Only two very fragmentary pieces of land grants (nos. 20-21) can be attributed to Sennacherib plus two additional fragments which, on the basis of their physical characteristics are almost certainly part of no. 21. Virtually no details of no. 20 survive, but nos. 21-23 have enough context preserved to show that the grant dealt with the town of Šabbu (also mentioned in no. 1:8), said to be the town of the queen mother, and mentions both land (a total of 200 hectares) and a list of personnel, presumably to work the land. Unfortunately, the details of the nature and purpose of the grant are missing, but the structural similarity of the text with the other inscriptions of Sennacherib in the volume (nos. 86-87) makes it possible to guess at some of the features that might have been included. The three texts are typologically closely related and have perhaps been artificially separated on the basis of the reference to land in nos. 21-23. This may be only an accident of preservation since it is entirely possible, even likely, that land may have been mentioned in the broken sections of nos. 86 and 87. All three texts have a historical introduction that includes a reference to an oracular query performed by Sennacherib. This is followed by the details of the grant or donation, in all cases including a list of personnel. No. 86 has a list of witnesses and the fact that the very fragmentary no. 20 also appears to have had such a list suggests that both nos. 21-23 and no. 87 may also have been witnessed documents.
Laura Kataja & Robert Whiting
Laura Kataja & Robert Whiting, 'Sennacherib', Grants, Decres and Gifts of the Neo-Assyrian Period, SAA 12. Original publication: Helsinki, Helsinki University Press, 1995; online contents: SAAo/SAA12 Project, a sub-project of MOCCI, 2020 [http://oracc.org/saao/saa12/grantsoflandandtaxexemption/sennacherib/]