Position in chronology
SAA 04 012. Messenger of Mugallu Sent to Conclude a Peace Treaty (AGS 054) [military and political]
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) Šamaš, great lord, [give me a firm positive answer] to what I am a[sking you]! (2) The messenger whom Mugallu the Me[lidean] sent [to Esarhaddon, king of Assyria] to conclude a treaty, and [whom your great divinity knows] — (4) in accordance with the command of your great divinity, [Šamaš, great lord, and your favorable decisions], (5) will that messenger, who [has come] before [Esarhaddon, king of Assyria], by the order of Mugallu the Mel[idean, ......]? (7) Will Mugallu the Melid[ean ......]? (8) Will [all] his words come true? [Will he who can see, see it? Will he who can hear, hear…
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/P238973/
Why it matters
Transliteration
dUTU EN GAL-ú šá a-⸢šal⸣-[lu-ka an-na GI.NA a-pal-an-ni] / LÚ.A—KIN šá mmu-gal-lu KUR.⸢mi⸣-[li-da-a.a ana IGI mdaš-šur—ŠEŠ—SUM-na LUGAL KUR—aš-šur.KI] / ana ṣa-bat a-de-e iš-pu-ram-[ma DINGIR-ut-ka GAL-ti ZU-ú] / GIM KA DINGIR-ti-ka GAL-⸢ti⸣ [dUTU EN GAL-ú ù EŠ.BAR-ka šal-mu] / LÚ.A—KIN šu-a-tú šá ana IGI m[daš-šur—ŠEŠ—SUM-na LUGAL KUR—aš-šur.KI] / ina a-mat mmu-gal-lu KUR.mi-⸢li⸣-[da-a.a…
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 P238973.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P238973). 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/P238973/.
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