Eckart Frahm is Professor of Assyriology at Yale University, USA. His primary scholarly interest is the political and intellectual history of Assyria and Babylonia during the first millennium bce. Frahm is the author of five books: Einleitung in die Sanherib-Inschriften (1997), Historische und historisch-literarische Texte aus Assur (2009), Neo-Babylonian Letters and Contracts from the Eanna Archive (co-authored with Michael Jursa, 2011), Babylonian and Assyrian Text Commentaries: Origins of Interpretation (2011), and Geschichte des alten Mesopotamien (2013). Together with Enrique Jiménez and Mary Frazer, he is currently working on a project to publish a large number of Mesopotamian commentaries both in print and online.

Notes on Contributors viii

Acknowledgments xiii

Introduction1

Eckart Frahm

Part I Geography and History 11

1 Physical and Cultural Landscapes of Assyria 13

Jason Ur

2 "Assyria" in the Third Millennium bce36

Lauren Ristvet

3 The Old Assyrian Period (20th-18th Century bce)57

Klaas R. Veenhof

4 Economy, Society, and Daily Life in the Old Assyrian Period 80

Cécile Michel

5 The Transition Period (17th to 15th Century bce)108

Shigeo Yamada Copyrighted Material

6 The Middle Assyrian Period (14th to 11th Century bce)117

Stefan Jakob

7 Economy, Society, and Daily Life in the Middle Assyrian Period 143

Stefan Jakob

8 The NeöAssyrian Period (ca. 1000-609 bce)161

Eckart Frahm

9 Economy, Society, and Daily Life in the NeöAssyrian Period 209

Karen Radner

10 Post¿Imperial Assyria 229

Stefan R. Hauser

Part II The Fringes of Empire: Assyria and its Neighbors 247

11 Assyria and the North: Anatolia 249

Andreas Fuchs

12 Assyria and the East: Western Iran and Elam 259

Andreas Fuchs

13 Assyria and the West: Syria and the Levant 268

Ariel M. Bagg

14 Assyria and the Far West: The Aegean World 275

Robert Rollinger

15 Assyria and the South: Babylonia 286

Eckart Frahm

16 Assyria and the Far South: The Arabian Peninsula and the Persian Gulf 299

Eckart Frahm

Part III Elements of Assyrian Civilization 311

17 Languages and Writing Systems in Assyria 313

Mikko Luukko and Greta Van Buylaere

18 Assyrian Religion 336

Stefan M. Maul

19 Assyrian Literature 359

Alasdair Livingstone

20 Assyrian Scholarship and Scribal Culture in Ashur 368

Nils P. Heeßel

21 Assyrian Scholarship and Scribal Culture in Kalh¿u and Nineveh 378

Jeanette C. Fincke

22 Assyrian Legal Traditions 398

Frederick Mario Fales

23 Assyrian Cities and Architecture 423

John M. Russell

24 Assyrian Art 453

John M. Russell

25 Assyrian Technology 511

Ariel M. Bagg

26 Assyrian Warfare 522

Stephanie Dalley

27 Thoughts on the Assyrian Empire and Assyrian Kingship 534

Mario Liverani

Part IV The Afterlife and Rediscovery of Assyria 547

28 Assyria in Late Babylonian Sources 549

Paul¿Alain Beaulieu

29 Assyria in the Hebrew Bible 556

Eckart Frahm

30 Assyria in Classical Sources 570

Robert Rollinger

31 The Archaeological Exploration of Assyria 583

Mogens Trolle Larsen

32 Assyrian Christians 599

Aaron Michael Butts

List of Assyrian Kings 613

Eckart Frahm

Index617