zazakku
3Attestations
OBOB: Old Babylonian (ca. 2000–1600 BCE) — new attestation (not in AHw/CAD) sukkal ubāri 1 mār bīt tuppi ina tupšarrī za-ga-ak-ki-im uwaʾʾer-ma ARM 26/2, 362: 32 “he gave instructions to the minister of foreign affairs and to an administrative secretary from among the s .-officials”. new
OBOB: Old Babylonian (ca. 2000–1600 BCE) — new attestation (not in AHw/CAD) tupšar za-ga-ki-im iš[tū ē]kallim uṣêmma ARM 26/2, 172 no. 368: 31 “the s .-scribe came out from the palace”. new
SBSB: Standard Babylonian (ca. 1000–0 BCE) — new attestation (not in AHw/CAD) bēl pīḫati šakin ṭēmi lú za-zak-ku LÚ qablānê [manz]⸢az⸣ ēkallija ṣābit ⸢mar⸣dê kītti ālik idi enši [k]ī pî ištēniš umaʾʾeršunūtima Frazer/Adalı 2021, 233 i 21 “the governor(s), the (provincial) manager(s?), the royal secretary (as well as) the internal personnel (and) [the atten]dant(s) of my palace, who seize(s) the path of truth (and) who assist(s) the weak, I ruled them with one intention”. For the zazakku-official see also Frazer/Adalı 2021, 242 note on l. 21. new
Discussion
The title zazakku/sagakku, attested primarily in Neo Babylonian temple archives, is generally understood as referring to a high-ranking royal official overseeing temple affairs (see Dandamayev 1994). For the Old Babylonian period, Charpin 1988, 140f. identifies this figure as the king’s private secretary. He interprets the Mari title DUB.SAR ZA.GA-ki-im as ṭupšar sakkakkim, deriving sakkakkum from the root skk (“to be closed, to be deaf”) and understanding it as a “private chamber” in which the king held confidential consultations with his ministers. However, the word is more plausibly borrowed from Sumerian zag (“to measure”) rather than a native Akkadian term.