Position in chronology
SAA 04 081. Should Esarhaddon March to Trans-Euphrates and Ashkelon? (PRT 041+) [military and political]
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) [Šamaš], great lord, [give me a firm positive answer] to what I [am asking you]! (2) [From] this day, the second day [of this month, the month ... of this year, to] the 21st day of Sivan (III) [of this year, ... days and nights, my stipulated term] — (4) [within] this stipulated term, should the [subject] of this query, [Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, who is now intent on going to ..., as] he wish[es, and (whom) your great divinity knows] — (6) [in accordance] with the command of your great [divinity], Ša[maš, great lord, and your favorable decisions], should [the subject] of this query,…
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/P336342/
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 02-⸢KÁM⸣ [šá ITI NE-i ITI.x šá MU.AN.NA NE-ti] / [EN] UD 21-KÁM šá ITI.SIG₄.GA [šá MU.AN.NA NE-ti x UD-MEŠ x MI-MEŠ ši-kin a-dan-ni-ia] / [i-na] ⸢ši⸣-kin a-dan-ni šu-⸢a⸣-[tú mdaš-šur—ŠEŠ—SUM-na LUGAL KUR—aš-šur.KI] / [šá] TA-an-ni šu-⸢ú⸣ [a-šar ŠÀ]-ba-šú na-⸢šú⸣-[u a-la-ku ti-iṣ-mu-ru-ma DINGIR-ut-ka GAL-ti ZU-u] /…
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 P336342.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P336342). 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/P336342/.
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