Cuneiform tablet: letter of Sin-sharra-ishkun to Nabopolassar ca. 2nd century B.C. Seleucid This tablet is a later copy of a letter from the last days of the Assyrian empire. In it, the last Assyrian king, Sin-sharra-ishkun, appears to reach out to the Babylonian king Nabopolassar, recognizing the latters rule and pleading to retain his own kingdom. The letter represents a great reversal in fortunes: despite frequent rebellions, Babylonia had for centuries been held under Assyrian rule, and at the beginning of his reign Sin-sharra-ishkun himself seems to have had some success in suppressing a rebellion there. By the time this letter was written the tide had turned, and, incredibly, Sin-sharra-ishkun repeatedly addresses Nabopolassar as "the king my lord." We do not have the Babylonian kings answer in the form of a letter, but he must have rejected its terms: over the following years a coalition led by Babylonia and Media, a state in western Iran, destroyed the Assyrian capitals, and