The texts in this section are frequently similar to some of nos. 130-144, but in each case there is, or we suspect, a connection with the temples. The majority list foods, often the same commodities as in the preceding secular banquets. Nos. 159 and 160 are valuable in that their concluding lines tell us that they are listing "sacrifices of the Chief Eunuch/the Commander-inChief" for a particular day. As in the large group of Aššur Temple offering lists, the tablets are often dated by day, and no doubt this reflects the fact that the offerings were destined for particular meals on specified days, and punctual delivery was essential. The texts which follow (nos. 161-163) are physically very similar to one another and probably come from the same hand. They list standardized bundles of contributions (animals, bread, vegetables etc.) from various provinces and officials: there is no formal proof that these are in fact offerings (rather than secular contributions), but they are included here in the light of the ga/iriṣālte bread which we also find in no. 159.
Some of these miscellaneous listings include items other than food. Nos. 166 and 167 are both headed šazbussu, a technical term in need of some elucidation. Apart from etymology (zbl Š), which entitles us to expect a meaning like "delivery," the best evidence comes from the correspondence: here officials writing to the king make it quite clear that it refers to contributions organized by the administration for some of its employees. In ABL 546 these deliveries go to cavalrymen and include, apparently, the means of establishing a household (including pigs and basic furniture), no doubt as part of the creation ofDur-Sarruken. The context here seems to be entirely secular. On the other hand ABL 167, now SAA 1 128, is concerned with deliveries of the "additional regular offerings" of bread and beer for the Nabu Temple at Dur-Šarruken, and whether the author of the letter or another official should make provision for this. Evidently these contributions were measured by the number of altars (GI.DU8 = paṭīru) supplied; likewise no. 174:9'ff. gives us a list of the individual components of an "equipped table" (paššūru tallulu). In ABL 558 also the correspondent is concerned about the failure of one of two provincial governors to supply a šazbussu delivery requested by a royal officer, although it is not clear whether the "work" (dullu) for which these deliveries are needed is of a secular or cultic character. We have guessed that both no. 166 and no. 167 relate to temple offerings. No such guesswork is needed with no. 175, since it has preserved its summary as "supplementary offerings of the Queen."
Quite why texts recording offerings to temples were found in the palace is hard to explain convincingly, but the same problem affects the Aššur Temple texts (see below). From the gods in no. 175 - Bel, Nabû, Šarrat-samme and (Li)sikkutu (this last perhaps a deified piece of temple equipment) - we cannot determine the temple concerned, or whether it was within the palace precincts or a more public shrine. Of the other pieces mentioning deities by name no. 158, with Aššur, Mullissu and Ištar could belong with the final group, while to make an attribution of no. 171 we would really require more than the end of its list of gods.
F.M. Fales & J.N. Postgate
F.M. Fales & J.N. Postgate, 'Miscellaneous Temple Offerings (nos. 158-181)', 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/miscellaneoustempleofferingsnos158181/]