Of GOd(s), Trees, KinGs, and schOlars - University College London

A “New” Cylinder Inscription of Sargon II 77
Inscription lines 154–156 and 158–159 and Pavement Stone 5 lines 94–101 (Fuchs
1994: 235–237 and 267–268).
15–33) These lines appear to describe the subjugation of peoples in the
mountainous regions to the East and Northeast of Assyria and their resettlement
in the West and Northwest. In particular, mention is made of the settlement some
persons or group in the land of Ḫatti (lines 18 and 21), the imposition of fear upon
the Mannean people (line 22), the settlement of someone or some group in the land
of Ḫamath (line 23), the imposition of the [Assyrian] yoke upon Adâ, ruler of the
land of Šurda (line 31), and likely Ḫubuškia (line 32), which was the royal city of
Ianzû, ruler of the land of Na’iri.
15) Cf. for example Nineveh Cylinder fragment BM 122614 + 122615 line 12´
(Thompson 1940: 87, collated), Display Inscription from Room XIV line 6 (Fuchs
1994: 75), Pavement Stone 5 lines 12–14 (Fuchs 1994: 273) and Cyprus Stele ii
22–27 (Winckler 1889: 176).
18 and 21) Display Inscription line 57 says Sargon settled in the city of Damascus
and in the land of Ḫatti people from the cities of Sukkia, Bala, Abitikna, Pappa and
Lalluknu (Fuchs 1994: 208–209; cf. the Khorsabad cylinder line 28 [Fuchs 1994:
36]). According to the Khorsabad Annals, in Sargon’s third palû (719) people from
the Mannean cities of Sukkia, Bala and Abitikna were deported from their homes
and resettled in the land of Ḫatti and the land of Amurrû (or literally in the land of
Ḫatti of the land of Amurrû) and in his fifth palû (717) people from the Mannean
cities of Pappa and Lalluknu were deported and settled in the city of Damascus of
the land of Amurrû (Fuchs 1994: 91–92 and 94–95 lines 66–68 and 76–78). Thus
it is possible the Melid cylinder is referring to the settlement of Manneans from
Sukkia, Bala and Abitikna deported in 719.
19–20) Could this refer to the submission of the Mannean Ullusunu in Sargon’s
sixth regnal year (716)? The Display Inscription states that Ullusunu took refuge
in an inaccessible mountain region (šadî marṣi, literally: difficult mountain) and
later came from there to grasp the feet of Sargon (Fuchs 1994: 203 lines 40–41 and
206 line 50; cf. 99–100 lines 87–89). The idiom šaḫātu + emēdu is also used by
Sargon’s scribes in connection with the flight of the Urarṭian ruler Ursâ from his
royal city of Ṭurušpâ and that of various other Urarṭians in Sargon’s eighth palû
(714) (Thureau-Dangin 1912: 26 line 150 and 40 line 252; Weidner 1937–1939:
146 and pl. 11 no. 2 line 252) and the flight of the Elamite ruler Šutur-Naḫundi in
Sargon’s twelfth palû (710) (Fuchs 1994: 152 line 304).
22) We should possibly read at the beginning of the line [... e-t]i ? -iq-ma, “[...
I cr] ossed and,” or restore some other form of the verb etēqu. Assyrian forces
conducted several major campaigns into/through/near Mannea during the reign of
Sargon, in particular in 719, 716, 715, 714, 713, and 706, but people were also
deported from that land in 717.