Order!

In the Assyrian Court

The Perception of Assyrian Royalty in Greek Texts

School of Philosophy: National and Kapodistiran University of Athens

Key Themes in Eastern Mediterranean Archaeology
Instructor: Konstantinos Kopanias
Earliest Evidence for Greek contact
at Al Mina & Tarsus ~770-50
Homer’s Epics ~Mid 8th century

Psamtek’s I campaign against

Nubia, 663

Herodotus’ Histories ~425 Ctesias’ Persika ~398 Berossos ~Early 3rd

century
Geometric Pottery from Al Mina
 Nimrud Letters ~Mid 8th
century

Lines 7-16:
Those (people)…[made] an attack
[on/from] the town I[auna]. The
guard saw [them] as he took…We
pursued them…We took (people)
from inside the town of Iauna…
 Nimrud Letters, Continued…
To the king (Tiglath-Pileser III) my lord, your servant Qurdi-Asshur-
Lamur. The Ionians (Ia-u-na-a-a) have come. They made an attack on
the city of Samsimuruna, on the city of Harisu, and on the city of…They
have not taken anyone. As far as…[I pursued them?] in his ships…in the
midst of the sea…
 The Annals of Sargon II

Year 7 (lines 75-100):

[The Ionians (Ia-am-na-ai) who were
situated in the midst of] the sea, who
from distant days the [men of] Que
(Cilicia) had slaughtered, and…heard
the advance of my expedition…To the
sea I came down upon them, and both
small and great with my weapons I
fought down. The cities…of the land of
Que, which Mita (Midas), kind of the
land of Mushki (Phrygia), had taken, I
conquered…
 Sargon II Cylinder
(Sargon) caught the Iamaneans
(Ya-am-na-aya, Ionians) out of the
midst of the sea, like fish, and
subduded Que and Tyre.
Pavement Inscription
(Sargon) caught the Iamaneans
(Ya-am-na-aya, Ionians) out of the
midst of the sea.
Tablet No.7 from Tarsus ~Early
7th century

• Interpretation of names:
Schmitz v. Goetze
• “X” at disposal of “Y”
• X: Luwian or Greek
• Y: Assyrian
• Schmitz believes 3/6 “Xs” are
Greek
 The Annals of
Sennacherib
6th Campaign (lines 58-61):
I settled in Nineveh. Mighty ships (after) the
workmanship of their land, they built dexterously.
Tyrian, Sidonian, and Cyprian (Ia-ad-na-na-ai) sailors,
captives of my hand, ordered (to descend) the Tigris
with them.
 Ninus
• Herodotus 1.7: Descendant of
Heracles

• Ctesias via Diodorus 2.1-8:

• Tiglath-Pilesr III (744-727)
• Sargon II (721-705)
• Sennacherib (704-681)
 Semiramis
• Herodotus 1.184: One of two
queens who ruled Babylon
• Ctesias via Diodorus 2.6-21:
• Sammuramat
• Zakutu
• Berossos via Josephus Ap. 1.142:
• Discredits Semiramis
• Nebuchadnezzar
• Herodotus 1.185-88:
• Nitocris
• Adad-guppi?
Sardanapalus
• Herodotus 2.150: Mentions
Sardanapalus’ great wealth
• Assur-da-inaplu?
• Ctesias via Diodorus 2.23-28:
• Ashurbanipal (668-27)
• Assur-bani-apli=Sarbanapalus
• Berossos via Alexander
Polyhistor via Eusebius:
• Discredits Hellenic tradition of
Sardanapalus
 Herodotus 7.10.5
The god strikes with his thunderbolt those
creatures that tower above the rest…he always
hurls his missiles at those houses and trees at are
the largest and the tallest. For the god likes to lop
off whatever stands out above the rest…for the
god will not tolerate pride in anyone but himself.
Conclusion(s)…?