Sumerian·Book

Position in chronology

SAA 04 043. Will Kaštaritu Conquer Kišassu? (AGS 001) [military and political]

~675 BCE·Neo-Assyrian·P238327

Translation — scholar edition

SAA 4
High confidence
(1) Šamaš, great lord, give me a firm positive answer to what I am asking you! (2) From this day, the 3rd day of this month, the month Iyyar (II), to the 11th day of the month Ab (V) of this year, for these 100 days and nights, the term stipulated for the performance of (this) extispicy — within this stipulated term, (4) will Kaštaritu with his troops, or the troops of the Cimmerians, or the troops of the Medes, or the troops of the Manneans, or any other enemy, strive and plan? (6) Will they, be it by means of pressure, or by force, or by waging war, or [by means of a tun]nel or breach, or…

State Archives of Assyria, volume 4 — scholar edition (ORACC).

Transliteration

dUTU EN GAL-ú šá a-⸢šal⸣-lu-ka an-nam GI.NA a-pal-an-ni / TA UD NE-⸢i⸣ UD 03-KÁM šá ITI an-ni-i ITI.GUD.SI.SÁ EN UD 11-KÁM šá ITI.NE šá MU NE-⸢tim⸣ / a-na 01-me UD-[MEŠ] 01-me MI-MEŠ NE-MEŠ ši-kin RI DÙ-eš-ti LÚ.ḪAL-ti i-na ši-kin RI UR₅-tú / lu-ú mka-⸢áš⸣-ta-ri-ti a-di ERIM-MEŠ-šú lu-ú ERIM-MEŠ LÚ.gi-mir-ra-a.a / lu-ú ERIM-MEŠ LÚ.ma-da-a.a lu-ú ERIM-MEŠ LÚ.man-na-a.a lu-ú LÚ.KÚR mál GÁL-MEŠ-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 P238327.

Attribution

Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.earth/artifacts, P238327). 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/P238327/.

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