Position in chronology
SAA 08 351. Occultation of Pleiades (RMA 242) [planetary]
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) If the Pleiades [enter the moon]: the land will perish all together; a month will pass, the enemy [...] Elam. (4) If the Pleiades enter the moon [and] come out towards the north: Akkad will become happy; the king of Akkad will become strong and will have no rival. (8) — The north wind blows. (9) Since the moon entered the Pleiades, the north wind is blowing. The morning watch (means) Elam; this is bad for the enemy. (r 4) If the Pleiades are elongated: the field will produce a yield. (r 6) — At the conjunction of the moon [(the Pleiades) go in front]. (r 7) May the lord of kings be eve[rlasting]! (r 8) From Ašare[du] the y[ounger].
Source: Hunger, H. 1992. Astrological Reports to Assyrian Kings. SAA 8. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa08/P236988/
Why it matters
Transliteration
1 MUL.MUL ana ŠÀ [30 TU] / KUR 01-niš ZÁḪ ITI ⸢uš-ta⸣-[x x?] / NIM.MA.KI LÚ.KÚR [x x] / 1 MUL.MUL ana ŠÀ 30 TU-ME?-[ma] / ana IM.SI.SÁ È-MEŠ-ni [o] / ŠÀ KUR—URI.KI DÙG-ab LUGAL URI.[KI] / KALAG.GA-ma GABA.RI NU TUK-ši / IM.SI.SÁ DU-ma / ul-tu 30 ana ŠÀ MUL.MUL / i-ru-bu IM.SI.SÁ DU-ak / EN.NUN—UD.ZAL.LA KUR.NIM.MA.KI / ḪUL šá LÚ.KÚR šu-ú / 1 MUL.MUL šá-ti-iḫ / A.ŠÀ A.QAR 01 GÚ.UN ÍL / ina šit-qul-ti 30 i-[pan-nu-ma] / EN LUGAL-MEŠ lu-ú ⸢da⸣-[ri] / šá ma-šá-ri-[du] ⸢qa⸣-[at-nu]
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 P236988.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P236988). 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/P236988/.
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