Chariotry units of the royal corps

I.1.3.1 Palace chariotry (mugerri ekalli (GIŠ.GIGIR É.GAL))⁸⁷

Large contingents of various types of chariotry units served in the royal corps (ki%ir šarrūti) of the Assyrian army.⁸⁸Out of these (regular) units, the palace chariotry and the different types of bodyguard chariotry units⁸⁹were the most important. The palace chariotry is one of the well­

documented units of the Assyrian army, familiar from some administrative texts, including the

83 PARKER1963, BT.101, Rev. 13: Bēl-dān LÚ.GAL—KA.KEŠDA; BT 118, 12: Nabû-nādin-aḫi LÚ.GAL—ki-ṣir, 13: Urad-Issar LÚ.GAL—ki-ṣir; BT 124, 14: Issar-šumu-lēšir LÚ.GAL—ki-ṣir.

84 MATTILA2002, 319 (ADD 608), 1’: [… LÚ.GAL]—ki-ṣir, Rev. 1: Aššur-šarru-uṣur LÚ.GAL—ki-ṣir (he can be connected to the Kakkullānu archive), 3: [… LÚ].GAL—ki-ṣir, 7: [… LÚ].GAL—ki-ṣir.

85 MATTILA2002, 351 (ADD 1184+), R. 3’: […]-bēlu-uṣur GA[L]—[ki-ṣir], 4’: Ikkaru GA[L …], 5’: Šagim GAL—[…], 6’:

Marduk-tēr GAL—[ki-ṣir], 7’: Inurtî GA[L—…] (he is also known from the Kakkullānu archive), 8’: Barru[qu GAL—…].

86 DALLEY– POSTGATE1984, no. 108, ii, 20: Qurdi-Issar-lāmur; 22: Pān-Issar-lēšir; 23: Issar-tuklatūa, DEZSŐ2006B, 120-121, note 189.

87 DEZSŐ2012B, 74-76.

88 DEZSŐ2012B, 69-78: Headquarters staff: chariotry element: (1) Ša—šēpē chariotry; (2) Taḫlīpu chariotry; (3) Pattūte chariotry;

Deportee unit; Chariot owners; Palace chariotry; Chariotry bodyguard; Chariotry of the ša—šēpē guard; Chariotry of the bodyguard of the ša—šēpē guard; Open chariotry of the bodyguard of the ša—šēpē guard.

89 Chariotry bodyguard (GIŠ.GIGIR(mugerri) qurubte); chariotry of the ša—šēpē guard (GIŠ.GIGIR ša—šēpē); chariotry of the bodyguard of the ša—šēpē guard (qurbūtu šēpē GIŠ.GIGIR); open chariotry of the bodyguard of the ša—šēpē guard (qurbūtu šēpē DU₈.MEŠ): DEZSŐ2012B, 74-78.

Royal corps

Nimrud Horse Lists,⁹⁰ND 2386+2730,⁹¹and ADD 855.⁹²Names of two types of palace chariotry officers are known from the sources (Chart 12A­B).

Fig. 8. Officers of palace chariotry.

As Fig. 8shows, a similarly high ratio of Assyrian names in the prosopographic evidence of the high ranking officers (recruitment officers, mušarkisāni or rabûti, LÚ.GAL.GAL.MEŠ) of the palace chariotry can be observed. According to these texts, 40 officers (64.5%)bore Assyrian names, 21 officers (33.9%)bore Aramean names and a single officer bore West Semitic name. The subordinate officers were team commanders (rab urâte). If their ethnic composition can be reconstructed from the prosopographic evidence, the Assyrian component was still dominant, although only 15 officers bore Assyrian names (53.6%)and 6 of them (21.4%)bore Aramean names, and a surprisingly high ratio, 25% (7 officers) bore West Semitic names! It is unknown, whether this shift in the ratio of the Assyrian and Aramean names between the two levels of the officers of palace chariotry means that on the lower levels more Arameans served in the army, or not.

The names of the regular equestrian soldiers in this unit are virtually unknown. Those few chariot crew members who are known by their names or are mentioned without their names are as follows: a single palace chariot fighter (māru damqu) is mentioned in one of the letters of Zēru­

ibnî, written to Sargon II,⁹³ two chariot drivers (mukil appāte) are known from two legal documents,⁹⁴and three ‘third men’ (tašlīšu) appear in administrative and legal documents.⁹⁵Most of these soldiers had Assyrian names, but the scarcity of their textual occurrence makes a prosopographic examination impossible.

The number of their high ranking officers (recruitment officers, mušarkisāni) shows a high number and a relatively constant picture: their number was between 22 and 28 officers,⁹⁶and CTN 103 shows, 22 recruitment officers of the palace chariotry provided/brought altogether 373 horses.⁹⁷The recruitment officers served the Assyrian army on a territorial base – they were responsible for the recruitment of horses and equestrian personnel from different provinces (see below).

ARCHIVE ASSYRIANS ARAMEANS WEST SEMITES FOREIGNERS

BRANCHES ASSYRIANS ARAMEANS WEST SEMITES FOREIGNERS

recruitment officers (mušarkis¬ni) 40 64.5 % 21 33.9% 1 1.6% — — team commanders (rab urâte) 15 53.6 % 6 21.4% 7 25% — —

90 DALLEY– POSTGATE1984A, no. 99 (ND 10002), Rev. iii:7-iv:8; no. 103 (ND 10001), Rev. i:1-ii:6; no. 108 (ND 9910+9911+), v:12-37.

91 PARKER1961, ND 2386+2730.

92 DALLEY– POSTGATE1984A, 43-45, Obv. 11’-Rev. 31’; FALES– POSTGATE1995, 126.

93 PARPOLA1987, 205 (ABL 154), 12: LÚ.A—SIG ša É.GAL.

94 Šamaš-ilā’ī: KWASMAN– PARPOLA1991, 37 (ADD 427), Rev. 12: ^IdUTU.DINGIR-a-a LÚ.mu-kil PA.MEŠ ša É.GAL (694 B.C.), Šamaš-šallim: KWASMAN– PARPOLA1991, 309 (ADD 200) Rev. 7: ^IdŠá-maš-šal-lim LÚ.DIB PA.MEŠšá É.GAL (667 B.C.), 331 (ADD 362), Rev. 4: ^IUTU-šal-lim L[Ú.DIB PA.MEŠšá É.GAL] (660 B.C.).

95 Bēl-šarru-ibnî: KWASMAN– PARPOLA1991, 46 (ADD 127), Rev. 1: ^IEN.MAN.DÙ LÚ.3-šúÉ.GAL (681 B.C.); Rapi’: KWASMAN

– PARPOLA1991, 287 (ADD 625), Rev. 9: ^IRa-pi-i’ LÚ.3-šú šáÉ.GAL (670 B.C.); FALES– POSTGATE1995, 36 (ADD 1036), III:11-13: LÚ.3.U₅É.GAL.

96 DEZSŐ2012B, Chart 9.

97 DALLEY– POSTGATE1984A, no. 103 (ND 10001), Rev. i:1-ii:6.

I.1.3.2 Chariot owners (bēl mugerri(LÚ.EN—GIŠ.GIGIR))⁹⁸

This soldier type is very interesting because it seems that the chariot owners were a distinct social

‘class’, members of which were required to provide some military service for the royal corps of the Assyrian army. The chariot owners (LÚ.EN—GIŠ.GIGIR (bēl mugerri)) are a category with uncertain attributes and an indeterminate social background. The meaning of the word, ‘lord of the chariot’ or ‘chariot owner’ does not allow us to draw any further conclusions, and translations of the word have ranged from the simple ‘chariot fighter,’ through ‘noble’ to ‘chariot owner.’

They appear in the cuneiform records as early as 791 B.C. These are the Nimrud Wine Lists, which enumerate court personnel, including military officials, who receive rations during their (military) service at the royal court. However, the Nimrud Wine Lists mention no less than four types of chariot owners: (1) chariot owner (LÚ.EN—GIŠ.GIGIR),⁹⁹(2) bearded chariot owner (EN—GIŠ.GIGIR.MEŠ ša SU6(ziqni)),¹⁰⁰ (3) chariot owner, servant of the Land/Palace (EN—

GIŠ.GIGIR.MEŠ ÌR.KUR / EN—GIŠ.GIGIR.MEŠ ÌR.É.GAL),¹⁰¹(4) chariot owner of the bodyguard (EN—GIŠ.GIGIR.MEŠ qur­bu­ti).¹⁰²During the later part of the 8^thcentury B.C., however, this diversity disappeared and only a single type of chariot owner remained. As CTN III, 108¹⁰³and 111 show,¹⁰⁴the chariot owners were assigned to the Chief Eunuch’s (rab ša—rēšē) contingent, which was one of the divisions of the royal corps (ki%ir šarrūti). The fact that they were listed together with such important members of the court as cohort commanders, prefects, bodyguards, etc. emphasizes their significance. This importance may have originated from the original concept that they were recruited from distinguished members of the Assyrian élite.

An important letter reporting certain political crimes against Esarhaddon in Guzana suggests that they were prominent members of their local communities, since this report mentions Adda­sakâ, a chariot owner as one of the elders of the city, who (as a leader of the elders?) negotiated with the governor.¹⁰⁵The ‘noble’ and ‘chariot owner’ could mean that they were

‘nobles’ who fought in their own chariots (chariot owners). In this case they were well­to­do members of the local societies, who equipped themselves with the chariot, the horses and most probably the chariot crew as well. It is unknown, however, that this status was a continuous tradition going back to the 15—14^thcenturies B.C. Mitannian mariannutradition¹⁰⁶or not. It seems that such strategic weapons and equipment as the chariot could be put in circulation on the market, and a text from Dūr­Katlimmu proves that even armoured chariots could be sold in private transactions.¹⁰⁷

According to Fig. 9and Chart 6, the ethnic background of the chariot owners shows a mixed picture: 13 chariot owners bore Assyrian names (56.5%)and a relatively high number, 7 chariot owners (30.4%)bore Aramean and 3 (13.1%)bore West Semitic names. The reason behind this might be the Assyrian practice of drafting complete chariot crews and units from the ranks of

98 For the detailed discussion of chariot owners seeDEZSŐ2012B, 72-74.

99 KINNIERWILSON1972, 10, 14; 8 Rev. 1-(2?), 791 B.C.; 9, Rev. 3-(4?), 786 B.C; 20, Rev. 4; 31, 3; 35, 7.

100Bearded, i.e. non eunuch. KINNIERWILSON1972, 3, I:27 (784 B.C.); 10, Rev. 10; 13, 18; 14, 26 (789 B.C.?).

101KINNIERWILSON1972, 3, I:25 (784 B.C.); 6, 13; 10, Rev. 3; 13, Rev. 6; 19, 14; 31, 4; 33, I:6.

102KINNIERWILSON1972, 6, 12 (qur-bu-ti); 34, 8 (qur-ru-ub-tu); 19, 15 (qur-bu-ti).

103DALLEY– POSTGATE1984A, no. 108, Obv. ii:25.; DEZSŐ2012B, Chart 9.

104DALLEY– POSTGATE1984A, no. 111, Obv. 5’; DEZSŐ2012B, Chart 9.

105LUKKO– VANBUYLAERE2002, 63 (CT 53, 46), 34.

106ALBRIGHT1930—1931, 217-221; REVIV1972, 218-228.

107Chariots could be sold in private transactions.

Royal corps

conquered or allied nations, a procedure followed not only in the case of regular chariot units,¹⁰⁸ but also in the case of chariot owners, as well. Such an example is known from a letter of Na’di­

ilu, the Chief Cupbearer (rab šāqê) replying to Sargon II, who ordered him to „Enquire and investigate, and if they (the chariot owners from Que) [have no] food and seed, write me.”¹⁰⁹ Chariot owners are known from the Dūr­Katlimmu archives (for example from the Ra‹imi­il archive), as members of the local community as well.¹¹⁰This may be explained by the fact that the conquered nations could much easier provide ‘semi­professional’ chariot owners from their élite than professional and regular chariot troops which they did not necessarily possess.

Fig. 9. The ethnic composition of the different types of chariotry personnel of the royal corps (ki%ir šarrūti).

I.1.3.3 Chariot men (susānu(LÚ.GIŠ.GIGIR))¹¹¹

There are two distinct groups amongst the known names of the chariot men: both groups represent Aramean and foreign chariot men, who – as the toponyms connected with them show (Charts 7—8) – served the provincial troops of the Assyrian army. If our prosopographical identification is correct (Fig. 9), the majority of them bore Assyrian names. However, in the ranks of their provincial units the ratio of Aramean and West Semitic names was overwhelmingly higher than the Assyrian names: only 6 names were Assyrian, which represent only 18.7% of the whole sample, while 15 names (46.9 %) were most probably Aramean, 9 names (28.1 %) were reconstructed as West Semitic and 2 were foreigners (one Tabalean and one Urar#ean). The first text group¹¹²came from Aššur, the other is a conveyance text¹¹³with four wittnesses who were chariot men from a town named Šišil. The Tabalean and the Urar#ian names place the town Šišil, where they served, somewhere to Eastern Anatolia.

ARCHIVE ASSYRIANS ARAMEANS WEST SEMITES FOREIGNERS

BRANCHES ASSYRIANS ARAMEANS WEST SEMITES FOREIGNERS

BRANCHES ASSYRIANS ARAMEANS WEST

SEMITES

FOREIGNERS

chariot owners (bƝl mugerri (LÚ.EN GIŠ.GIGIR)) 13 56.5 % 7 30.4 % 3 13.1 % — — chariot men (susƗnu (susƗnu (LÚ.GIŠ.GIGIR)) 52 61.9 % 25 29.8 % 5 5.9 % 2 2.4 % chariot men (susƗnu (susƗnu LÚ.GIŠ.GIGIR)) – provincial unit 6 18.7 % 15 46.9 % 9 28.1 % 2 6.3 % chariot drivers (mukil appƗte) 60 63.8 % 23 24.5 % 9 9.6 % 2 2.1 % chariot warriors (mƗru damqu) 11 57.9 % 3 15.8 % 3 15.8 % 2 10.5 %

‘third men’ (tašlƯšu) 64 59.2 % 27 25.0 % 11 10.2 % 6 5.5 %

108For foreign chariotry units of the Assyrian army seeDALLEY1985; DEZSŐ2012B, 92-93. Foreign chariotry units enlisted into the Assyrian army: Tiglath-Pileser III (745—727 B.C.): from Rezin, king of Damascus (732 B.C., TADMOR1994, Ann. 23, 5’-8’);

Sargon II: 50 chariots from Samaria (722 B.C., FUCHS1994, Annales, 10-11 – probably the same as known from Nimrud Horse Lists: DALLEY– POSTGATE1984A, no. 99, ii, 16-23), 200 chariots and 600 horsemen from Qarqar (721 B.C., FUCHS1994, Display Inscription, 35-6.), 30 chariots from Šinuḫtu (718 B.C., FUCHS1994, Diplay Inscription, 24.), 50 chariots and 200 horsemen from Carchemish (717 B.C., FUCHS1994, Annales, 75), and 100 chariots from Bīt-Puritiš (713 B.C., FUCHS1994, Annales, 201-202).

109LÚ.EN—GIŠ.GIGIR.MEŠ KUR.Qu-u-a-a (LANFRANCHI– PARPOLA1990, 68 (CT 53, 40), 4-5): ‘chariot owners from Que.’

110 RADNER2002, 107-110: Raḫimi-il, 110, Rd. 1; Nabû-nā’id, 122, 7; […], 125 Rev. 10; Adi’, 127, Rev. 2.

111 DEZSŐ2012B, 109-117.

112 SCHROEDER1920, 31, 32, 34, 35, 36, 37, 131, 132.

113 MATTILA2002, 397 (Iraq 32, 7).

I.1.3.4 Chariot crew members

The crew members of the different types of chariotry units were most probably also recruited and not simply drafted from the population of the Empire. The reason for this is that the chariot crew members were well­trained soldiers and not ordinary infantrymen. Not only the chariot driver (mukil appāte), but the ‘archer’ (chariot warrior, māru damqu), and the ‘shield bearer’ (third man, tašlīšu) also needed special skills to serve in chariotry units. There were known and unknown local and regional training centres (the arsenal palaces and other centres),¹¹⁴where basic skills were acquired. It seems plausible to suppose, that the crew members of the Assyrian chariotry units were semi­professional or professional soldiers and not ordinary soldiers drafted randomly from the population of the Empire. The Assyrians, however, drafted equestrian soldiers from the defeated armies and the ranks of the vassal armies (seebelow), where they recruited them from the skilled professionals.

According to Charts 9—11and Fig. 9the majority of the crew members of the chariotry of the royal corps bore Assyrian names. In the case of chariot drivers (Chart 9) 60 (63.8%)had Assyrian names and more than 34% came from other ethnic groups. The same picture emerges in case of the chariot warriors (Chart 10), 11 of whom (57.9%)bore Assyrian, while the remaining 8 persons were West Semites, Arameans and foreigners (Arab and Eastern Anatolian?). Almost the same ratio can be observed in the group of ‘third men’ (Chart 11): 64 known ‘third men’ (59.2%)had probably Assyrian names, 27 of the ‘third men’ were Arameans (25%), and 11 of them were West Semites (10.2%). There are 6 foreign names (5.5%), which were probably Anatolians and Elamites.¹¹⁵

In document Tamás Dezső: The Assyrian Army II.: Recruitment and Logistics (Pldal 29-33)