Prosopography of the Senders

Even if letters cannot be connected with specific events, a limited time span can be given if information on the career of the sender is available. This span can be very extended if such an official stayed in office for a long period of time. For instance Issar-duri functioned as governor of Arrapha since at least 714.^[[125]] In 710 he helped to incite Merodach-Baladan's subjects to revolt (no. 1) and he was still in office when Nibe was king of Ellipi in 708/707 (no. 3). Therefore it is rather difficult to date his letters without additional information. On the other hand, Il-yada' was governor of Der already in 724.^[[126]] In his letters he appears as the main organizer of the subversive activities undertaken against Merodach-Baladan in 710. Within the same year the flow of his letters comes to a sudden end whereafter others report on the same matters he had been responsible for. Therefore he was dismissed (182:10) during the ongoing operations. Moreover, if he still had been governor of Der in 710 his successor must have been Šamaš-belu-uṣur^[[127]] who played no role in the events of 710 but wrote from Der afterwards when the Elamite king was making trouble. As governor of Der he is mentioned in two letters from 707.^[[128]]

As for Marduk-šarru-uṣur, two stages of his career can be distinguished:

I) In 710 he was active in Dur-Šarrukku (no. 184) and in the Hamrinarea (no. 185),^[[129]]

II) in 707 he was appointed governor of Šingibutu in the Zagros mountains (69:11-12).

Of course, rarely it can be said with certainty if one is tracing the development of one person, or if one has to do with two people bearing the same name. If for instance the restoration of 220:2 is correct, two high officials named Šarru-emuranni were active at the same time in Babylonia in 710. One of them was the governor of Babylon (217:4-6)^[[130]] while his namesake was perhaps the governor of Mazamua/Lullumê who is attested in 712.^[[131]] It is likely that it was the governor of Mazamua who is mentioned in late 707 or early 706 in a letter from Western Iran (100:9). As for Marduk-šarrani, there was either one who wrote a letter to the king (no. 187) and a second person, a namesake of his who instigated Merodach-Baladan to attack (no. 189), or both cases refer to one and the same traitor.

Between 710 and 707 it would seem that Nabû-belu-ka''in was in charge of no less than three different regions successively.^[[132]]

I) In 710 Nabû-belu-ka''in was governor of Šamas-naṣir (no. 24:13-14). He provided a kind of escort- and supply-service for troops (nos. 25 and 27) and "people" (no. 36) passing between Lubda (nos. 26-28), Meturna (no. 36) and "the piedmont" (nos. 25, 27 and 30). That means he was responsible for the security of the area between modern Tauq (Lubda), Tell Haddad (Meturna) and the foot of the Zagros-mountains.^[[133]] During that time he sent nos. 24-28, 30, 32, 33, 36, 41, ^[[134]] and 45.

II) Later he became governor of Kar-Šarrukin (nos. 83-86). In two consecutive years – most probably 710/09 and 709/08 – he experienced a severe winter in the Zagrosmountains (no. 83:5-r.2). Then he was succeeded by Mannu-ki-Ninua shortly before Daltâ's death (Nov.-Dec. 708).

III) In 707, when, the "magnates entered Ellipi," Mannu-ki-Ninua was governor in Kar-Šarrukin (95 r.8-10) while his predecessor Nabû-belu-ka''in dealt with (A)raši on the border to Elam (35 r.1-2). He was not far from the Puqudu (no. 88)^[[135]] and had difficulty to pass his tribute via Der to Meturna (no. 37). ^[[136]] At this third stage Nabû-belu-ka''in was busy southeast of Der between the Tigris and Elam, in the area of the newly established province of Gambulu. He might well have been the governor of Gambulu.^[[137]]

Other senders can be connected with those just mentioned because they refer to the same background. Nabû-remanni, governor of Parsua, had to do with Nabû-belu-ka''in (55 r.6) at the time when he was governor of Kar-Šarukin. At the same time both Nabû-belu-ka''in (no. 86) and Nergal-eṭir (no. 68) reported on Humbê of Bit-Zualza, and both were active in the Zagrosprovinces when Daltâ, king of Ellipi, was still alive (no. 66).^[[138]]

125 Millard Eponyms p. 47 sub Ištar-duri.

126 PNA 2/I p. 51 5 sub Il-iada'.

127 Šamaš-belu-uṣur, governor of Arzuhina (SAA 5 227-236), was the eponym of 710 (Millard Eponyms p. 47 and p. 118). It cannot be ruled out that he was transfered to another province in the same year.

128 In 62:17 together with Lutû, in 37 r.5 explicitly in connection with Der. In 4:17 he wrote from Der.

129 In 185 r.9 Dur-Bel-ila'i is mentioned.

130 See also SAA I 18:4' and probably 88:7; SAA 5 63 r.8.

131 Millard Eponyms p. 47 sub 712. For the letters of this Šarru-emuranni sec SAA 5 199-209.

132 The position of Nabû-belu-k''in, when he was mentioned in no. 274 and 275 is unclear.

133 Somewhere within this area is to be sought Dur-Bel-ila'i, perhaps a central road-station which is mentioned very often in the letters of Nabû-belu-ka''in. According to 30 r.6-9, between Meturna and Dur-bel-ila'i was one more station called Dur-Anuniti which was situated at the piedmont, i.e. at the foot of the Zagros.

134 u No. 41 :6 mentions Ba[qarru], which mmt have been near Arrapha (12 r.6) or more to the north (SAA 5 142:5).

135 Note that no. 227 (from Šarru-emuranni) and no. 221 apparently report on the same matter as no. 88.

136 He had to do with Šamaš-belu-uṣur, now governor of Der (37 r.5), but it must have been Nabû-duru-uṣur, the governors deputy who insisted on the transport while his lord was in Meturna (37:5-10); see 129 r.9-11.

137 Ann. 288 and Prunk 140.

138 However this Nergal-eṭir need not necessarily be identical with the Nabatean in no. 77 or the one mentioned in no. 286.

Andreas Fuchs

Andreas Fuchs, 'Prosopography of the Senders', The Correspondence of Sargon II, Part III: Letters from Babylonia and the Eastern Provinces, SAA 15. Original publication: Helsinki, Helsinki University Press, 2001; online contents: SAAo/SAA15 Project, a sub-project of MOCCI, 2021 [http://oracc.org/saao/saa15/AnAttempttoProvideaChronologicalFramework/ProsopographyoftheSenders/]