East of Gambulu (for its letters, cf. nos. 92-128 pages XXVI-XXVII) there
is the mountainous frontier region between Babylonia and Elam. Sargon
subjugated this region while en route to Babylonia in 7 10 to guard his eastern
flank during his campaign in Babylonia. Several letters, in which officials
sent reports to Assyria about remarkable events from these occupied territories
near the river Tubliaš,[[63]]
date to this time
immediately before, during or shortly after his campaign.
Nos. 149-155 consist of three groups of two:
The first subdivision, nos. 149 and 152, are written by Abi-yaqiya, presumably a
sheikh of the region. In no. 149 he reports (as the only author and naming
himself) that a certain Natannu and his family were in Elam, but he intended to
prevent his entire entourage from following him.[[64]] Colleagues joined Abi-yaqiya when it came to writing letter
no. 152. This letter concerns the border fortress Šama'unu which could
no longer be defended. As a consequence the entire region of Rašu
threatened to defect if troops were not sent in relief as soon as
possible. In addition Abi-yaqar, a prince of Puqudu, an area to the
south, tried to profit from this turbulent situation.
The second subdivision, nos. 150 and 151, were sent by sheikhs of the Tubliaš
region together with their relatives to officials of the Assyrian court. Both letters
are fragmentary. They ask the addressees to send troops immediately to prevent
the inhabitants from joining the enemy camp.
The third subdivision centres around a certain Šama'gunu: in nos. 153 and 154, he
is the sender of letters to Sargon; and in no. 155, he is the addressee of a private
letter of his "brother" Ummaniša. The letters to the king reflect the tense
political situation in the border region near Elam for which he was responsible.
The letter of his "brother" Ummaniša deals with two topics, first he relates the
incident with the messenger Aya-saggî who could offer no proof of identity and
as a consequence was suspicious. Second, he asks Šama' gunu not to leave his
post so that the King would see no reason to intervene.
63 For this river, cf. A. Fuchs, Sar. (1994), 465, with references to the Annals.
64 Perhaps Natannu is identical with Natanu, the regent of Lahiru, whose condilion is enquired into in SAA 15 140; cf. H. D. Baker, PNA 2/2, 937-938.
Manfried Dietrich, 'Letters from Tubliaš (nos. 149-155)', 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/presentationoftheletters/fromtubliashnos149155/]