Hebrew Universlty of Jerusalem, IsraelRothberg International SchoolDivislon of Graduate Studies

Ih. Wayne Horov/itzGod, Man, atrd History iD Ancient MesoDotamia

Winter Somester 2003/4

The Imperial A55ur in Egypt?A comparative readitrg of the Sam,al Stele

by Chdstoph OchsStudent ID 555304237

Submittedi March 1, 2004Due: April 18, 2004

0.

I .

II.

Table of Contenfs

Introductlont The Imperial Aisur in Egypt? A comparativereading of the Sam'al Stele

Contextual Considerations

Table I: Sam'at Stele

Comparative Evidence

Table II: Prism Fragment Bu 91-5-9, 218Itll. !J!t Sennacherib,s Annals Gnsr Carnpargn Al)Table IV: Sargon II,s Renewal ofa Land Gr*nt (KI989)Table V: Hamath SreleTable VI: Buildtug Inscription AsBbETable VII: Ashurbanipal's Annals (Rassam q,tnder)

III. Historical Considerafions

IV. Conclusion

V. Bibliography

3

5

568910t0

t2

15

18

The Imperial A55ur in Egypt?A comparative reading of the Sam,al Stele

The question of the inlluence of the neo-Assyrian religion on the local cults of

subjugated nations and especially that of the Judean kingdom has always been of interest

in biblical studies. It is likely that Mesopotamian deities were worshiped outside of

Mesopotamia proper, as e.g. theophorous elements in Canaanite cuneiform finds indicate.r

Yet, it is not established in how far the neo-Assyrians intentionally gomoted their religion

outside of Mesopotamia. Biblical and Asspian sources only offer soant information on

actual religious policies of the neo-Assyrian empire in conquered territodes, if one can

speak of policies. Nevertheless, iII the past many have boldly postulated that ,4,ijar a.nd

other members of the Deo-Assyriao pantheod were forcefully installed a,t1d their worship

required of those "under the yoke of l.i,iar."3 It is obvious that such a policy would have

significant implications for the understanding of the biblical accounts ard the history and

religion of Israel and Judab- If, for instaace, Judab, as vassal of the neo-Assydan empie

was coerced to implemer a form of ,4.iirr/ worship, Ahab's cultic modifioations and

subsequently Josiah's religious reforms and the consolidation of monotheistic yahwism

would have intricate pottical connotations and motivations.

In the discussion whelher this polioy indeed existed, Esarhaddon,s victory stele has

become one of the comerstones in arguing for and against the existence of such a policy_,

Particularly H. Spiekermam has utilized the so-called Sam'al Stele to argue that the

Assyrian imperial religion was forcibly installed in Egypt after Esarhaddon,s victory over

- 'Cf. e.g. N Na'aman and R. Zadok, ..Ass).rian Deportations t o th€ hovince of Samerina in the Light

of two Crmeiforft Tablets from Tel Hadid" (reuvt' 27 (2000), tsql 8S).

- . . ' Sunmades of the_research history can be fowd IiM.Cog n,Inpenalisn and Retigion: Asq,ria,

Judah and Isr@l in the Eisht and saehth c4tufies B.c-6. (sBLMs 19; Mjssoutr, MTj soci6. of BibticalUterature plt scholars Press, 1974), l-5; S. w. Holloway, .4jj/t/ 6 Kins! Asiur is Kns!: Reiision in theE:e:c:e of loye: k tle N:o-Assy,ian Empirc \raider' Boston, Kijin: Bri-rr, 200t), t{4;J. w. McKay,Relisio in J dah under the AsstTians 732409 BC (SBT 26; Lordon: SCM pre"", reZ:;, t+.

^ ....T!:.F-_'9t{ZittqirliStele:R.Borger,DelaschnftenAsarhaddoks:Ki;nisswnAssrrien(N(jtsslOsnabrnck: Biblio-Verlas, 1967 9561), $65, Mnn. A. 9G100 (Zinairti).

pharaoh Taharqa in 671 BC.a In comparing his reading of the stele to different texts of the

neo-Assyrian period, he finds that a geneml neo-Assyrian foreign policy of coercive

rmplementation of the the imperial state religion in oonquered territories indeed existed.5

In response, J. W. Holloway, following G. van Driel, suggested a different

ilterpretatioD. Rather than alluding to the installation of an local imperial l.iJar cult he

argues that thq phrase should be undentood as a geneml reference to the exaction of

supplies and tdbute for the national cult of the bit A,iiur or other deities of the Assyrian

pantheon in the Assyrian heartland itself.,

Both hypotheses draw on similar, and at 1imes, the same, secondary textual soruces

to substantiate the argumelt advanced. Now, this study attempts to accumulate and

methodically re-examine relevant contextual, comparative and historical evidence in ord€r

to answer how one should best mderstand Esarhaddon,s clainq sa t,tuk_ki gi_nu-u a_na

Aiiur u il6ni ne rabttihe bebnei-i' i+in dina,? ..Offedrgs and and fixed dues for l,i,ir,,

and thg great gods, my lords, I established for all times,', found on the Sam,al stele. Wbile

a few Assyrian sources exist that might indicate that worship of Li.izr had been forcefully

promoted in conqueied rcgions,3 it will be shown that the phrase in question is too

ambivalent, and more so, that it is probably unfit to deduct that such occured in Egypt

. . 'For a detailed analysh of the retated his.lorical_events cf. A. Spalinger, ..Esarhaddon and Egl,tr r: AnAnaly5is of lhe Firsr lnvasiou ot Egtp1" oticntaha 43 tto74t. 2g'-32o;H.i. A"ri, Dii;,*i*n",trob?tungen Aqqens. t/o/ / 2(Wiesbaden: Harrassowilz Vertrg. I9q4)

'H. Spiekennann, Jzda u nter Assur in der Saryoni(tenze;ilCOttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht,I98).338-119.. sl0tes tllar *die Auflage der Verehrunpfder ass. Reii,l$gotia tetrifft nach;; wor'aut derJeooscnrx-srere ( ...) gan z Agyplen, sow eit es ass. H€rrschaft unterstand.,, Ir other words, all .)f conquereal

-u,?t!,0,:-':Tf1l.l*,Aslriag.e9ds. :rhi:h ie_fr€cls aBenerar polic) rnori,"r.l 4 u Jjo* ,a.orogy. ^aovariced r0 a partra I cooctusro' ot his analysis: "De v erehfung d er ass. R erchsgdn er (... ) is-r Bes randreil_einer.eligiiiler Ideolosie seweser,, (344).

, . .: Ho_lowan 4ii!{ is Kins! Asiar is Kins!,63{4, 104-107; see also C . v:ff Diel, The Cutt of Astur(Assen: Var corcum, 1969), lgGt9t; McKay, Relrgla n in Judah,6042.'Borger,4sdlr., 965, Mnn. A.96t0O, revene U.4849.

_ 'E.g. SpiekermanA, Juda unter Ass:Itr in der Saryon idenzeit, 325 327, T€lath_pileser lrl ctaims tohave.installed images of Ass).riatr deities atrd himsef in Gza to be worshipp"a Oj, tn",;."i"-g lo""tpopulation. Thougb it is not clear if the claim c*n be substantiated, it is not r;**it t" tru"-.-t.av i.,*-*r, itdoes Dot relare to Esarhaddon- s cooquest of Esr?t or tle sam'ar siere. rven iiessv.i"'Litr!"- *-" ."t"rr"a i,rrca!y deduct a general pan-Ass'dn poticy of coercive pronotion of the starere[grcn m conquered territories.

after 671 BC. In particular, the comparison with secondary texts will substantiate and

provide further support for Holloway's ard van Driel's rsading of the Stele.

Contextual Considerations

The stele was initially found at Ja'udi (modern Zingirli, Turkey)' capilal of the

Assyrian vassal state of Sam'al. The iconogmphio design, the monumental size and

character of the stele in a mere peripheral boder region,which the neo-Hittite city of

Sam'al was, indicates a propagandistic purpose to the monument, atrd as such might put

the veracity of the content into question.' However, it is questionable if Esarhaddon would

have made fictitious claims in a region that was in relatively close proximity to Egypt.'o The

very aim of his plopaga,t1da would have begn to instill respect and avert any kind of

sectarian ambition, which cetainly would have been undermiued by reports from Egypt

stating the contnry to his claims. It seems more sensible that the Ass,.rians would have

exaggerated the truth rather than fabricated it ellthely. Illtimately, if the text section

under study was purposely "embellished", the stele should not at all be utilized to argue

that an.4,iir,' cull was hstalled fu Egypt - nor that commodities supplying the national oult

wera exported.

Howbeit, the consideratioN relating to its Fopagandistic purpose do not prevent a

study of the content and context of the stele. After an elaborate ac.ount of the titles and

accomplisbments of Esarhaddon, tlaical for a monumental inscription, the stele relates tho

details of the conquest of Egypt: Taharqa's army was defeated, his residence Memphis

besieged arrd sacked. The city is thoroughly plundered, and the royal court and its assets

deponed. The imminent context of the pbrase undet study mentions then that Esarhaddotr

" BN Porter, -The Importance of Place: Esarhaddon's Stelae at Til Baxsip and Sam'al" inHisbnogruphy i the Cuneiform world, Vol. I, eds. T. AbusclL PA. Beauleu, J. Hu€hnergard, P Machinistand P Steinkeler (BetlEsda, Maryland: CDL Press, 2001), 373-390; Holoway, Aiittr is King! Aiiur is King!,56-57i 6254-

I News would bave travel along the trade routes, and e.9. Pboenician and Aramean merchants couldcertainiy have connented on the motrumeDt's claims.

appointed the full arIay ol adminishative officials over the newly conquered territory

(Table I, 1. 4748) - doubtlessly to secure it, but in effect for the purpose of further

exploiting its economy by levying tribute from the Eg)'ptians as stated in ll. 49-50.

Table l: Sam'al Slele; reverse 11.47-50'

ina muhbi nat Mu-rv kaliili idnaninesIapAhAtinei I iakn int.nei trrdb-kaftrei

t lA-pi-ri ana ei-iti1i apqid sat-tuk-ki si-nu-u aaa ,4iiur u ilanifierabititue bzlehei-idit-ki da+i-e (|es. :an) biltu i nonia-at-tLtbAu-i-iA iaHinan la na-par-ka-a

over all ofthe land of Eg4t kings,viceroys, govemors, harborinspectors,

scribes,I appoinfed anew. Offerings and andfl.(ed dues for.tii,,' and the great gods, myloralsI established for all times. My rcyal aibut€

50

19

50and tax, yeaxly without ceasing,I imposed upon them.

The pbrase sat-tuk*i gi-nu-u a-na Aiiur u ilAni he rabfitine bAbn"s-id i-hin dd-ri'e, s

"sandwiched" in between Esarhaddon's appointment of officials, and stipulating tribute

ard taxes. The phrase, as such, occurs in the context of administration a.nd economic

exploitation. It is, hence, not too far fetched to assume that the ,'attukku- a'nd gini-

oflerings for "Li,iar and the other grcat gods" wer€ actually exported to the Assyrian

heartland together with the other t bute.

It is also notewofihy that in the preceding section Esarhaddon boasts of the

restoration of the ,tt ,4i,irl, the refurbishment of Babylonian temples and the retum of the

deported deities, i.e. Marduh thereto. Yet, if the Assyrian cull was irdeed introduced in

Egypt, the inevitable Fovision of cultic items, the cotrshuction or refurbishment of temples

or the appointment of religious or liturgical officials would in contrast be unmentioned-

The same is true for a parallel souce to the stele, the building inscription AsBbE:" An

almost identical text as in Table I is directly followed by an elaborate description of

Esarhaddon's restoration and refurbishment of tbe ,;t ,4i.ilr and the E.sog-il.

" The Akkadian traNliteration appears exastly as given by Borger ,4rdln., $65, Mnm. A., 99, [. 47-50.'Borser,4Jalr., S57, Esarh. AsBbE. (Assur 3916), 86- 89. Cf. Table VL

again without mentioning similax ac'omplishments in Egypt " Likewise' an expectable

restontion of cultic seNioes after the retonquest of Egypt by Ashulbanipal would also

remain unmentioned.'"

II. Cornparative Evidence

Besido the stele itself, s€condary neo-Assyrian texts provide the strongest and most

relevant context to understand the phrase under study Several texts diectly relatutg to

the research topic will be considered'

Prism Flagment Bu 9l-5-9, 2l8ri Gable II) repeats the same passage as Table I'

only a list of items is inserted after the pbmse about the establisbmeDt of sattuftft'- and

gizri-offerings, and beforc the refereoce of raisiqg tribute'

Table II: Prism Fragment Bu 9 l-$ 9, 21q;col. b 11. 12-20'"

t2t3

l516

18

n

"*-r,:";,;^;- *,^1,:sattuld ginn a a Ai:ltt u ibni rtabtu nkinl, t2vI bilat XIX mane Isuraqi cCC IM DD{XXVf srtil naiu asi \'v ll inir I tJ

Offedlgs al]d fixed dues for Aiiur ^ndtbesreat so& tI eshblishedl

6 taleits and le miras ofgoLd. 300 [I 586 pr'errt garments. x+7 donkev ioads Ix+24 ebnnywood.lq9 dutnal skitrs I1X40 hones I30.419 sheep19.323 donkey loads of natltmy royal tibute, Y€arly It I message of.4.i[.i!.d,[ny] lord

lxl+)Oo V llnt O(CIX ,laiw tMtxlXL rtsl x x I30+19 immerc |19323 imer tuq\iIn a nV au u bel hiia i alt i[io n n a

i 1 sipini tn*,\ wttlio

'i

\aThese items do not seem to be the spoil taken from Taharqa's tesidence m

Memphis, which is listed in K8692 and includes e g jewels, gold, 8 000 talents of silver'

50.000 horses or 60.000 cows." While the numbers might be exaggerated' though not

tB".c".1""t1," S5?, E"*h. AsBbE (Assw 3916), 87-89, obve{se l' 14 - reverse l'Z -. ^

" si.-Ja tn" a"-t "iLt

.r/.ii,," temples or statui€s not have been a geat sin'\torthy" of mentlon]l€'

esDecially il it could rationalize the re-cotrquest of Egypt?--"---n

ff-U. Ot*ft, A e Asstrischetl Etrbetungen Agptens: Komnetare und Anne*ange't Vol' I

(wiesbaden: Hanassowitz Verlag, 1994),30-32''

" The At&adian transliteration app€ars exactly as given by H U Onash' De Asslvischen Ercbenngen

As,ptens, 31. Cf . also turger, ,4rdr'r., Frt. l-J, $79-$80, I 134'i w.G. l,ambert. iBootv from Egnt'yJs JJ (l9s2r, 61-70 Notice also that tbe prec€ding lines of the

s"m'"r "t.r".

t qi!, "ieady

nention spiril e.g large quantitr€s of hones and cattle be mg deported to

Assyria. 5

unfitting for a civilization as affluent as Lower Egypt would have been, a definite oontrust

oan bc seen to the quality and the much lesser quartities listed in Bu 91-5-9, 218. Hence,

the items mentiooed in the prism fragnrent appear to be the tributg due to be s€nd back

amually, or either a list of the Fovisions intended for the cultic service in Assyria - or even

both. Since the list of commodities follows the statemetrt .rdtlrku gini ana A,iiuf u ilq i

rlabht kinl, "Offeflr,gs and fixed dues for,4i,irl ard the great gods [I established]," it is

osrtai y possible that thesg are actual eleme[ts of sattukku- ar\d giaii-offerings, especially

since malt, sh€ep or garments could be used in feedhg or dressing ituals. In any case, it

does uot seem plausible that these items, e.g. the talents of gold, were to remain in Egypt.

A text from Sedracherib's reign (Table III) also illustrates that the pbrase under

study indeed rcfened to actual commodities that wore requied to be supplied for the

upkeeping of the Assyrian cults: After Seruacherib's conquest Uirimmu he relates that he

re-organized xhe district, including the impo$ition of provisions for Assyrian cults.

Table III: Setrnacherib's Annals - lhe Fbst Campaign 1A l1''

na€u4 iialu a-na ei'lnai aliatiitan(en) alpa 10 in erAd I0 inarkafina n iner flhtrya n4e-te4u a-na

si-lie ilanid tAj:u*i bakd-ia it+in

It is obvious that these items arc to be brought to one or sevenl temples. One can

only speoulate whether these were local temples in the district of lirimmu or if the

mtional shdnes in Assyria were to receive ths offerings. In any case, even if the

expressioLa-na giai-e ilAnil tAii fu bel&ia i-kin dd-ri-iam in this context meart that the

local temples were to administer these offerings and thus could imply the installation of

Assyrian deities in temples in $irimmu, one should not too quickly assume that the same

happeoed in Egypt. After all Sirimmu is in the border region between Asslnia and

' Th€ Akkadian transliteration appears exactly as giv en by D. D.h&eutnn, The Annals ofSennochenb (Aicaeo, rllinois: The Ihiversity of Chicago Press, 1924), 55.59

6

59 That district I re-orgaoized: One ox10lambs, l0 rdne ofwine,2o hone^of dates, the choice,st things, asotrerings, for the gods ofAssyria" Iestablished for all tines.

Babylon and Sennacherib's reorganization of the district would suggest that the region

could have been incorporuted to be part of Assyria proper. In this case, the required

provisions of the inhabitants of the region of girimmu for the cultic service of the temples

would not be any different from those of Assyrian citizens in Assyria proper.

Unfortunately, not much about the actual ecotromy of the Assjnian oultic system is

known, which certainly would be of great aid in understanding the phrase under study.

However, a number of texts have been identified that refer to obligations laid upon

persons, land and also conquered nations to submit supplies for the cult of ,4,j.irr..r,Also,

Another way of supplying the temples was to give them a share in the tribute that newlysubjected peoples had to pay. Once again we do not know wheth€r a system existed by whichthe god had an automatic share in the boofy and the t bute, which is not altogetherunthinkable. We rlay suppose that l,ii / had a somewhat special position among the gods; heis often mentioned in passages describing lhe expansion of the Assyriatr rule. The partialidentification of the god a.rd the country makes it difficult to differentiate between tributepaid to the god and that paid to the country.a

While it would be desirable to examine all the texts pertailing the support and

maintenarce of the national cult, the study has to suffice with but a few.,r Only one text

from Sargon II's reign pertainiug ginri-offerings will be discussed in detail (Table IV),

although others exist. The text was ir partioular choseu because of the similar use of

vocabulary as in the stele passage. It is representative of a group of texts attestilg to the

practise of obliging people or diverse people groups to provide for the eoonomy atrd regular

seflice of the cultic activities of Assyrian temples.

" E.g.: State Archives of Asslria VI ( SAA 6), tro. 188 mentions that g'rli-offeings were attached tothe ownenhip of a vin€yad; in SAA 10, no. 96, 11. 5-7, e. 25 complaints about rhe detay/ Don-delivery of gr'rn-offerhgs fo. the /ii!," temple are related, whicb certain officials fajled to send though obliged ro, and in SAAlO, tro. 353, ll. 12, I7 , 22 the citizeDs of Borsippa ar€ menrioned to be required to suppty for the sacrifices ofthe local Nabt temple according to EsarlEddotr's command. Interesting here is that thi person, probably Mar-Issar, reporting to Esarhaddon ahout the progess of refu$istment and continuarion of butl sacrifices for theNabt temple in Borsippa includes a r€ference to Eg'"tian di8?,t -jewels, pr€sumably ftom the booty raken inEgypt. Werc these jewels items tbat Esarhaddon disrribured from rhe general spoii raken in EgWt? or werethey possibly taken from rcquir€d proviriors for the Assyrian cults? Cf. atso S. W. Holloway, ..The silfdl.j,r,iirr and Neo-Asldan Loyalty (htl6" in Histoiography in the Cunedorm Wo d, Vot t, eds. T. Abusch,PA. Beaulieu, J. Huehie.gard, P Macfiinist and P Steinke er (Bethesda, Maryland: CDL press, Z00l), 2j9-266, who discusses texts showing that "Provircial govenon like Mannu-ki-Nmua of Earb5r / Kar-Sarukr-nwerc rcsponsible for supplyine girn-offerings for the cult of,4i'iu/ in the Asslria! heartland" (265).

' v. Dtiel, The C|lt of ,tsiur, l9O.' For more exhaustive tleatrnents of Xexts con€eming &rri-off€rings , ci Hofloway , Aiiur ts King!

Aiiur is KinE!, 100-108; v. Driel flie CIl/l of Aiiur,185-19t. ,7

Table IV: Sargon II's Renewal of a Land Grant of Ad.d-ner.ri (Itr)' K1989ADD809), obvene ll. 25-26, 34:. rcvene 11. 7-3-

tl0l ANSE SE.l,ai]dre a -na sat-tukhi dA

6

Ten homers of c/rrredgain for offerings to.ai.i"r [and] Babu o! [thetrI]he established and sealed them on a tablet.a,i.i,I kl

dBA! I.U UGU-[,it-,] ,rt-ki n -nu- na i b -r rliln-tu- nu k a a n -[L'u]

l0 ANSE SE.ndi-ld-te ,uh-ro-laae la mdIM-

Iaaa sataukT+i danv irku-s, Ix rrr r

r V r x x-av+i.lanaa-ti n slu-unni r I rx t xl-l*i-nullx x x M-iul4-na la ippa-rak-ku-i Wal?M]U.IAN],NA

25

25

34

r.2t.3

The prcvious ten homers of crushed grain,which Adad-nerdri ([D had d€cre€dlas offeri]ngs for,4ii!a [I reaffirmed.....;in...]....., hardship and flarfnel, t e'J' [...]they shall bear and they shall not default [al]thle year around.

t.3

In the course of building Dur-Sarruken Sargon II reassigns ownership of

expropriated land for the new city premises." Beside granting new property to the evicted

owners, the obligation to provide for saltrfttz-offerings for.4,iiar and Babu, attached to

the expropriated lard and imposed earlier by Adad-nerad (III), was also tnnsfered to the

ownership of the new 1and.'o The use of similar vooabulary 0. 26, r. 3) could suggest that

the same obligation to provide for the cultic service that was attaohed to the ownelship of

the fields was thus also required from the Egyptians.

Anothe. stele frcm Sargon II's reiga (Table V)" of which only little can be

deciphered mentions the establishment of s attukkuaffermgs in similar terms, only that the

obligation to supply the offedngs here is laid upon the people of the newly conquered

region of Hamath. Based on a second account of the Sargon's dealings with Hamatlq which

mentions the obligation of paying tribute by a group of 6.300 newly settled "guilty"

" Th€ Atkadian tratrsliteration app€a.s exactly as given in the SAA 12, tro. 19, K1989 (ADD 809), 21;obvene ll.25-26, reverse [. 1-3.

! SAA 12, no. 19, K1989 (ADD 809), p.21; obverse l1 25,26, reverue 11. l-3.'It is not established to wbich temple the provisiors had to be delive.ed. The fo.mer obligations to

supply ,4iir,. and Babu were imposed €a ie. by Adad-nerari (trI), as such the deliveries were Dot desthed forthe rcw city of Dur-Sanuken, which hosted a rewly build Ea temple (SAA 12, Do. 19, l. 16).Imsmuch as dlenew assi$edprope(y was taken from "the land of,4i.f!]/" in the district of NDiveh ([.30-31), and since,4i,irris one of the reclpr€nls it seems plausible that the temples in ,4iiar received the offerings.

' F. Thuleatl-Dansn! "La stCle d'Asham€," 1t4 J0 (1933) 54:B 11. 16-18. r

Assyrians,"Holloway shows that "sargon II imposed a .tiDt -tax in large and small cattle

and the provision of s attukkuaffeings on newly conquered Hamatb m'/20."'

Table V: Hamath Stele. B- l l . l6-18''

l-t;

lana dAi-iurl betiia ak-ru-uEnlal

...... ti-bit alpd u rea-Lnil

......n-kin sat-tuk+ua[i -iu']

16 lto,4i.ir,'], my lod I pray€d/z ...... tax in large and small cattle.18 ...... I eslablish€d [his] otrefings

The recipient of the s attukku-offetng is lost in this stele, though Holloway

suggests that "it was probably .4,i,iar and/or the great gods of Assyria."" In his estimation,

the stele is a spomdic example "of the obligation to supply the Assydan temples qrith

provisions imposed on newly organized provincial or "pacified" territories "" One has to

admit that this example is not as convincing, since the historical nor tertual context is

certain. Also, even if a phrase similar to sat-tuk-ki gi'nu-u a- a Aiiur u ila i ne rabittire

bAbn"t-id ti-kin dd-n-e would have been identified, it would still be ambivalent.

Nevertheless, it should be safe to assume that the actions which both inscriptions describe

are sinrilar in both contexts, inasmuch the phrases are absolulely identical.

The same phrase also occu$ in other texts, but here the historical coltexts axe

better established atrd may offer further insights: In the Feviously mentioned building

inscription from -4iJrr (Table VI), which also narrates Esarhaddon's conquest of Egypt, one

can for instance find arr additionally inserted idiom.

-- wcl--b"'t It o.wll{,,s&t.11a, ed ltulders to Heare : An Treasuresfrm La dsof the Bibte

(Toronto: Mccleland and Stewarr, 1981) no. 83, l25 l,amben states that, "Thh new sourc€ rcveals what is notcontained jn any other document, that tbousands of Assrrians were "guilty" in Sargon's eyes. They werepardoned and settled in ltamath. This settlemed suggests that they were not pr€viouslv resident in the area" so;ost likely they w€re Assyrian army units who had offended against Sargon atrd, despite tbeir pardo& weredismissedfrom sewice, settled far from home in Hamath and re$ri.ed to perfomt the duties and tasks ofsubject peoplo" (ibid.). If it was indeed lhis gloup of "gdlty" Assyd&s that had to supply olferings for thenationai cult, it would not surprise that conquered mtions as w€I had to suppod the natioml cult h Uke

'Hollo'$ay, Asi1.t is King! Ai:ltr is Kina!,106.'The Alkadian transLiteration appears exactly as given by Thueau-Dangjn "La stdle d'AshamA" 54;

race B, 11. 16-18." Holloway, ,4i.i,rr Is i<r'gl Aiiur is Kins!, t06.' lb id. . lob.

Table VI: Dsarhaddon's Building Inscription AsBbE (Assur 3916),Borger Esarh., $57, Esa rh. 87. obverse l l. l4- | 7"

Besides the addilional references to the "yoke of li,irrr" the text is almost identical

to the Sarn'al Stel€. However, exactly the reference to the "yoke of l,i.ir,r" echoes a

passage in Ashurbanipal's armals describing the aftermath of Shamash-shum-ukin's

brutally suppressed revolt in Babylon (Table VII).

Table VII: 's A-nnals, Rassam , col.IV, [.103-109r!

t6

17

103

]M

108

109

(...\ iaftan[nei MpahaiMi t|isaknrti

(cAxtu.me\ tnftb*a@nes bi ina w&Lindfi t i (KIJR..KUR) -i n -nu,ti-km-ma nii dllAiiurl beliia ernidaltau-ti satluk+i si-tlu-u aM d.4:-ilur u\ilAninei rabrtitus beldlnei -ila n-kinina dAi4am biltu nan4aat4i betuai-iaiat-ti-:an-na la na-[parhAla eaid-! (les.su\-t u-ti i-!n-,!u ab-ina-ni

i.lunir ilua:: r ia is-lu-u e-midiu-nu-tidneluiaknlinei andlu(rA?aninei ii-kin

ka6lliaailak+.'aa e-li-iuansatukkAtus gi-nu-u rA:Adrei ituaiiur uilu beliti ihni6ei natu.ituaih$i i-ktn $tm4i-iu-un

(...) kings, viceroys, govemors,haftor inspectors, I set over their larlds.I pkced the yoke of [,4'ird, my lord, uponthem. Offerings and and fix€d du€s for ,4iitu'andl the great gods, my lords, I €stablishedfor all times. My royal tributetud tax, yearly without lceaslins, I inpos€dupon them, and they canied my yoke.

I5

IO3

]M105

IU108109

I05

106

The yoke of,4J&rr, which lhey had cast off, Iplaced upon them.Cor€mors, overseers; crealrres ofmy hard

Offerings and and fix€d dues, the choicestthings (?), for,4i.irl and BaL,ard the gods ofAsqriq I set upon them.My royal tribule and tax,yearly without c€asing, I imposed upon therr.

bil& man4aatau be htai-iaiat-ti4am-na la na-par+a-a e idau-ma i

In regard to the r€fercnce in Ashu$a.nipal's amals to the ''oke of Aiiutz' lohr,

McKay has suggested that,

The imposition seems to have been hipartite: the appointme of 'govemors and f(efects'(1ine 105), the amual collection of 'royal tribute and tax' (line 108) and the disputed religious

' lhe Akkadian transliteration alpears exactly as given by Borge.,4rdlr., $57, AsBbE. 87, obvers€ 11.t4,r7.

"The Akkadian translitemtion is based otr M. Streck , Assurbanipal und die letzten Assyrischen Ki;nigebis zun Untersans Nirbeh s, t/o|.2: ?a e Q-eipziE: I.C. HiDricb 1916), 40, edited by rctes ftom Msrr€c*,A,ssurbanipal und die letzten A:slvischen Kiinige bis zum UntetAang Niniveh's, fol.3: Register Glossar,Veryeichnis der Eigennaten, SchlwsnachtrAge und kleirerc Beri.htigungen(Lelp g:LC. Hinrich,1916),830.The choice of reading /i,idti and its subBequenl tansiatjo! is based on a personal communication of w-GLambert, as quoted in McKay, Relision i/t Jdah nler the Asslrians,lzo

^ll, l0

burden (lines 106r). Since two pa.rts of the Yoke of Ashur appea$ to have taken form offiscal arrangements, it seems more likely that that third part was a denand for financialconrribuLion Oo5sibly in kind) to lhe Assyrian slat€ religion."

This suggestion would be strengthened by the previously made observations colcerning

the prism fragment Bu 9l-5-9, 218. Yet, in compa ng the almost identical passage of

Ashurbanipal's annals to the Sam'al stele, Spiekermann concludes that in the same manner

as the Egyptians were forced to wo$hip the Assyrian paotheon, accodingly the

Babylonians too were made to worship ,4,i.ir,i'. This conclusion then led to his hypothesis of

a general policy of ooercive installation of the Assyrian religion.'" However, two or more

instances of an ambivalent text do not create a higher certainty of meaaing. Spiekermann is

nevertheless corlect to expect that the meaning of the phrase applied to both historical

contexts.

Ashurbanipal's annals relatg that after the Babylonian revolt, he "purified their

sh nes and cleansed their filthy streets. Their angry gods and wrathful goddesses I

appeased with peniteltial prayo and psa]m. Their temple revenues, which had fallen off, I

re-established in fu[ as in the days of old."" The amals do not mentioo that Marduk was

taken into captivify, nor that ,1,j,irr' rcplaced him in any way, like done by Sennacherib. In

fact, no Assyrian temples are known to lEve existed in Babylonia.'" Considering that

Ashurbairipal reinstated the national Babylouian cults, it is difficull to argue for the

forecible promotion of,4,i,irr worship in Babylonia based on the particular phrase under

study. Hence, it would seem more sensible to interFet the Egyptian context based on the

Babylonian, rather than vice vena: Inasmuch it was unlikely that the Babylomans were

3 McKay, Religion it Judah nder the Assyians,60.' Sriekerman, Jda unter Assw in tur SarAonidenzeit , 34G343." Translation by D.D. Lu&,enblll, Ancient Recorh of Assyfia and Babylon, Vol.2: Historiall Recor^

a/lslnd (New York Crreenwood hess, 1968 [1924, 304, [. 86-91: The claim of the rc-establislunent of th€temple revenues likely rcfers to the re-institution of Foviding for the local cults, but Ashubenipal's "concem"with the temple revenues might indicaie that part of the local temples' budget was to be deliver€d to Ass],'da.Perhaps th€ re-establishment of reven es refered to the eslablishmeni of satl,*tz- and 8"r-offe.ings? If so,did the Babylonian temple economy deliver part of their jncome to Ass)'ria, and did the same maybe happe! itrEgyptian temples?

" C.f. A.R. ceorge, Horre Most Hisl: The renples of A cient Mesopotamia (WiDona Lak€, Indiana:Eisenbrauns, 1993). Therc should be a good reason that ,4.i.irr should "dwe[" in a temple in Babylo a.

j r

coerced to worship,4,i,irl in thg aftermath of Shamash-shum-ukin's attempted cor.p, the

same is questionable to have occwed in Egypt. As such, the phmse sot-l k-hi gi- u-u d-na

Aiiur u ildni nn rabitime belewiid i-kin dd-n-e is probably referring to the requied

provision for the national cult in Assyria, inasrnuch it should not refer to the the

installatioq of ,4i,irl womhip locally. In the light of this, the "yoke of lj,izf' might hdeed

be a tripartite reference to the installation of loyal administrative officials and a dual

obligation to contribute to the Assyria[ state and religious cult.

III. Histoiical Consideratiotrs

From the evidence examired thus far it seems questionable to intemret sat-tuk-ki

gi-hua a-na Aiiur u Ani ne labttine barcNei-iri i-lcin dd-i-e as rcference to the installation

of the Assyrian cult in Egypt. Some general histo.ical coosiderations will poiut out further

Foblems related to the hypothesis that a coercive promotion of the Assyrian religion in

Egypt was caried out.

The strongest argument against the idea that the worship of l,i3ar was prcmoted

outside of Ass'.ria, is the nature of ,4.i.irl itself. Though not nearly as much is know about

,4.i,ir,,' than about Maduk, it is evident that he is very much unlike any other

Mesopotamian deity. Lambert states that,

He was peculiarly an Ass].rian god {.ithout other cult centers excq)t when Assl,riansestablished then! and he is rct f'ully a cleus persona. One seeks in vain for his idedtity. First heIacks the family coorections which are characteristic of all major gods and goddesses of theBabylonian and Sumerians. uniting them in big one clan.'

He had no clearly distinguishable wife, the members of his rarely mentioned family are

most likely "borrowed" from southem Mgsopotamia, he lacks the stock of epithets

common to Mesopotamian deities and most st king is the theological re-idetrtification he

experiences. Fist he seems to bg identified with Hadad, later he was seen as an Assyian

"W. G Lambert, 'The God Asstrr," Iraq 45 (1983),82.

12

Enlil and lastly he was modeled after Marduk" "Further, in Old Assyrian documents from

the trading oolonies h Anatolia there is occasionally a lack of dislinction between city and

god,"' which might indicate that the locality or geographical feature, possibly a particular

dominant rock formation in the oity .4,i,frl was the cultic origin of the deity. lambert

concludes from this that "the god,4,i,irr is the deified city""" which subsequently has been

widely accepted. His obseNation is further strengthened by the fact that ody one Iiirr,"

temple has been refered to in Assyrian sources outside of the old capital l.iirr.'' This is

even more surprising considering the fact that the Assyrian seat of monarchy was often

relocated, which would make the city Li,irJ" in some sense similar to the religious oapitals

Nimrud or Nippur.

It is as such difficult to imagine that such a centralized woNhip, bome out and

focused around one specific "holy city," would foster the promotion and conshuction of

cultic centem as far as Egypt. One also has to wonder about the religious attitude of the

Assy.rians; e.g. in how fax it was even desirable that foreigners could pray dftectly to the

own pantheon.

Related to this "fixed" nature of ,4,i.iur is the PFKakki A.iiu/, the s;tnbol or weapon

ofl,i,iar. The symbol was essentially a portable divine "substitute" image for the purpose

of oath-taking, ilr particular by the leaden of conquered nations.n' The oath of submission

and allegiance to the Assyrian conquerors "required the physioal presence of Assyrian

divine images and, ideally, those of the subordinate party as well;'u' Tlrc eEKakki Aiiur

fuJfilled this requirement, which would not have been necessary if the conqusrors had

" Ibid., 86." ftid., 83.' Ibid., 83.' GeoryE, Htuse Most Higll: The Temples of Ancient Mesopotami4 ao.687.He lists ten lemples in

the city of ,4iirr itself, ard one outsid€ (no. 68?), which is m Kdr:Tukulti-Ninurta, to the north ofeiirr", butsti very much in Assyria proper.

" S. Holloway, "The Sil-Kaffi ,4i&u,' and Neo-Asyrian Loyalty Oaths," "In conclusior, il is suggestedthat the trd,t&t ,4iirr function€d as a shorthand conventior in the royal iDscriptions of the secotrd half of theeight centuy for military standads of the Assyrian state pantheon used in the administration of loyalt/ oaths"(264\.

" S. Hofloway, 'The ctsl(aftu,4i,i,rr and Neo-As)'rian Inyalty Oaths," 253. I ?

brought or already installed an liizr statue or any other member of the pantheon in the

conquered territory.

But even if the Assyrians subsequently would have established oultic images or

symbols of the Assyrian pantheon in the territories of the new vassals, e.g. in

administrative centers or capital cities, one has to cotrsider that in doing so they would have

made themselves vulnerable to thei own religious propaganda.* The potential destruction

or captue of Ass).rian cultic images would have demonstrated imperial and drvme

weakness and fufher,li,i&r forbid, become a means of blacknail and anti-Assyrian

propaganda. The likelihood for even capital or well-fortified garison cities to fall into the

hauds of rebels would have glo$r1 with ths distance from the heartlard, since the

periphery was out of the immediate reach of the Assyrian armias. Further,

If the Cneat Kings did indeed commission outposts of the state pantheon in provincial capitals,it is decidedly curious that that Assy an govemors and other officials in authority ignoredthei ritual calendars, trever cotrmented o|t the "care and feeding" of these Assy an gods,a,rtd never expressed apprehension that ihese valuable imperial symbols located in volatileborder regions might themselves fall into hostile hands and thus advertise Asslrian politicalwealcress.'"

Thus it seems that ever the etKakki Aiiul was for good reason only placed in fortified

administative cerfers, when it was not surrounded by the Assyriaa war machine.

In the light of Esarhaddon's previously failed campaign against Egypt and the

expedence that the Assyrians had with othgt potent etremies, e.g. Elam, it is questionable

if it was rcally expected that control of Iower Egypt would be retained, especially since

pharaoh Taharqa escaped. Would Esarhaddon really have risked the captue or destruction

of Assl.rian cultic images by Taharqa? Although, in the light of the nature of.4.i,irr it is

even more questionable if Esarhaddon ever would have considered placing his statue

outside of the caDital in the first place.'"

" Similar to the propaganda "applied" by the Sennachen-b's Rabshakeh against the kingdom of Judah,cf. 2 Kings 18:13-37.

" S. Hofloway, "The 6cs1<d&&t,{.i,i,lf and Neo-As}'.ian l,oyalty Oaths" , 250.' The same objections should be considercd itr reference to the much closer Babylonia, which had a

longer history of rebelliofl agar'nst th€ Ass]rian overlords. 1 4

Iastly, based on what is lcrown about Esarhaddon one has to wonder if he would

have supplarted the Egyptian cults while previously re-instituting and providing for those

of the Babylonians. There were cefainly more than political considerations that lead

Esarhaddon to care for the re-activation of the worship of Babylonian deities, whether they

were religious superstition or devotion.n' If the might of a deity was measured in military

victory and the level of oivilization reached, the Egyptiar partheon was cetainly not to be

underestimated. And although Esarhaddon's victory demonstrated ,4,i.irl's supremacy, the

detectable surprise voiced about Taharqa's captued assets and e.g. the sight of Egyptian

axchitecture, would make the "defeated" pantheon certahly not appear as something to

rashly affront. Even if Esarhaddon's decisions were lrot motivated by religious

co$identions, the queslion has to be mised what the polilical attitude of the Assyriam

was towaxds the Egypti6ns. A. Spalinger concludes his study by goitrg even so far as to say

that the "Assyrians could (..-) portray themselvss as "liberato6" of Egypf"' in their

struggle against the Kushites. Thus one has to wonder how desirable it would have been

for Esarhaddon to possibly offeld the Egyptians by making tlem worship A,i.irr

ry. Conclusion

In order to axgue that the Egyptians were required to worship .4,iJa,, in Egypt, or even

morc, to argue for the existence ofa Asslyian general policy of forced promotion oflhe state

religion, one needs stronger evidence than the Sam'al stele. Holloway's and v. Driel's reading

oflhe stele appears to have morc contextual and historical support than Spiekerrnann's.

However, that does not mean that religion was not paxt of the neo-Assyian rcpeltore of

foreign politics, nor that .4,iizr in fre mind of the subjugated nations was inelevant. In fact, to

require that conquered nations had to provide sattukku- arf, ginri-offerings for '2J,iar and the

" As his reliance on substitute kings to avert bad omens would indicate.' Spalinger ,"Esarhaddon ard Eglpt," 325.

l5

other great gods" may very well have been motivated by religious ideology.

In the whole discussion perhaps a distinctioo between (rcquired) provision for the

national cult, expected recognition ofsupremacy ofthe conquerors' deities, and actual worship

ofa deity should be made. Nevertheless, by already paying tribute and thus indirectly, ifnot

directly, providing for the Assyrian state religio4 a practical form of submissive veneration of

the Assyrian panlheon is given. Also, the administration of loyalty oaths in the presence of

the Asqrian pantheon could be considered a form ofreligious recognition ofthe Assyrian

deities. As such Hezekiai's rcbellion against Assyria could certainly have been motivated by

religious zeal, even without having to enact required Assyrian cultic rites in Judah.

It seems clear that, not wiike today, religion and politics were connected. Religion was

used by the Asq.rians for propaganda, in intimidation and blacknail and also might have

helped to rationalize one's olln not too gende dealings with subjugated nations."' The actions

taken by the As$Tian emperors display all too clear that their own personal beliefs were

shongly related to their political dealings, and vice versa: Sennacherib destroys Babylon and

abducts Marduk, his son Esarhaddon does the opposite- It is, as such, bold to claim that a

constant neo-Assyrian foreign poliry of coercive implehentation of the the imperial state

religion in conquered territodes existed. Also, the sponsorship or destruction of foreign

deities and cults, or the abduction of conquered statues of deities, well attested in the neo-

Assyrian pedod, should be distinguished from the promotion of the imperial state religion.

The aMuction of a statu€ does not imply the necessity to replace it, especially by the

conquerors, nor does it imply that a need was felt to promote the own religion instead. The

abduction of foreign religious symbols probably was initially more practically motivated

than religiously - though it definitely visually demonstrated the dominance of Assyria and

her gods. The fact that.!,i,iar is such a localized and "fixed" god is, hence, a definite

advantage: On the one side the Assl.rians could demonstrate in the destruction of all the

" Cf. the findings of Cogan, Imperialism a Religion or Holloway, ,4,iir r ](i g! AiS r is King!16

foreign divine images the supremacy of.4,iitr and the Assyrian empire, but they

theoselves would rurely be in danger of the persuasive power of such an "empirical"

demonstation.

Further, since Mesopotamian religion was based and focused on specific locations,

the earthly dwellings of the gods, be it temples or Zigguot, it would be more plausible to

assume that a Mesopotamian conqueter would buttrqss the already established cultic

centers and capital cities with the takeq spoil, than to diversify it iq the unstable periphery.

The Assl.rians especially, who display strong interests in centmlized economic exploitatior,

boasted of the development of their oapital cities and temples. The obligation to Fovide

and pay tibute to the centers ard temples of Assyria seems thus to be more natural.

Iastly, one has to wonder if the idea that the worship ofan imperial or national deity

rcspective ofplace ol origin ofthe god, e.g. by erecting a large nmrber of altaN and statues in

the empire, might not be a monotheistic conception, and thus still foreign to a society with a

hierarchical-polltheistic religion

t7

V. Bibliography

Botge4R. De Inschriften Asarhaddons: Kbnigs von .4ssynen (AfOB 9)-Osnabriick Biblio-Verlag, 1967 11956l.

CogauM. Imryrialism and Religion: Asq'ria, Judah and lvael in the Eight ahd Seventh

Centunes B.C.E. (SBL}.IS l9). Missoula, MT: Society of Biblical Litemture ardScholars Press, 1974,

George, A.R. House Most High: The Temples of Ancient Mesopotamia.Winona lake, Indianat Eisenbrauns, 1993.

Holloway, S. W. ,4i,iar is King! Aiiur is King!: Religion in the Exercise of Power in the Neo-

Assyrian Empire.Leiden, Boston, Kiiln: Brill, 2001.

"The eisKakki Aiiur and Neo-Asyrian Iryalty Oaths." br Historiography inthe Cuneiform lforld, VoL I , eds.'f . Abusclq P.A. Beaulieu, J. Huehnergard,P. Machinist and P. Steinkeller: 239-266. B€thesda, Maryland: CDL hess, 2001.

I-amb€rt, W. G. "The God Assur." lraq 45 (1983):82-86.

"Booty frcm Egypt."Jout' al of Jewish Sludies 33 (1982)t 6l-'70.

"Portion of Inscribed Stela of Sargon II, Kilg of Assyia.".kr Ladders toHearerr: Art Treasures frcm Land.s of the BiDle, ed.W. Muscarella: 125. Toroqto:McClelland and Stewart, 1981.

Luckenbill, D.D. The A als of Se nacherib. Chicago, lllinois: The University of ChicagoPress, 1924.

A cient Recordr of Assyria and Babylon, Vol- 2: Histoical Records oflsryi.a. New York Greenwood kess, 1968ll92n

McKay,I.W. Religiotl in Judah uxder the Assyrians 732409 BC (SW 26).I-ondon: SC\'[ hess, 1973.

Na'aman, N. qrd Zadolq R. "Assyrian Deportations t o the hovince of Sameri4 in theLight pf two Cuneiform Tablets from Tel Hadid;' TelAviv 27 (2000): 159-188.

Qnaslr, H.-U. De,4ssrnschen Eroberungen Agtptens, VoL 1+2 Wiesbaden: HarrassowitzVerlag, 1994-

l8

Parpola, S., ed. Srate.4rchives of Assyria (SAA): VoL VI (1991), Vol. X (1993), Vol. X(1995), Helsinki: Helsinki University Press.

Porter, B.N. "The Importance of Place: Esarhaddon's Stelae at Til Barsip and Sam'al-" InHistoriogrdplry i the Cuneiform llorld, Vol. I , eds. T . Abusclu P.A. Beaulieu,J. Huehoergard, P. Machinist and P- Steinkeller: 373-390.Bethesda, Maryland: CDL Press, 2001-

Spalinger, A. "Esarhaddon and Egypt: An Analysis of the Fist Invasion of Egypt."Orientalia 43 (1974)t 295-326.

Spiekermarm, H. Jzda hter Assur in der Sargonidenzeit,G6ttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1982.

Strech M. ksurbanipal und die letzte ,4,'strischen Kdnige bis zum Untergang Niniveh's,Vol.2: Tette.Leipzi1 J,C- Hinrich, 1916.

. Assurbanipal und die letzten Asslt'ischen Kdnige bis zufi Untergang Ni ireh's,Vol. 3: Register: Glassar, VeEeichnis der Eigennamen, SchlussnachtAge nd kleinereBe/ichtigungen. Lerpzig: J.C. Hinrich, 1916.

Thureau-Da.ngin, F. "La stdle d'Asham6." Revue d'Assyiologie et d'ArchAologieOrientale 30 (1933)t 8-56.

var Driel, G. The Cult of A,iiur. Assen: Van Gorcum, 1969.

19