Position in chronology
SAA 04 029. Will Mannean Troops Capture Šarru-iqbi? (AGS 016) [military and political]
Translation · reference
High confidence(Beginning destroyed) (2) or through lack (of soldiers), or [through ......], (3) or by means of ramps, or [battering-rams, or] famine, hunger and wa[nt ......]? (5) [Will they conquer] the city Šarru-iqbi by their fearfulness? [Will the Mannean] troops [through] any [ruse] of conquering a city [drive the forces] of Esarhaddon, king of Assyria [out of it], and will they capture that city, Šarru-iqbi? (9) Will [that city, Šarru-iqbi], be delivered to them? [Does your great] divi[nity know it]? (10) Will he who can see, see it? Will he [who can hear, hear it]? (11) Disregard the (formulation)…
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/P238975/
Why it matters
Transliteration
[x x x x]+⸢x x⸣+[x x x x x x x x x x x x x x] / ⸢lu⸣-ú i-na mi-ku-ti lu-[ú i-na x x x x x x x] / ⸢lu⸣-ú i-na ⸢GIŠ.a⸣-ra-am-ma lu-[ú i-na GIŠ.šu-bi-i lu-ú i-na] / su-un-qu ⸢ḫu⸣-šaḫ-ḫa ù bu-[bu-ti x x x x x x] / URU.LUGAL—iq-bi ⸢i⸣-na pu-luḫ-ti-šú-⸢un⸣ [i-kaš-šá-du-ma e-mu-qu] / šá mdaš-šur—ŠEŠ—SUM-na LUGAL KUR—aš-šur.KI ⸢x⸣+[x i-na mim-ma ši-pir ni-kil-ti] / šá DIB-bat URU ma-al ba-šú-ú ERIM-⸢MEŠ⸣…
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 P238975.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P238975). 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/P238975/.
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