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STATE ARCHIVES OF ASSYRIA XIX
at Calah, and thus a predecessor of the better-known Nabû-šumu-iddina/Nadinu.
59 This suggestion is based on the fact that his letter concerns horses (see
also SAA 15 72) and that Bel-eriba addresses the governor (of the capital)
with “my/your brother.” It is of course true that in the strict Assyrian
hierarchy hazannu is a lower official than the governor, but he is high enough,
and as a colleague probably also close enough to the governor that he could
address the latter as his “brother.” Moreover, in his letter, he first mentions
the addressee before his own name, a usual practice in letters sent to a higher
authority.
An almost comparable case to no. 160 may be no. 13 from Šarru-duri,
governor of Calah, sent from the governor’s palace to the Central Palace. 60
Note also that SAA 1 26 (ND 2408), likely to be a copy of a sent letter, is an
order from the king to the governor of Calah.
The “Nimrud Letters” are not the oldest letters found in Calah since Ahmad
and Postgate have recently published at least one letter which predates all the
letters published here. 61
Furthermore, eight seventh-century letters from
Calah were edited by Dalley and Postgate in CTN 3 (1984) 62 and a few others
are either published elsewhere or remain unpublished. 63 Among the letters
from Nimrud there are also a small number of letter-orders, 64 including a short
letter-order with several duplicates. 65
COURTESY BRITISH INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF IRAQ
FIG. 1. Plan of the citadel mound of Nimrud.
Reprinted from CURTIS et al., New Light on Nimrud (2008) plan 3.
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