Theft and Corruption

Finally, given the wealth in animals, gems, and precious metals concentrated in Nineveh, Calah, and Assur during the seventh century, it comes as no surprise that this corpus also chronicles the abuses of royal servants of all stations — from humble shepherds and cooks to "men of the cloth" — who proved to have not only feet of clay but also sticky fingers and were therefore unable to resist the powerful enticements with which they were surrounded. The list of culprits is long: shepherds in charge of flocks of sheep destined for sacrifice in Assur who refused to bring their animals in (no. 19); shepherds who illegally sold the sheep under their care (no. 172); shepherds who stole entire flocks and raised militias to protect both themselves and their loot (no. 20); a cook who stole a golden statue of the plague god Erra (and was beaten to death) (no. 157); drunken prefects esconced outside the gates of Assur who stole the exit tolls they collected, confiscated deliveries, and extorted money from the deliverers (no. 33); a chief victualler of a temple who carried off 30 kg of silver, including utensils that had been given as gifts to the shrine by the king and the queen mother (no. 154); a priest of Ea who stole gold from a temple offering-table (no. 138); temple authorities who covered up thefts made by their subordinates (no. 138); a ring of clerical criminals who cut off and removed gold appendages from the cella of the god to whom they were supposedly devoted (nos. 25, 26); and finally a lamentation priest and a temple guard who carried off large sections of silver sheeting from a temple's walls (no. 128). Some of these thieves, naturally, were put to death (no. 128).[[40]]

From the various letters we have surveyed it is obvious that when it came to matters connected with temple and cult very little escaped the king's notice. If the point needs reinforcing, we will mention one last text, the sole topic of which is the discovery of a lowly fungus growing in the courtyard of the temple of Nabû, which of course called for a report and, just as predictably, a ritual to eradicate it (no. 71).



40 In addition, see also SAA 10 107 (concerning the theft of a golden plate from the temple of Aššur that was apparently facilitated by the payment of bribes to a temple official) and E.F. Weidner, "Hochverrat gegen Asarhaddon," AfO 17 (1954-56) 8 (VAT 4923, concerning the theft of goods, including five royal statues, by one Nabû-ahhe-iddina). On similar cases of corruption in Babylonia during the reign of Esarhaddon, see Frame Babylonia, p. 98.

Steven W. Cole

Steven W. Cole, 'Theft and Corruption', 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/theftandcorruption/]

 
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