Dead Sea Scrolls Uncovered - The Preterist Archive

and in charge of administrations of the accounts under King Sennacherib of Assyria; so Esarhaddon
reappointed him' (italics ours). The Aramaic makes it clear that Esarhaddon did not merely reappoint
Ahiqar, but raised him up to a position second only to the king himself (note the Translation, Line 8
below). We may expect many such improvements in our understanding of this charming book now
that the Semitic texts have brought us much closer to the original.
Translation
Fragment 1 (1) [one o]f the Ninevites (went) and informed the kin[g that] I was bury[ing them, so] I
hid myself. When I discovered [that] he knew about me, (2) [and that I was being sought to be killed,
I was frightened and I fled. [Then a]ll [that] I owned [was confiscated,] nothing was left to me. (There
was not) one thi[ng] (3) [that they did not take] to the [king's storehouse,] ex[cept Hannah my wife
and T[ob]iah my son. It was not fo[rty-] (4) [five days before two of] his [sons killed him (i.e., the
king). They fled to the mountains of Ararat, and [Esarhaddon his son] ruled (5) [in his place. He
em]powered Ahiqar the son of Anael my brother over all the ac[counting] (6) [of his kingdom. He
also installed Ahiqar as chief of the (sacred) treasury. He was in charge of [a]11 of the king's funds.
Aqihar interceded (7) on my behalf, so that I returned to Nineveh. Ahi]qar my 'brother' was the chief
cupbearer and the official in charge of the signet rings and the treasurer (8) [and] the accountant for
Sennacherib, king of Assyria, while Esarhaddon appointed him second (only) to himself. For [he] (9)
was my nep[hew], from the house of my father and my family. In the days of Esarhaddon the [ki]ng,
when I returned (10) to my home and Hannah my wife was returned to me, [along with] Tobiah my