Position in chronology
SAA 04 048. Will Kaštaritu Conquer Ṣubara? (PRT 008) [military and political]
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) Šamaš, great lord, [give me a firm positive answer] to what I am as[king you]! (2) [From] this [day], the 4th day [of this month, the month ..., to the 11th day of Sivan (III)] (Break) (r 2) [Dis]regard that [the oracle query has become jumbled] i[n the mouth of] the h[aruspex, your servant].Let them be taken out and put aside! (r 3) [I ask you Šamaš, great lord], whether from this day, the 4t[h day of this month, the month ..., to the] 11th [day] of the month Sivan (III) of this year, (r 5) K[aštaritu, city lord of Kark]aššî with his troops, or the troops [of the Medes, or the troops of]…
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/P336327/
Why it matters
Transliteration
dUTU EN GAL-ú šá a-⸢šal⸣-[lu-ka an-na GI.NA a-pal-an-ni] / [TA UD] ⸢an-ni⸣-i UD 04-KÁM [šá ITI an-ni-i ITI.x a-di UD 11-KÁM šá ITI.SIG₄?] / [x x x x x x x x]+⸢x⸣ [x x x x x x x x x] / [e]-zib šá i-[na KA] ⸢DUMU⸣—LÚ.[ḪAL ARAD-ka ta-mit up-tar-ri-du] / ⸢lu⸣-ú ZI-MEŠ ⸢lu-ú⸣ BAR-MEŠ [a-šal-ka dUTU EN GAL-ú] / ⸢ki⸣-i TA UD-mi an-ni-i UD 04-⸢KÁM⸣ [šá ITI an-ni-i ITI.x a-di UD] ⸢11⸣-KÁM šá ⸢ITI.SIG₄?⸣ /…
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 P336327.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P336327). 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/P336327/.
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