Position in chronology
SAA 04 102. Fragment Similar to No. 101 [military and political]
Translation · reference
High confidence(Beginning destroyed) (1) should he [go] and set up camp before that city, [...]ni, will they, (2) [be it by means of w]ar, or through fri[endliness or peaceful negotiations], [or by means of a tunnel or bre]ach, (or scaling) ladders, or by means of ra[mps or battering-rams], (5) [or through famine, or] by soaking with water, or by a strong weapon, or [......], (7) [or through ..., pr]essure, negligence, lack (of soldiers), or [..., or through any r]use of capturing a city whatever, (8) [capture] that city, [enter that city], conquer that city? (Break) (r 3) (whether) they will capture that city, [enter that city], and conquer [that city]. (Rest destroyed)
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/P336611/
Why it matters
Transliteration
[x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x lil-lik] / [i-na UGU URU UR₅-tú URU.x x]-ni ma-dak-⸢ta⸣ [liš]-⸢ku-un-ma⸣ [x x x x x x] / [lu-ú i-na DÙ-eš GIŠ.TUKUL MURUB₄] ⸢ù⸣ MÈ lu-ú ⸢i-na⸣ KA? DÙG?.[GA sa-lim ṭu-ub-ba-a-ti] / [lu-ú i-na nik-si i-na pil]-ši i-na GIŠ.I.DIB lu-ú i-na a-⸢ra⸣-[am-ma i-na šu-bi-i] / [lu-ú i-na bu-bu-ti i]-⸢na⸣ A-MEŠ ma-ḫa-ḫi lu-ú i-na GIŠ.TUKUL dan-ni lu-⸢ú⸣ [i-na x x x x]…
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 P336611.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P336611). 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/P336611/.
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