Position in chronology
SAA 04 050. Will Kaštaritu or Dusanni Conquer ...? (AGS 011a) [military and political]
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) [Šamaš], great [lo]rd, [give me a firm positive answer] to what I am asking y[ou]! (2) [From] this [da]y, the 8th day of t[his month, Iyyar (II), of this year, to] the 7th [day] of Sivan (III) of [this y]ear, [the stipulated term] — (4) within this stipulated term, will [Kaštaritu with his troops], or the Cimmer[ians, ......] or Dusa[nni, the Sapardean, or ......]? (Break) (r 1) Be present in this ram, [place (in it) a firm positive answer, favorable designs], favorable, propitious omens [by the oracular command of your great divinity, and may I see (them)]. (r 3) May (this query) go [to] your great divinity, O Šamaš, [great] lo[rd, and may an oracle be given as an answer].
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/P238990/
Why it matters
Transliteration
[dUTU] ⸢EN⸣ GAL-ú šá a-šal-lu-⸢ka⸣ [an-na GI.NA a-pal-an-ni] / [TA UD]-⸢mu⸣ NE-i UD 08-KÁM šá ITI ⸢an⸣-[ni-i ITI.GUD.SI.SÁ ša MU.AN.NA NE-ti] / [a-di UD] 07-KÁM šá ITI.SIG₄.GA šá MU.AN.[NA NE-ti ši-kin a-dan-ni] / ina ši-kin a-dan-ni šu-a-tú lu-[ú mka-áš-ta-ri-ti a-di ERIM-MEŠ-šú] / lu-ú LÚ.gi-mir-[ra-a.a x x x x x x x x x x] / ⸢lu-ú⸣ [m]⸢du-sa⸣-[an-ni LÚ.sa-bar-da-a.a x x x x] / ina ŠÀ UDU.NÍTA…
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 P238990.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P238990). 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/P238990/.
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