Ibid., 2:268). 70 d a-ur the single horizontal stroke of the a sign is written in ligature with the ur sign (see MEA, 271). 71 isupunti G pret 3mp sapum cover, overwhelm + 3mp acc. suff. prn. Interestingly, the fem. pl. subject raubbt takes this masc. pl. verb. 72 iknu G pret. 3mp kanum bow down, submit 73 pa noun pu(m) + foot + loc. adv. ending + 1cs prn. suff. (CDA, 367). Von Soden explains the phonetic progression that gave rise to this form: *pum-ja > pua > pa (GAG, 27).

20

L B

47

Itt-baal on the royal throne75 48 L B UGU--un -e-ib-ma GUN man-da-tu be-lu-ti-ia elun uib76-ma biltu mandattu77 bltya I installed over them, and the tribute and payment of my lordship, 49 L B at-ti-am78 la ba-a-lu -kin e-ru-u- attiam79 l balu80 ukn ruu.81 yearly, without end, I imposed upon him.

Tubalum74 ina kussi arrti

tu-ba-a-lum i-na giGU.ZA LUGAL--ti

Tubalum cf. Ebaal Jezebels father in 1 Ki 16:31, probably for Phoenician *Ittbaal, Baal is with him; Josephus also mentions a priest named Ithobalus (HALOT, 101). The name also appears in the Phoenician Ahiram ossuary inscription, as the name of king Ahirams father (Herbert Donner and Wolfgang Rllig, Kanaanische Und Aramische Inschriften [Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2002], 1). It was apparently an favorite royal name in Phoenicia. 75 on the royal throne (ina kussi arruti) lit. on the throne of kingship. 76 uib pret. (e-type) 1cs wabum to cause to sit, install 77 mandattu Nom. u for expected acc. a, as object of ukn in l. 49. Perhaps to be treated as casus pendens. 78 = am (MEA, 269). 79 attiam yearly, year by year (CDA, 363). 80 l balu incessantly (Ibid., 41).
74 81

ruu upon him, against him = r- + loc./adv. suff. um + 3ms suff. prn. u (Ibid., 337).

21 50 L B a mmi-in-i-im-mu urusam-si-mu-ru-na-a-a a Minimmu Samsimurnya,82 Of Menaem the Samsimurunite,83 51 L B

m

tu-ba-a-lum urui-du-un-na-a-a

Tubalum idunnya, Itt-baal the Sidonian, 52 L B

m

Abdi-liti Arudya,

ab-di-li-i-ti kura-ru-da-a-a

Abi-liti the Arvadite,84

Von Soden explains how the afformative ayya, -ya (not always inflected) can be added to foreign place names to create gentilic adjectives; these were apparently originally plural, though Rainey and Luckenbill are united in treating these forms in our text as singular (the Sidonite etc.). Von Soden notes that the suffix may be West Semitic in origin (GAG, 85). The form is remarkably similar to the determined (emphatic) masc. pl. ending ayy in Aramaic, which also knows a gentilic adjective in y (Franz Rosenthal, A Grammar of Biblical Aramaic, 5th printing., Porta Linguarum Orientalium 5 [Wiesbaden: O. Harrassowitz, 1983], 23, 29). 83 Minimmu the Samsimurunite An unknown king of an unkown locality (RT, 117). His name corresponds to Hebrew Mnam (2 Ki 15:14-23), but is to be distiguished from that Israelite king, according to Cogan (Mordechai Cogan, Sennacheribs Siege of Jerusalem [2.119B], in The Context of Scripture II: Monumental Inscriptions from the Biblical World, ed. William W. Hallo and K. Lawson Younger, Jr. [Leiden: Brill, 2000], 303 fn. 5). 84 Arvad(ite) Biblical Hebrew Arwd, Arw (Gen 10:18, Ez 27:8, etc.), referring to a North-Phoenician island town (HALOT, 85).

82

22 53 L B
m

Uru-milki Gublya, Uru-milki the Byblian,85 54 L B

m

-ru-mil-ki kurgu-ub-la-a-a

mi-ti-in-ti kuras-du-da-a-a

Mitinti Asddya, Mitinti the Ashdodite,86 55 L B

m

Pudu-ilu Bt-Ammanya,

pu-du-DINGIR kur-am-ma-na-a-a

Pudu-ilu87 the Ammonite,88

Byblian (Gublya) Biblical Hebrew Gal, Gil, referring to the Phoenician coastal city of Byblos (Ez 27:9, etc.) (Ibid., 174). 86 Ashdodite Biblical Hebrew Add(); Ashdod was a city of the Philistine Pentapolis (1 Sam 5:1, etc.) (Ibid., 93).
85 87

Pudu-ilu also known from an Ammonite stamp seal [pdl] (RT, 117). This kings name is possibly to be compared to

Biblical Hebrew Pahl God has made free (Nu 34:28) (HALOT, 912), although Rainey normalizes as Bdu-ilu, for which I have not been able to track down a derivation (SB, 241). 88 Ammonite Biblical Hebrew Ammn() (1 Sam 11:11, etc.); Ammon was east of the Dead Sea and north of the Arnon River (Ibid., 843).

23

L B

56

Kammusu-nadbi Maabya,

kam-mu-su-na-ad-bi kurma-a-ba-a-a

Kammusu-nadbi89 the Moabite,90 57 L B

md

Aya-rammu91 Udmya, and Aya-rammu the Edomite,92

a-a-ram-mu kur-du-um-ma-a-a

89

Kammusu-nadbi Rainey normalizes Kamunadbi, making the names derivation clearer: Chemosh [national god of Moab] has proven himself generous; cf. such biblical names as Ana (SB, 241; HALOT, 5).

Moabite (Maabya) Biblical Hebrew M(); Moab was east of the Dead Sea and south of the Arnon River (HALOT, 554). 91 Aya-rammu This king of Edom has a solid Akkadian name: Aya [consort of ama] is love; the second element is more traditionally spelled rmu, but this is another instance of our texts preference fo CaCC over CC syllables (CDA, 297). 92 Edomite Biblical Hebrew em, am (Gen 32:4, etc.); the region of Edom was south of Moab and southeast of the Dead Sea (HALOT, 12).

90

24

L B

58

LUGAL.ME kurMAR.TUki ka-li--un IGI.S-e ad-lu-ti arrn Amurri kalun, igi93 adlti94 all the kings of Amurru,95 their bountiful tributes 59 L170 B ta-mar-ta--nu ka-bit-tu a-di 4- a-na ma-ri-ia tmartaunu96 kabittu adi erbu ana marya and their heavy audience-gifts, four-fold, before me 60 L B i-u-nim-ma i-i-qu GR.2-ia mi-id-qa-a inim97-ma iiq98 pya.99 U idq they brought, and they kissed my feet. And as for idq,100

igis tax, tribute (BAL, 2:251). adlu broad, spacious (said of gifts) (CDA, 345). 95 Amurru In Sumerian and Old Akkadian texts, ...Syria (in the larger sense)... the scribes of the Neo-Assyrian empire revived Amurru in their royal inscriptions and applied it to the whole of the Levant, especially the kingdoms in the south such as those in Philistia and Judea (SB, 31). 96 tmartu viewing; audience-gift (CDA, 396). 97 inim G pret. 3mp nam bear, carry + vent. suff. 98 iiq G pret. 3mp naqum kiss 99 pya (GR.2-ia) Note the use of the numeral 2 written in ligature with the GR sign ( ) to graphically represent the dual of foot. This writing also occurs in line 71. 100 idq idqas lineage is not known; Tadmor suggested that he was the younger brother of Rukubti [the former king of Ashkelon mentioned in line 65 of our text]. His name appears on a seal of the servant of his son (RT, 117).
94

93

25 61 L B LUGAL uruis-qa-al-lu-na a la ik-nu- ar Isqallna, a l iknuu101 the king of Ashkelon, who did not submit 62 L B329B a-na ni-ri-ia DINGIR.ME AD- -a- DAM-su ana nrya, il bt abu, u, aassu to my yoke, the gods of the house of his father, himself, his wife, 63 L B DUMU.ME- DUMU.MUNUS.ME- E.ME- NUMUN AD- mru, mrtu, au, zr bt abu his sons, his daughters, his brothers the offspring of the house of his father

101

iknuu G pret. 3cs kanum to submit, bow down, + vent. suff. -u

26

L B

64

as-su-a-ma a-na kura.urki -ra-- assuam102-ma ana Aur uru.103 I deported, and I brought him to Assyria. 65 L B
m

LUGAL-lu-d-ri DUMU mru-kib-ti LUGAL--nu maru-

arru-l-dri,104 mr Rukibti arraunu mar, arru-l-dri, the son of Rukibti their previous king, 66 L B UGU UN.ME uruis-qa-al-lu-na -kun-ma eli ni Isqallna akun-ma over the people of Ashkelon I placed, and

assuam G pret. 1cs nasum remove, deport + vent. a(m) uru G pret. 1cs warm to lead (doubly weak) > uru + vent. a(m) + 3ms prn. suff. u = *uruamu > *urmu > uru (GA, 208). One must appreciate the violent-sounding finality of the alliteration in ana Aur uru. The inscription is composed to great literary effect. 104 arru-l-dri His name means may the king live forever, where l is the precative particle for verbless clauses and dri is the predicative 3ms form of drm, perpetual, lasting, everlasting; That a Philistine prince bore an Assyrian name is evidence of the pro-Assyrian stance taken by Ashkelon during Rukibtis reign (RT, 117).
103

102

27

L B

67

na-dan GUN kd-re-e be-lu-ti-ia e-mid-su-ma nadn bilti kadr105 bltya miss106-ma I imposed on him the paying of tribute, the greeting gifts of my lordship, and 68 L B i--a-a ab--a-ni i-na me-ti-iq gir-ri-ia i107 abn.108 Ina mtiq109 girrya, he was pulling my yoke. In the course of my campaign,

105 106

kadr present, greeting gift; bribe (to king or deity) (CDA, 141). missu G pret. emdum impose, exact + 3ms prn. suff. u; e-mid-su is either a logographic writing, or reflects the colloquial non-assimilation of d to s. 107 i - G dur. um to pull, draw (CDA, 364; BAL, 2:276). um is certainly a II-u verb, which would make the G pret. 3cs i. This form, then, is durative, confirmed by the extra a vowel (i--a-a). Perhaps the dur. here conveys a more vivid historical present, or even a progressive aspect, was pulling, as I have chosen to translate. 108 abnu harness, yoke (CDA, 3). 109 mtiqu (mtequ, mtiqu, mtaqu) route, passage (of troops, vehicles) (BAL, 2:248; CDA, 209).

28

L B

69

uru

Bt-Daganna, Iapp, Beth-Dagon,110 Joppa,111 70 L B

uru

-da-gan-na uruia-ap-pu-

Bany-barqa,112 Azru,113 ln Bene-beraq, and Azor, cities

ba-na-a-a-bar-qa urua-zu-ru URU.ME-ni

Beth-Dagon Situated at the site of modern Bet Dagan (formerly Beit Dajan), 9 km southeast of Joppa, and not to be confused with the town of the same name, Beth-dagon [BH B-Dn], in the Judean Shephelah (Josh 15:41), some 40 km east of the battle area (RT, 118). Dagon is the Philistine deity which features prominently in connection with the Pentapolis cities of Gaza (Judg 16:23, account of Samson) and Ashdod (1 Sam 5:4, the Ark of the Covenant in Philistia). Connections between Dagon and either fish (cf. BH d) or vegetation (BH dn, corn, grain) have been suggested (HALOT, 213). 111 Joppa The large mound overlooking the port of Old Jaffa near modern Tel Aviv (RT, 118). 112 Bany-barqa A Danite city according to Josh 19:45; identified with the former Arab village Ibn Ibraq (eriya) (Ibid). BH Bn Braq (HALOT, 139). 113 Azru Azor, located some 6 km east of Joppa, at the former Arab village of Jazur (nowadays Azor). This town appears in the Greek translation to Josh 19:45 [as (Alfred Rahlfs and Robert Hanhart, eds., Septuaginta: Stuttgart Electronic Study Bible Edition [Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2006])] in place of Hebrew Yehud (RT, 118).

110

29

L B

71

a mi-id-qa-a a a-na GR.2-ia r-i a idq a ana pya ari of idq which at my feet did not quickly 72 L B la ik-nu- al-me KUR-ud -lu-la al-la-su-un l iknu, alme,114 akud,115 alula116 allassun117 bow down, I surrounded, I conquered, and I carried off their plunder. 73 L B
l

akkanakk,118 rub, u ni Amqarrna119

GR.NITA2.ME lNUN.ME UN.ME uruam-qar-ru-na

The military governors, princes, and people of Ekron,

alme G pret. 1cs lamm (i/i) [earlier lawm; cf. amlu vs. awlu] to surround (CDA, 179). akud (KUR-ud) KUR = log. for the verb kadum (MEA, 167). 116 alula G pret. 1cs allum to carry off, plunder + vent. -a (Ibid., 350). 117 allassun allatum plundered thing(s), booty + 3mp prn. suff. un; from the same root (allum carry off, plunder) as the verb alula in the same line (Ibid., 351). 118 akkanakku (lGR.NITA2) (military) governor (Sum. lw.) (Ibid., 349); NITA2 = the R sign. I have put the members of this compound subject in the nominative, rather than oblique plural (as Rainey), since they seem to be a group of casus pendens nouns who will be the topic of the comment in line 78, ipla libbaun their hearts became fearful.
115 119

114

Amqarrna Ekron, a Philistine Pentapolis city (Josh 13:3, etc.); BH Eqrn (HALOT, 1502). Tel Miqne, near Kibbutz

Revadim (RT, 118), and ca. 8 km from Tell e-f (=Gath).

30 74 L B a mpa-di-i LUGAL--nu EN a-de-e ma- a Pad arraunu bl ad120 u mmti121 who had put Pad122 their king, vassal and subject 75 L B a kura.urki bi-re-tu AN.BAR id-du-ma a Aur, birtu123 parzilli idd124-ma of Assyria, into iron fetters, and 76 L B a-na ma-za-qi-a- kuria--da-a-a ana azaqiyah Yahdya to Hezekiah the Judean

120 121

ad oath; bl ad vassal, lit. owner of an oath (CDA, 5). mmtu (asseverative) oath of vassals and subjects (Ibid., 194). Pad is the owner of this type of oath to Assyria, as well, so I have translated bl ad u mmti as vassal and subject; ma- the BE sign = , one of whose values is the word mtu, dead person, used here phonetically as the second part of mmti (MEA, 67). 122 Pad This pro-Assyrian king is known from inscriptions discovered at Ekron (RT, 118). 123 birtu II, pl. birtu fetter of bronze, iron; freq. pl. (CDA, 45). 124 idd G pret. 3mp nadm throw; birtu/i (parzilli) nad to throw s.o. (acc.) into (iron) fetters (Ibid). The u ending of birtu is likely the adv./loc. ending, signifying into fetters.

31

L B

77

id-di-nu- nak-ri a-na an-zil-li i-pu- had given him, in a hostile manner, for the abomination they had committed,127 78 L B ip-l lib-ba--un LUGAL.ME kurmu-u-ri ipla libbaun. arrn Muuri128 their hearts became afraid. The kings of Egypt
nakri like an enemy, in an inimical way (Ibid., 234; BAL, 2:261). anzillu taboo, abomination; detested, vile, wicked (CDA, 19; BAL, 2:240). 127 for the abomination they had committed Here I am following Cogans solution, which seems to be the most faithful to the text. Luckenbill, Pritchard and Rainey have variations on they (or he) held him in prison illegally, which seems to follow from understanding nakri ana anzilli pu as they wickedly/in a taboo manner treated him as an enemy; however, if ana anzilli pu is taken as adverbially modifying the next clause, ipla libbaun, it very nicely explains the Ekronites motivation in seeking help from Egypt (RT, 114). There is no problem in connecting nakri with the previous clause; there are many clauses in this text where adverbial or accusative elements come after the main verb. 128 Muuri - Although Akkadian had the common noun miru border as early as the Old Babylonian period, the Assyrian
126 125

iddinu, nakri,125 ana anzilli126 pu

name Muri (Babylonian Miri) is not unequivocally attested in Akkadian sources as Egypt until the late Middle Assyrian period, during the reign of Ashur-bl-kala (1074- 1057) (Elat, The Economic Relations of the Neo-Assyrian Empire with Egypt, 22). There seem to have been several places known to the Assyrians as Muri prior to the 11th c. BC, one of which was probably east of the Tigris. (See Martin Makinson, Musru, Masuwari and Msr: From Middle Assyrian Frontier to Iron Age City, State Archives of Assyria Bulletin IV [2005 2002]: 3336.) Tadmor holds that, since Assyria had conquered and assimilated that area in the 12th century BC, every reference in the Assyrian records to a foreign country Muri/Muur from the tenth century B. C. onwards should be taken as referring exclusively to Egypt (Tadmor, Que and Musri, 146). The name does not appear in the Pre-Sargonic and Sargonic toponym lists; in those days Magan and Melua seem to have been the primary Akkadian terms to refer to Egypt and/or parts of North Africa (Dietz Otto Edzard, Gertrud Farber, and Edmond Sollberger, Rpertoire Gographique Des Textes Cuniformes: Die Orts- Und Gewssernamen Der Prsargonischen Und Sargonischen Zeit, ed. Jean-Robert Kupper, Wilhelmus Franois Leemans, and Jean Nougayrol, vol. 1, Beihefte Zum Tbinger Atlas Des Vorderen Orients, Reihe B [Geisteswissenschaften] 7 [Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, 1977], 113, 121). Albright argues that Magan was Egypt under Sargon of Akkad (Albright, New Light on Magan and Melua, 321). Biblical Hebrew Mirayim (HALOT, 622).

32

79 L171 B
l

b qati, narkabti, ss129

ERIN2.ME giPAN giGIGIR.ME ANE.KUR.RA.ME

with bowmen, chariots, and horses 80 L B a LUGAL kurme-lu-i e-mu-q la ni-bi a ar Melui, emq l nbi,130 of the king of Cush,131 forces without number, 81 L B ik-te-ru-nim-ma il-li-ku re-u-su-un ikternim132-ma illik rssun133 they sought for help, and they came to their aid.

129 130

ss horse; Borger claims an Indo-European origin for this word (BAL, 2:271). nbu name, designation; amount, number; a l nbi without number, countless (CDA, 252). 131 Cush (Melua) (RT, 118119). Melua could refer to Egypt at an earlier period, but the term for Egypt proper was now Mu(u)ri. See fn. 88, above. 132 ikternim G pret katrum to get (as) help; of troops + vent. -nim (Ibid., 153). 133 rssun - rtu help, assistance; rt X alkum to go to s.o.s assistance (Ibid., 302).

33

L B

82

i-na ta-mir-ti urual-ta-qu- Ina tamirti134 Altaq In the environs of Elteqeh135

83 L B el-la-mu--a si-id-ru it-ku-nu ellama136 sidru137 itkun.138 before me they were assembled in battle lines.

tamirtu older tawwertum (a type of) meadow; in Ass. royal insc., (cultivated) environs of a city (Ibid., 402). Some translators favor plain. 135 Elteqah BH Elteq/Elteqh (HALOT, 60). The battle against the Egyptians was waged in the coastal plain near Eltekeh, identified with Tell esh-Shallaf, about 3 km west of the city of Rehoboth; Eltekeh is a Danite city in Josh 19:44; 21:23 (RT, 119). Kitchen believes that the Egyptian-Nubian forces under Taharqa (who was only a general at this time, and is here referred to as king retrospectively) regrouped and made to attack the Assyrians again while their forces were divided between Libnah and Jerusalem, and it is this renewed threat which comes to Sennacheribs attention in 2 Ki 19:9, just before his final threatening dispatch to Hezekiah (K. A. Kitchen, The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt, 385). 136 ellamu- before, prep. of place or time; ellama = before me, cf. pa at my feet in line 46 (for the form, see fn. 34) (CDA, 70). 137 sidru row, line of battle (Ibid., 321). The u ending is a apparently the adv./loc. suffix = in battle line(s). 138 itkun Predicative Gt 3mp aknum be located (BAL, 2:273).

134

34 Column III 1 L B --a-lu giTUKUL.ME--un i-na TUKUL-ti da-ur Uaal139 kakkun. Ina tukulti Aur They were sharpening their weapons. In the trust of Aur, 2 L B EN-ia it-ti--un am-da-i-i-ma -ta-kan blya, ittun amdai140-ma atakan141 my lord, I fought with them and I brought about 3 L B BAD5.BAD5--un lEN giGIGIR.ME DUMU.ME LUGAL dabdun.142 Bl narkabti u mr arrim their defeat. The commander of the chariots and the sons of the [

139

uaal D dur. 3mp lu to sharpen, whet (CDA, 366). This is an Assyrian-style conjugation of a II-weak verb. Cf. GA, 603. 140 amdai - Gt pret. 1cs maum to beat each other, fight; spelled with d rather than t from MB onward, apparently under the influence of sonorant m (CDA, 190). 141 atakan Gt pret. 1cs aknum put in place, bring about, accomplish, etc. Gt listed as a variant of G (Ibid., 348). 142 dabdun dabd defeat (Ibid., 5253).

35

L B

kur

mu-u-ra-a-a a-di lEN giGIGIR.ME a LUGAL kurme-lu-i

Muurya, adi bl narkabti a ar Melui, Egyptian king, along with143 the commander of the chariots of the king of Cush, 5 L B bal-u-su-un i-na MURUB4 tam-a-ri ik-u-da balssun144 ina qabal tamri145 ikud in the midst of battle, my own hands captured146 alive. 6 L B U.2-a-a urual-ta-qu- uruta-am-na-a qtya.147 Altaq, Tamn, ] Elteqeh, Timnah,148

143 144 145 146

with (adi) lit. up to, until (=including, even) balssun - baltu state of being alive + 3mp prn. suff. sun = alive (adv.) (CDA, 37).

tamru battle, combat (Ibid., 396). captured (ikud) lit. defeated, conquered 147 qtya (U.2-a-a) Note the numeral 2 written in ligature with the U sign (for qtum) to indicate the dual of hand. Cf. the writing of pya at line 60 (see fn. 30). 148 Timnah a Judean border town (Josh 15:10), is Tel Batash, on the western bank of the Naal Sorek, 7 km westnorthwest of Beth-shemesh (RT, 119). BH Timnh (HALOT, 1754).

36

L B

al-me KUR-ud -lu-la al-la-sn a-na uruam-qar-ru-na alme,149 akud,150 alula151 allassun.152 Ana Amqarrna I surrounded, I conquered, and I carried off their plunder. To Ekron 8

B330A aq-rib-ma lGR.NITA2.ME lNUN.ME a i-i-u aqrib-ma akkanakk, rub a iu153 I drew near, and the governors and princes who had [ 9 L B -ab-u- a-duk-ma i-na di-ma-a-ti uab154 adk-ma ina dimti committed a sin,155 I put to death, and on towers

149

alme, akud, alula allassun This sequence is a word-for-word repetition of column II, line 72; alme G pret. 1cs lamm (i/i) [earlier lawm; cf. amlu vs. awlu] to surround (CDA, 179). 150 akud (KUR-ud) KUR = log. for the verb kadum (MEA, 167). 151 alula G pret. 1cs allum to carry off, plunder + vent. -a (Ibid., 350). 152 allassun allatum plundered thing(s), booty + 3mp prn. suff. un; from the same root (allum carry off, plunder) as the verb alula in the same line (Ibid., 351). 153 iu earlier u failing, defect; crime, sin, error (Ibid., 118). The nom. ending u is unexpected here for acc. a. 154 uab pret. 3mp bam produce; let happen; weave a plot (Ibid., 40). 155 committed a sin lit. produced a sin/error; this is the more literal rendition, following Rainey; Cogan: stirred up rebellion (SB, 242; RT, 119).

37 10 L B si-ir-ti URU a-lul pag-ri--un156 DUMU.ME URU siirti157 li lul.158 Mr li all around the city,159 I hung them up. The citizens160 11 L B e-pi an-ni gl-la-ti a-na al-la-ti am-nu pi161 ann162 u gillti163 ana allati amnu.164 who committed misdeeds and sins, I counted as plunder.

156 157 158

u = pag (MEA, 73).

siirtu entirety of people, land; orig. enclosure, circumference (CDA, 322). lul G pret. 1cs allum II to hang up (as punishment) (Ibid., 11). Rather than I hung them on towers, Rainey translates I impaled them on spikes. 159 all around the city lit. of the whole city 160 citizens (mr li) lit. sons of the city (CDA, 199). 161 pi participle ms const. epum the one who does/did 162 annu, also arnu guilt, fault; sin (Ibid., 24). 163 gillatu sin, sacrilege (Ibid., 93). 164 amnu G pret. 1cs manm to count, include

38

L B

12

si-it-tu-te--nu la ba-bil i-i-ti

sitttunu165 l bbil iti166 The rest of them, who did not bear crime

13 L B gul-lul-ti a a-ra-an--nu la ib-u- u gullulti,167 a arnunu168 l ib,169 or170 sin, who had no guilt, 14 L B u-ur--un aq-bi mpa-di-i LUGAL--nu uurun171 aqbi. Pad arraunu I ordered their release. Pad, their king,

165 166

sittu rest, remainder; sitttu a pl. or abstract form perhaps resulting from sitt--tu (BAL, 2:270). itu sin, crime, guilt; apparently a fem. variant of iu, u (col. III line 8) (Ibid., 2:250). 167 gullultu sin, sacrilegious act (CDA, 96). 168 arnu an infinitive to be guilty used substantivally (Ibid., 22). 169 ib G pret. 3cs bam be present, exist + vent. u; a arnu l ib = lit. whose being guilty was not present 170 or lit. and 171 uurun D infinitive uuru (also wuuru; not attested in G) to release, set free + 3mp prn. suff.

39

L B

15

ul-tu q-reb uruur-sa-li-im-mu -e-a-am-ma ultu172 qereb Ursalimmu um173-ma from within Jerusalem I released, and 16 L172 B i-na giGU.ZA be-lu-ti UGU--un -e-ib-ma ina kussi blti elun uib174-ma on the lordly throne175 I installed, and 17 L B man-da-at-tu be-lu-ti-ia -kin e-ru-u- mandattu176 bltya ukn ruu.177 the payment of my lordship I imposed upon him.

ultu preposition; same meaning as itu (CDA, 135). um pret. 1cs wam + vent. a(m) let escape, release, bring out 174 uib pret. (e-type) 1cs wabum to cause to sit, install 175 on the lordly throne lit. on the throne of lordship; cf. line 47, ina kussi arrti on the royal throne. Lines 16-17 closely parallel col. II lines 47-48. 176 mandattu Nom. u for expected acc. a, as object of ukn in the same line. Perhaps to be treated as casus pendens. 177 ruu upon him, against him = r- + loc./adv. suff. u(m) + 3ms suff. prn. u (Ibid., 337).
173

172

40

L B

18

ma-za-qi-a- kuria--da-a-a U azaqyah Yahudya, And as for Hezekiah the Judean, 19 L B a la ik-nu- a-na ni-ri-ia 46 URU.ME- dan-nu-ti a l iknuu ana nrya, erb u seet lnu dannti who did not submit to my yoke,178 46 of his fortfied cities 20 L B BD.ME URU.ME TUR.ME a li-me-ti--nu bt drn179 u ln erti a limtunu180 and walled cities, and the small cities surrounding them,

178 179

who did not submit to my yoke Cf. II:61-62. BD = dru wall (BAL, 2:245). bt drn = walled cities, fortresses (BAL, 2:243). Cf. II:44. 180 limtu (also limtu) environment, surroundings (BAL, 2:255).

41

L B

21

a ni-ba la i-u- i-na uk-bu-us a-ram-me a nba l , ina ukbus181 aramm182 which were beyond number,183 by laying down of siege ramps, 22 L B qit-ru-ub u-pi-i mit-u-u zu-uk GR.2 u qitrub184 up185 mitu186 zk p187 and bringing near battering rams, the fighting of infantry,

ukbus infinitive (bound form) kabsu to have (a siege ramp) trodden down, built (?) (Ibid., 2:252). arammu causeway, ramp (for siege) (CDA, 22). Here, oblique pl. aramm. 183 which were beyond number (a nba l ) lit. which had no number; G 3mp em to have (only pret. forms exist); cf. II:80 emq l nbi forces without number. 184 qitrub Gt infinitive (bound form) qerbum to approach one another, collide (BAL, 2:266). 185 up (also ub; orig. yaibum) battering-ram (CDA, 441). 186 mitu - Gt infinitive (bound form) maum to beat each other, fight (Ibid., 190). 187 zku II infantry, esp. z. p (Ibid., 449).
182

181

42

L B

23

pil-i nik-si kal-ban-na-te al-me KUR-ud

pili,188 niksi,189 kalbannte,190 alme, akud. undermining, breaching, and siege machines, I surrounded and conquered.

24 L B 200,150191 UN.ME TUR GAL NITA MUNUS in met lm u meat u am ni eer rabi, zikar u sinni192 200,150 people, small and great, male and female, 25 L B ANE.KUR.RA.ME aneKUNGA.ME ANE.ME aneGAM.MAL.ME ss, par,193 imr, gammal, horses, mules, donkeys, camels,

pilu mine, undermining (wall) (BAL, 2:263). niksi breach, gap (in wall) (CDA, 253). 190 kalbntu siege device (Ibid., 142); kalbannte is another example in this text of preferring CaCC over CC syllables. Other possible meanings: siege machines/storm ladders (RT, 120), siege ladders (SB, 243), sapper work (ANET, 200). 191 200,150 Logographically, this would be written MIN.ME.LIM.DI.ME.NINNU, and algebraically, (21001000)+(1100+50). 192 seer rabi, zikar u sinni Citing these very phrases as his first two examples, Huehnergard notes, several fixed expressions, usually adverbial in nature, employ the absolute form, for reasons that are unclear (GA, 234). 193 par mule (BAL, 2:264).
189

188

43

L B

26

GUD.ME e-e-ni a la ni-bi ul-tu qer-bi--un alp u n a l nbi ultu qerbun oxen and flocks without number, from their midst 27 L B -e-a-am-ma al-la-ti am-nu -a- GIM MUEN194 qu-up-pi um195-ma allati196 amnu. u, kma ir197 quppi198 I brought out, and I counted as plunder. That one,199 like a caged bird200 28 L B q-reb uruur-sa-li-im-mu URU LUGAL-ti- qereb Ursalimmu, l arrtu, inside Jerusalem, his royal city,201

194 195 196

u = MUEN (MEA, 263).

um pret. 1cs wam + vent. a(m) let escape, release, bring out allati allatu spoil, plunder + adv. suff. -i 197 iru bird (CDA, 132). 198 quppu box, chest; (bird) cage (Ibid., 291). 199 that one (u) Refers to Hezekiah, last mentioned in line III:18. 200 like a caged bird lit. like a bird of a cage 201 his royal city lit. the city of his kingship

44

L B

29

e-sr- uruAL.U.ME UGU- -rak-kis-ma siru.202 Brti203 elu urakkis204-ma I confined him. I hemmed him in with forts, so that 30 L B a-e-e ABUL URU- -tir-ra ik-ki-bu-u URU.ME a205 abul lu utirra206 ikkibu.207 lnu I made it impossible for him to go out of the gate of his city. His cities,

siru G pret. 1cs esrum to enclose, confine + 3ms prn. suff. (CDA, 80). brtu (or birtu) fort, fortress; area protected by fortified outposts (Ibid., 45; BAL, 2:242). The idea here seems to be temporary garrisons, hence Raineys siege forts and Cogans armed posts (SB, 244; RT, 115). 204 urakkis D pret. 1cs raksu to tie on to; bind round, accoutre with; bind up, bandage (CDA, 296); these several definitions seem to suggest surround, although Rainey gives link together (SB, 244). 205 a bound form of the infinitive (w)am to go out (Gelb, CAD, 7:57); the accusative bound form of the infinitive am
203

202

would classically be a, not a (see the declension of III-weak infinitives in GA, 47), so this must be a Neo-Assyrian form. Rainey reads it as the masc. pl. participle (though he normalizes as a) the ones going out (Rainey SB, 242). This seems formally plausible, although one might expect the singular i as in other whoever-type participles in our text (pi, bbil, etc.). 206 utirra D pret. 1cs trum repulse, turn back; turn or change s.th. into (CDA, 401. 207 ikkibu for ikkibu = ikkibu interdicted, forbidden thing, place or action + -u 3ms prn. suff. The several exx. in CAD demonstrate that X is ikkibu means something like, he hates X, fears X, X is abhorrent to him, impossible for him (Gelb, CAD, 7:57). Cogan follows CAD in his translation, made it unthinkable (literally, taboo) for him to exit by the city gate (RT, 115). Rainey translates whoever came forth form the gate I turned back in humiliation, where ikkibu = in humiliation (SB, 244). If the ones going forth () are indeed plural (see fn. 166 above), it is curious to find the singular (u) on ikkibu. I have stuck with CAD and Cogan for this challenging line.

45

L B

31

a -lu-la ul-tu q-reb KUR- ab-tuq-ma which I plundered, I cut off from the midst of his land, and 32 L B a-na mmi-ti-in-ti LUGAL uruas-du-di ana Mitinti ar Asddi, to Mitinti the king of Ashdod, 33 L B
m

a alula ultu qereb mtu abtuq-ma

Pad ar Amqarrna, u illi-Bl208 Pad the king of Ekron, and illi-Bl

pa-di-i LUGAL uruam-qa-ru-na mGISSU-EN

208

illi-Bl (mGISSU-EN) GISSU (=GI.MI) is the logogram for illu shade, shadow; protection; this kings name means Shadow of Bl or Protection of Bl (CDA, 338).

46

L B

34

LUGAL urua-zi-ti ad-din-ma -a-a-ir KUR-su the king of Gaza210 I gave, and so I diminished his land. 35 L B e-li GUN ma-ri-ti na-dan MU-ti--un eli bilti marti nadn attun over and above the former tribute, [ 36 L173 B man-da-at-tu kd-re-e be-lu-ti-ia -rad-di-ma mandattu kadr211 bltya uradd212-ma I added and imposed on them as their yearly payment213 the tribute and greeting gifts of my lordship. ar azziti addin-ma uair209 mssu.

209 210 211

Gaza (azziti) BH Azzh; the double z also attested in cuneiform sources, Arabic (HALOT, 808). kadr present, greeting gift; bribe (to king or deity) (CDA, 141). These lines (III:35-36) closely parallel II:67. 212 uraddi D pret. 1cs red to add (Ibid., 301).
213

uair D pret. 1cs eru reduce (land, population) (Ibid., 335).

as their yearly payment (nadn attun in line 35) lit. the payment of their year

47

37

B330B -kin e-ru-u- u- ma-za-qi-a- ukn ruu. azaqiyah, ] 38 L B pul-i me-lam-me be-lu-ti-ia is-u-pu-u-ma pul melamm bltya uup-ma by the terrors of my lordly radiance he was overwhelmed;214 and 39 L B
l

That same Hezekiah,

urb215 u bu damqti a ana dunnun216

r-bi lERIN2.ME- SIG5.ME a a-na dun-nun

the band of mercenaries and his expert troops which, in order to strengthen

214 215

the terrors of my lordly radiance... This line exactly repeats the wording of II:38-39. See footnotes 8-12. urb a band of mercenaries (plural only) (Gelb et. al, eds., CAD, vol. 20, 213). 216 dunnun D infinitive (bound form) dannum to strengthen, fortify, reinforce

48

L B

40

uru

ur-sa-li-im-mu URU LUGAL-ti- -e-ri-bu-ma

Ursalimmu l arrtu urib217-ma

Jerusalem, his royal city, he had brought in and 41 L B ir-u- til-la-a-ti it-ti 30 GUN KUG.SIG17 ir tillti218 itti al bilat219 uri received as reinforcements these along with 30 talents of gold, 42 L B 800 GUN KUG.BABBAR ni-siq-ti gu-u-li samne met bilat kaspi, nisiqti guli, 800 talents of silver, choice antimony,220

uribu pret. 3cs erbum cause to enter, bring in + subord. -u tillatu help; reinforcement (CDA, 406). The BE sign should be read as til here (see MEA, 67). 219 biltu Previous appearing as tribute in this text, it also means load; talent (CDA, 44). 220 choice antimony (nisiqti guli) lit. a selection of kohl/antimony paste (as for eye-paint, cosmetics); see Ibid., 95, 255; Gelb et al., eds., CAD, vol. 11, 272.
218

217

49

L B

43

tk-ks-si na4AN.ZA.GUL.ME GAL.ME GI.N.ME Z takkass na4AN.ZA.GUL.ME rabti, er inni, large blocks of AN.ZA.GUL.ME-stone,221 beds of ivory,222 44 L B
gi

GU.ZA.ME n-me-di Z KU AM.SI Z AM.SI

kuss nmedi223 inni, maak pri,224 inni pri,225 armchairs of ivory, elephant hide, ivory,

large blocks of AN.ZA.GUL.ME-stone (takkass na4AN.ZA.GUL.ME rabti) takkassu small block of (usu. semiprecious) stone (CDA, 395); na4AN.ZA.GUL.ME a type of stone, normalization unknown (see CAD, 11:272). NA4 (Z) is the determinative for objects of stone (MEA, 125). Cogan translates carnelian (RT, 115), but this is not the typical word for carnelian. 222 beds of ivory that is, beds inlaid with ivory (cf. RT, 115). eru IV bed; innu tooth; inni pri elephant tooth, ivory (CDA, 80, 375). 223 nmedu (back)rest of furniture; kuss nmedi chair with back (CDA, 249). As with the beds, these chairs are probably inlaid with ivory, rather than made of it. 224 elephant hide (maak pri) maku skin; speel, skin of fruit plant; pru (plu, pru) elephant; maak p. elephant hide (Ibid., 202, 275). 225 ivory (inni pri) - elephant tooth, ivory (Ibid., 375).

221

50

L B

45

gi

E.SI giTASKARIN mim-ma um- ni-ir-tu ka-bit-tu

u, taskarinni, mimma umu niirtu kabittu

ebony, boxwood, all kinds of heavy treasure,226 46 L B DUMU.MUNUS.ME- MUNUS.UN.ME .GAL- lNAR.ME along with his daughters, the women of his palace,227 male musicians, 47 L B MUNUS.NAR.ME a-na q-reb NINAki URU be-lu-ti-ia nrti,228 ana qereb Ninua l bltya and female musicians, to Nineveh, the city of my lordship, u mrtu, sinnit ekallu, nr,

u ebony; taskarinnu box tree, boxwood; niirtu treasure; secret (Ibid., 429, 401, 255). all kinds of = mimma umu, lit. whatever be its name, = everything, anything at all 227 the women of his palace - exact normalization of MUNUS.UN.ME unclear; possibly sinniti; for the phrase MUNUS.UN.ME .GAL, see the examples in Gelb et al., eds., vol. 10, CAD, 303; ibid., vol. 1, 32. 228 nr, nrti - nru II male musician; nrtu II female musician (CDA, 242).

226

51

L B

48

EGIR-ia -e-bi-lam-ma a-na na-dan man-da-at-te arkya229 ubilam230-ma ana nadn mandatte he sent after me, and in order to pay the tribute 49 L B e-pe R--ti i-pu-ra rak-bu- u ep ardti231 ipura rakbu.232 and to do obeisance, he dispatched his messenger.

arkya (poss. urkya) - (w)arki, Ass. mostly urki after, behind Ibid., 434. ubilam pret. 3cs (w)ablum, Ass. ublu send, deliver + vent. a(m) (Ibid., 432). 231 ardti (poss. also ardutti, urdutti) - (w)ardtu, Ass. warduttum, urduttu status as slave; vassalage, (political) servitude (Ibid., 434). 232 rakb - messenger (BAL, 2:267). Note the nominative form for the expected accusative here.
229 230

Reproduced from SB, 240

Reproduced from SB, 242

Reproduced from RT, 115

Bibliography Albright, W. F. New Light on Magan and Melua. Journal of the American Oriental Society 42 (1922): 317322. Becking, Bob. Chronology: A Skeleton Without Flesh? Sennacheribs Campaign as a Case-Study. In Like a Bird in a Cage: The Invasion of Sennacherib in 701 BCE, edited by Lester L. Grabbe, 4672. Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series 363; European Seminar in Historical Methodology 4. London and New York: T. & T. Clark, 2003. Black, Jeremy, Andrew George, and Nicholas Postgate, eds. A Concise Dictionary of Akkadian. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 1999. Borger, Rykle. Babylonisch-Assyrische Lesestcke. 2 Vols. 2nd ed. Rome: Pontificium Institutum Biblicum, 1979. Cogan, Mordechai. Sennacheribs Siege of Jerusalem (2.119B). In The Context of Scripture II: Monumental Inscriptions from the Biblical World, edited by William W. Hallo and K. Lawson Younger, Jr. Leiden: Brill, 2000. . Sennacheribs Siege of Jerusalem: Once or Twice? Biblical Archaeology Review, no. 27 (2001): 4045, 69. . The Raging Torrent: Historical Inscriptions from Assyria and Babylonia Relating to Ancient Israel. A Carta Handbook. Jerusalem: Carta, 2008. Donner, Herbert, and Wolfgang Rllig. Kanaanische Und Aramische Inschriften. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2002. Edzard, Dietz Otto, Gertrud Farber, and Edmond Sollberger. Rpertoire Gographique Des Textes Cuniformes: Die Orts- Und Gewssernamen Der Prsargonischen Und Sargonischen Zeit. Edited by Jean-Robert Kupper, Wilhelmus Franois Leemans, and Jean Nougayrol. Vol. 1. Beihefte Zum Tbinger Atlas Des Vorderen Orients, Reihe B (Geisteswissenschaften) 7. Wiesbaden: Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag, 1977. Elat, Moshe. The Economic Relations of the Neo-Assyrian Empire with Egypt. Journal of the American Oriental Society 98, no. 1 (1978): 2034. Gelb, Ignace J., ed. The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. Chicago: Oriental Institute, 1956. Grabbe, Lester L. Of Mice and Dead Men: Herodotus 2.141 and Sennacheribs Campaign. In Like a Bird in a Cage: The Invasion of Sennacherib in 701 BCE, edited by Lester L. Grabbe. Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series 363; European Seminar in Historical Methodology 4. London and New York: T. & T. Clark, 2003.

Huehnergard, John. A Grammar of Akkadian. 2nd ed. Winona Lake, Ind.: Eisenbrauns, 2005. Kitchen, K. A. On the Reliability of the Old Testament. Paperback ed. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 2006. . The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt, 1100-650 B.C. 2nd ed. with Supplement. Warminster, England: Aris & Phillips, 1986. Koehler, Ludwig, and Walter Baumgartner. The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament. Edited by M. E. J. Richardson. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 1994. Labat, Ren, and Florence Malbran-Labat. Manuel Dpigraphie Akkadienne. 6th ed. Paris: Librairie Orientaliste Paul Geuthner, 2002. Luckenbill, Daniel David. Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia. Edited by James Henry Breasted. Vol. 2. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1926. . The Annals of Sennacherib. Edited by James Henry Breasted. Oriental Institute Publications II. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1924. Makinson, Martin. Musru, Masuwari and Msr: From Middle Assyrian Frontier to Iron Age City. State Archives of Assyria Bulletin IV (2005 2002): 3362. Pritchard, James B., ed. Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament. 3d ed., with supplement. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1969. Rahlfs, Alfred, and Robert Hanhart, eds. Septuaginta: Stuttgart Electronic Study Bible Edition. Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2006. Rainey, Anson F., and R. Steven Notley. The Sacred Bridge: Cartas Atlas of the Biblical World. Jerusalem: Carta, 2006. Rosenthal, Franz. A Grammar of Biblical Aramaic. 5th printing. Porta Linguarum Orientalium 5. Wiesbaden: O. Harrassowitz, 1983. Von Soden, Wolfram, and Werner R. Mayer. Grundriss Der Akkadischen Grammatik. 3rd ed. Analecta Orientalia 33. Rome: Pontificium Institutum Biblicum, 1995. Tadmor, H. Que and Musri. Israel Exploration Journal 11 (1961): 143150. Tadmor, Hayim. Assyria at the Gates of Tushpa. In Treasures on Camels Humps: Historical and Literary Studies from the Ancient Near East Presented to Israel Ephal, edited by Mordechai Cogan and Danel Kahn. Jerusalem: The Hebrew University Press, 2008.