SHAMSHI ADAD AND THE SYNCHRONISTIC HISTORY
The main source for the reign of Shamshi Adad (825-812) is the
official Annals which exists in two recensions. One, written in
archaistic characters, from the south east palace at Kalhu, has long
been known. After the usual introduction, it deals briefly with the
revolt of Ashur dan apal. No attempt is made to differentiate the part
which deals with his father's reign from that of his own, and the
single paragraph which is devoted to it gives us no real idea of its
importance or of its duration. Then follow four expeditions, the first
two given very briefly, the last rather fully. As the years of the
reign are not indicated, there is considerable difficulty in obtaining
a satisfactory chronology. [Footnote: IR. 29 ff. Scheil, _Inscription
Assyr. Archaïque de Samsi Ramman IV_, 1889. Abel, KB. I. 174
ff. Oppert, _Hist._, 122 ff.; Menant, 119 ff.; Sayce, RPi, I. 11
ff. Harper, 45 ff. For errors in writing cf. Scheil, VI; for use of
rare words, _ibid._ VII.] The other carries the record two years
further, but has not yet been published. [Footnote: MDOG. 28, 31
f. Through the courtesy of Dr. Andra, I was permitted to see this in
the excavation house at Ashur in 1908.--Cf. also the palace brick,
Scheil, RT. XXII. 37.]
The long list of expeditions which the Assyrian Chronicle attributes
to the reign of Adad nirari (812-783) indicates that he must have
composed Annals, but they have not as yet been discovered. Of extant
inscriptions, the earliest is probably that on the statue base of
Sammuramat (Semiramis), in which she is placed before her son and
emphasis is laid on the fact that she is the widow of Shamshi Adad
rather than that she is the mother of the reigning monarch. [Footnote:
MDOG. 40, 24 ff. 42, 34 ff.] Next in time comes the inscription on the
famous Nabu statue in which Adad nirari is placed first, but with
Sammuramat at his side, and which accordingly marks the decline of the
queen mother's power. [Footnote: Rawlinson, _Monarchies_, II. 118
n. 7; Photograph, Rogers, 511; _Religion_, op. 86; I. R. 35, 2;
Abel-Winckler, 14; Abel, KB. I. 192 f.; Rogers, 307 f.; Winckler,
_Textbuch_3, 27 f.; Meissner, _Chrestomathie_, 10; Menant,
127 f.] Near the end of his reign must be placed the two Kalhu
inscriptions in which Sammuramat is not mentioned. One refers to the
conquests from the sea of the rising sun to the sea of the setting
sun, a statement which would be possible only after the conquest of
Kis in 786. This is the document which throws a vivid light on the
early history of Assyria, but the remainder is lost [Footnote: Layard,
NR. II. 20. L. 70; I. R. 35, 3; Delitzsch, _Lesestücke_2, 99;
Abel-Winckler, 13. Abel, KB. I. 188 ff. Sayce, RP¹, I. 3 ff.;
S. A. Strong, RP², IV. 88f; Harper, 50 f.] and a duplicate adds
nothing new. [Footnote: L. 70.] The other Kalhu inscription adds
considerable material, but in a condensed form which makes it most
difficult to locate the facts in time. The historical portion is
divided into three sections which seem roughly to correspond with the
chronological order. First comes a list of the peoples conquered on
the eastern frontier, arranged geographically from south to north. As
but two of these names are listed in the Assyrian Chronicle, and as
each occurs several times, it is impossible to locate them exactly in
time. The second section deals in considerable detail with an
expedition against Damascus but the Chronicle does not list one even
against central Syria. The fulness of this account shows that it took
place not far from the subjugation of Kaldi land, the narrative of
which ends the document and shows it to have been written not far from
786, its date in the Chronicle. [Footnote: Rawlinson, _Athenaeum_,
1856, 174; I R. 35, 1; Winckler, _Textbuch_3, 26 f. Abel,
KB. I. 190 ff. Ungnad, I. 112 f.; Rogers, 306 f. Talbot,
JRAS. XIX. 182 ff.; Harper, 51 f.; Meissner, _Chrestomathie_, 9;
Menant, 126 f.--Nineveh brick, I R. 35, 4. Abel, KB. I. 188 f. Ashur
inscriptions, KTA. 35 f.; MDOG. 22, 19; 26, 62.]
For the remaining reigns of the dynasty, we have only the data in the
Assyrian Chronicle. No annals or in fact any other inscription has
come down to us, and, so far at least as the annals are concerned,
there is little likelihood of their discovery, as there is no reason
to believe that any were composed in this period of complete
decline. But, curiously enough, from this very period comes the
document which throws the most light on the earliest period of
Assyrian expansion, the so called Synchronistic history. [Footnote: II
R. 65, 1; III R. 4, 3; Winckler, _Untersuch_., 148 ff.;
CT. XXXVI. 38 ff.; cf. the introduction of Budge-King; King,
_Tukulti Ninib._ Peiser-Winckler, KB. I. 194 ff.; G. Smith,
_Disc_. 250 f.; Sayce, TSBA. II. 119 ff.; RP¹, III. 29 ff.; RP²,
IV. 24 ff.; Barta In Harper, 195; cf. Winckler, AOF. I. 114 ff.;
Belck, _Bettr. Geog. Gesch._, I. 5 ff.] Adad nirari is the last
ruler mentioned, but the fact that he is named in the third person
shows that it was compiled not earlier than the reign of his successor
Shalmaneser IV.
Our present copy is a tablet from the library of a later king,
seemingly Ashur bani apal. [Footnote: Maspero, _Hist_., II. 595,
dates its composition to this reign.] In form, it marks an advance
over any historical document we have thus far studied, for it is an
actual history for many centuries of the relations between Assyria and
Babylonia. But it is as dry as possible, for only the barest facts are
given, with none of the mass of picturesque details which we have
learned to expect in the annals of the individual kings. Nevertheless,
its advance over preceding documents should not be over estimated. Its
emphasis on treaties and boundaries has led to the idea that it was
compiled from the archives as a sort of diplomatic pièce justificative
in a controversy with Babylonia over the possession of a definite
territory. [Footnote: Peiser-Winckler, KB. I. 194 n. 1.] Its true
character, however, is clearly brought out in its closing words "A
succeeding prince whom they shall establish in the land of Akkad,
victory and conquest may he write down, and on this inscribed stone
(naru), eternal and not to be forgotten, may he [add it]. Whoever
takes it, may he listen to all that is written, the majesty of the
land of Ashur may he worship continually. As for Shumer and Akkad,
their sins may he expose to all the regions of the world." [Footnote:
IV. 32 ff.]
Obviously, then, this tablet of clay is only a copy of an earlier
_naru_ or memorial inscription on stone, and we should expect it
to be only the usual display inscription. This is still further proved
by the introduction, mutilated as it is, "... to the god Ashur ... his
prayer ... before his face I speak.... eternally a [tablet] with the
mention.... the majesty and victory [which the kings of Ashur mad]e,
they conquered all, [the march] of former [expedi]tions, who
conquered..... [their booty to their lands they br]ought..." Clearly,
this is the language of a display inscription and not of a diplomatic
piece justificative. So we can consider our document not even a
history in the true sense of the word, merely an inscription erected
to the glory of Ashur and of his people, but with the "sins of Shumer
and Akkad," in other words, with the wars of the Babylonians against
"the land" [Footnote: Cf. Belck, _Beitr. Geog. Gesch. I._ 5
ff.--The double mention of Ashur bel kala and Shalmaneser points to
double sources, one the original of BM. 27859, Peiser, OLZ. XI. 141.]
and with the sinful destruction of Assyrian property they caused, also
in mind. When we take this view, we are no longer troubled by the
numerous mistakes, even to the order of the kings, which so greatly
reduce the value of the document where its testimony is most
needed. [Footnote: Cf. Winckler, AOF. I. 109 ff.] We can understand
such "mistakes" in a display inscription, exposed to view in a place
where it would not be safe for an individual to point out the
truth. But that it could have been used as a piece justificative, with
all its errors, when the Babylonians could at once have refuted it, is
incredible.
The accession of Tiglath Pileser IV (745-728) marks a return to
warfare, and the consequent prosperity is reflected in an increase of
the sources both in quantity and in quality. [Footnote: For
inscriptions of reign, cf. Rost, _Keilschrifttexte Tiglat-Pilesers
III_; cf. also Anspacher, _Tiglath Pileser_, 1 ff.] Tiglath
Pileser prepared for the walls of his palace a series of annals, in
three recensions, marked by the number of lines to the slab, seven,
twelve, or sixteen, and seemingly by little else. Originally they
adorned the walls of the central palace at Kalhu, but Esarhaddon, a
later king of another dynasty, defaced many of the slabs and built
them into his south west palace. Thus, even with the three different
recensions, a large part of the Annals has been lost forever. For
years, the great problem of the reign of Tiglath Pileser was the
proper chronological arrangement of this inscription. Thanks to the
aid of the Assyrian Chronicle, it is now fairly fixed, though with
serious gaps. Once they are arranged, little further criticism is
needed, for they are the usual type, rather dry and uninteresting to
judge from the extant fragments. [Footnote: Detailed bibliography of
the fragments, Anspacher, _Tiglath Pileser_, 3 ff.; Discovery,
Layard, NR. II. 300. L. 19 ff.; III R. 9 f. Rost, _de inscriptione
Tiglat-Pileser III quae vocatur Annalium_, 1892; Rost, Iff.; 2 ff.;
Winckler, _Textbuchs³_, 28 ff. Ungnad I. 113 ff.; Rogers, 313
ff.; Schrader KB. II. 24 ff.; Rodwell, RP¹, V. 45 ff.; Menant, 144
ff. For discussion of arrangements of fragments, cf. G. Smith,
_Ztf. f. Aegyptologie_, 1869, 9 ff.; _Disc._, 266; Schrader,
_Keilschrift und Geschichtsforschung_, 395 ff.; _Abh.
Berl. Akad._, 1880; Tiele, _Gesch._, 224; Hommel,
_Gesch_., 648 ff.] Perhaps separate notice should be given to the
sculptured slabs in Zürich with selections from the Annals. [Footnote:
Boissier, PSBA. I have not seen his _Notice sur quelque Monuments
Assyr. a l'université de Zürich_, 1912.]
Next to the Annals comes the clay tablet from Kalhu, from which, if we
are to judge by the proportions, less than a half has
survived. [Footnote: Usually called the Nimrud inscription, a cause of
confusion. K. 3751. Photograph of obverse, "but upside down, Rogers,
541; _History_, op. 267. II R. 67; _Rost_, XXXVff; 54
ff. Schrader, KB. II. 8 ff.; Erneberg, JA. VII. Ser. VI. 441ff.;
Menant, 14oft; Smith, _Disc._, 25eff.; Strong, RP³, V. 115 ff.;
J. M. P. Smith, in Harper, 52 ff.; Rogers, 322.] Thus, owing to the
method used by the Assyrians in turning the tablet for writing, only
the first and last parts are preserved. Unfortunately, the greater
part of what is preserved is taken up with an elaborate introduction
and conclusion which we would gladly exchange for more strictly
historical data. The other contents are, first an elaborate account of
the wars in Babylonia, next of the wars on the Elamite frontier, a
brief paragraph on Ulluba and Kirbu, and then the beginning of the war
with Urartu. Each of these paragraphs is marked off by a line across
the tablet. Thus far, it is clear, we have a geographical order for
the paragraphs. After the break, we have an account of the Arab tribes
on the border of Egypt. It is therefore clear that the order was
continued in the break which must have contained the most of the
Urartu account and whatever was said about Syria. The fulness with
which the extant portion chronicles the Babylonian affairs makes it
probable that the part now lost in the break dealt with Armenian and
Syrian relations with equal fulness. The next paragraph seems to be a
sort of summary of the various western rulers who had paid tribute,
and the length of this list is another proof of the large amount
lost. The very brief Tabal and Tyre paragraphs, out of the regular
geographical order, are obvious postscripts and this dates them to
year XVII (729), unless we are to assume that the scribe did not have
them in mind when he wrote the reference to that year in the
introduction. That they really did date to the next year, 728, is
indicated by the fact that the Assyrian Chronicle seems to have had a
Tyre expedition in that year. [Footnote: Cf. Olmstead,
_Jour. Amer. Or. Soc._, XXXIV. 357.] If so, then our inscription
must date from the last months of Tiglath Pileser's reign. Though
written on clay, it is clearly a draft from which to engrave a display
inscription on stone as it begins "Palace of Tiglath Pileser." The
identity of certain passages [Footnote: I. 5, 9 ff., 16, 22, 47.] with
the Nimrud slab shows close connection, but naturally the much fuller
recital of the tablet is not derived from it. We have also a duplicate
fragment from the Nabu temple at Kalhu and this is marked by obvious
Babylonianisms. [Footnote: DT. 3. Schrader, _Abh. Berl. Akad._
1880, 15 ff., with photograph. For the Babylonian character, cf. Rost,
11.]
With the Nimrud clay tablet is easily confused the Nimrud
slab. [Footnote: Layard, NR. II. 33. L. 17 f. Schrader, KB. II. 2 ff.;
Rost, 42 ff.; Oppert, _Exped._, 336; Smith, _Disc._, 271;
Meissner, _Chrestomathie_, 10 f.; Menant, 138 ff.] This dates
from 743 and is thus the earliest inscription from the reign. But its
account is so brief that it is of but trifling value. It assists a
little in, conjecturing what is lost from the tablet and mention of an
event here is naturally of value as establishing a minimum date. But
where both have preserved the same account, the tablet is the fuller,
and, in general, better, even though it is so much later. [Footnote:
Other inscriptions, III R. 10, 3, the place list; 83-1-18, 215,
Winckler, AOF. II. 3 f.; painted fragments, Layard, _Nineveh and
Babylon_, 140 f.]