Nos. 148-157 have been grouped together because each text lists a similar varied group of mostly edible items associated with the names or professions of people. The 7 pieces (nos. 148-154), which have been edited in the form of a composite text by Mattila in SAAB 4 (1990) 7-22, under the title "Balancing the accounts of the royal New Year's reception," belong very closely together and may be considered first. It is probable that, as indicated by Mattila, each of these pieces derived from a tablet with 4 columns on each face, and that they can be mutually restored to yield very similar continuous texts as she has done. It must be noted, though, that the tablets themselves do not form a matching set, differing as they do in their physical appearance (see Plates VIII-IX), and that in some cases the entries differ in their amounts, making it certain that they are not strictly duplicates - something which would in any case be surprising in an administrative context. Hence one must agree with Mattila that the seven texts probably "refer to seven different occasions," or to be more cautious, "periods." In the following discussion we make use of her line numbering of the composite text, and the reader will need to consult her article for discussion of many detailed problems.
Following Mattila, we should see the composite text as divided into a first half (18-176) which lists "amounts of edible commodities defined either by person/place or by a qualifying adjective," and a second half on the reverse of each tablet which gives "official titles, military, administrative, priestly and scholarly, each preceded by a figure."
The arrangement of the first section is partly by the type of food. From 67-90 the only meat specified is beef; from 96-112 they are sheep, from 116-131 birds, rodents and fish. That the organization into sections was deliberate is evident from the sub-totals in 71, 94, and especially 108 and 112, which deserve a more detailed comment. In 108 (= no. 154 ii.13') "65 sheep, the meal" is the total for the preceding 7 lines; the previous entries, although not fully understood, are likely to include or imply some similar statement as to the origin or purpose of the sheep, as well as their culinary details. Similarly in 110 the "scholars (and) brick-masons" are mentioned, while in 112 we probably have a summation for the complete section 96-111, which tells us that these were the "sheep - consumption." In other words, this section may be expected, unless there is compelling evidence to the contrary, to list all the sheep consumed at this occasion or period.
Before attempting an interpretation of the texts as a whole, we must look at the last group of entries surviving from the obverse of the tablets. Here 221-222 read "Total: 160 tables, consumption," and must represent a summation of a long preceding passage, which could reach back past the break as far as 180-190. The parallelism with the sheep in 112 must indicate that these "tables" are another element in the menu, and one may provisionally suggest that they included bread and fruit, which are regular components of the Aššur Temple and other offerings texts but do not otherwise feature in these lists. Evidently the next section of the menu was liquid, to judge from 224, and we may therefore recognize the following components:
The second section of the text, apparently restricted to the reverse of the tablets, is even more difficult to assess. It is presumably right to take the numerals which begin each line as referring to some commodity, as they do for instance in 180-190; that is "3 [somethings], bodyguards" rather than just "3 bodyguards." The problem is that we have no clue as to what these somethings might be, or even whether they are the same in each column. If we are still dealing with edible commodities, the two broad possibilities are (a) that this is just a continuation of the list on the obverse, and these are items consumed (akiltu) in the same way, or (b) that the obverse was concerned with the "consumption" but this section listed the redistribution of the same items, something which would have been called za'uzzu. If this were so, we would perhaps have, as Mattila's title implies, a "balanced account"; but the accounting terminology is somewhat surprising, since in fact akiltu (like za'uzzu) would normally belong on the debit side of an account, referring to outgoings, unlike irbu and ummu which could represent the "income" and "credit balance."
The range and order of foodstuffs in the first sections is so similar to those in texts which certainly list offerings, that the present editors agree with Mattila that they probably are derived from temple offerings. However, firm evidence for this is difficult to find, since secular elite meals were doubtless little different from those of the gods, and the order in which they are listed need be no more than a scribal habit.
Similarly, the identity of the persons and officials named does not help: we could equally well assume either that persons connected with the court were expected to make contributions, or that they were recipients.
With the other details we seem to have two choices: either the subsidiary comments refer to the destination of the sheep, and their origin is the same in each case, or their destination may be supposed to be the same, and their origins different. At first sight it is not self-evident which of these is correct, but if we are to understand the texts at all the issue will need to be resolved.
Parpola' s suggestion that these are "accounts of food and possibly gifts distributed at the royal New Year's reception" (quoted by Mattila, SAAB 4, 16) is undoubtedly seductive, but hardly susceptible of proof. If each text were separated by a year, or 6 months (if we assume such a ceremony took place twice a year), it could explain the physical differences between the tablets, in spite of their textual similarity; but in that case it is a little surprising that they should have remained together sufficiently to be reunited as a group, given the generally fragmented nature of the rest of the collection. As observed by Mattila, the names of Esarhaddon' s children at the beginning of the text presumably date it to his reign, and we would not reject as implausible the suggestion that "the exceptionally high figures in A may reflect .... early 672, when Esarhaddon assembled "all Assyria" to take the oath of loyalty ... " (SAAB 4, 16 footnote 5).
Three tablets (nos. 155, 156 and 157) are closely related to the group but not strictly part of it. No. 156 has names listed against commodities, most of which are familiar from nos. 148-154, but which include at least some fruit (duqdi). The size of the tablet is not known, but it was unusually thin and is unlikely to have held four columns per face. No. 155 is almost certainly a small, single-column vertical tablet, the headline of which may be understood to say "Second(?) meal of the pal[ace]," after which it records a number against a succession of high personages, beginning with the queen, the crown prince and the chief sukkallu. This reminds us of the early part of the composite text, but there is nothing more to substantiate the connection.
Finally no. 157 is a little more revealing. The obverse is divided into sections listing shekels (presumably of silver) against personal names (one of which is again Esarhaddon's son Šamaš-metu-uballiṭ). The end of the reverse lists persons identified either by name or by (usually military) profession, with two figures against each name which refer to "tables" and beer, if we may judge from the colophon which immediately follows. This states "Total: 74 tables, 51(+) bowls (of beer), 2 ... , distribution." The two broken lines which follow are probably to be understood as "[The ...]s consumed in the [...] house; [the remain]der of the tables were distributed to the palace (or: house) personnel [...]." If only this text were a little better preserved, it might well have supplied important clues to the rest of the group. For one thing, it hints that secular palace employees were receiving food and drink originating from temple offerings, as has been suggested for nos. 148-154; and for another, the colophon does not seem to take account of the shekels listed on the obverse, suggesting that like the composite text, it was an account in two halves, and that the obverse listed payments into, the reverse distributions from the same administrative office. However, at present this can be no more than speculation.
F.M. Fales & J.N. Postgate
F.M. Fales & J.N. Postgate, 'Accounts of Banquets (Nos. 148-157)', Imperial Administrative Records, Part I: Palace and Temple Administration, SAA 7. Original publication: Helsinki, Helsinki University Press, 1992; online contents: SAAo/SAA07 Project, a sub-project of MOCCI, 2021 [http://oracc.org/saao/saa07/accountsoffoodanddrink/accountsofbanquetsnos148157/]