Assyrian empire builders

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Governors, diplomats and soldiers in the service of Sargon II and Tiglath-pileser III, kings of Assyria

The correspondence between Sargon II, king of Assyria (721-705 BC), and his governors and magnates is the largest text corpus of this kind known from antiquity and provides insight into the mechanisms of communication between the top levels of authority in an ancient empire. His letters are supplemented by the smaller corpus of correspondence of his predecessor, Tiglath-pileser III (744-727 BC). This website presents these letters together with resources and materials for their study and on their historical and cultural context.

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