A conspicuous feature of the letters edited in the present volume is that the titles or professions of many of the letters' senders are not exactly known. Excluding the letters from king Esarhaddon himself, only ten people are represented by more than two letters:
| Nabû-ra'im-nišešu (a high military official at Der)[[24]] | 11 |
| Ashurbanipal, crown prince | 7 |
| Bel-iqiša (a high official) | 7 |
| Anonymous informer | 7 |
| Ubru-Nabû, scribe of the New Palace of Calah | 6 |
| Šamaš-šumu-ukin, crown prince of Babylon | 4 |
| Itti-Šamaš-belaṭu (a royal agent in Phœnicia) | 4 |
| Šamaš-metu-uballiṭ, prince | 3 |
| Nabû-rehtu-uṣur (a servant of the queen mother?) | 3 |
| Another anonymous informer[[25]] | 3 |
As to the other senders of this volume, no more than one or two letters can be assigned to any of them with certainty. Nevertheless. it is beyond dispute that the letters were sent by high-ranking members of the administrative and military personnel of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. However, when compared, for instance, with the correspondence of Sargon, the difference is great, as many of the senders there are identifiable as provincial governors. This is one the reasons why the letters from the reigns of Sargon and Esarhaddon are Spo different in their nature and subject matter. Since there are no extant letters by provincial governors from the reign of Esarhadclon, it seems likely that their letters were already being written in Aramaic on papyrus or parchment.[[26]]
24 The figure includes two letters of uncertain assignation (nos. 146 and 147). Six of these letters are signed by Nabû-ra'im-nišešu and Salamanu: nos. 1 39, 143. 144 are signed by Nabû-ra'im-nišešu alone: no. 141 lacks the beginning of the letter. At least no. 143 dates from the reign of Asurbanipal.
25 Nos. 69-71. Furthermore, there are 3 fragmentary letters written by Nabû-Šumu-iddina. superintendent of the Nabû temple of Calah. but these letters are less relevant here since they form the addenda to SAA 13.
26 Cf. S. Parpola "Assyrian Royal Inscriptions and Nco-Assyrian Letters." ARINH (1981). p. 1 22f.. SAA I p. XVI and Melville Na4ia/Zakutu. p. 67.
Mikko Luukko & Greta van Buylaere
Mikko Luukko & Greta van Buylaere, 'The Correspondents', The Political Correspondence of Esarhaddon, SAA 16. Original publication: Helsinki, Helsinki University Press, 2002; online contents: SAAo/SAA16 Project, a sub-project of MOCCI, 2022 [http://oracc.org/saao/saa16/thecorrespondents/]