The chronology of this development is still not clear, however, and there is some evidence that castration was the rule for sûuµt reµsûi, even in the Assyrian period; see the texts cited by Hayim Tadmoor, “Rab-saris and Rab-shakeh in 2 Kings 18, ” in Carol L. Meyers and Michael O’Connor, eds.,The Word of the Lord Shall Go Forth: Essays in Honor of David Noel Freedman in Celebration of His Sixtieth Birthday (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1983), pp. 279–285, especially n. 10. This is an issue of long standing among historians of Assyrian provincial administration.