SAA 04 230. Fragment of a Query [unclassifiable]

~675 BCE·Neo-Assyrian·P239753

Translation — scholar edition

SAA 4

High confidence

(Beginning destroyed) (1) Disregard that the ram (offered) [to your divinity for the performance of the extispicy is deficient or faulty]. (2) Disregard that he who touches [the forehead of the sheep is dressed in his ordinary soiled garments, has eaten, drunk, (or) anointed himself with] anything unclean, (or) [has altered or changed the proceedings]. (4) Disregard that I, [the haruspex your servant, am dressed in my ordinary soiled garments ...] (Break) (e. 1) Month Shebat (XI), 10th day [......].

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

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Transliteration

e-zib šá UDU.⸢NÍTA⸣ [DINGIR-ti-ka šá a-na MÁŠ MÁŠ-ú LAL-ú ḫa-ṭu-ú] / e-zib šá TAG-[it SAG.KI UDU.NÍTA TÚG gi-né-e-šú ár-šá-a-ti lab-šú] / mim-ma lu-ʾu-[ú KÚ NAG ŠÉŠ-šú ku-un qa-ti BAL-ú uš-pe-lu] / e-zib šá a-[na-ku DUMU—LÚ.ḪAL ARAD-ka TÚG gi-né-e-a ár-šá-a-ti lab-šá-ku] / ITI.ZÍZ UD 10-[KÁM 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 P239753.

Attribution

Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.earth/artifacts, P239753). 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/P239753/.

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