Letter from the exorcist Adad-šumu-uṣur to the Assyrian king Esarhaddon about one of the king’s bouts of depression, ca. 670 BCE [1154×2030]

Adad-šumu-uṣur scolds the king for staying secluded in his room and not eating.

A translation can be found [here](https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu//saao/saa10/P333957/html). Excerpt:

>*Why, today already for the second day, is the table not brought to the king, my lord? Who (now) stays in the dark much longer than Šamaš, the king of the gods; stays in the dark a whole day and night, and again two days? The king, the lord of the world, is the very image of Šamaš. He (should) keep in the dark for half a day only!*

>*…[Eating of b]read and [drinking of w]ine [will soon re]move [the illness of the king].*

>*G[ood ad]vice is to be heeded: restlessness, not eating and not drinking disturbs the mind and adds to illness. In this matter the king should listen to [his se]rvant.*