Position in chronology
SAA 04 059. Fragmentary Query Concerning Kaštaritu (PRT 005) [military and political]
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) Šamaš, great lord, [give me a firm positive answer to what I am asking you]! (2) Fr[om] this [da]y, [the ...th day of this month, the month ...], to the [...]6th d[ay] of the month [... of this year, the stipulated term] — (4) within [this] stipulated term, will [the ......s] strive and p[lan? ......] (6) cause to rise [......] (7) which is before Kašta[ritu ...... attack], kill, plun[der? ......] (9) Will Esarhad[don, king of Assyria, be ......]? (10) Will he who can see, see it? [Will he who can hear, hear it]? (Break) (r 1) Whether they will attack, [kill, plunder ......] (and whether)…
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/P238972/
Why it matters
Transliteration
⸢d⸣UTU EN GAL-ú [šá a-šal-lu-ka an-na GI.NA a-pal-an-ni] / ⸢TA⸣ [UD]-⸢mu⸣ an-ni-[i UD x-KÁM šá ITI an-ni-i ITI.x] / EN ⸢UD⸣ [x]+6-KÁM šá ITI.⸢x⸣+[x šá MU.AN.NA an-ni-ti ši-kin a-dan-ni] / i-na ši-⸢kin a⸣-dan-ni [šu-a-tu lu-ú x x x x x x x x x] / i-ṣar-ri-⸢mu⸣ i-[kap-pi-du x x x x x x x x x x] / ú-šat-ba-a ⸢ib*⸣-[x x x x x x x x x x x x x] / šá a-na IGI mkaš-ta-⸢ri*⸣-[ti x x x x x i-ma-aq-qu-tu-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 P238972.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P238972). 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/P238972/.
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