Position in chronology
SAA 04 185. Should Esarhaddon Take a Medication? (AGS 145) [medical]
Translation — scholar edition
SAA 4(Beginning destroyed) (1) [Should Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, as] he wishes, [drink this drug which is placed before your great divinity, and] in drinking this dr[ug will Esarhaddon], king of Assyria, [be rescued and spared? Will he live and get well]? (4) [Is ......] to leave [...] (5) dea[th ......] (6) [i]n [......] (Break) (r 1) Disregard that [......]. (r 2) Disregard that he who tou[ches the forehead of the sheep is dressed in his ordinary soiled garments], has eaten, dru[nk, or anointed himself with anything unclean, (or) has altered or changed the proceedings]. (r 4) Disregard that…
State Archives of Assyria, volume 4 — scholar edition (ORACC).
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Transliteration
ŠÀ-ba-šú ⸢ub-lu⸣ [i-na IGI DINGIR-ti-ka GAL-ti GAR-un lil-ti-ma] / i-na ša-qé-e šam-[me an-na-a mdaš-šur—ŠEŠ—SUM-na] / ⸢LUGAL⸣ KUR—aš-šur.⸢KI⸣ [i-šet-i KAR-i TIN-ṭu i-šal-li-mi] / a-na e-zeb [x x x x x x x x x x x x x x] / mi-⸢tu⸣-[tu x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x] / [i]-na [x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x] / e-zib šá [x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x] / e-zib šá ⸢TAG⸣-[it SAG.KI UDU.NÍTA TÚG…
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 P239001.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.earth/artifacts, P239001). 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/P239001/.
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