198 SHAWn ZeLIG ASTeR and the audience would need to recognize the subverted Assyrian motifs in these attacks for the attacks to be effective. If we posit that Judeans became aware of Assyrian motifs only around 734, the rather short time period in which these verbal attacks seem to have developed is very surprising. If we acknowledge the role of early eighth-century Samarian embassies to Assyria in disseminating Assyrian royal ideology in the land of Israel, and if we recognize the role of ongoing diplomatic contacts between Judah and Israel (which presum- ably became more intensive after Assyria reached northern Syria in 743), then we are better able to explain how Assyrian royal ideology would have been conveyed to Judah before 734. Bar-Ilan University Shawn Zelig ASTeR Ramat-Gan 52900 Israel Summary This article shows that the kingdom of Israel sent ambassadors on an annual basis to the Assyrian empire during much of the reign of Jeroboam II, and it explores the implications of these contacts for the interpretation of Isaiah 1–39 and Hosea. These diplomatic contacts are based on points Fales has raised regard- ing nimrud Wine List 4 (nD 6212), whose importance for biblical studies has hitherto not been recognized. The recipients of the wine rations in this list are to be identified as ambassadors of weaker kingdoms, among them Samaria, who visited Assyria to pay tribute. prophet’s audience also knew about Assyrian claims to empire. Although the prophet’s audience consisted primarily of the Jerusalem elite, it is difficult to imagine that the complex nature of Assyrian claims of empire would have been assimilated by this elite in the course of a year or less.