A very interesting group may be made up of letters concerned with omens and predictions. The Assyrian kings were firm believers in omens. They did not venture upon any great undertaking without consulting the augurs. We have numerous letters telling the king what days were propitious for certain projects which he had formed. For the most part, the whole point is obscure to us. We know neither the purpose he had, the omens relied on, nor the real grounds of the decision. Very often translation is impossible. In some cases the publication of the innumerable omen texts may give some light on the subject, but usually it is quite impossible to see how these were made to apply to the actual case. It is very like the case of Nebuchadrezzar's dream. We are without any data to work from.

Here is an example of some interest, and more easily understood than many:914

Whether this was a good or evil omen, or even an omen at all, we do not know. NabÛa is a very common name. There are fourteen or fifteen astrological reports which bear [pg 366] his name. In these he appears as an inhabitant of the city Asshur. The name occurs some forty times in the contracts, but it is clear that there were several of the name. Perhaps the scribe who appears from b.c. 668 down to post-canon times may be our writer, but, as he lived at Nineveh, that is doubtful.

Another case which is fairly intelligible is a letter of Balasi and NabÛ-a?Ê-erba,915 on a question of auspicious days for a journey. It reads:

We have fairly frequent references to Ashur-mukÎn-palÊa in a way that shows that he was delicate. From a letter of Ardi-NabÛ's we learn that the order of seniority in the family of Esarhaddon was AshurbÂnipal, Shamash-shum-ukÎn, SherÛa-e?irat (a princess), Ashur-mukin-palÊa, Sharru-shame-er?iti-balÂ?su-(i?bi). He is often named in the letters, usually as king's son. But despite his delicate health he survived to be made high-priest of Sin at ?arrÂn, by his royal brother, and even as late as b.c. 648 his name occurs in the contracts.916

Balasi is a frequent writer of astrological reports, some five and twenty being preserved, besides some fifteen letters. In the latter he is associated with NabÛ-a?Ê-erba no less than seven times, once with Ishtar-shum-Êresh also. In these cases we probably have the same person. But the name occurs often in the contracts, and there belongs to at least three different men. NabÛ-a?Ê-erba was the writer of [pg 367] some five and thirty astrological reports, besides some seven or eight letters, usually with Balasi. The name belongs to several persons named in the contracts.

Ardi-Êa was also a frequent writer to the king. Besides three or four astrological reports, he wrote nine letters to the king. He is generally associated with Adadi-shum-u?ur, Ishtar-shum-Êresh, AkkullÂnu, or Marduk-shÂkin-shum. But one letter,917 written to Sargon II., and mentioning Merodach-Baladan II., clearly belongs to another Ardi-Êa. Most of his letters are defective. The most intelligible918 reads thus:

The great group of writers with whom he is associated is responsible for a large number of letters. Adadi-shum-u?ur wrote some thirty-five letters and five or six astrological reports. He is especially prolix in his introduction. Here is a specimen:919

Judging from the frequent mention of Ardi-Gula in other letters and that he wrote to the king about his sons, AshurbÂnipal and Shamash-shum-ukÎn, we may be sure the old courtier got his request, and that he was writing to Esarhaddon. The letters of Adadi-shum-u?ur concern domestic affairs, the sickness of one, an auspicious day, the health of another, rarely does he mention any news of public interest. The persons about whom he writes are the members of the royal family, Esarhaddon's children and the above-named circle of officials. The king sent him to see certain sick folk,920 he writes about an eclipse, or a ring, or something of the sort. He usually gives a very long introduction; often the real message occupies only a few lines.

Marduk-shÂkin-shum is another of the same group, with twenty-five letters. They are of the same domestic nature as the last. Ishtar-shum-Êresh is the writer of a score of letters and about thirty astrological reports. He was evidently a younger member of the group, son of NabÛ-zÊr-lÎshir, and chief scribe to AshurbÂnipal. In the reign [pg 369] of Esarhaddon he ranked as a maŠmaŠsu. AkkullÂnu, who was an Êrib bÎti, of Asshur, writes sixteen letters and some dozen astrological reports.

We have seen that in the second epoch the king had to fix the time when intercalary months should be inserted. In this period the calendar was very carefully regulated by astronomical observations. As a new month began on the day on which the new moon was seen, it is clear that a month would often exceed twenty-nine days, but that a new moon might sometimes be seen on the twenty-ninth. NabÛa, the astronomer of the city Asshur, sends a number of such letters as:921

So NabÛ-shum-iddin writes:922

The gardener, or rather irrigator, may be a royal title. At present these observations are useless to us in our attempts to fix chronology, as we do not know the month and year of many of them.

The queen-mother was always an important personage in the state and she had very great influence indeed at court. But probably few ladies ever obtained a higher degree of power than did Naki'a, or Zakutu as she was also called, the wife of Sennacherib and mother of Esarhaddon. She had a sister Abirami.923 The queen-mother resided in La?iru, but there seem to have been more than one city of the name. Her necklace, or some part of it, is in private possession [pg 370] and has been described by Professor Scheil.924 She survived her son, and, with her grandsons, AshurbÂnipal, Shamash-shum-ukÎn, and the nobles of Assyria, issued a proclamation to the empire, declaring AshurbÂnipal the true heir to the throne.

It is, of course, uncertain whether the person addressed as mother of the king is always ZakÛtu, since we cannot always date the letters. But the letter of NÂ'id-Marduk,925 which names Ummanigash as King of Elam, was certainly addressed to her. NÂ'id-Marduk was a son of Merodach Baladan, who, in the reign of Esarhaddon, when his brother NabÛ-zÊr-kÎnish-lÎshir was killed by Ummanaldash II., threw himself on the mercy of Esarhaddon and was by him made ruler of his ancestral domain of BÎt Jakin, as a vassal king. He speaks for himself: