A fragment of a colossal orthostat unearthed during nineteenth-century exploratory excavations of Kalḫu preserves parts of two units of the king's Annals. With regard to the first unit on the slab, this text, the beginning and end are completely broken away, and thus it is uncertain how many lines of text were originally inscribed on the orthostat. This section of the Kalḫu Annals follows text no. 19 after a gap of unknown length. The missing narration between the two Annals units contained the end of a report of events of the 11th palû (735), the entire account of events of the 12th palû (734), and the beginning of a report concerning those of the 13th palû (733). The extant portion of this text continues the narration of events of the 13th palû (733) and reports on a forty-five day siege of Damascus, with the total devastation of its countryside. The passage does not state that the city itself was directly assaulted. The only surviving record of the fall of Damascus is the statement in II Kings 16:9. However, G. Smith made a cryptic statement about this event in Assyrian sources: "One valuable fragment discovered by Sir H. Rawlinson which contained a notice of the death of Rezin has been left in Assyria and lost" (Zeitschrift für ägyptische Sprache 7 [1869] p. 14). Perhaps this was a fragment of a colossal slab that H. Rawlinson found during 1852–54 but did not transport back to England; his field journals, unfortunately, do not contain a copy of the text referred to by G. Smith. The last preserved line of text mentions Samsi, queen of the Arabs, against whom Tiglath-pileser mounted a campaign in the same year (733). This text, which Tadmor referred to as Ann. 23 in Tigl. III, represents Annals Series C, Unit 9.
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This text is inscribed on the same colossal slab as text no. 21. This Annals unit, which is written on the left half of that slab, is known only from several draft copies made in the field and several published copies because the original was left at Nimrud. A.H. Layard's draft copy (MS A pp. 115–116, left side; reproduced in Tadmor, Tigl. III pl. XX) is the main source for this unit of the Annals. Errors can be corrected with the help of H. Rawlinson's draft copy (Notebook 1 fols. 121r–120v; reproduced in Tadmor, Tigl. III pl. XXI) and G. Smith's collations (Notebook 17 fols. 29v–30r; reproduced in Tadmor, Tigl. III pl. XXII), both of which were made from the slab in situ.
The first two lines, which contain the name Raḫiānu (Rezin), appear at the very bottom of Layard, MS A p. 115. Although these lines were omitted in Layard's copies in MS B and ICC (pp. 72 bottom–73 top), G. Smith noticed that they were part of this section of the Annals (Eponym Canon p. 178). Layard, MS A pp. 115–116 (= Layard, ICC pp. 72 bottom–73 top) contains two different Annals units: this text (on the left) and text no. 21 (on the right). Layard wrongly copied them as if they are written as a single continuous text. This is probably a slip by Layard, who appears to have overlooked the faintly incised, vertical dividing lines separating the two units. This assumption is supported by the fact that both Rawlinson and G. Smith treated the text copied in Layard, MS A pp. 115–116 as two separate units of Tiglath-pileser's Annals. For a detailed discussion of this problem, see Tadmor, Tigl. III pp. 220–221 (Excursus 3). Thus, Layard's conflated copy is treated here as two consecutive units of the Kalḫu Annals: the left part (reproduced in Tadmor, Tigl. III pl. XX) is a copy of this text and the right part (reproduced in Tadmor, Tigl. III pl. XXIII) is a copy of text no. 21.
The same damaged colossal slab upon which text no. 20 is inscribed preserves parts of sixteen lines of a second unit of Tiglath-pileser III's Annals. The beginning and end of this text are completely broken away, and thus it is uncertain how many lines were originally inscribed on this orthostat. The extant portion of this Annals unit, which follows text no. 20 after a gap of only a few lines, continues the narration of events of the 13th palû (733) and reports on a campaign to Galilee and a rebellion in Ashkelon, with a subsequent regime change in that city. All of the events appear to have followed the defeat of Raḫiānu (Rezin), which also took place in 733. This text represents Annals Series C, Unit 10, which corresponds to Ann. 24 in Tadmor, Tigl. III.
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This section of Tiglath-pileser's Annals, which is inscribed on the right half of the same colossal slab as text no. 20, is known only from draft copies made by A.H. Layard; the original was left at Nimrud. Layard's draft copy (MS A p. 116, right side; reproduced in Tadmor, Tigl. III pl. XXIII) is the main source for this Annals unit. The text copied by Layard in MS A pp. 115–116 (= Layard, ICC pp. 72 bottom–73 top) contains two different texts: text no. 20 (on the left) and this text (on the right). For further information, see the commentary of text no. 20 and Tadmor, Tigl. III pp. 220–221 (Excursus 3). In addition, note that Tadmor, Tigl. III pl. XXIII erroneously cropped the first sign of line 16' (DIŠ, the masculine personal determinative) and wrongly placed it at the end of the copy of text no. 20 line 18 (Tadmor, Tigl. III pl. XX).
G. Smith's in situ collation of the original (Notebook 5 fol. 61v; reproduced in Tadmor, Tigl. III pl. XXIII) contains the first signs of lines 9'–16' (= his lines i–p), and also parts of text no. 22 lines 11'–13'.
Text no. 22, another unit of the Annals written on a colossal slab (Series C), contains a passage similar to this text. Lines 8'–16' parallel text no. 22 lines 6'–10', but with a few major textual variants. Since text nos. 21 and 22 are not exact duplicates, i.e., they belong to different recensions of the Kalḫu Annals and thus originate from different halls of Tiglath-pileser's palace, they are edited here as separate texts.
A fragment of a colossal carved orthostat found during nineteenth-century exploratory excavations of Kalḫu preserves thirteen lines of Tiglath-pileser III's Annals. The beginning and end are completely broken away, and thus it is uncertain how many lines of text were originally inscribed on this orthostat. This badly damaged Annals unit, which partially duplicates text no. 21 and which originates from a different recension of the Kalḫu Annals, contains part of a report of a campaign to Galilee and a rebellion in Ashkelon, with a subsequent regime change in that city. All of the events probably took place in the king's 13th palû (733). This text, which corresponds to Ann. 18 in Tadmor, Tigl. III, represents Annals Series C, Unit 11.
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The text on this colossal slab, which was left at Nimrud, is known only from a draft copy made in the field and several published copies. A.H. Layard's draft copy (MS A p. 69; reproduced in Tadmor, Tigl. III pl. XV = Layard, ICC p. 29 bottom) is the main source for this Annals unit. G. Smith's in situ collation of the original (Notebook 5 fol. 61v; reproduced in Tadmor, Tigl. III pl. XXIII) contains parts of lines 11'–13', specifically the first sign of line 11' and the signs preserved in lines 12'–13'. G. Smith's collations have been used in the edition presented here.
Text no. 21, another unit of the Annals written on a colossal slab (Series C), contains a passage similar to this text. Lines 6'–10' parallel, with major variants, text no. 21 lines 8'–16'. Since text nos. 21 and 22 are not exact duplicates, they are edited in this volume as separate texts. This Annals unit is better preserved and is more intelligible than text no. 21. Both texts have been used to restore damaged passages in each other.
A large fragment of a sculpted and inscribed slab discovered at Kalḫu in the nineteenth century is inscribed with two seven-line units of the Kalḫu Annals; these are this text and text no. 24. The short passage preserves part of a report of events of the king's 15th palû (731), Tiglath-pileser III's second campaign against Babylonia, during which he defeated numerous Chaldean chieftains. This text represents Annals Series A, Unit 10, which Tadmor referred to as Ann. 7 in Tigl. III.
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This text is on the same slab as text no. 24. This Annals unit is written on the left half of the slab, while the next section of the Annals is written on the right half of the slab. A.H. Layard made a draft copy of this inscription during his stay at Nimrud (MS A p. 130; reproduced in Tadmor, Tigl. III pl. IV). The inscription was not collated since the original was left in the field and thus was not available for study. Therefore, the present edition is based on Layard's copies.
Previous editions, of which all but Tadmor, Tigl. III have neglected this Annals unit, often placed text no. 24 at the beginning of the Kalḫu Annals (see G. Smith, Assyrian Disc. and Rost, Tigl.) and thus tried to explain why Tiglath-pileser III abandoned the part of Babylonia that he had subjugated in his first palû (745) and only returned there fourteen years later (731). H. Tadmor, using both text nos. 23 and 24, correctly placed text no. 24 in its proper chronological position within the Kalḫu Annals: in the king's 15th palû. This also neatly places the capture of Gezer (Gazru) (see text no. 57), which is depicted in the upper register of the same slab upon which text nos. 23–24 are inscribed, in its appropriate place in the pictorial narrative sequence, i.e., among the Syrian and Palestinian wars. For the arrangement of the sculpture slabs, see Tadmor, Tigl. III pp. 238–259. Note that "ICC 34a" on fig. 11 (pp. 247–248, Wall IV) should be read as "ICC 34c" and the space for text no. 24 should be placed further to the left, thus shortening the space assigned to text no. 23 in ICC p. 34 bottom.
This seven-line unit of the Annals, which is a direct continuation of text no. 23, preserves part of a report of events of the king's 15th palû (731), Tiglath-pileser III's second campaign against Babylonia. This passage describes the Assyrian army crossing a river, probably the Tigris, and the subjugation of Aramean and Chaldean chieftains. It also records that priestly collegiums of major Babylonian temples brought sacrificial remnants before Tiglath-pileser, which was the initial step by which the Assyrian king was offered sovereignty over Babylonia. This text, which corresponds to Ann. 8 in Tadmor, Tigl. III, represents Annals Series A, Unit 11.
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This unit and the previous unit of the Annals are written on the same slab; this text is inscribed to the right of the text divider (a narrow, uninscribed vertical band). A.H. Layard made a draft copy of this inscription during his stay at Nimrud (MS A p. 130; reproduced in Tadmor, Tigl. III pl. IV). The inscription was not collated since the original was left in the field and thus was not available for study. Therefore, the present edition is based on Layard's copies.
A fragment of a colossal slab from Tiglath-pileser III's palace at Kalḫu discovered during nineteenth-century exploratory excavations of the site preserves four lines of the Kalḫu Annals. This Annals unit preserves part of a report concerning the construction of a cedar palace and thus it is placed here at the end of the Kalḫu Annals; the passage is very similar to text no. 47 rev. 17'–19'. This text represents Annals Series C, Unit 12, which Tadmor referred to as Ann. 28 in Tigl. III.
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H. Rawlinson made a draft copy of this unit of the Annals (reproduced in Tadmor, Tigl. III pl. XXVI) during his stay at Nimrud, probably in 1853 or 1854, and noted the following at the bottom of the same page of his field journal: "All this is probably Pul's, for the stones are put carelessly together as if they formed the outer face of the walls of the guard house at the entrance of Esarhaddon's palace." The statement "All this" must refer to the preceding slabs of Tiglath-pileser III copied by Rawlinson in the same notebook, i.e., the text drawn on fols. 123r–122v (reproduced in Tadmor, Tigl. III pl. XIV = text no. 9), which carries the notation: "Plan II Wall SS, 1"; and the Annals units copied on fols. 120r–119v (reproduced in Tadmor, Tigl. III pl. XVII = text no. 13), which has the caption: "At the entrance of Esarhaddon's Palace." Rawlinson does not appear, however, to have identified this four-line text, which he copied on fols. 119r–118v of the same notebook, as an inscription of Tiglath-pileser. Because of this G. Smith overlooked it. Since the above-mentioned texts copied by Rawlinson in Notebook 1 (text nos. 9 and 13) are reported to have been inscribed on colossal slabs, this text presumably belongs to the same category (Series C). Note, however, that at least one summary inscription (text no. 44) was inscribed on a sculpted orthostat like the text of the Annals (Series C) and that that text was also copied by Rawlinson in Notebook 1 (fols. 122r–121v) with other inscriptions of Tiglath-pileser III that had been reused in Esarhaddon's palace at Kalḫu (South-West Palace). Therefore, it is not impossible that text no. 25 is part of the building report of a summary inscription that was inscribed on sculpted orthostats that decorated the walls of a room of Tiglath-pileser's palace. This suggestion is further supported by the fact that Sargon II also had summary inscriptions written on sculpted orthostats that lined the walls of his palace at Dūr-Šarrukīn (mod. Khorsabad); for details, see p. 5 (Introduction). In any case, following Tadmor, this text is edited here as part of the Kalḫu Annals. The inscription was not collated since the original was left in the field and thus was not available for study. Therefore, the present edition is based on Rawlinson's draft copy. For some information about Rawlinson, Notebook 1, see the commentary of text no. 9.
Text nos. 26–32 are duplicate texts that are used to restore the main texts of previous Annals units. Four of the texts (nos. 26–29) belong to Annals Series A and the other three (text nos. 30–32) belong to Annals Series C (Colossal Slabs).
A carved orthostat that once decorated an interior wall of Tiglath-pileser III's palace at Kalḫu preserves parts of two seven-line units of the Annals that were inscribed in the horizontal band between its sculpted upper and lower registers; the two units are this text and text no. 27. This Annals unit records the defeat of Arameans in Babylonia and their subsequent deportation to newly conquered lands in Syria. These events took place in the king's 8th palû (738). This text represents Annals Series A, Unit 5, which corresponds to Ann. 2 in Tadmor, Tigl. III.
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This Annals unit (Layard, ICC p. 69 bottom left) is written on the same slab as text no. 27. This passage of the Kalḫu Annals is inscribed on several pieces of a once-complete slab: (1) Hamburg 1966.130/St. 246 (Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe) preserves line 1; (2) Zurich 1919 contains lines 4–7; and (3) lines 2–3 are known only from a fragment (now lost) copied by A.H. Layard (MS A p. 133; reproduced in Tadmor, Tigl. III pl. II). This Annals unit duplicates and is used in the restoration of text no. 14 lines 3–8. See text no. 14 for notes on the edition.
The same orthostat upon which text no. 26 is inscribed preserves part of this seven-line unit of Tiglath-pileser III's Annals. This passage in the Kalḫu Annals, which is a direct continuation of the previous text, records the resettlement of deported Arameans from Babylonia in newly conquered lands in Syria and a list of tribute received from rulers of Syria and southeastern Anatolia. These events took place in Tiglath-pileser's 8th palû (738). This text, which Tadmor referred to as Ann. 3 in Tigl. III, represents Annals Series A, Unit 6.
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This seven-line unit of the Annals (Layard, ICC p. 69 bottom center + 69 top left) is inscribed on several pieces of a once-complete slab: (1) Hamburg 1966.130/St. 246 (Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe) preserves the first part of line 1; (2) BM 115634 contains the second part of line 1; (3) the beginning of lines 4–7 are inscribed on Zurich 1919; (4) the ends of lines 5–7 are found on Zurich 1920; and (5) a fifth fragment (now lost) copied by A.H. Layard (MS A pp. 133–134; reproduced in Tadmor, Tigl. III pl. II) preserves lines 2–3 and the second part of line 4. This Annals unit duplicates and is used in the restoration of text no. 14 line 8–text no. 15 line 3. See text nos. 14 and 15 for notes on the edition.
A badly damaged orthostat that once decorated the interior of Tiglath-pileser III's palace at Kalḫu has seven lines of this king's Annals inscribed in the horizontal band between its sculpted upper and lower registers. This unit of the Kalḫu Annals, which is a direct continuation of the previous text, contains the end of a report of events of the king's 8th palû (738) and the beginning of an account of those of his 9th palû (737). More specifically, it lists tribute received from rulers in Syria and southeastern Anatolia and narrates an expedition to the Zagros mountains. This text, which corresponds to Ann. 4 in Tadmor, Tigl. III, represents Annals Series A, Unit 7.
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The text (Layard, ICC pp. 69 top right + 68 bottom) is inscribed on several pieces of a once-complete slab: (1) The first part of line 1 is preserved on BM 115634; (2) the second parts of lines 1–7 are found on BM 118903; (3) the first parts of lines 5–7 are preserved on Zurich 1920; and (4) the beginnings of lines 2–4 are known only from a fragment (now lost) copied by A.H. Layard (MS A p. 133; reproduced in Tadmor, Tigl. III pl. III). This unit of the Kalḫu Annals duplicates and is used in the restoration of text no. 15 lines 3–10. See text no. 15 for notes on the edition. The one-word epigraph preserved on BM 115634 is edited as text no. 55.
A sculpted and inscribed slab discovered at Kalḫu preserves only one identifiable sign of the unit of Tiglath-pileser III's Annals that followed text no. 28. The section of the Kalḫu Annals, of which only ⸢áš⸣-[lu-la ...] ("I c[arried off]") is readable, is inscribed to the right of the first line of the previous text, on slab BM 118903, and is a direct continuation of that Annals unit. A.H. Layard erroneously copied the sign as ma. The remaining lines of this text (lines 2–7) comprise only traces of a few unidentifiable signs. The majority of the inscription was inscribed on the right, adjacent slab, a piece now lost. This text represents Annals Series A, Unit 7ₓ, which Tadmor referred to as Ann. 4ₓ in Tigl. III.
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Hayim Tadmor & Shigeo Yamada
Hayim Tadmor & Shigeo Yamada, 'Annals, Part 3', RINAP 1: Tiglath-pileser III and Shalmaneser V, The RINAP 1 sub-project of the RINAP Project, 2019 [http://oracc.org/rinap/rinap1/Tiglath-pileserIII:TextIntroductions/Annals/Part3/]