The Assyrian king Sargon II (721-705 B.C.E.) wrote a letter on a cuneiform tablet in response to a request by Sin-iddina, a royal official at Ur in Babylonia, cautioning him about the use of Aramaic script on parchment. The letter begins with the customary salutations:

Say to Sin-iddina: thus says the king. I am well, [you] can be glad. May the bread as well as the first-quality beer of the temple be good! May the guard of Ur and my temples be strong!

Sargon then recounts the words of an earlier letter from Sin-iddina, including a warning to the king and a request:

There are informers [. . . to the king] and coming to his presence; if it is acceptable to the king, let me write and send my messages to the king on Aram[aic] parchment sheets.

The king's response...