The Babylonian capital and its chief deity were not the only cult center and god to receive such attention. Priests and officials in the temples of Assyria proper also dispatched letters to the king mentioning precious metals and stones that had been used, or were intended to be used, in their precincts: 50 silver statues of cherubs and deified winds, 2 big silver statues of the king, 3 silver doorjambs, and a silver kettle — 150 kg in all (no. 28); silver for the socles of the gods Aššur and Mullissu (no. 39); gold, copper, and lapis lazuli for divine images (no. 127). It is reported that the temple of Mullissu in Assur had been rebuilt and was awaiting reconsecration (no. 12). And the king himself sent dispatches concerning "golden waters" and "flood monsters" cast of bronze and iron (no. 7). The former were probably intended to function as ornaments for divine banquet tables, such as those attested for Nanaya and Sin in the Neo-Babylonian period,[[10]] and may have even been representations of deified bodies of water comparable to the silver and bronze representations of the Ṭaban and Diyala Rivers attested in the early second-millennium year formulae of Belakum, king of Ešnunna.[[11]]
Some of the men responsible for this work apparently got carried away. A lamentation priest, for example, is accused of running riot in the temple, tearing out or cutting down doorposts and other architectural members, replacing ancient goldwork with new, appointing officials of his own choosing, and tampering with ancient rites (no. 134). This charge is also leveled against others, who are said to have removed the hands of the goddess Tambaya, and, more seriously, to have set aside the old rites of Nikkal and instituted new ones in their place (no. 47).
10 Compare GCCI 1 370:1 and 6 and YOS 7 185:26, which mention, respectively, golden waters for the table of Nanaya and silver waters for the table of Sin. Compare also no. 169 in this volume, which mentions wooden waters for the table of Zarpanitu.
11 See T. Jacobsen in H. Frankfort, S. Lloyd, and T. Jacobsen, The Gimil-Sin Temple and the Palace of the Rulers at Tell Asmar (OIP 43, Chicago 1940), p. 181 no. 77 and p. 193 no. 119.
Steven W. Cole
Steven W. Cole, 'The Refurbishment of Assyrian Temples', Letters from Assyrian and Babylonian Priests to Kings Esarhaddon and Assurbanipal, SAA 13. Original publication: Helsinki, Helsinki University Press, 1998; online contents: SAAo/SAA13 Project, a sub-project of MOCCI, 2020 [http://oracc.org/saao/saa13/lettersfrompriests/refurbishmentofassyriantemples/]