Position in chronology
SAA 04 286. Will the ... of Sin-šarra-uṣur Hear and Escape? (PRT 114) [military and political]
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) The middle of the 'station' is effaced. (2) The 'paths' are two, the right 'path' has a bifurcation towards the left 'path.' (3) The 'strength' is pres[ent ...] and faces the base of the 'finger.' (Break) (r 1) Will [the ...] of Sin-šarra-uṣur hear and escape? (r 2) Unfavorable. (r 3) Month Shebat (XI), 16th day, eponym year of Sagab (651) . (r 4) Dannaya, reporter. (r 5') (Two erased lines) (e. 1) [...... S]agab (half erased)
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/P237808/
Why it matters
Transliteration
BE MURUB₄ NA pa-áš-ṭa / BE GÍR 02-ma GÍR 15 ana GÍR 150 PA TUKU-ši / BE KALAG ⸢GAR⸣ [x x x]+⸢x⸣ SUḪUŠ U IGI / [x x x x x x x x] u / [x]+⸢x⸣ du* ⸢i?⸣ šá m30—MAN—PAB ŠE-ú i-šet-⸢i*⸣ / ul DÙG.GA / ITI.ZÍZ UD 16-KÁM lim-mu mUD-gab / mdan-a.a EN—UMUŠ / (erased) / (erased) / [x x x x m]⸢UD⸣-gab
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 P237808.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P237808). 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/P237808/.
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