Asszir_borito_press_ 2012.03.21. 14:57 Page 1 Tamás Dezső T a THE ASSYRIAN ARMY m á s D Antiqua & orientalia I. T S N -A A e HE TRUCTURE OF THE EO SSYRIAN RMY z s ő 1. INFANTRY T H E A S S Y R I A N A R M Y I / 1 EÖTVÖS UNIVERSITY PRESS EÖTVÖS LORÁND UNIVERSITY AssyrianArmy_I-1_:press 2012.03.21. 15:30 Page 1 (Black plate) To the Memory of P.R.S. Moorey teacher, colleague, friend AssyrianArmy_I-1_:press 2012.03.21. 15:30 Page 2 (Black plate) Antiqua et Orientalia 2 Monographs of the Institute of Ancient Studies, Faculty of Humanities, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest Assyriologia 8/1 Monographs of the Department of Assyriology and Hebrew, Institute of Ancient Studies, Faculty of Humanities, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest AssyrianArmy_I-1_:press 2012.03.21. 15:30 Page 3 (Black plate) Tamás Dezső THE ASSYRIAN ARMY I. T S HE TRUCTURE OF THE N -A A EO SSYRIAN RMY as Reconstructed from the Assyrian Palace Reliefs and Cuneiform Sources 1. Infantry Budapest, 2012 AssyrianArmy_I-1_:press 2012.03.21. 15:30 Page 4 (Black plate) © Tamás Dezsô, 2012 Drawings: © Tamás Dezsô, 2012 ISBN 978 963 312 075 0 ISSN 0209 8067 ISSN 2063 1634 www.eotvoskiado.hu Executive publisher: András Hunyady Editorial manager: Júlia Sándor Printed by: Multiszolg Bt. Layout and cover: Tibor Anders AssyrianArmy_I-1_:press 2012.03.21. 15:30 Page 5 (Black plate) T C ABLE OF ONTENTS INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................................13 INFANTRY..............................................................................................................................................23 LIGHTINFANTRY ..................................................................................................................................25 AUXILIARYARCHERS ....................................................................................................................25 The representations (1—31) ....................................................................................................25 Cuneiform sources....................................................................................................................32 (1) Itu’a ................................................................................................................................32 (2) Ruqa‹u............................................................................................................................37 (3) ›allatu ............................................................................................................................37 (4) Iādaquand Ri‹iqu..........................................................................................................37 (5) Rubu’uand Litāmu (Lita’u) ..........................................................................................38 AUXILIARYSPEARMEN..................................................................................................................38 The 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....................................................................................................................49 AUXILIARYSLINGERS....................................................................................................................51 AUXILIARYTROOPSOFVASSALS....................................................................................................51 REGULARINFANTRY ............................................................................................................................53 The early history of Assyrian regular infantry (883—745 B.C.)................................................53 The representations (61—70) ..................................................................................................53 Cuneiform 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 AssyrianArmy_I-1_:press 2012.03.21. 15:30 Page 6 (Black plate) TABLEOFCONTENTS Regular infantry of the imperial period (745—612 B.C.)(71—89) ..........................................61 REGULARINFANTRYMEN ..............................................................................................................61 The representations (73, 75, 78—82) ......................................................................................61 Cuneiform 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(kallāpuof the palace)..........................................................72 (c) Kallāpu šarri(kallāpuof the king) ..................................................................72 (d) Kallāpu qurbu(personal kallāpu)....................................................................72 (e) Kallāpu qurbūte (bodyguard kallāpu) ............................................................72 (f) Kallāpu ša URU.Ub-[…] (kallāpuof the town of Ub-[…])............................73 (g) Kallāpu ša LÚ.EN.NAM (kallāpuof the governor)......................................73 (h) Kallāp šipirte(‘messenger’ kallāpu)................................................................73 (i) Officers of kallāputroops ................................................................................74 (I) Rab kallāpāni(commander of kallāpu-s) ..................................................74 (II) Šaknu kallāpāni(prefect of kallāpu-s) ......................................................75 (8)&ābšarri (king’s men)............................................................................................75 Fields of employment......................................................................................................78 (1)Garrison troops........................................................................................................78 (2)Forts ........................................................................................................................79 (3)Guard ......................................................................................................................81 REGULARARCHERS ......................................................................................................................82 The representations (71, 72, 76, 77) ........................................................................................82 Cuneiform sources....................................................................................................................83 (1) Terms denoting archers............................................................................................85 (2) Ethnic and social background..................................................................................85 (3) Officers of archers....................................................................................................88 REGULARSPEARMEN ....................................................................................................................89 The representations (74, 83—89) ............................................................................................89 (1) Enemy spearmen......................................................................................................93 Cuneiform sources....................................................................................................................95 (1) Royal inscriptions....................................................................................................95 (2) Administrative texts................................................................................................96 (3) Ethnic and social background..................................................................................97 HEAVYINFANTRY..................................................................................................................................99 ARMOUREDARCHERS..................................................................................................................100 The early history of the Assyrian armoured archers (883—745 B.C.) (90—91)..............100 Armoured archers of the imperial period (745—612 B.C.) (93—109)..............................102 6 ASSYRIAN ARMY • Infantry AssyrianArmy_I-1_:press 2012.03.21. 15:30 Page 7 (Black plate) Table of contents ARMOUREDSPEARMEN(110—117)............................................................................................107 ARMOUREDSLINGERS(118—119)..............................................................................................112 BODYGUARDS ......................................................................................................................................115 The early history of bodyguards (883—745 B.C.) (120—126) ................................................115 Bodyguards of the imperial period (745—612 B.C.) ................................................................116 The representations (127—137) ............................................................................................116 Cuneiform sources..................................................................................................................120 Ša—šēpē(‘personal guard’) ..........................................................................................120 (1) Ša—šēpē(ša—šēpēguard, ‘personal guard’)....................................................121 (2) Ša—šēpē mār šarri(ša—šēpēguard of the crown-prince)................................122 Qurbūtu / ša—qurbūte(qurbūtubodyguard). ............................................................123 (1) Qurbūtu / ša—qurbūte(qurbūtubodyguard)....................................................124 (a) The qurbūtubodyguard’s connection with other Assyrian officials....126 (b) Qurbūtubodyguard as a court personnel................................................127 (c) The allocation of qurbūtubodyguards to the cities of the empire........129 (d) Qurbūtuas a witness in private contracts................................................131 (e) Qurbūtuas a judge or witness of court decisions ..................................133 (f) Qurbūtubodyguard delivering written orders and messages..............134 (g) Qurbūtubodyguard delivering valuables................................................134 (h) Qurbūtubodyguard gathering and escorting people............................134 (i) Qurbūtubodyguard providing escort and safety ..................................135 (j) Qurbūtubodyguard fetching deserters....................................................136 (k) Qurbūtubodyguard as supervisor............................................................136 (l) Qurbūtubodyguard collecting taxes........................................................136 (m) Qurbūtubodyguard in diplomatic context..............................................137 (n) Qurbūtubodyguard transporting horses ................................................138 (o) Military aspect of the service of the qurbūtubodyguard ......................139 (2) Qurbūtu / ša—qurbūte ša mār šarri(qurbūtubodyguard of the crown prince) ..................................................................................................................141 (3) Qurbūtu / ša—qurbūte ummi šarri(qurbūtubodyguard of the queen mother) ................................................................................................................142 (4) Qurbūtu / ša—qurbūte ša—šēpē (qurbūtubodyguard of the ša—šēpē guard) ..................................................................................................................142 OFFICERSOFTHEINFANTRY ............................................................................................................143 The early history of infantry officers (883—745 B.C.) (138—146) ..........................................143 Infantry 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 ASSYRIAN ARMY • Infantry 7 AssyrianArmy_I-1_:press 2012.03.21. 15:30 Page 8 (Black plate) TABLEOFCONTENTS (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..................................................................................................................154 Commander-of-10 (rabešerti)........................................................................................154 Commander-of-50 (rab‹anšê) ......................................................................................154 Cohort commander (rabki%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 māršarri)....................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)..........................................................................................................180 Prefect(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) ....................................................................................................187 Governor (bēl pī‹ati) ......................................................................................................189 (1) Troops of the governors ....................................................................................190 8 ASSYRIAN ARMY • Infantry AssyrianArmy_I-1_:press 2012.03.21. 15:30 Page 9 (Black plate) Table of contents (2) Provincial and foreign units (king’s men) of the ki%ir šarrūtistationed 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 ....................................................................................................................................................269 Index of personal names ..............................................................................................................269 Index of the names of deities........................................................................................................278 Index of the names of people ......................................................................................................279 Index of geographical names ......................................................................................................280 PLATES ..................................................................................................................................................285 LISTOFFIGURES Fig. 1. The basic structure of the Assyrian army ..........................................................................20 Fig. 2.The development of regular infantry..................................................................................62 Fig. 3. Different types of spearmen in the infantry of Assurbanipal ........................................92 Fig. 4. Foreign infantrymen enlisted in the royal corps(ki%ir šarrūti)........................................95 Fig. 5. Types of officers according to their equipment (statistical approach) ........................145 Fig. 6. Relative list of importance provided by omina ..............................................................153 ASSYRIAN ARMY • Infantry 9