Sumerian·Book

Position in chronology

SAA 04 146. Fragment Similar to No. 139 [military and political]

~675 BCE·Neo-Assyrian·P336616

Translation · reference

High confidence
(Beginning destroyed) (1) [...] or the [......] (2) [... or] the chariot men of [the king ......] (3) [... or] the keepers of [the outer gates ...] (4) [... or] the [......] (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/P336616/

Why it matters

Transliteration

[x x x x lu]-ú ⸢LÚ⸣.[x x x x x] / [x x lu-ú] ⸢LÚ⸣.GIŠ.GIGIR ⸢ša⸣ [LUGAL x x x x] / [x x lu-ú LÚ].Ì.DU₈ ša [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]

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 P336616.

Attribution

Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P336616). 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/P336616/.

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