The principle governing the selection of the sixteen letters here published is that all illustrate some aspect of Assyrian administrative practice. Unfortunately the tablets represented in this group are, generally speaking, amongst the worst-preserved of the whole collection; this is an almost inevitable result of the method of publication so far followed, since, at least in the case of the longer letters, any better-preserved specimen is likely to have yielded details betraying it as arising from some specific historio-geographical setting, and so to have been included, or saved for inclusion, in another group. Only those letters which cannot usefully be treated in the context of some particular area or event are included here.

In some of these letters the main point at issue has, I am aware, escaped me. I have, however, despite this, ventured to offer full translations throughout, except where prevented by the fragmentary nature of the text, in the hope that they may serve as a starting-point for others. In doubtful passages I have attempted to bear in mind a maxim of my revered teacher, Professor Sidney Smith: “If it makes sense, it may well be wrong; if it makes nonsense, it is wrong.”