Position in chronology
SAA 04 066. Will Governors and Magnates Return Safely from Media? (PRT 020) [military and political]
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) Šamaš, great lord, gi[ve me] a firm positive ans[wer] to what I am asking you! (2) Will the governors and magnates, men, horses and army [of Esarhaddon], king of Assyria, who are in Bit-K[a]ri, and are entering Me[dia] to collect a tr[ibute] of horses, [escape fr]om [the troops of the Medes], from the troops of the Scythi[ans, or from any other enemy? ......] (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] divi[nity, and may I see (them)]. (r 3) [May (this query) go] to…
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/P336333/
Why it matters
Transliteration
dUTU EN GAL-ú šá a-šal-lu-⸢ka an⸣-na GI.NA a-⸢pal⸣-[an-ni] / LÚ.EN.NAM-MEŠ LÚ.GAL-MEŠ ERIM-MEŠ ANŠE.KUR.RA-MEŠ e-mu-qu [šá mdaš-šur—ŠEŠ—SUM-na] / LUGAL KUR—aš-šur.KI šá i-na É—⸢ka⸣-[a]-ri šá a-na e-se-ri ⸢man⸣-[da-at-ti] / šá ANŠE.KUR.RA-MEŠ a-na KUR.ma-[da-a.a] ⸢ir?⸣-ru-bu i-na [ŠU.2 ERIM-MEŠ LÚ.ma-da-a.a lu-ú] / [i]-⸢na⸣ ŠU.2 ERIM-MEŠ LÚ.iš-ku-⸢za⸣-[a.a lu-ú i-na ŠU.2 LÚ.KÚR mál ba-šu-ú] / i-na…
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 P336333.
Attribution
Image: BM 099093 + (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P336333). 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/P336333/.
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