Position in chronology
SAA 04 240. Fragment of a Query (PRT 077) [unclassifiable]
Translation · reference
High confidence(Beginning destroyed) (1) [Disrega]rd that a wor[d ......]. (2) [Disrega]rd that a prayer [to a god, a request, anger of god and goddess]. (3) [Disrega]rd that treachery [......]. (Break) (r 1) [Be present] in this ram, [place (in it) a firm positive answer ...] (Rest destroyed)
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/P240364/
Why it matters
Transliteration
[e]-⸢zib⸣ šá dib-⸢ba⸣ [x x x x x x x x x x x x] / [e]-⸢zib⸣ šá ik-rib [DINGIR me-reš-ti šib-sat DINGIR u iš-ta-ri] / [e]-⸢zib⸣ šá ṣa-lìp-⸢tú⸣ [x x x x x x x x x x x x] / ina ŠÀ UDU.⸢NÍTA⸣ [NE-i GUB-za-am-ma 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 P240364.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P240364). 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/P240364/.
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