The main point of contact between the decrees and the treaties and loyalty oaths is in the presence of the seal of Aššur on both. No. 1 (Adad-nerari III) and no. 86 (Sennacherib) have superscriptions invoking the seal of Aššur (and Ninurta in no. 1); although the seal is not on the tablet, it was doubtless on the originals from which these tablets, according to the colophons, were copied. A similar superscription is found on the vassal treaties of Esarhaddon (SAA 2 6), but is otherwise not duplicated among the surviving sources. Nos. 69 and 71 lack the superscription, but refer in their colophons to sealed originals. Clearly, the seal of Aššur on these documents marks them as very solemn undertakings, founded on the highest possible authority.
Another point of contact is found in the curses used in treaties and loyalty oaths and those found in the private votive donations. The curses in treaties are directed against those who break the agreement and are many and varied, calling on many different deities to visit dire punishments on the offender,[[23]] and are much more extensive that those generally found in royal inscriptions. It is somewhat surprising to find private individuals calling on the great gods of Assyria to inflict similar punishments on those who would try to take away the votive gift that they have made.
23 Cf., e.g., SAA 2 6 and SAA 2 9.
Laura Kataja & Robert Whiting
Laura Kataja & Robert Whiting, 'Treaties and Loyalty Oaths', 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/introduction/treatiesandloyaltyoaths/]