Position in chronology
SAA 04 156. Should Esarhaddon Appoint NN to an Office? (AGS 116+) [appointment]
Translation — scholar edition
SAA 4(1) Šamaš, great lord, give me a firm positive answer to what I am asking you! (2) Should Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, appoint [the ma]n whose name is written in this papyrus and placed before your great divinity, [to the po]sition which is written in [th]is papyrus? (5) If he appoints him, [as] long as he holds this position, will he instigate an insurrection and rebellion against Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, and [Assu]rbanipal, the crown prince of the Succession Palace? (9) Will he cause others to instigate it? Will he order it, or cause others to [or]der it? Will he plot it (or) cause…
State Archives of Assyria, volume 4 — scholar edition (ORACC).
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Transliteration
[d]UTU EN GAL-ú šá a-šal-lu-ka an-na GI.NA a-pal-an-ni / [a-me]-⸢lu⸣ šá MU-šú i-na ni-ia-a-ri an-na-a šá-aṭ-ru-ú-ma / [a-na] IGI DINGIR-ti-ka GAL-ti GAR-un mdaš-šur—ŠEŠ—SUM-na LUGAL KUR—aš-šur.KI / [a-na] ⸢pi⸣-qit-tu-ú-ti šá i-na ŠÀ-bi ni-ia-ri-im-ma / [an]-⸢na⸣-a šá-aṭ-rat-tú li-ip-qi-su GIM ip-⸢taq⸣-du-uš / [a]-⸢di⸣ UD-MEŠ mál pi-qi-tu-ú-tú šu-a-⸢tú ip⸣-pu-šú / [si]-ḫu ḪI.GAR a-na UGU…
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 P336093.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.earth/artifacts, P336093). 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/P336093/.
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