Position in chronology
SAA 04 180. Fragment of an Appointment Query [appointment]
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) [Šamaš, great lord, give me a firm] positive answer [to what I am asking you]! (2) [The man whose name is written in this] papyrus [and placed before yo]ur great [divinity ......] (Break) (r 1) [May (this query) go to your great divinity], O Šamaš, great lord, [and may an oracle be given as an answer]. (r 2) [... The 'stren]gth' is present. The left of the gall bladder is attached. The 'fing[er' ......]. (r 3) [......]. The base of the middle part is 'loose.' The breast-[bone ......]. (r 4) [......] descends to the right and [......].
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/P336618/
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] ŠÀ-bi ni-ʾa-a-ra ⸢an⸣-[na-a šaṭ-ru-ma] / [i-na IGI DINGIR-ti]-⸢ka⸣ GAL-ti [GAR-un x x x x x] / [UGU DINGIR-ti-ka GAL]-⸢ti⸣ dUTU ⸢EN GAL⸣-[ú lil-lik-ma KIN li-tap-pal] / [x x x x x] ⸢KALAG?⸣ GAR 150 ZÉ ṣa-mid ŠU.⸢SI⸣ [x x x x x] / [x x x x x x]+⸢x⸣ MURUB₄-tum SUḪUŠ-sà BAR GAG.ZAG.[GA x x x x x] / [x x x x x x]+⸢x⸣ ana 15 ma-qit u GÍD-ud [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 P336618.
Attribution
Image: BM 099041 (British Museum, London, UK) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P336618). 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/P336618/.
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