A totally different kind of treaty with a major foreign power is hidden behind this episode from the inscriptions of Assurbanipal, dating from the time Assyria was at the zenith of its power:
"Gyges, the king of Lydia, an overseas territory, a distant place whose name my royal ancestors had not even heard of, was shown my royal name in a dream by Aššur, the god who created me, who spoke thus: 'Grasp the feet of Assurbanipal, king of Assyria, and defeat your enemies by the mere mention of his name.' The day he saw this dream he sent his mounted messenger to greet me and had the dream he had seen narrated to me by his messenger. From the moment he grasped my royal feet, he, with the support of Aššur and Ištar, defeated the Cimmerians who had harassed the people of his country... He threw into iron fetters and handcuffs two of the Cimmerian chieftains he had defeated and sent them into my presence together with his weighty audience gift.
"(Later) he cut off the mounted messenger whom he had regularly been sending to my audience. Not guarding the word of Aššur, the god who created me, he trusted in his own power, grew haughty, and sent his troops to help Psammetikos, king of Egypt, who had thrown off my yoke. When I heard this, I prayed to Aššur and Ištar, saying: 'May his corpse be cast before his enemy and may they bring me his bones.' And see: what I had prayed for to Aššur happened; his body was thrown before his enemy and his bones were brought to me. The Cimmerians who at the mention of my name had submitted to him invaded and devastated his entire land.
"Afterwards his son ascended his throne. He reported to me by his messenger the evil fate which my gods at my request had prepared for his father, and grasped my feet saying: 'You are a king whom God cares for: you cursed my father, and evil befell him. Now bless me, your servant who fears you, and I will pull your yoke."' (Streck Asb p. 20ff.)
Even though the word 'treaty' is not explicitly mentioned here, two subsequent treaties concluded at Lydian initiative are clearly implied. Both provided the country with Assyrian military aid at the time of a dire emergency; in return, we see Lydia joining the ranks of Assyria's allies and vassals at the royal audience in Nineveh. One can be sure that such an arrangement, meaning a heavy economic burden to Lydia, was not set up without a written agreement - a 'mutual assistance pact' - attached as a precondition to the aid provided by Assyria.[[6]]
6 Compare with this passage the more explicitly worded Natnu episode cited p. XXI, and note that explicit references to treaties are often omitted in royal inscriptions even in cases where we certainly know that a treaty existed (cf., e.g., p. XXf).
Simo Parpola
Simo Parpola, 'Mutual Assistance Pacts', Neo-Assyrian Treaties and Loyalty Oaths, SAA 2. Original publication: Helsinki, Helsinki University Press, 1988; online contents: SAAo/SAA02 Project, a sub-project of MOCCI, 2020 [http://oracc.org/saao/saa02/treatiesasinstrumentsofimperialism/mutualassistancepacts/]