By far the largest single group of queries is concerned with matters of internal security, notably the loyalty of various classes of officials and people, as well as individual appointees to office. As we shall see, this entire group probably largely belongs to the years 671-670. For purposes of clarity, it can be divided into two parts. The first consists of queries (nos. 139-147) whose subject is the loyalty of sundry classes of royal officials and military personnel, including foreigners such Arameans, Elamites, Cimmerians, Egyptians, Phoenicians, Arabs, etc. serving as contingents in the Assyrian army.
The second group (nos. 150-180) is concerned with the loyalty of individual appointees to office. They usually begin: "Will the man whose name is written in this papyrus, and who is being appointed to the following office remain loyal to Esarhaddon and to Assurbanipal, the crown prince of the Succession Palace, as long as he is serving in this office?" As noted above, both groups probably largely date from the years 671-670 for the following reasons:
1) In many of these queries the loyalty called for is both for Esarhaddon and Assurbanipal. The latter is described as "the crown prince of the Succession Palace," a title he held only since 672.
2) The texts in this group are prevalently written in Assyrian script, a practice which apparently became more common after 672, when Assurbanipal became crown prince.
3) The date of the queries in this group can be narrowed down even further when we note the mention of both Egyptians and Cushites (i.e., Nubians) as potential rebels against the king of Assyria. This became possible only after the occupation of Egypt in 671, when Esarhaddon, having defeated the Nubian Pharaoh Taharka and conquered Memphis (cf. nos. 84ff), incorporated large contingents of Egyptian and Cushite soldiers into his army.[[263]]
4) The queries concerning the loyalty of appointees to office may reflect a period of unrest in 670 following an attempted coup d'état, which resulted in the execution of numerous officials.[[264]] This event is described in the laconic language of the chronicles as follows: "In the eleventh year (of Esarhaddon) the king put many of his magnates to the sword."[[265]] The executions may account for the numerous vacancies open to prospective aspirants to office whose loyalty was being tested by means of divination.
263 See Borger Esarh. p. 114, Frt. J i 7ff,
264 See Parpola LAS 2 p. 247ff.
265 Grayson Chronicles p. 86:29f and 127:27.
Ivan Starr
Ivan Starr, 'Rebellion against Esarhaddon and Assurbanipal', Queries to the Sungod: Divination and Politics in Sargonid Assyria, SAA 4. Original publication: Helsinki, Helsinki University Press, 1990; online contents: SAAo/SAA04 Project, a sub-project of MOCCI, 2020 [http://oracc.org/saao/saa04/chronologyandhistoricalbackground/rebellion/]