realize that their main purpose was not to give a connected history of
the reign, but simply to list the various conquests for the greater
glory of the monarch. Equally serious is it that they rarely have a
chronological order. Instead, the survey generally follows a
geographical sweep from east to west. That they are to be used with
caution is obvious.

Much more fortunate is our position when we have to deal with the
annalistic inscriptions. We have here a regular chronology, and if
errors, intentional or otherwise, can sometimes be found, the relative
chronology at least is generally correct. The narrative is fuller and
interesting details not found in other sources are often given. But it
would be a great mistake to assume that the annals are always
trustworthy. Earlier historians have too generally accepted their
statements unless they had definite proof of inaccuracy. In the last
few years, there has been discovered a mass of new material which we
may use for the criticism of the Sargonide documents. Most valuable
are the letters, sometimes from the king himself, more often from
others to the monarch. Some are from the generals in the field, others
from the governors in the provinces, still others from palace
officials. All are of course absolutely authentic documents, and the
light they throw upon the annals is interesting. To these we may add
the prayers at the oracle of the sun god, coming from the reigns of
Esarhaddon and Ashur bani apal, and they show us the break up of the
empire as we never should have suspected from the grandiloquent
accounts of the monarchs themselves. Even the business documents
occasionally yield us a slight help toward criticism. Add to this the
references in foreign sources such as Hebrew or Babylonian, and we
hardly need internal study to convince us that the annals are far from
reliable.