“From the Upper Sea to the Lower Sea”

Royal Inscriptions of Lugalzagesi and Sargon

Abstract

Seas and lakes (Akkadian tâmtu) located in the surrounds of Mesopotamia, which the Assyrians encountered in their military campaigns, are mentioned in Assyrian royal inscriptions under various names. These sea names were used not only for indicating specific geographical entities, but also for expressing political ideas relating to the extent of the Assyrian dominion. Many of the terminological components such as “upper” or “of the sunset” were used at different times to refer to different bodies of water over the course of time. The rich variety in the appellations of seas attested in the Assyrian royal inscriptions from different times essentially originated in scribal efforts to renovate the use of geographical terminology. The terminological development clearly reflects the changes in the interests of Assyrian rulers in the seas over the course o f time.