Position in chronology
SAA 04 094. Should Esarhaddon Send his Chief of Trade to Capture ...? (PRT 017+) [military and political]
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) Šamaš, great lord, [give me a firm positive answer to what I am asking you]! (2) The Chief of Trad[e, together with the men, horses, and army of Esarhaddon], king of Assyria, who [went] to capture [......] — (4) [if he goes] wher[e he wishes ......] (5) in the month [......] (6) or [......] (Break) (r 1) Let them be taken out and [put aside]![I ask you, Šamaš, great lord], whether, should the Chief of Trade, [with the men, horses and army] of Esarhaddon, ki[ng of Assyria, at his disposal go] to where he wishes, (r 5) they will be killed, captured, taken prisoner [......] (r 6)…
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/P238175/
Why it matters
Transliteration
dUTU EN GAL-⸢ú⸣ [šá a-šal-lu-ka an-na GI.NA a-pal-an-ni] / LÚ.GAL—ka-a-⸢ra⸣ [a-di ERIM-MEŠ ANŠE.KUR.RA-MEŠ e-mu-qi] / šá a-na ṣa-bat ⸢x⸣+[x x x x x x x x x] / a-na a-⸢šar⸣ [ŠÀ-ba-šú ub-lu il-li-ku-ma x x x x x x] / i-na ITI.[x x x x x x x x x x x x] / lu-ú ⸢LÚ⸣.[x x x x x x x x x x x x x x] / ⸢x x⸣ [x x x x x x x x x x x x] / ⸢lu⸣-ú ZI-MEŠ lu-ú [BAR-MEŠ a-šal-ka dUTU EN GAL-ú] / ki-i…
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 P238175.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P238175). 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/P238175/.
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