Position in chronology
SAA 04 161. Fragment Similar to No. 156 (AGS 122) [appointment]
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) [Šamaš, great lord, give me a firm positive answer to what I am asking you]! (2) [Should Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, appoint the man whose name is written in this papyrus and placed before your great divinity, to the pos]iti[on which is written in this papyrus]? (4) If he appoints him, as [long as he hol]ds [this position, will he instigate an insurrection and rebellion against Esarhaddon, king] of Assyria, and Assurbanipal, [the crown prince of the Succession Palace, or cause others to instigate it]? (6) [Will he order it or] cause others to order it? Will he pl[ot it, or cause others to plot it or incite it]? Or will someone else cause [him to plot 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/P336098/
Why it matters
Transliteration
[dUTU EN GAL-ú šá a-šal-lu-ka an-na GI.NA a-pal-an-ni] / [LÚ šá MU-šú i-na ni-ia-a-ri an-na-a šaṭ-ru-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-tu šá i-na ni-ia-a-ri] / [an-na-a šá-aṭ-rat-tú lip-qi-su] ⸢GIM⸣ ip-taq-du-uš ⸢a-di UD-MEŠ mál⸣ [pi-qi-tu-ú-tu šu-a-tu ip-pu-šú] / [si-ḫu ḪI.GAR a-na UGU mdaš-šur—ŠEŠ—SUM-na] ⸢LUGAL⸣…
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 P336098.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P336098). 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/P336098/.
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