SAA 04 233. Fragment of a Query (PRT 076) [unclassifiable]

~675 BCE·Neo-Assyrian·P240399

Translation — scholar edition

SAA 4

High confidence

(Beginning destroyed) (r 1) [Be present in this ram, place (in it) a firm positive answer, favorable designs, favorable, propitious omens by the] oracular command [of your great divinity, and may I see (them)]. (r 2) May (this query) go [to your great divinity, O Šamaš], great lord, and [may] an oracle [be given as an answer]. (r 3) [The gall-bladder is s]plit [on the right] and attached on the left ...[...]. (r 4) [...... The breast-bo]ne in its entirety lies on its back. The coils of the co[lon are ... in number]. (r 5) [...... second extis]picy. The 'station' [......]. (r 6) [......]. The upper [part ...]. (Rest destroyed)

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

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Transliteration

[ta-mit SIG₅-MEŠ SILIM-MEŠ šá SILIM]-⸢tim šá KA⸣ [DINGIR-ti-ka GAL-ti šuk-nam-ma lu-mur] / [UGU DINGIR-ti-ka GAL-ti dUTU] ⸢EN⸣ GAL-ú lil-lik-ma KIN [li-tap-pal] / [x x x x BE ZÉ ana 15] ⸢DU₈*⸣-ma ana* 150 ṣa-mid ki si? [x x x] / [x x x x x x GAG.ZAG].⸢GA?⸣ TÉŠ.BI na-pár-qud ŠÀ.⸢NIGIN⸣ [x x] / [x x x x x x x šá-ni]-tum BE NA ra-⸢x⸣+[x x x x] / [x x x x x x x x] ⸢IGI?⸣ BE AN.[TA 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 P240399.

Attribution

Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.earth/artifacts, P240399). 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/P240399/.

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