SAA 04 215. Fragment of a Query on Behalf of Esarhaddon (PRT 075) [unclassifiable]

~675 BCE·Neo-Assyrian·P239086

Translation — scholar edition

SAA 4

High confidence

(Beginning destroyed) (1) [Is the ... of] Esarhaddo[n, king of Assyria, decreed and confirmed in a favorable case, by the command of your great divinity], Šamaš, great lord? [Will he who can see, see i]t? Will he who can hear, [hear it]? (4) [Disregard the (formulation) of the prayer for today's case, be it] good, be it f[aulty]. (5) [Disregard that an unclean] person [has performed extispicy in this place]. (Rest destroyed)

State Archives of Assyria, volume 4 — scholar edition (ORACC).

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Transliteration

[x x x x x x x x x x x x] mdaš-šur—ŠEŠ—SUM-⸢na⸣ [LUGAL KUR—aš-šur.KI] / [i-na SILIM-tim ina KA DINGIR-ti-ka GAL-ti d]UTU EN GAL-[ú] / [qa-bi-i ku-un-i IGI-ru IGI]-⸢mar⸣ še-mu-ú [i-šem-me-e] / [e-zib šá ik-rib di-nim UD-mu NE-i GIM DÙG]-⸢ab⸣ GIM ⸢ḫa⸣-[ṭu-ú] / [e-zib šá ina KI an-ni-i lu-ʾu]-ú [MÁŠ MÁŠ-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 P239086.

Attribution

Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.earth/artifacts, P239086). 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/P239086/.

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