Sumerian·Book

Position in chronology

SAA 10 084. Occultation of Jupiter (ABL 0565) [from astrologers]

~670 BCE·Neo-Assyrian·P334387

Translation · reference

High confidence
(1) [To the king, my lord]: [your] servant [Akkullanu]. Good heal[th to the king], my lord! May Nabû and Marduk bless the king, my lord! May they give you the best of health as well as physical well-being! (9) Jupiter stood behind the moon; here is the relevant interpretation: (12) If Jupiter stands [behind the moon]: there [will be] hostility in the land. (14) Oh king, my lord, [this is] a m[atter] concerning us. [This] sign [pertains] t[o the king], my lord. It means evil [for Subartu]. Presently I am waiting for [the occultation] and will [look up] the word [about it]; if it en[ters] the…

Source: Parpola, S. 1993. Letters from Assyrian and Babylonian Scholars. SAA 10. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa10/P334387/

Why it matters

Transliteration

[a-na LUGAL EN-ia] / ARAD-[ka ma-kul-la-nu] / lu DI-[mu a-na LUGAL] EN-ía / dPA u dAMAR.UTU a-na LUGAL / EN-ía lik-ru-bu / DI-mu ša a—dan-niš / ù ṭu-ub UZU-MEŠ / lid-di-nu-ni-ka / dSAG.ME.GAR ina EGIR 30 / i-ti-ti-zi an-ni-u / pi-šìr-⸢šú*⸣ / 1 MUL.SAG.ME.GAR ina [EGIR d30] / GUB-iz MÍ.KÚR ina KUR [GÁL-ši] / LUGAL be-lí ⸢a⸣-[bu-tú] / in*-nu-⸢u*⸣ [ši-i] / GISKIM [an-ni-tú] / ⸢ša*⸣ [LUGAL] / EN-⸢ía⸣…

Scholarly note

Letter from a scholar (astrologer, exorcist, physician, lamentation-priest) to Esarhaddon or Ashurbanipal, edited by Simo Parpola (SAA 10, 1993). ORACC text P334387.

Attribution

Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P334387). source
Translation excerpted from Parpola, S. 1993. Letters from Assyrian and Babylonian Scholars. SAA 10. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa10/P334387/.

Related tablets

Related sources