Position in chronology
SAA 04 172. Fragment Similar to No. 156 (PRT 046) [appointment]
Translation — scholar edition
SAA 4(Beginning destroyed) (1) Should [Esarh]addo[n, king of Assyria, ......] appoint hi[m] to a position of his choosing? (3) [If he appoints him, will he, as long as he holds] his position, [..., and] be loyal to [Esarhaddon, king of Assyria? Does your great] divin[ity know it]? (7) Disregard the (formulation) of [to]day's case, [be it good, be it faulty]. (8) Disregard that a clean or an unclean person [has touched the sacrificial sheep, or blocked the way of the sacrificial sheep]. (r 1) Disregard that an un[clean man or woman has come near] the place of the extispicy [and made it unclean]. (r…
State Archives of Assyria, volume 4 — scholar edition (ORACC).
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Transliteration
[mdaš-šur]—⸢ŠEŠ⸣—SUM-[na LUGAL KUR—aš-šur.KI a-na UGU pi-qit-ti] / KI ŠÀ-ba-šú ub-[lu x x x x x x x x x x] / li-ip-qid-⸢su⸣ [GIM ip-taq-du-uš a-di UD-MEŠ mál x x x x x x x] / pi-qit-ta-šú i-[pu-šu x x x x x x x x x x] / ŠÀ-ba-šú it-ti [mdaš-šur—ŠEŠ—SUM-na LUGAL KUR—aš-šur.KI] / ki-ni-i DINGIR-[ut-ka GAL-ti ZU-e] / ⸢e⸣-zib šá di-nim ⸢UD⸣ [NE-i GIM DÙG.GA GIM ḫa-ṭu-ú] / ⸢e⸣-zib šá KUG lu-ʾu-[ú…
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 P236928.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.earth/artifacts, P236928). 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/P236928/.
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