Sumerian·Book

Position in chronology

SAA 04 141. Fragment Similar to No. 139 (AGS 110+) [military and political]

~675 BCE·Neo-Assyrian·P336088

Translation · reference

High confidence
(Beginning destroyed) (1) or i[n ......], (2) or in [......], (3) [will they instigate] insurrection and rebellion against [Esarhaddon, king of Assyria], (or) act [with evil intent] against him? [Does your great divinity know it]? (5) Is the instigating of insurrection and rebellion against [Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, decreed and confirmed i]n a favorable case, by the command of [your great] divinity, [Šamaš, great lord]? (7) [Will he who can se]e, see it? [Will he who can hear], hear it? (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/P336088/

Why it matters

Transliteration

[lu]-ú i-[na x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x] / ⸢lu⸣-ú i-na [x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x] / si-ḫu ḪI.GAR i-na UGU m[daš-šur—ŠEŠ—SUM-na LUGAL KUR—aš-šur.KI DÙ-MEŠ-šú-u ŠU.2-su-un a-na ḪUL-tim] / i-na ŠÀ-bi-šú ub-bal-lu-ú [DINGIR-ut-ka GAL-ti ZU-e] / DÙ-eš si-ḫi bar-ti i-na UGU m[daš-šur—ŠEŠ—SUM-na LUGAL KUR—aš-šur.KI] / [i]-⸢na⸣ SILIM-tim i-na KA DINGIR-ti-[ka GAL-ti dUTU EN GAL-ú qa-bi-i ku-un-i] / [a-mi]-⸢ru IGI-ra⸣ [še-mu-ú] i-šem-⸢me⸣-[e]

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 P336088.

Attribution

Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P336088). 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/P336088/.

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