Position in chronology
SAA 04 002. Will Mugallu ...? (PRT 089) [military and political]
Translation · reference
High confidence(Beginning destroyed) (1) From [this] day, [the ...th day of this month ..., to the ...th day of the coming month, the month ... of this year], (2) for [these ... days and nights, the term stipulated for the performance of (this) extispicy — within this stipulated term, will ...] (3) [will] either [......] (4) or Mu[gallu ......] (Break) (r 1) that city, [......]. (r 2) in [......] (Break) (e. 1) [...... Third exti]spicy. (e. 2) [...... Marduk-šu]mu-uṣur.
Source: Starr, I. 1990. Queries to the Sungod: Divination and Politics in Sargonid Assyria. SAA 4. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa04/P237416/
Why it matters
Transliteration
⸢TA⸣ UD [NE-i UD x-KÁM ša ITI NE-i ITI.x EN UD x-KÁM šá ITI TU-ba ITI.x šá MU NE-ti] / a-na [x UD-MEŠ x MI-MEŠ NE-MEŠ ši-kin RI DÙ-eš-ti LÚ.ḪAL-ti i-na ši-kin RI UR₅-tú] / lu-ú ⸢x⸣+[x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x] / ⸢lu⸣-ú mmu-[gal-lu x x x x x x x x x x x x x] / URU ⸢UR₅-tú⸣ [x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x] / i-⸢na?⸣ [x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x] / [x x x x x x x x x x]-tum / [x x x x x x x mdAMAR.UTU]—⸢MU⸣—ú-ṣur*
Scholarly note
Extispicy query addressed to Šamaš, the sungod and patron of divination, edited by Ivan Starr (SAA 4, 1990). The king asks the deity to render a yes/no verdict on a political or military question. ORACC text P237416.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P237416). source
Translation excerpted from Starr, I. 1990. Queries to the Sungod: Divination and Politics in Sargonid Assyria. SAA 4. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa04/P237416/.
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