Position in chronology
SAA 04 005. Will Mugallu Attack Mannu-ki-..., who is Besieging a Fortress? (PRT 029) [military and political]
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) Šamaš, great lord, gi[ve me a firm positive answer to what I am asking you]! (2) From this day, [the 11th day of this month, the month Iyyar (II) of this yea]r, to the 10th day of the month Sivan (III) [of this year, for 30 days] and nights, my stipulated term — (4) within this stipulated term, will M[ugal]lu, the Melidean, st[rive and plan]? Will he mobilize a powerful army against Mannu-ki-[...] and the magnates and army of Assyria who have gone to the city Ba[..., a fortress which Mugal]lu abandoned? Or will they am[bush (them), or attack, kill and plunder them]? (8) [Will Esarhaddon,…
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/P236955/
Why it matters
Transliteration
dUTU EN GAL-ú [šá a-šal-lu-ka an-na GI.NA] a-[pal-an-ni] / TA UD-mu an-⸢ni⸣-[i UD 11-KÁM šá ITI an-ni-i ITI.GUD šá MU.AN].NA [an-ni-ti] / EN UD 10-KÁM šá ITI.SIG₄.GA [šá MU.AN.NA an-ni-ti 30 UD-MEŠ] ⸢30⸣ MI-MEŠ [ši-kin a-dan-ni-ia] / ina ši-kin a-dan-ni šu-a-tú m⸢mu⸣-[gal]-lu ⸢LÚ⸣.mi-li-da-a.a i-⸢ṣar⸣-[ri-i-mì i-kap-pi-i-di] / e-mu-qu KALAG.GA-MEŠ i-de-ek-ka-a ana UGU mman-ni—ki-i—[x x x x x x x…
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 P236955.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P236955). 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/P236955/.
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