A Companion to Assyria

Notes on Contributors viii


Acknowledgments xiii


Introduction 1
Eckart Frahm


Part I Geography and History 11


1 Physical and Cultural Landscapes of Assyria 13
Jason Ur


2 “Assyria” in the Third Millennium bce 36
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


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 Neo?–Assyrian Period (ca. 1000–609 bce) 161
Eckart Frahm


9 Economy, Society, and Daily Life in the Neo?–Assyrian 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 Kalhu 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


Index 617