Letters from Priests to the Kings Esarhaddon and Assurbanipal by Steven Cole

Letters from Priests to the Kings Esarhaddon and Assurbanipal by Steven Cole

The letters edited in this volume represent the correspondence of various priests and high temple officials in the Assyrian realm during the third through fifth decades of the seventh century BC. They consist chiefly of reports to Esarhaddon and Assurbanipal about cultic concerns and matters connected with the construction and renovation of temple edifices in the major cities of the Assyrian empire, both in the heartland and in the provinces. These fascinating letters throw light on the buildings, refurbishment, and maintenance of temples, the fashioning and installation of statues of the king, the provisioning of the cult, the performance of sacrifices, the rite of sacred marriage, and the processions of divine images.

Frederick E. Greenspahn is Gimelstob Eminent Scholar of Judaic Studies at Florida Atlantic University, USA.

Peter Machinist is Hancock Research Professor of Hebrew and Other Oriental Languages at Harvard University, USA.