BICS-54-2 2011

125

2011 Institute oI Classical Studies University oI London




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How did ancient empires cohere? What roles did long-distance communication play in that
coherence? And how did long-distance communication work, structurally and socially? A
research project at UCL addresses these questions Ior the Assyrian Empire in the period
between 721 and 705 BC, the reign oI Sargon II, when Assyria became the Iirst large empire
to exercize hegemony over the Old World core system. In the royal archives oI Nineveh and
Kalhu (Nimrud), now in northern Iraq, primary documentation has survived to an
unparalleled extent, allowing us to tackle these questions Ior this particular period.
With 1,200 original texts in the Iorm oI clay tablets inscribed in the cuneiIorm script,
the correspondence between king Sargon and the highest state oIIicials is the largest corpus
oI state letters known Irom the ancient world. It provides exceptional insight into the
mechanisms oI communication between the top levels oI authority and the delegation oI
power in an empire that stretched Irom the Mediterranean coast to Western Iran and Irom
Anatolia to the Persian GulI. Medes, Cimmerians, Nubians, Arabs, Philistines, Judaeans,
Phoenicians, Ionians, Phrygians, and many other peoples were in direct contact with the
Assyrian Empire during Sargon`s reign.
His state letters are at the heart oI the research project Mechanisms oI communication
in an ancient empire: the correspondence between the king oI Assyria and his magnates in
the 8th century BC`. It is Iunded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (2008-2012)
and has its home at UCL`s History Department with its tradition oI Ancient Near Eastern
history, taught there since the 1930s. The project team at UCL comprises ProIessor Karen
Radner (as the primary investigator), Dr Mikko Luukko, and Silvie Zamazalova MA, with
project partners ProIessors Simo Parpola and Steve Tinney at the Universities oI Helsinki
and Pennsylvania, respectively.
Assyria`s success and stability owed much to innovations in administrative technology
which allowed the control oI a vast geographical horizon: yet the mechanics oI organization
oI the Assyrian Empire have Iound little attention beyond the study oI the king`s role. A
shiIt oI Iocus away Irom the monarch onto the second level oI imperial control, !"#. the
provincial governors to whom the king delegated governing power on a local level, enables
us to reconstruct a new understanding oI the set-up oI the Assyrian empire and allows us to
question views currently held about the characteristics oI Assyrian imperial administration
and control.
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2011 Institute oI Classical Studies University oI London
The project`s work is relevant to all those with an interest in the administrative and
practical setup oI ancient empires. Since, through technological stasis, the modes and
challenges oI long-distance transmission oI inIormation changed little in subsequent
centuries, the analysis oI Sargon`s correspondence is relevant also Ior studies oI the
Babylonian, Achaemenid, Seleucid, Roman, and later empires, Ior which comparable
corpora have not survived.
The mechanisms oI communication between Sargon II and his immediate subordinates
are being analysed in two distinct and complementary ways. On the one hand, using the
methods developed in the Iield oI linguistic pragmatics, Mikko Luukko compares the
diIIerent Iorms oI the Assyrian and Babylonian language employed by the king and his
subordinates, including letter writing etiquette and notions oI politeness and appropriateness.
On the other hand, Karen Radner applies a structural approach. Studies oI the Assyrian
empire, when not concerned with the history oI events, oIten have an ahistorical tendency as
9
th
, 8
th
, and 7
th
century sources are used indiscriminately, suggesting that the empire`s
organization was static. Yet it was an extremely Ilexible system which needs to be analysed
Ior speciIic moments in time. Sargon`s reign is particularly interesting as we see the
mechanisms oI control Iailing Ior the Iirst time since the beginning oI Assyria`s expansion in
the 9th century: recently incorporated provinces tried to regain independence and, in one
case (Tabal), successIully so. The analysis oI the second tier oI control will aim to establish
its level and nature in diIIerent parts oI the empire, diIIerentiating between the provinces
inside Assyria`s natural boundaries, the new provinces established by Sargon`s immediate
predecessors, and his own additions; the case oI Babylonia, where a completely new
administrative system was introduced in 710, deserves special attention, as does the division
oI certain super-provinces` and the creation oI a new disembedded` centre Ior the empire.
A monograph on the topic will be published by Princeton University Press.
Silvie Zamazalova`s work within the project concerns the geographical conceptions
attested in Assyria during the reign oI Sargon in the contexts oI ideology, administration,
and scholarship, the topic oI her PhD thesis. She is seeking to remedy the traditional
approach which tends to equate the Assyrian world view solely with royal ideology,
ignoring the complex (and contradictory) viewpoints which are apparent Irom archival and
literary documents. Juxtaposing the diIIerent types oI sources will result in a Iuller
appreciation oI the Assyrians` perceptions oI the world and the way in which geographical
concepts aIIected the empire.
The Sargon correspondence must be evaluated in the context oI other such text corpora.
Mikko Luukko has thereIore prepared a new edition oI the state letters Iound at Kalhu
(modern Nimrud), the correspondence oI Sargon`s Iather and predecessor Tiglatpileser III (r.
744-727 BC), Iound together with some letters Irom Sargon`s early reign, which is to appear
in print and online in 2012. In addition, the project hosted a workshop on State
correspondences Irom New Kingdom Egypt to the Roman Empire` in April 2011 in
preparation oI an edited collection Ior the series OxIord Studies in Early Empires.
Until now, Sargon`s state correspondence has only been used as a historical source by
specialist researchers. One oI the purposes oI our project is to change that. The letters oIIer a
unique glimpse into the empire at work. Their strength is their immediacy and the Iact that
they were meant Ior the eyes oI a select Iew empire builders. The inIormation Iound in the
KAREN RADNER: ASSYRIA AT UCL 127


2011 Institute oI Classical Studies University oI London

letters is very diIIerent Irom the accounts in the royal inscriptions,
1
which were compiled as
cohesive narratives oI the achievements oI the ruling king`s reign so Iar. In these texts, the
king and with him, the empire (L`Etat, c`est moi`, is the prevalent notion oI the royal
inscriptions) always prevails. The letters, on the other hand, show us, Iirst, the empire
maintained by many individuals and, secondly, at the crossroads. Their authors, the
governors and other high state oIIicials,
2
were appointed in order to exercise power locally
on behalI oI the crown and, in doing so, to rely on their own judgment. They wrote only
when they needed to involve the central administration in their decision-making or pass on
essential inIormation the imperial postal express system was not maintained Ior routine
communications but Ior emergencies. Consequently, the vast bulk oI their letters deals with
the unexpected: opportunities arising and catastrophes unIolding, turns oI events that
galvanize or, on occasion, stupeIy the wardens oI the Assyrian Empire. Owing to their
nature, many oI the letters Iocus on problems, hiccups and challenges.
3
Used with an
awareness oI their cultural and administrative context, the letters are a powerIul source Ior
the political, administrative, cultural, and military history oI Assyria and, more broadly, the
ancient world.
Our dissemination strategy Iocuses on the creation oI the web resource Assyrian
Empire Builders: Governors, diplomats and soldiers in the service oI Sargon II, king oI
Assyria` (http://www.ucl.ac.uk/sargon/). It makes available Sargon`s state letters, together
with resources Ior their study and materials on their historical and cultural context, to anyone
with an internet connection, with a twoIold goal: to provide reliable and easily accessible
inIormation on Assyria in the second halI oI the 8
th
century BC and to promote the use oI the
letters. The site addresses a broad audience and while requiring no previous knowledge, it
has much to oIIer also to specialist researchers.
The main page Ieatures three striking images a detail Irom a wall painting showing a
team oI soldiers, a state letter, and a depiction oI king Sargon himselI that link to three key
sections oI the site: About the project` (with inIormation on scope, Iunding, and
copyrights), Royal Correspondence`, and Essentials` (see below). The main page also
explains prominently which web browser settings to choose in order to view the site
correctly.
1
A new edition oI all known inscriptions oI Sargon II is currently being prepared by Grant Frame as part oI the
Royal Inscriptions oI the Neo-Assyrian Period project at the University oI Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. In the
meantime, see C. J. Gadd, Inscribed prisms oI Sargon II Irom Nimrud`, Iraq 16 (1954) 173-201; A. Fuchs, Die
Inschriften Sargons II. aus Khorsabad (Gttingen 1994) and Die Annalen des Jahres 711 v. Chr. nach
Prismenfragmenten aus Ninive und Assur, State Archives oI Assyria Studies 8 (Helsinki 1998) Ior the Kalhu,
Dur-Sarruken, Nineveh, and Assur editions oI Sargon`s annals; and see G. Frame, The inscription oI Sargon II
at Tang-i Var`, Orientalia 68 (1999) 31-57; and J. D. Hawkins, The new Sargon stele Irom Hama`, in G. Frame
(ed.), From the Upper Sea to the Lower Sea. studies in the historv of Assvria and Babvlonia in honour of
A. K. Gravson (Leiden 2004) 151-64, Ior two key examples oI Sargon`s numerous inscribed stone monuments.
2
Following the Assyrian letter-writing conventions, Sargon`s correspondents are only designated by name. But
as many served as eponyms` (limmu, by whom years were dated) they are listed, with their titles, in the
Assyrian Eponym Lists and Chronicles, in A. R. Millard, The eponvms of the Assvrian empire 910-612 BC, State
Archives oI Assyria Studies 2 (Helsinki 1994).
3
To ignore this when dealing with these sources will always result in a negative assessment oI the capabilities oI
the Assyrian administration. An example Ior this is K. Kessler, 'Royal Roads and other questions oI the Neo-
Assyrian communication system`, in S. Parpola and R. M. Whiting (eds.), Assvria 1995 (Helsinki 1997) 129-36.
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The section Royal correspondence` provides access to the text corpus: all 1,200 letters
in transliteration (renderings oI the cuneiIorm text in Latin script) and English translation,
adapted Irom the editions in Iour volumes oI the State Archives oI Assyria series (published
1987-2003)
4
and reproduced with the authors` permission. The series editor, Simo Parpola
oI the University oI Helsinki, kindly supplied the ASCII heritage dataset used to create these
publications. This data was converted into XHTML/UTF-8 unicode Iiles and used to
generate a Iully searchable online text corpus that is linked to the interactive glossaries and
indices distilled Irom it. This has created a powerIul research tool that exceeds the
possibilities oI the print editions by Iar. All letters in the Assyrian language can also be
displayed in cuneiIorm script, using the Iont CuneiIormNA which can be downloaded Irom
the site; this is especially useIul Ior teaching.
The text corpus has been created in collaboration with ProIessor Steve Tinney, our
AHRC project partner at the University oI Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, who designed the
underlying programming. The corpus is part oI Tinney`s Open Richly Annotated CuneiIorm
Corpus (short: Oracc; http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/), a workspace and toolkit Ior the
development oI a complete corpus oI cuneiIorm texts that is quickly Iinding worldwide
acceptance as the discipline standard Ior the online presentation and management oI
cuneiIorm sources. The Sargon letters data can be directly harvested and utilized by all other
projects operating within the Oracc umbrella, #"$. the site CuneiIorm Texts Mentioning
Israelites, Judeans, and Related Population Groups`, maintained by scholars at the University
oI Tel Aviv.
While this part oI the site is the most attractive Ior researchers, the section Essentials`
is designed to attract and appeal to a broad audience without any previous expertise. It
provides a series oI short introductions to the political and cultural history oI the second halI
oI the 8
th
century BC, grouped into the subdivisions Kings, Governors, Diplomats, Soldiers,
Countries, Cities, and Archives. Each essay is about 1,200-1,500 words long and divided
into 3-4 parts, each oI which is illustrated by a photo, drawing, or map. Suggestions Ior
Iurther reading are linked to the bibliography section.
This bibliography Ieatures editions oI primary sources and key studies oI the last two
decades in English, German, French, and Italian, grouped in thematic subdivisions. When
available, links to online publications and Google Books are given. In addition, a number oI
colleagues have given us permission to make their work available as downloadable PDFs.
There is also a separate section listing relevant web sites (External resources`).
The section Highlights` illustrates a selection oI 37 oI Sargon`s letters. The clay tablets
resemble a mobile phone in size and shape and are inscribed in cuneiIorm, using either the
Assyrian or Babylonian language. Our high resolution photographs oI text samples in the
British Museum are composites that show the Iront, back, top, bottom, and sides in a single
image. These texts have been chosen Ior their excellent state oI preservation and Ior their
content, providing a good starting point Ior studying the original sources.
4
S. Parpola, The correspondence of Sargon II, Part I, State Archives oI Assyria 1 (Helsinki 1987);
G. B. LanIranchi and S. Parpola, The correspondence of Sargon II, Part II, State Archives oI Assyria 5 (Helsinki
1990); A. Fuchs and S. Parpola, The correspondence of Sargon II, Part III, State Archives oI Assyria 15.
(Helsinki 2001); M. Dietrich, The Neo-Babvlonian correspondence of Sargon and Sennacherib, State Archives
oI Assyria 17 (Helsinki 2003).
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2011 Institute oI Classical Studies University oI London
The twin sections People, gods & places` and Technical terms` are interactive lists oI
all proper names mentioned in Sargon`s letters and all words used in the translations that are
not selI-explanatory. We have compiled etymologies Ior all personal names and mini-
biographies Ior all individuals. Wherever possible, place names are identiIied with their
modern equivalents and linked to Google Earth and Google Maps.
All these sections can be accessed Irom each individual page by means oI the main
menu on the leIt hand side. In addition, three tabs on the right hand side provide easy access
to the bibliography, and the lists oI names and technical terms. We have paid special
attention to making the site layout as clear and attractive as possible. The same colour
palette and page design is used throughout the site and many oI the pages are illustrated,
oIten with our own photographs taken in the Louvre and the British Museum.
The template Ior Assyrian Empire Builders` was created by web designer Ruth Horry.
The content is written and maintained by the members oI the UCL project team who
regularly add pages Ior the Essentials` section and update the bibliography. The site went
online on 23 December 2009. Google Analytics is used to monitor access rates and user
interests. So Iar, the site has attracted 23,912 visits by 14,959 visitors Irom 143 countries
whose average time on site is 2:17 minutes (19/10/2011). Although still relatively new, the
site is already among Google`s Iirst ten search results Ior all obvious search terms, such as
Assyrian Empire` and Sargon II`. It`s a start.

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