In Assyria, each year was named after a high official, called a limmu or līmu in Akkadian, and lists of these officials (eponyms) were compiled by the Assyrian scribes. The following list of the eponym officials for the reign of Esarhaddon is based upon Millard, SAAS 2 pp. 51–52, 61, and 71. Dated inscriptions that are included in the present volume are also noted below; a number of inscriptions whose dates may possibly be determined with some degree of confidence (e.g., instances with a clear terminus post quem for the inscription) are given in bold.
| Year | Regnal Year | Eponym | Dated Texts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 681 | Accession year | Nabû-aḫḫē-ēreš, governor (šaknu) of Samʾal | |
| 680 | 1 | Danānu, governor (šaknu) of Manṣuate | |
| 679 | 2 | Itti-Adad-anēnu, governor (bēl pīḫati) of Megiddo | 57 |
| 678 | 3 | Nergal-šarru-uṣur, chief butler (rab šāqê) | |
| 677 | 4 | Abī-rāmu, chief vizier (sukkallu dannu/rabû) | 10 |
| 676 | 5 | Banbâ, chief/second vizier (sukkallu dannu/šanû) | 2, 78 |
| 675 | 6 | Nabû-aḫḫē-iddin, (chief) chamberlain (masennu rabû) | |
| 674 | 7 | Šarru-nūri, governor (šaknu) of Barḫalzi | |
| 673 | 8 | Atar-ilu, governor (šaknu) of Laḫīru | 1, 33 |
| 672 | 9 | Nabû-bēlu-uṣur, governor (šaknu) of Dūr-Šarrukīn/ Šarrukku | 1, 33, 34, 77, 79, 93 |
| 671 | 10 | Kanūnāyu, chief bailiff (sartinnu) | |
| 670 | 11 | Šulmu-bēli-lašme, governor (šaknu) of Dēr | |
| 669 | 12 | Šamaš-kāšid-ayābi, governor (šaknu) of Asdu[...] |
A number of prism inscriptions dealing with Babylon (nos. 104–106, 108 and 111) state that they were composed in Esarhaddon's accession year (šanat rēš šarrūti, MU.SAG.NAM.LUGAL.LA), which should refer to 681 BC, but from the events mentioned in them it is clear that they were composed much later, at least one (no. 105) presumably no earlier than the last month of 674 BC (see Frame, Babylonia p. 67). Several exemplars of text no. 1 (Nineveh A) are dated according to the Elamite months "Opening of the Door" and Bēlet-ilī (probably pronounced Belili); at this time, I cannot offer a satisfactory explanation why Esarhaddon's scribes dated copies of this text by Elamite names rather than Mesopotamian ones. With regard to the date of Tadmor's "Nineveh (Prism) S" (text nos. 5–9), see H. Tadmor (and E. Weissert), Studies Grayson pp. 273–276.
Erle Leichty
Erle Leichty, 'Eponym Dates', RINAP 4: Esarhaddon, The RINAP 4 sub-project of the RINAP Project, 2019 [http://oracc.org/rinap/rinap4/RINAP4Introduction/DatingandChronology/EponymDates/]