Position in chronology
SAA 04 037. Fragment Similar to Nos. 35-36 (PRT 024) [military and political]
Translation · reference
High confidence(Beginning destroyed) (1) [will] the tro[ops of the Scythians (and) the troops of the Cimmerians] emerge [from] the pass [of ... and go to Bit-Hamban and Parsumaš, will they make a dangerous incursion into the district of ...] and the district of [Šamaš-naṣir], (5) will they loot [......]? (6) [Is it decreed and confirmed] in a favorable case, by the command [of your great divinity, Šamaš, great lord]? Will he who can see, see it? [Will he who can hear, hear it]? (8) Disregard that the messenger [......]. (9) Disregard the (formulation) of [today's] case, [be it good, be it faulty]. (10)…
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/P237231/
Why it matters
Transliteration
LÚ.⸢ERIM⸣-[MEŠ LÚ.iš-ku-za-a.a LÚ.ERIM-MEŠ LÚ.gi-mir-ra-a.a TA] / né-ri-⸢bi⸣ [šá URU.x x x a-na É—URU.ḫa-am-ban a-na KUR.par-su-maš] / È-MEŠ-⸢ma⸣ [il-la-ku-né-e a-na na-gi-i ša URU.x x x] / ù na-gi-[i šá URU.dUTU—PAB-ir ZI-bu GUD.UD šá MÍ.ḪUL ip-pu-šú-ú] / i-šal-lá-lu-[ú x x x x x x x x x x x x] / ina SILIM-tim ina KA [DINGIR-ti-ka GAL-ti dUTU EN GAL-ú qa-bi-i ku-un-i] / IGI-ri IGI-⸢ra⸣ [ŠE-ú…
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 P237231.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P237231). 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/P237231/.
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