Position in chronology
SAA 04 020. Giving a Princess in Marriage to Bartatua, King of the Scythians (PRT 016) [military and political]
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) Šamaš, great lord, give me a firm positive answer to what I am asking you! (2) Bartatua, king of the Scythians, who has now sent his messengers to Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, concerning a royal daughter in marriage — (4) if Esarhaddon, king of [Assyria], gives him a royal daughter in marriage, will Bartatua, king of the Scythians, speak with [Esarhaddon, king of Assyria], in good faith, true and honest words of peace? (8) Will he keep the treaty of [Esarhaddon, king of Assyria]? Will he do [whatever i]s pleasing to Esarhaddon, king of Assyria? (10) Is it decreed and confirmed in a…
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/P236956/
Why it matters
Transliteration
dUTU EN GAL-ú šá a-šal-lu-ka an-na GI.NA a-⸢pal⸣-an-ni / mbar-ta-tu-a LUGAL šá KUR.⸢iš⸣-ku-za šá i-na-an-⸢na⸣ DUMU-MEŠ—šip-ri-šú / a-na pa-an mdaš-šur—ŠEŠ—SUM-na LUGAL KUR—aš-šur.⸢KI⸣ [i]-⸢na⸣ UGU DUMU.MÍ—LUGAL / iš-pu-ra GIM mdaš-šur—ŠEŠ—SUM-na LUGAL KUR—[aš-šur].⸢KI⸣ DUMU.MÍ—LUGAL / a-na áš-šu-ú-tu it-tan-na-[áš]-šú / mbar-ta-tu-a LUGAL šá KUR.iš-ku-za it-ti m[d]aš-šur—ŠEŠ—SUM-na LUGAL…
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 P236956.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P236956). 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/P236956/.
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