There are many references to magnates or their messengers travelling to or coming from Media. On first sight these appear to be military campaigns but all of these letters were probably written when Sargon's conquests in Iran were over. After 713 the official records list campaigns against Ellipi (707) and Karalla (706) but there is no mention of any warfare within Media proper. Moreover, in all these instances the letters seem to refer to a quite usual procedure. Therefore, all these movements to Media are to be regarded as routine operations exercised so regularly that no one even bothered to give any reference as to the purpose of these expeditions. Fortunately this routine did not end with Sargon's reign but went on during the reigns of his successors. According to the "queries to the sungod" Esarhaddon sent his magnates to Media "to collect the tribute of horses."[[80]] Certainly the expeditions of Sargon's magnates had the same purpose.
Much trouble was necessary to interrupt this routine. For instance the civil war in Ellipi (707) was not enough: At the same time when some of the magnates invaded Ellipi (95 r.8-10) others operated in Media (ibid. r.2-7). Among the magnates taking part in these expeditions we find the governors of Kar-Šarrukin (no. 94), Parsua (no. 54)[[81]] and Mazamua (SAA 5 199-200, 210). The governor of Arrapha was at least once in command of such an operation (no. 3). But there must have been alternation in the duty to participate, because the governor of Kar-Šarrukin sometimes took part himself (nos. 87?, 94), but sometimes he stayed in his province and reported on magnates who were on their way without him (no. 95).
The participants of such an expedition started with their troops in their respective provinces and combined their forces en route.[[82]] All the time an expedition was under way, the king and his magnates stayed in contact. He knew when they reached the border (no. 87?) and they sent messages when they returned (nos. 54:21 and 94:5-9). Letters written in Media were delivered in two steps: first they were brought to one of Assyria's eastern provinces by a Mede who functioned as a messenger. Once within the empire, the Assyrian post system took over and forwarded the letters to the king (69 r. 11-16 and SAA 5 210:6-10). And of course the magnates could receive letters: "We were already in Media, when the letter of the king, my lord, came to me" (no. 3).
There is a striking difference between the situation described by the letters published here and the impression given by the queries to the sungod from Esarhaddon's time. In his reign countless enemies lurked in Media who had to be reckoned with.[[83]] In contrast, during Sargon's reign "going to Media" doesn't appear as a dangerous task. Particularly, the Cimmerians, who were such a nuissance to Esarhaddon, are missing. Cimmerian incursions far in the north, into Urarṭu and later into Mannea, occured at least since 713 but there is no mention of them in connection with Media. Only letter no. 3 gives any indication that at the end of the 8th century a tribute-expedition had to fear direct attacks at all. But this is a special case, because the threat did not come from inside Media but from the neighbouring kingdom of Ellipi.
80 SAA 4 64-67, 69 and 71.
81 In SAA 5 64 horses sent or brought by Nabû-remanni, the governor of Parsua arrived in Arzuhina. Probably this describes the result of a tribute-expedition.
82 The coordination sometimes caused problems, especially if one participant changed the date of his departure or took another route without informing the others. On one occasion the governor of Mazamua did so and failed to meet the governor of Arrapha. He sent two letters (SAA 5 199-200) to justify the change to the king.
83 SAA 4 64-67 and 71.
Andreas Fuchs
Andreas Fuchs, 'The Assyrian Tribute-Expeditions to Media', 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/TheNeo-AssyrianZagrosandWesternIran/TheAssyrianTribute-ExpeditionstoMedia/]