A. Fuchs has observed that a number of NA letters from the time between 710 aud 709 inform the recipient about the whereabouts of Merodach-Baladan during Sargon's campaign in Babylonia.[[22]] These reports are very informative because they provide us with a relatively reliable picture of the Assyrian campaign's progress through Babylonia. The observation DUMU-mia-GIN ina KÁ.DINGIR.RA.KI šú-ú (or something similar) "the Yakinite is in Babylon" informs us that the enemy was staying in his residence at the time. Alternatively, the changing locations and the evasive movements of Merodach-Baladan allow us to follow the attacks of the Assyrian army and finally the withdrawal of the Yakinite from Babylon to Elam.
From the dossier of the NB letters, letter no. 68 belongs to this group of texts, a letter of Ana-Nabû-taklak from Bit-Dakuri: the commander reports the Yakinite' s arrival in Elam, and apparently alludes to the fortunate outcome of the Assyrian campaign of 709. Thus this letter continues indirectly no. 145 of the priests Kina and Ereši of Nemed-Laguda which reports the subjugation of southern Babylonia to Assyrian rule:
The report ṭēemu ša Marduk-apla-iddina / mār Jakīni ina Bābili šū "message about Merodach-Baladan/The Yakinite: he is in Babylon" appears in NB letters addressed to Sennacherib.[[23]] Factually, they are roughly on the same level as the above mentioned NA letters to Sargon. This phrase can be found in a number of letters — especially in those of the fortress commanders Aqar-Bel-lumur (nos. 106, 107, 109, 112, 113, 115[[24]]) and Nabû-šumu-lišir (no. 115) who occasionally offer this information jointly (nos. 116, 117, 118). It obviously has a differeut function in these documents than in the corresponding NA letters. Since the phrase follows immediately the introductory passages of the letters with their proclamations of devotion and expressions of well-wishing, and since the phrase also shows an alarming element because it is the result of the investigations of a diligently labouring spy network, it points out the latent danger which stems from the unwanted presence of Merodach-Baladan and his associated activities. On the basis of these results one cannot gather from these letters, as has been done frequently, that they point to any juncture in time and the life of Merodach-Baladan, but rather that they hint at the current military and political context.
Recent research has shown that these reports referred to the year 704, when Merodach-Baladan was active again after the death of Sargon and prepared to seize the throne of Babylon again for several months.[[25]] To do this he had to leave exile and cross the northeastern part of Babylonia, which was noticed by the garrison troops and their commanders in Gambulu. Hence one should date these letters of the military commanders in Babylonia, Aqar-Bel-lumur and Nabû-šumu-lišir, which contained such a report, to the early reign of Sennacherib.[[26]] This is not to say that there are no letters of these two that referred to earlier or later events, such as for example the letter of Nabû-šumu-lišir and Aqar-Bel-lumur, no. 120, which apparently refers to events of the year 693.
The letters of the commanders Nabû-šumu-lišir and Aqar-Bel-lumur that report about the location of Merodach-Baladan in Babylon in 704 fulfil another scholarly requirement: they contribute considerably to an increase of the corpus of NB letters dating to the reign of Sennacherib.
22 SAA 15 (2001) xiv-xvi.
23 In this context we shall not consider letters that speak of Merodach-Baladan in a different context, e.g. no. 111.
24 Whether fragment no. 119, which also contains a report about the whereabouts of Merodach-Baladan (in Babylon?), belongs to this group is uncertain.
25 Cf. M. Dietrich, AOAT 253 (1998), 98-103; S. Parpola, AOAT 281 (2002) 568-570.
26 Cf. S. Parpola, AOAT 281 (2002), 568.
Manfried Dietrich
Manfried Dietrich, 'Documents with information localizing the Yakinite', The Neo-Babylonian Correspondence of Sargon and Sennacherib, SAA 17. Original publication: Helsinki, Helsinki University Press, 2003; online contents: SAAo/SAA17 Project, a sub-project of MOCCI, 2020 [http://oracc.org/saao/saa17/neobabylonianletters/localizingtheyakinite/]