i.
T h e N eo -A ssy rian state, w h o se h isto ry spans th e n in th th ro u g h th e sev e n th cen tu ries B.C., rep resen ted in size and c o m p le x ity an u n p re c e d e n te d p o litical p h e n o m e n o n in the a n c ie n t N ear East. It is cu sto m a ry a m o n g m o d ern h isto ria n s to call this state an em pire, b e cau se it was m u lti-n a tio n a l as w ell as m u lti-e th n ic , and su btly balan ced b e tween a co re of urban c e n te rs and a w id e-flu n g p erip h ery ; and th e study of it has b e en going on sin ce th e e arliest days o f M eso p o tam ian sch o la rsh ip , w ell o v er a cen tu ry ago.
Indeed, it was th e red isco v ery , in th e early n in e te e n th cen tu ry , o f A ssyria in its N eo - Assyrian phase - w ith its cap ital citie s, m o n u m e n ts, and cu n e ifo rm ta b let c o lle c tio n s - that provided th e fo u n d atio n and im p e tu s fo r th e study o f all o f M eso p o ta m ia and so gave the field its n a m e, A ssy rio lo g y 1.
A lon g -stan d in g to p ic in th e stud y o f N eo -A ssy ria has b e e n th e im p erial id eology, and the texts and visual art th at served as its exp ressio n s. T h e p ro m in e n c e and strik in g quality of th ese ex p ressio n s - o n e recalls easily th e h ig h -flo w n rh e to ric o f th e royal in scriptions, th e im p o sin g im ag es of th e k in g and his m in io n s in th e relief and o th e r sculpture, and the re fle ctio n s o f all this in th e H e b rew B ib le , w h ich w as, after all, th e product of two o f th e sm all states, Ju d a h and Israel, th at fell u n d er th e A ssyrian ju g g e r
naut - these have m ad e th e to p ic o f A ssyrian im p erial id eo lo g y an attractiv e o n e to several g en eratio n s o f sch o lars and lay readers. B u t it is a to p ic th at has n o t lack ed d e tractors. In particular, th e re has b e e n a recu rrin g ten d e n cy to d ism iss th e se exp ressio n s and the ideology b e h in d th e m as so m u ch b o m b a st: u n in te re stin g , m orally d egen erate - com pared w ith th e s e n tim e n ts in th e B ib le - and o fte n h isto rica lly w orth less, sin ce they are judged to m ak e o f th e tex ts and art h o p elessly d isto rted propagand a, and so
Hiis revised version of the paper 1 originally presented at th e co lloq u iu m in M unich owes much to the discussion of it by the colloq u iu m participants. In several cases I have incorporated my responses to their q uestions, w hich are also printed elsew here in this volu m e in som ew hat different form. Note the abbreviations for two very frequently cited w orks:
/ Iw - Wolfram von Soden (ed.), A kkadisches H andw örterbuch, 3 Bde. (W iesbad en 1 9 5 8 -1 9 8 1 ).
, = John A. Brinkman (et a!., eds.), T h e Assyrian D ictio n ary of th e O riental Institu te of the
^'niversity of Chicago, 19 vols. to date (C hicago/G lückstadt 1 9 5 6 — ).
ic story has been told m any tim es. For a re ce n t exam ple, see II. W, F. Saggs, T h e M ight T h at
■'■syrta (London 1984) chap ter 18.
7 8 P e te r M a c h in is t
remove them as reliable w itn esses to th e ev en ts and p erso n s th ey are su p p osed to p o r
tray2.
I have indulged in a b it of caricatu re h e re, b u t n o t I th in k by m u ch . In any case, such dism issive tend encies alw ays had th e ir o p p o n e n ts, and in th e last co u p le of d e cades have fortunately given way to m o re su b tle and p e n e tra tin g ap p reciatio n s. T h e work has co m e from several sch o larly circles. M o st visible a m o n g th e m has b e en th e group of Italian scholars arou n d M ario L iverani, w h o have b e e n try in g to c o n stru c t from the w ritten sources a k ind o f “id eo lo g ical g ra m m a r”, o r as th ey have called it, a
‘Lessico ideologico assiro”, parts o f w h ich have ap p eared in sp e cific stu d ies, w ith th e program m atic piece by L iverani h im se lf3.
U nderlying these new effo rts are several a ssu m p tio n s a b o u t th e N eo -A ssy rian state and the sources on it. F irst, th e rapid g ro w th o f th at state to im p e rial d im en sio n s was no t just an ad m inistrative, b u t an id eo lo g ical p ro b lem . P u t a n o th e r way, th e state was no t just a bureaucratic apparatus fo r the ex ch a n g e - o fte n fo rced - o f g oo d s and p e r
sons, but an arena for th e c o m m u n ic a tio n o f ideas, w h ich in tu rn p ro vid ed th e en erg y and lubrication to k eep th e state fu n ctio n in g . T h e ch a llen g es, thu s, of g o v ern in g , of m aking the state op erate in an in teg rated way, in terw ov e w ith th e ch allen g es of w hat governance was: o f w hat th e e n tity was th at was to be g o v ern ed ; o f h o w to c o n c e p tu a l
ize and legitim ate the ru lin g g ro u p , and to insu re co -o p e ra tio n w ith it o n th e part of its su bjects in m in d as w ell as body. T h e id eolog y d ev elo p ed to m e e t th ese ch allen g es co nstitu ted , indeed, a sy stem : a c o h e re n t language and fo rm , e x p re ssin g a particular world-view , of w hat g o v ern an ce was and o f how it was to p ro ceed . F in ally , th e texts and visual art in w hich th is id eo lo g y was laid ou t are to be seen , in th e felicito u s p h ras
ing of H an nes G aiter, n o t m erely as “In fo rm a tio n ”, b u t ev en m o re as “In fo rm a tio n s
qu elle”4. T h a t is, they are sources (“ In fo rm a tio n ”) o n th e h isto ry , e sp ecia lly th e p olitical Cf. references to elem en ts of this attitude, w ithout, however, approving o f them , in, e.g., Ephraim A. Speiser, A n cient M esopotam ia, in : T he idea of H istory in th e A n cie n t N ear East (ed.
Robert C. Dentan, New Haven 1955) 6 5 ; and Hartmut Gese, V om Sinai zum Z io n (M unich 1984) 91. T h e attitude was doubtless encouraged by an attach m en t to the H ebrew Bible and the fasci
nated horror with which it treats th e Assyrians, and in the n in eteen th cen tury found its m ost celebrated ech o in Lord Byron ’s open in g couplet from his “D efeat of Se n n ach erib ” :
T he Assyrian cam e down like th e w olf on the fold And his cohorts were gleam in g in purple and gold.
Mario Liverani, T he Ideology of the Assyrian E m pire, in : Pow er and Propaganda: A Sym po
sium on A n cien t Em pires (ed. Mógens T. Larsen, M esopotam ia 7, C openh agen 1979) 297- 31 7 . O ther work of this school includes, e.g., the essays of Frederick Mario Fales, Roberto Gelio, Mario Liverani, and Carlo Zaccagnini in : Assyrian Royal In scrip tion s: New H orizon s in Literary, ideo
logical, and H istorical Analysis (ed., Frederick Mario Fales, R o m e 1981), w hich also contains stud
ies of like-m inded colleagues from oth er lands; and two com p an ion essays by Zaccagnini and Fales on T h e En em y in th e N eo-A ssyrian R oyal Inscrip tions, in : M eso p otam ien und seine Nach
barn 2 (hrsg. Hans-Jörg Nissen und Johannes Rengei; Berliner Beiträge zum V ord eren O rient 1, Berlin 1982) 4 0 9 - 4 2 4 ,‘4 2 5 - 4 3 5 .
Flannes G a lt e tK om m u n ikatio n seb en en innerhalb der p olitischen Sprach e des assyrischen R eiches, in : A kten der 13. Ö sterreich isch en Linguistentagim g G raz (A rbeiten aus der Abteilung
„V ergleichende Sprachw issenschaft“ Graz 1, Leykam /Graz 1 988) 74 , w ho refers to the earlier es
say of Mario Liverani, M em orandum on the A pproach to H istoriograph ic T ex ts, in : O r ie n ta iia NS 42 (19 7 3 ) 1 7 8 -1 9 4 .
A s s y ria n s o n A ssy ria in th e F irs t M ille n n iu m B .C . 7 9
and m ilitary histo ry , th ey in te n d to record . B u t th eir value as so u rces m u st always be gauged in th e lig h t o f th e ir d isto rtio n s and in co m p le te n e ss - lim ita tio n s co n d itio n ed esp ecially by th e ir id eo lo g ical co n ce rn s. T h e d etracto rs m e n tio n e d above u n d erstoo d th is, b u t w en t too far w ith it. In p articu lar, th ey did n o t ap p reciate th at th ese very sam e lim ita tio n s and c o n c e rn s give th e te x ts and art an o th e r value - n o t as so u rc e s o n an e x tern al reality, b u t as actual historical reality themselves (“In fo rm a tio n sq u e lle ”): as w it
n esses to th e p eo p le w h o co m p o se d th e m , and to th e ir m e n ta l and so cial am b ien ce . T h e p re sen t paper bu ild s o n th e w ork ju st d iscussed. T h e g en eral q u e stio n it asks is the cen tral o n e for th e c o n te n t of th e A ssyrian im p erial id eo lo g y : if m o d e rn h isto rian s have called th e N eo -A ssy rian state an em p ire , how did th e a n c ie n t A ssyrian s u n d er
stand it? T o answ er th is c o m p re h e n siv e ly w ould clearly o u tstrip th e sp ace available.
T h e focu s, th erefo re, is o n tw o sp e cific issu es:
1. W h a t for th e N eo -A ssy rian s co n stitu te d “A ssyria” ? W h a t k in d of en tity was th is said to be n o t on ly in territo ry , b u t in p o litical form and p u rp o se?
2. W h a t for th e N eo -A ssy rian s co n stitu te d “A ssyrian s” ? W h a t g ro u p s w ere seen as in clud ed in th is term and o n w hat basis? W a s th ere, in o th e r w ord s, a way of d efin in g m em b ersh ip in th e A ssy rian state?
T h e so u rces for th ese issues are n u m ero u s and varied, e m b ra c in g w ritten tex ts, b o th public and private, as w ell as visual a rt; and as in m u ch o f th e a n c ie n t N ear E ast, th ey em anate ov erw h elm in g ly fro m th e ru lin g elites. H e re ou r a tte n tio n w ill b e c o n c e n trated on th e categ o ry lo n g e st and m o s t fully stu d ied , th e royal in s c rip tio n s3. A b rief explanation of th eir featu res and se ttin g s is th erefo re in ord er. T h e fo cu s is a c e le b r a tory narrative of th e a ch ie v e m e n ts o f th e k in g s, n o rm ally m ilita ry cam p aig n s, arranged either in ch ro n o lo g ica l s e q u e n c e - w h ereu p o n th e te x ts are labelled by m o d ern s c h o l
ars as annals - o r in g eo g rap h ical u n its co m b in in g several ch ro n o lo g ica l phases, s o m e times in d iscrim in ately - called , th en , “display” or “su m m ary ” in scrip tio n s. In this n a r
rative, the k in g usually sp eaks in th e first p erso n , b u t th ere can b e a sh ift - d is c o n c e rt
ingly, often, to m o d ern taste - to th e third p erson , as p raise o f th e k in g m ov es from internal to extern al p ersp ectiv e and b ack again. In a n u m b e r o f texts, this m ilitary n a r
rative is su rrounded by o th e r s e c tio n s : an in tro d u ctio n , s o m e tim e s id en tify in g th e tex t as royal property, b u t at least d e scrib in g the k in g by a list o f his p raisew o rth y titles and epithets; and c o n clu d in g se c tio n s, first d etailin g so m e royal bu ild in g en terp rise, fo r which the in scrip tio n serves as a w itn ess, and th en listin g b lessin g s and/or cu rses on a future ruler to resp ect th e in scrip tio n w h en h e fin ds it and/or to resto re th e bu ild ing which it d escribes.
W hether w ith th ese ad d itio n al s e c tio n s or n o t, th e royal in scrip tio n s are found in great variety and in m an y p la ce s: in th e m a jo r cap ital citie s as w ell as in th e farth est provinces; on tablets, cy lin d ers, c o n e s, p rism s, b ricks, stan d in g statuary, full or bas-re-
!iefs on buildings or o n natu ral fo rm a tio n s, esp ecially m o u n ta in cliffs; in form s th at contain full d escrip tion s o f a cam p aig n o r cam p aign s, o r an a b b rev iatio n to co n fo rm to
H ie bibliography on these is im m ense. S o m e im portan t re ce n t exam p les: Albert Kirk Grays/m, aiK' y'o n 'a> ' n : O rientalia N S 4 9 (1 9 8 0 ) especially 1 5 0 - 1 5 9 ; Assyrian Royal Inscrip- teles) (n ote 3); Johannes Renger, A ssyrische K on igsin sch riften (1 9 .-7 . Jh .), in : R eallexi-11 er A ssyriologie 6 (hrsg. Dietz Otto Edzard, Berlin/New Y o rk 1 9 8 0 -1 9 8 3 ) 7 1 -7 7 .
8 0 P e te r M a c h in is t
the space available o n a statu e o r a re lie f; a ccessib le im m e d ia te ly to a p u b lic, as o n th e walls o f palaces o r o n statu es o f th e k in g set up in p u b lic p laces in p ro v in cial cap itals, or rather in accessib le, b e ca u se o n h ig h , re m o te cliffs o r in th e fo u n d atio n s of bu ild in g s w hose co n stru ctio n th ey reco rd , and w here th ey are m e a n t th e n to be seen by th e gods, to w ho m th ey co n v ey th e h o m ag e o f th e k in g , and by la ter ru lers c o m e to r e n o vate the bu ild ing, fo r w h o m th e in scrip tio n s serve as a ch a lle n g e to em u la te th e a ch iev em en ts record ed . T h is w ide and varied d istrib u tio n , w h ich p u ts royal in s crip tio n s in all parts of th e e m p ire , co u p led w ith th e ab u n d a n t p ro d u ctio n of th ese te x ts - in m u ltip le co p ies, m ark ed by p erio d ic revisio ns or u p d atin g s to re fle ct n ew tim es and co n d itio n s - u n d ersco res th e im p o rta n c e a ttach ed to th e in s crip tio n s by th e ru lin g groups resp o n sib le fo r th em . In d eed , it m ay n o t b e to o m u ch to say th at th ey re p re sen t the m ajo r p u b lic sta te m e n ts of th e A ssyrian ce n tra l g o v ern m en t.
II.
W h a t, th e n , do th e royal in s crip tio n s tell us ab o u t th e native e lite s’ view s o f “A ssyria”
and “A ssyrians” ? S in c e th e tw o issu es are o b viou sly related , w e w ill treat th e m t o g eth er, and begin by rev iew in g th e main categories of p h raseo lo g y used. T h e r e are five o f th em :
1. Assyria,T h e basic te rm h e re is m ä t{K U R ) A s s u rk',literally , “th e land o f A ssu r”6.
It is an essen tial part o f th e royal titu lary, in th e fo rm “k in g o f A ssyria”, w h ich co m es near th e b e g in n in g o f th e lis t7; and th e p ro te c tin g g od s are o fte n d escrib ed as “those w ho dwell in A ssyria”8. ¡M odern h isto ria n s co n v e n tio n a lly u n d erstan d “A ssyria” to refer in th e first in sta n ce to th e land arou n d th e u p p er T ig ris R iv er, co m p risin g the rough triangle th at e m b ra c e s th e cap ital cities of th e N eo -A ssy rian p erio d , N in eveh, K alah (N im rud ), A ssur, and D u r-S a rru k in (K h o rsa b a d )9. T h e in scrip tio n s d o n o t m ake this sp ecific, b u t th ey d o im p ly it in several w ays: by ca llin g A ssy ria “th e g o o d p as
tu re” 10, w hich w ell d escrib es th e p lateau g razin g in th e re g io n ; by co n tra stin g “A s
syria” w ith “B ab y lo n ia”, i.e., so u th e rn M eso p o ta m ia (w ritten as “B aby lon/ the land of S u m er and A kkad/land o f K a rd u n ia s”), as in th e titu lary o f th o se A ssyrian kings w ho laid claim to so v ereig n ty o v er B ab y lo n ia as w ell as A ss y ria 11; and by tracing, in the ti
tulary o f E sarh ad d on ( 6 8 0 - 6 6 9 B .C .) and A ssu rb an ip al ( 6 6 8 - 6 2 7 B .C .), th e k in g ’s an
6 See N eo-Assyrian o ccu rren ces in : Simo Parpola, N eo-A ssyrian T op on y m s (A lter O rient und A ltes T estam en t 6 , N eu k irch en A 'lu y n 1 9 7 0 ) 4 3 -5 4 .
7 E.g., Daniel D. Luckenbill, T h e A n nals of Sen n ach erib (O rien tal Institu te P ublications II, Chi
cago 1924) 23:2.
8 So in Sargon II: Friedrich I I Weissbach, Z u den In sch riften der Säle im Palaste Sargon’s II.
von Assyrien, in : Z eitsc h rift der D eu tsch en M orgen län disch en G esellsch aft 72 (1918) 1 8 4 - 1 8 5 :5 5 - 5 6 ; Walter Mayer, Sargons Feldzug gegen Urartu - 7 1 4 v.C h r. T e x t und Überset
zung, in: M itteilungen der D eu tsch en O rien t-G esellsch aft 115 (1 9 8 3 ) 8 4 - 8 5 :1 6 0 . 9 Cf., e.g., Saggs,M ight (n ote 1) 2- 6 .
10 Rykle Borger, D ie In sch riften A sarhaddons K ön igs v o n A ssyrien (A rchiv für O r ie n t f o r s c h u n g B eheift 9, Graz 1956) 1 06 111:35.
11 Marie-Joseph Seux, É p ith ètes royales akkadiennes et su m érien nes (Paris 1 967) 3 0 1 -3 0 4 . ■ ■ also Esarhaddon, who talks about restoring the cult room s and cu lt places of “Assyria and Akkac - Borger, Asarhaddon (note 10) 5 9 V :3 8 .
A s s y ria n s o n A ssy ria in th e F irs t M ille n n iu m B .C . 8 1
cestry to “ B e l-b a n i, so n o f A d asi, e sta b lish e r o f th e k in g d o m o f A ssyria, w hose co re (dumgsu) is B a ltil”, B altil b e in g th e n a m e, p erhap s of th e ce n tra l part, o f th e city o f A s- su r12. T h is last recalls a n o th e r in d ic a tio n o f A ssyria as th e land aro u n d th e U p p er T i gris, n am ely , th e A ssy rian c o n v e n tio n to w rite th e n a m es o f A ssyria, th e city o f A ssu r, and th e n atio n al g od A ss u r all as A/sur (though w ith d ifferin g d eterm in a tiv es to d istin g u ish land, city , and god ), w h ich clearly m ark s th e native u n d ersta n d in g o f th e land as th e e x te n sio n of th e city and god.
“A ssyria”, h ow ever, c o m e s to in clu d e m o re th an this co re area o f th e T ig ris triang le, in co n fo rm ity w ith th e e x p a n sio n o f A ssyrian territo rial h o ld in g s b e y o n d it (see b e low). A s su ch , w h en th e in s crip tio n s sp eak of captives fro m new cam p aig n s “b ro u g h t back to A ssy ria”, it is n o t alw ays cle a r w h e th e r th is is th e co re o r th e b o rd ers of th e o r ganized im p erial a d m in istratio n .
2. Assyrian. A s a p o p u la tio n d e scrip tio n , th e royal in scrip tio n s e m p lo y th re e term s.
a) T h e d o m in a n t o n e , w h ich c o n fo rm s to a lo n g attested p atte rn in A k k a d ia n , is “x o f A ssyria”, w here “x ” can b e exp ressed by th e A k k ad ian w ord s nisé (“p e o p le ”), märe (“sons”, w h ich , as in o th e r S e m itic langu ages, m ean s in th is k in d of c o n stru ctio n
“m em b ers o f th e g ro u p so and so ”), or, least freq u en t, b a ’ulät/bahulät (“population/
su bjects”) 13. T h e sen se o f d e p e n d e n cy th at can be involved h e re is m a d e e x p lic it in a co n ju n ctio n o f p h rases fro m a te x t o f E sarh ad d on , in w h ich th e k in g sp eaks o f “the A ssyrians (lit., so n s o f A ssu r), m y serv an ts” 14.
b) Less o ften , m e m b e rsh ip can b e d efin ed in term s o f th e p rin cip al g o d o f th e realm . Thus, “su b je cts of E n lil” (b a ’ulät dEnlil), w here in several o f th e te x ts th e c o n n e c tio n with A ssyria is m ade e x p lic it: e.g., fro m S arg o n II ( 7 2 1 - 7 0 5 B .C .), d escrib in g S arg o n ’s predecessors as th e o n es “w h o ex ercised d o m in io n ov er A ssyria and ru led th e su b je cts of E n lil” . A t least o n c e , ho w ev er, th e p h rase is “s u b je cts o f A ssu r” ( b a ’ulät dAssur)15. It is interestin g th at in th e - ad m itted ly few - o c c u rre n c e s o f th is se c o n d te rm fo r “A s syrians” E n lil is ap p aren tly m o re fre q u e n t th an A ssur. U n less E n lil stan d s h ere fo r A s sur - and we k n o w th at by th e late se c o n d m ille n n iu m B .C ., th e a ssim ilatio n was u n derway16 - th e p re fe re n ce m ay re fle ct a m o re arch aic trad itio n , for E n lil was th e old leader of th e so u th ern M eso p o ta m ia n p a n th e o n , g o in g b ack to th e th ird m ille n n iu m and doubtless earlier, w h o also h e ld sway in A ssyria d u ring th e m id d le o f th e seco n d m illennium . In d eed , th e p h rase “s u b je c ts o f E n lil” seem s to o rig in ate w ith th e dynasty
12 Cf. C A D D 191b s.v. durgu, b).
See, e.g., Borget; A sarhaddon (note 10) 4 3 : 5 0 (nise); M axim ilian Streck, A ssurbanipal und die letzten assyrischen K ö n ig e 11 (V orderasiatische B ib lioth ek 7/2; Leipzig 1 9 1 6 ) 1 4 - 1 5 : 24 (märe);
I-uckenbill, Annals (note 7) 4 8 :5 (babuläte). F o r oth er exam ples, includ ing o th er geographical units, see for ba’ulätu/bahulätu, A H w , 96b , 11 7 a ; C A D B, 182 ~ 1 8 3 a ; märu, A H w , 616a, lOe);
< \D M/1, 3 1 5b—3 1 6a, 5c); Parpóla, T op on y m s (note 6 ) 4 3 : and nisü, C A D N/II, 2 8 7 , 2 c).
„ V . Asarhaddon (n o te 10 ) 102 G br. I: 1 0 ; cf. 103 G br. II:i 2 2 .
\6 n°r these texts see C A D B, 182b , s.v. ba’ulätu, la!’).
y*'e Borger, E in leitu ng in die assyrischen K ön igsin sch riften I (H an d bu ch der O rientalistik, en 1961) 6 6 - 6 7 ; Albert Kirk Grayson, Assyrian R oyal In scrip tio n s I (W iesbad en 1 9 7 2 ) p - 7 , 154:n. 57, though G rayson ’s effort to place the assim ilation already in th e O ld Assyrian
y*'e Borger, E in leitu ng in die assyrischen K ön igsin sch riften I (H an d bu ch der O rientalistik, en 1961) 6 6 - 6 7 ; Albert Kirk Grayson, Assyrian R oyal In scrip tio n s I (W iesbad en 1 9 7 2 ) p - 7 , 154:n. 57, though G rayson ’s effort to place the assim ilation already in th e O ld Assyrian