Position in chronology
SAA 10 088. Venus Approaching Cancer (RMA 212A) [from astrologers]
Translation · reference
High confidence(Beginning lost) (r 1) Per[haps the king, my lord, will say]: "[......]." Venus [is approaching] the constellation [Cancer]; here [is the relevant interpretation]: (r 5) If the Goat star [approaches Cancer: there will be] peace and reconciliation [in the country]; the gods [will have] mercy on the country; [empty storage bins] will become full, [the crops of the country will prosper; the sick [of the country will recover]; pregnant women [will carry their foetuses to full term; the great] gods [will abandon the sanctuaries of the country; the temples of the great gods will be restored]. (Break) (e. 1) [...] is not [...] for oppression [...]. For the god's sake, wherefore [...]?
Source: Parpola, S. 1993. Letters from Assyrian and Babylonian Scholars. SAA 10. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa10/P336515/
Why it matters
Transliteration
a-[x x x x x x x x x] / ša [x x x x x x x x x] / is—[su-ri LUGAL be-lí i-qab-bi] / ma-a [x x x x x x x x] / ddil-bat MUL.[AL.LUL i-ṭa-aḫ-ḫi] / an-ni-u [pi-še-er-šú] / MUL.ÙZ [a-na MUL.AL.LUL TE-ḫi] / taš-mu-ú u DI-[mu ina KUR GÁL-ši] / DINGIR-MEŠ ARḪUŠ ana KUR [TUK-MEŠ iš-pik-ki re-qu-te] / DIRI-MEŠ [BURU₁₄ KUR SI.SÁ] / GIG [TI.LA ina KUR GÁL-MEŠ] / MÍ.PEŠ₄-[MEŠ ŠÀ.ŠÀ-ši-na ú-šak-la-la] / DINGIR-[MEŠ GAL-MEŠ áš-rat KUR uš-šá-ru] / a-na ḫa-ba-li la ta-[x x x x x] / i-lu-um-ma ina UGU mì-i-ni [x x x x x]
Scholarly note
Letter from a scholar (astrologer, exorcist, physician, lamentation-priest) to Esarhaddon or Ashurbanipal, edited by Simo Parpola (SAA 10, 1993). ORACC text P336515.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P336515). 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/P336515/.
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