Position in chronology
SAA 04 065. Should the Magnates March Deep into Media to Collect Tribute? (PRT 022) [military and political]
Translation · reference
High confidence(Beginning destroyed) (1) [... and should he send them to col]lect a trib[ute of horses]? Should they ta[ke the road and go to Sikr]iš, [to ......], to Kukkubâ, to the land Tu[aiadi, to ......, to the ci]ty UDpani, to the city Ramadani, and as far as the land Arrî? Will they collect [a tribute of h]orses? (6) Will they (be able to) ma[rch about] for as many days [as they wish], will they, either going or returning, escape, be sa[ved, or] save themselves from [the troops of the Medes, or] from the troops of the Manneans, [from the troops of the Cimmerians, and from any other enemy]? (9) [Will…
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/P237053/
Why it matters
Transliteration
[x x x a-na e-se]-er man-⸢da⸣-[at-ti šá ANŠE.KUR.RA-MEŠ liš-pur-ma] / [ur-ḫa KASKAL li]-⸢iṣ⸣-ba-tu-ma a-na [KUR.si-ik-ri]-⸢iš* x⸣+[x x x x x x x x] / [a-na KUR.x x x x] a-na KUR.ku-uk-ku-ba-a a-na KUR.tu-[a-ia-di?] / [a-na KUR.x x a-na] ⸢URU*⸣.UD-pa-ni a-na URU.ra-ma-da-ni ⸢ù⸣ a-di KUR.ár-⸢ri-i⸣ [o] / [lil-li-ku man-da-at-ti šá] ⸢ANŠE⸣.KUR.RA-MEŠ li-si-ru a-di ma-al UD-me / [ŠÀ-ba-šú-nu ub-lu…
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 P237053.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P237053). 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/P237053/.
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