Position in chronology
SAA 04 200. Fragment Referring to the Making(?) of the Statue of Marduk [cultic]
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) Šamaš, [great lord, give me a firm positive answer to what I am asking you]! (2) ... [......] (3) Esarhadd[on, king of Assyria, who ......] (4) concerning the work [on ......] (5) did [......] (6) Marduk [......] (7) [sa]ying, "It is good" [......] (b.e. 8) Marduk [......] (b.e. 9) [wi]thin [......] (r 1) ... [......]
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/P336621/
Why it matters
Transliteration
dUTU [EN GAL-ú šá a-šal-lu-ka an-na GI.NA a-pal-an-ni] / an-nu ⸢x⸣ [x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x] / maš-šur—PAB—⸢AŠ⸣ [LUGAL KUR—aš-šur šá x x x x x x x x x] / ina UGU du₆-⸢li⸣ [x x x x x x x x x x x x x] / e-pu-šu ⸢x⸣+[x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x] / dAMAR.UTU a-⸢x x x⸣+[x x x x x x x x x] / ⸢ma?⸣-a DÙG.GA ⸢x⸣+[x x x x x x x x x x x x] / ⸢d⸣AMAR.UTU ⸢x⸣+[x x x x x x x x x x x x x] / [ina] ⸢ŠÀ?⸣-bi ud ⸢da?⸣ [x x x x x x x x x x] / ik dul ti šú [x x x x x x x x 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 P336621.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P336621). 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/P336621/.
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