Position in chronology
SAA 04 271. Should Nabu-šarru-uṣur be Sent to Plunder Gambulu? (AGS 153) [military and political]
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) Šamaš, great lord, [give me] a firm positive answer to what I am asking you! (2) Should Assurbanipal, king of Assyria, strive and plan? Should he [send] Na[bû-šarru-uṣur, chief eunuch, with] men, horses, and [troop]s, as he [wishes], to the district of Gam[bulu? Should they go] to kill, lo[ot, and plunder]? (5) If he, having planned, sends (them), [and they kill what there is to kill, loo]t what there is to loot, and [plunde]r what there is to plunder [in] the district of [Gambulu], will the men, ho[rses] (and) ar[my of Gambulu do] battle [with Nabû-šarru-uṣur, chief eunuch, and] the…
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/P336116/
Why it matters
Transliteration
dUTU EN GAL-ú šá a-šal-lu-ka an-na GI.⸢NA⸣ [a-pal-an-ni] / mdaš-šur—DÙ—A LUGAL KUR—aš-šur.KI li-iṣ-rim lik-pid-ma md⸢AG⸣—[LUGAL—ŠEŠ LÚ.GAL—SAG a-di] / LÚ.ERIM-MEŠ ANŠE.KUR.RA-MEŠ ⸢LÚ⸣.[e-mu]-⸢qí⸣ mál ŠÀ-ba-[šú ub-lu liš-pur-ma] / a-na na-ge-e šá URU.gam-[bu]-⸢ú⸣-[li] a-na GAZ ⸢SAR⸣ [IR lil-li-ku] / GIM ik-tap-du-ma il-tap-⸢ru⸣ [i-na] na-ge-e šá URU.[gam-bu-ú-li šá GAZ GAZ-ku] / šá SAR…
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 P336116.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P336116). 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/P336116/.
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