Sumerian·Book

Position in chronology

SAA 04 289. Is Tammaritu Going to Invade Assyrian Territory? (ABL 1195) [military and political]

~675 BCE·Neo-Assyrian·P334785

Translation · reference

High confidence
(1) (This report) which was co[mmunicated] to Assurbanipal, king of Assyria: "Tammaritu, king of Elam, is mo[bilizing] his troops and making a hos[tile] incursion into Assyrian territory" — (4) is it a reliable rumor? (5) From this day, the first day of this month, [...] of this year, to the first day of the coming month, [...] of this year, will the troops and army of Tammari[tu], king of Elam, come forth to engage in battle and will they make a hostile incursion into Assyrian territory, or against Nippur? (r 1) When the Puqudean troops hear of this sortie of the king of Elam, will they rebel? Will they turn hostile to Assurbanipal, king of Assyria? (r 6) Concerning a report of Ku[durru].

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/P334785/

Why it matters

Transliteration

⸢šá*⸣ a-na mAN.ŠÁR—DÙ—A MAN KUR—AN.ŠÁR.KI ⸢qa*⸣-[bu-u-(ni)] / um-ma mtam-mar-i-ti MAN KUR.NIM.KI ERIM-MEŠ-šú ⸢i-da*⸣-[ak-ki] / a-na mì-ṣir šá KUR—daš-šur.KI ⸢ZI⸣ ši-iḫ-ṭu ša ⸢ḪUL⸣-[tim] / ep-pu-šu a-mat-ú ke-en-⸢tum⸣ šá-lim-ti ⸢ši⸣-[i o] / TAv ŠÀ-bi UD-mu an-ni-i UD 01-KÁM [šá] ITI an-ni-e ⸢ITI⸣.[x] / ša MU.AN.NA an-nit EN ŠÀ UD 01-KÁM šá ITI e-⸢ri⸣-bi ⸢ITI⸣.[x] / ša MU.AN.NA an-nit-ti ERIM-MEŠ…

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 P334785.

Attribution

Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P334785). 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/P334785/.

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