Episode 04
The King Who Died Twice
When an eclipse threatened the king of Assyria, court scholars installed another man as king and redirected the prediction toward him. Mariana and Tyson reconstruct the substitute king ritual from operational letters, then ask whether astronomy, murder, faith, and government can be separated inside the same procedure.
Coming Tuesday, November 3, 2026
Episode 04 is finished and scheduled. It runs about 28 min. Show notes, chapters and the full transcript go up with the audio.
Play the latest episode
Ockelwog reconstruction. Built from front, back and side photographs of the tablet. The joins and damage follow the photographs; individual cuneiform signs are approximate. Not a research scan.
The evidence
Letter on the Substitute King
A court scholar's letter about an eclipse omen and the substitute king who sat on the throne so the real one could survive it.
- Date
- c. 670 BCE
- Place
- Nineveh, Iraq
- Catalog
- ABL 0629 · CDLI P334434