 This is notable because Meli-Šipak upholds the decisions of both his predecessors, one of whom, Adad-šuma-iddina, may have been merely a vassal king of Assyrian patronage.The proliferation of the "kudurru" tradition around this time suggests increased patronage from a monarch trying to bolster loyalty to his reign, perhaps to counter the problems of legitimacy or instability.A "kudurru" granting fifty "gur" of corn-land in the province of Bit-Pir'-Amurri by the king to Ḫa-SAR-du, an official or "sukkal mu’irri", may be one such example, and the grant to [Me]li-Ḫala may be another.