assyrian army i

Tamás Dezső

THE ASSYRIAN ARMYI. THE STRUCTURE OF THE NEO-ASSYRIAN ARMY

1. INFANTRY

Antiqua & orientalia

EÖTVÖS UNIVERSITY PRESSEÖTVÖS LORÁND UNIVERSITY

Tamás D

ezsőTH

E ASSYR

IAN

AR

MY I/1

Asszir_borito_press_ 2012.03.20. 19:24

To the Memory of P.R.S. Moorey

teacher, colleague, friend

AssyrianArmy_I-1_:press 2012.03.14. 9:17 Page 1 (Black plate)

Antiqua et Orientalia 2

Monographs of the Institute of Ancient Studies, Faculty of Humanities, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest

Assyriologia 8/1Monographs of the Department of Assyriology and Hebrew, Institute of Ancient Studies,

Faculty of Humanities, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest


Tamás Dezső

THE ASSYRIAN ARMY

I.

THE STRUCTURE OF THE

NEO-ASSYRIAN ARMY

as Reconstructed from the Assyrian Palace Reliefs and Cuneiform Sources

1. Infantry

Budapest, 2012


ISBN 978 963 312 075 0

ISSN 0209 8067

ISSN 2063 1634

www.eotvoskiado.hu

Executive publisher: András HunyadyEditorial manager: Júlia SándorPrinted by: Multiszolg Bt.Layout and cover: Tibor Anders

© Tamás Dezsô, 2012

Drawings: © Tamás Dezsô, 2012


TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................................13

INFANTRY ..............................................................................................................................................23

LIGHT INFANTRY ..................................................................................................................................25AUXILIARY ARCHERS ....................................................................................................................25The representations (1—31) ....................................................................................................25Cuneiform sources ....................................................................................................................32

(1) Itu’a ................................................................................................................................32(2) Ruqa‹u ............................................................................................................................37(3) ›allatu ............................................................................................................................37(4) Iādaqu and Ri‹iqu ..........................................................................................................37(5) Rubu’u and Litāmu (Lita’u) ..........................................................................................38

AUXILIARY SPEARMEN ..................................................................................................................38The representations (32—60) ..................................................................................................40

(1) Combing operations ........................................................................................................40(2) Battle scenes ....................................................................................................................40(3) Marching scenes ..............................................................................................................41(4) Siege scenes......................................................................................................................43(5) Guard scene 1: Siege wall scenes ....................................................................................44(6) Guard scene 2: Stone quarry and escort scenes ..............................................................44(7) Escorting captives and carrying booty ............................................................................44(8) Parade scenes ..................................................................................................................45(9) Other contexts ................................................................................................................46

Cuneiform sources ....................................................................................................................49AUXILIARY SLINGERS ....................................................................................................................51AUXILIARY TROOPS OF VASSALS ....................................................................................................51

REGULAR INFANTRY ............................................................................................................................53The early history of Assyrian regular infantry (883—745 B.C.) ................................................53

The representations (61—70) ..................................................................................................53Cuneiform sources ....................................................................................................................56

(1) Zūku (‘infantry’) ..........................................................................................................57(2) Ummānu (‘army,’ ‘troops’) ........................................................................................57(3) Gunu (‘horde’) ............................................................................................................58(4) Ašarēdu (‘crack troop’?) ................................................................................................58(5) Qurādu (‘warrior,’ ‘hero’) ..........................................................................................59(6) Munda‹%u (‘combat troop,’ fighting men,’ ‘warrior’) ............................................59(7) Muqtablu (‘fighter,’ ‘man-at-arms’) ..........................................................................60(8) Tidūku (‘warrior’) ........................................................................................................60(9) Kallāpu ('light troops') ................................................................................................60

ASSYRIAN ARMY • Infantry 5


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6 ASSYRIAN ARMY • Infantry

Regular infantry of the imperial period (745—612 B.C.) (71—89) ..........................................61

REGULAR INFANTRYMEN ..............................................................................................................61The representations (73, 75, 78—82) ......................................................................................61Cuneiform sources ....................................................................................................................64

Terms denoting infantrymen..........................................................................................64(1) Qurādu (‘warrior,’ ‘hero’) ....................................................................................64(2) Munda‹%u (‘fighting man’) ..................................................................................65(3) Tidūku (‘warrior’) ..................................................................................................66(4) Muqtablu (‘fighter,’ ‘man-at-arms’) ....................................................................66(5) Zūku (‘infantry’) ....................................................................................................66(6) Zakkû (‘exempt infantry’) ....................................................................................67(7) Kallāpu ('regular infantryman') ..........................................................................69

(a) Kallāpu ..............................................................................................................71(b) Kallāpu ša ekalli (kallāpu of the palace) ..........................................................72(c) Kallāpu šarri (kallāpu of the king) ..................................................................72(d) Kallāpu qurbu (personal kallāpu) ....................................................................72(e) Kallāpu qurbūte (bodyguard kallāpu) ............................................................72(f) Kallāpu ša URU.Ub-[…] (kallāpu of the town of Ub-[…]) ............................73(g) Kallāpu ša LÚ.EN.NAM (kallāpu of the governor) ......................................73(h) Kallāp šipirte (‘messenger’ kallāpu) ................................................................73(i) Officers of kallāpu troops ................................................................................74

(I) Rab kallāpāni (commander of kallāpu-s) ..................................................74(II) Šaknu kallāpāni (prefect of kallāpu-s) ......................................................75

(8) &āb šarri (king’s men) ............................................................................................75Fields of employment ......................................................................................................78

(1) Garrison troops ........................................................................................................78(2) Forts ........................................................................................................................79(3) Guard ......................................................................................................................81

REGULAR ARCHERS ......................................................................................................................82The representations (71, 72, 76, 77) ........................................................................................82Cuneiform sources ....................................................................................................................83

(1) Terms denoting archers............................................................................................85(2) Ethnic and social background ..................................................................................85(3) Officers of archers ....................................................................................................88

REGULAR SPEARMEN ....................................................................................................................89The representations (74, 83—89) ............................................................................................89

(1) Enemy spearmen......................................................................................................93Cuneiform sources ....................................................................................................................95

(1) Royal inscriptions....................................................................................................95(2) Administrative texts ................................................................................................96(3) Ethnic and social background ..................................................................................97

HEAVY INFANTRY..................................................................................................................................99ARMOURED ARCHERS..................................................................................................................100The early history of the Assyrian armoured archers (883—745 B.C.) (90—91)..............100Armoured archers of the imperial period (745—612 B.C.) (93—109)..............................102


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ARMOURED SPEARMEN (110—117)............................................................................................107ARMOURED SLINGERS (118—119)..............................................................................................112

BODYGUARDS ......................................................................................................................................115The early history of bodyguards (883—745 B.C.) (120—126) ................................................115Bodyguards of the imperial period (745—612 B.C.) ................................................................116

The representations (127—137) ............................................................................................116Cuneiform sources ..................................................................................................................120

Ša—šēpē (‘personal guard’) ..........................................................................................120(1) Ša—šēpē (ša—šēpē guard, ‘personal guard’) ....................................................121(2) Ša—šēpē mār šarri (ša—šēpē guard of the crown-prince)................................122

Qurbūtu / ša—qurbūte (qurbūtu bodyguard). ............................................................123(1) Qurbūtu / ša—qurbūte (qurbūtu bodyguard) ....................................................124

(a) The qurbūtu bodyguard’s connection with other Assyrian officials ....126(b) Qurbūtu bodyguard as a court personnel ................................................127(c) The allocation of qurbūtu bodyguards to the cities of the empire........129(d) Qurbūtu as a witness in private contracts ................................................131(e) Qurbūtu as a judge or witness of court decisions ..................................133(f) Qurbūtu bodyguard delivering written orders and messages..............134(g) Qurbūtu bodyguard delivering valuables................................................134(h) Qurbūtu bodyguard gathering and escorting people ............................134(i) Qurbūtu bodyguard providing escort and safety ..................................135(j) Qurbūtu bodyguard fetching deserters ....................................................136(k) Qurbūtu bodyguard as supervisor............................................................136(l) Qurbūtu bodyguard collecting taxes ........................................................136(m) Qurbūtu bodyguard in diplomatic context ..............................................137(n) Qurbūtu bodyguard transporting horses ................................................138(o) Military aspect of the service of the qurbūtu bodyguard ......................139

(2) Qurbūtu / ša—qurbūte ša mār šarri (qurbūtu bodyguard of the crown prince) ..................................................................................................................141

(3) Qurbūtu / ša—qurbūte ummi šarri (qurbūtu bodyguard of the queen mother) ................................................................................................................142

(4) Qurbūtu / ša—qurbūte ša—šēpē (qurbūtu bodyguard of the ša—šēpēguard) ..................................................................................................................142

OFFICERS OF THE INFANTRY ............................................................................................................143The early history of infantry officers (883—745 B.C.) (138—146) ..........................................143Infantry officers of the imperial period (745—612 B.C.) ........................................................144

The representations (147—172) ............................................................................................144(1) Statistical approach ..................................................................................................146(2) Contextual approach................................................................................................149

(a) Military scenes ....................................................................................................149(b) Carrying spoil......................................................................................................149(c) Bringing heads ....................................................................................................150(d) Escorting tribute bearers ..................................................................................150(e) Escorting captives or deportees ........................................................................150(f) Escorting musicians ............................................................................................151


TABLE OF CONTENTS


(g) Leading envoys to a royal audience ................................................................151(h) Escorting the royal chariot ................................................................................151(i) Guarding the royal throne..................................................................................152(j) Executing captives ..............................................................................................152

Cuneiform sources ..................................................................................................................154Commander-of-10 (rab ešerti)........................................................................................154Commander-of-50 (rab ‹anšê) ......................................................................................154Cohort commander (rab ki%ir) ......................................................................................157

(1) Cohort commander (rab ki%ir)............................................................................160(a) Cohort commanders in military contexts ..................................................161(b) Cohort commanders in other contexts ......................................................161(c) Social status of cohort commanders ..........................................................162(d) Economic background of cohort commanders ........................................163(e) Cohort commanders in witness lists ..........................................................164(f) Private archives of cohort commanders ....................................................165

(2) Cohort commander of the king (rab ki%ir ša šarri) ..........................................170(3) Cohort commander of the palace (rab ki%ir ša ekalli) ......................................170(4) Cohort commander of the Chief Eunuch (rab ki%ir rab ša—rēšē) ..................171(5) Cohort commander of the qurbūtu bodyguard (rab ki%ir ša—qurbūte) ........173(6) Cohort commander of the ša—šēpē guard (rab ki%ir ša—šēpē) ......................173(7) Cohort commander of the ša—šēpē guard of the palace (rab ki%ir ša—

šēpē ša ekalli)..........................................................................................................174(8) Cohort commander of the left (rab ki%ir šumēli) ..............................................174(9) Cohort commander of the crown prince (rab ki%ir ša mār šarri) ....................175

(10) Cohort commander of the qurbūtu bodyguard of the crown prince(rab ki%ir ša—qurbūte ša mār šarri) ......................................................................176

(11) Cohort commander of the ša—šēpē guard of the crown prince(rab ki%ir ša—šēpē ša mār šarri) ............................................................................177

(12) Cohort commander of the queen (rab ki%ir ša MÍ.É.GAL) ............................177(13) Cohort commander of the queen mother (rab ki%ir ummi šarri)....................178(14) Cohort commander of the Vizier (rab ki%ir ša sukkalli) ..................................179(15) Cohort commander of the ‘staff-bearers’ (rab ki%ir […] LÚ.PA.MEŠ) ..........179(16) Cohort commander of the Cimmerians? (rab ki%ir Gimirrāia) ......................179(17) Cohort commander of the town (rab ki%ir ša āli) ............................................180(18) Deputy of the cohort commander (šanû ša rab ki%ir) ......................................180

Chiliarch (rab līmi) ..........................................................................................................180Prefect (šaknu) ................................................................................................................180

(1) Prefect of the crown prince (šaknu mār šarri) ..................................................185(2) Prefect of the ša—šēpē guard (šaknu ša—šēpē) ................................................185(3) Prefect of the ‘staff-bearers’ (šaknu ša LÚ.PA.MEŠ) ......................................186(4) Prefects of foreign troops ..................................................................................186(5) Prefect of the kallāpu troops (šaknu kallāpāni) ..................................................186(6) Prefect of the mā‹i%āni (šaknu ša mā‹i%āni) ......................................................187

Major-domo (rab bēti) ....................................................................................................187Governor (bēl pī‹ati) ......................................................................................................189

(1) Troops of the governors ....................................................................................190


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(2) Provincial and foreign units (king’s men) of the ki%ir šarrūti stationed in the provinces. ..................................................................................................191(a) Regular troops – king’s men ........................................................................191(b) Auxiliary troops of governors ....................................................................192(c) Vassal units of the provinces ......................................................................193

(3) Mobilization of provincial troops ....................................................................194(4) Campaigns of governors....................................................................................195(5) Borderguard duty ..............................................................................................199(6) Supply ..................................................................................................................201

Magnates (rabûti) ............................................................................................................202(1) Troops of magnates assembling........................................................................205(2) Magnates on campaign ......................................................................................206(3) Magnates building forts ....................................................................................208(4) Magnates bringing tribute ................................................................................208(5) Magnates of foreign rulers ................................................................................209(6) Working and other duties of magnates ..........................................................210

High officials ..................................................................................................................210(1) Sartennu (Chief Judge)........................................................................................211(2) Sukkallu (Vizier) ..................................................................................................211(3) Masennu (Treasurer) ..........................................................................................214(4) Nāgir ekalli (Palace Herald) ................................................................................216(5) Rab šāqê (Chief Cupbearer) ................................................................................217(6) Turtānu (Commander-in-Chief) ........................................................................218(7) Rab ša—rēšē (Chief Eunuch) ..............................................................................222

CHARTS..................................................................................................................................................229

BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................................................................................................................239

INDEX ....................................................................................................................................................269Index of personal names ..............................................................................................................269Index of the names of deities........................................................................................................278Index of the names of people ......................................................................................................279Index of geographical names ......................................................................................................280

PLATES ..................................................................................................................................................285

LIST OF FIGURESFig. 1. The basic structure of the Assyrian army ..........................................................................20Fig. 2. The development of regular infantry..................................................................................62Fig. 3. Different types of spearmen in the infantry of Assurbanipal ........................................92Fig. 4. Foreign infantrymen enlisted in the royal corps (ki%ir šarrūti) ........................................95Fig. 5. Types of officers according to their equipment (statistical approach) ........................145Fig. 6. Relative list of importance provided by omina ..............................................................153


Tamás Dezső

THE ASSYRIAN ARMYI. THE STRUCTURE OF THE NEO-ASSYRIAN ARMY

1. INFANTRY

Antiqua & orientalia

EÖTVÖS UNIVERSITY PRESSEÖTVÖS LORÁND UNIVERSITY

Tamás D

ezsőTH

E ASSYR

IAN

AR

MY I/1

Asszir_borito_press_ 2012.03.20. 19:24 Page 1

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