The Assyrian King of the Broken Obelisk, the Date of the Archive from Giricano, and the Timing of the Assyrian Calendar Reform

Abstract

Following the recent debate on the dating of the Broken Obelisk, which is commonly believed to have been composed in the reign of Aššur-bēl-kala, the present article provides a comprehensive review of the issues pertinent to the dating of this Assyrian inscription, as well as related topics such as the date of the Assyrian calendar reform and the Giricano archive. The results reveal that the Broken Obelisk should be attributed to Tiglath-pileser I rather than Aššur-bēl-kala. The Assyrian calendar reform occurred probably sometime between the thirty-first year (possibly the thirty-third year) to the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Tiglath-pileser I. The Broken Obelisk was composed sometime in the fourth decade of Tiglath-pileser’s reign after this calendar reform, representing the latest version of his annals known to date. The Giricano archive also dates from late in his reign. Many of the events that have been dated to the early years of Aššur-bēl-kala’s reign, such as the payment of tribute to Assyria by an Egyptian king, took place during the reign of Tiglath-pileser I.