Position in chronology
SAA 08 325. Morning First of Mercury in the Region of Virgo (RMA 221) [planetary]
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) Mercury became visible in the east in the region of Virgo; its interpretation: (4) If the Fish star comes close to the Bow star: the harvest of the land will prosper; cattle will spread in the steppe; the king will become strong and bind his enemies; sesame and dates will prosper. (r 1) If a planet rises in Elul (VI): rising (of business), thriving of grain. (r 3) If in Elul (VI) the Kidney star becomes visible: the plough of the land will prosper. (r 5) The Kidney star is Mercury. (r 6) From Ašaredu, son of Damqa, servant of the king.
Source: Hunger, H. 1992. Astrological Reports to Assyrian Kings. SAA 8. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa08/P236986/
Why it matters
Transliteration
MUL.UDU.IDIM.GUD.UD ina dUTU.È o* / ina qaq-qar MUL.AB.SÍN / it-tan-mar pi-šìr-šú / 1 MUL.KU₆ a-na MUL.BAN TE / BURU₁₄ KUR SI.SÁ MÁŠ.ANŠE ina EDIN DAGAL-áš / LUGAL KALAG.GA-ma KÚR-MEŠ-šú LAL-⸢mu⸣ / ŠE.GIŠ.Ì u ZÚ.LUM.MA SI.SÁ-ME / 1 MUL.UDU.IDIM ina ITI.KIN KUR-ḫa / šá-qé-e <KI.LAM> na-pa-áš dNISABA / 1 ina ITI.KIN MUL.BIR IGI-ir / GIŠ*.APIN KUR* SI.SÁ / MUL.BIR dUDU.IDIM.GUD.UD / šá ma-šá-ri-du DUMU mdam-qa / ARAD šá LUGAL
Scholarly note
Astrological report from a court scholar to an Assyrian king, edited by Hermann Hunger (SAA 8, 1992). Celestial and meteorological observation correlated with omens. ORACC text P236986.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P236986). source
Translation excerpted from Hunger, H. 1992. Astrological Reports to Assyrian Kings. SAA 8. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa08/P236986/.
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