We have a fantastic and very unique source base for this type of study.
In fact, many officials with different titles seem to do the exact same duties. People bypass their alleged bosses to write directly to the king.
Maybe, but most likely you weren't. Maybe you met them at a conference, or at a party, or even on Twitter.
Often it's the people we don't know all that well who connect us.
Those people connect us because they are a bridge connecting different groups of people who wouldn’t otherwise talk.
You and your friends are a network, and someone looking to collaborate with you is another network.
Controlling access between those groups gives that person power.
Enter another theory, something you usually find taught in business schools: Leader-Member Exchange Theory (LMX).
Hint: It's not always who you would expect.
They are our two most prolific writers under Sargon II, sending 35 and 34 messages to the king, respectively.
Ṭab-ṣil-Ešarra was the governor of Assyria's ancient capital of Ashur, which contained Assyria's most important temple.
Each of them had a year of the Assyrian calendar named after them, in 717 and 716 BC, respectively.
SNA and LMX tell a different story.
Stay tuned tomorrow for a second thread!