SAA 04 291. Troops of Assurbanipal in Nippur (PRT 136) [military and political]

~675 BCE·Neo-Assyrian·P239107

Translation — scholar edition

SAA 4

High confidence

(Beginning destroyed) (1) The 'station' is [...] ov[er ....] (2) The left of the gall bladder is at[tached]. (3) In the left surface of the ['finger' ......]. (4) There is a 'weapon']-mark over the 'increment.' (Break) (r 1) [the troops of] Assurba[nipal, king of Assyria], (r 2) who [...] Nippur [......] (r 3) all [......] (r 4) Še[......] (r 5) with [......] (Break) (e. 1) [Dannay]a, reporter.

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

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Transliteration

BE NA ⸢UGU⸣ [x x x x x x x] / BE 150 ZÉ ⸢ṣa⸣-[mid x x x x x x] / BE ina EDIN 150 [ŠU.SI x x x x x] / ⸢BE⸣ ina UGU MÁŠ GIŠ.[TUKUL GAR] / [x x] šá šú muk? [x x x x x] / [x x]+⸢x⸣ mAN.ŠÁR—⸢DÙ⸣—[DUMU.UŠ] / šá EN.LÍL.KI ⸢šá⸣ [x x x] / gab-bu [x x x x] / mše-e-[x x x x] / KI m[x x x x x] / i-⸢x⸣+[x x x x x x] / [mdan?-a].⸢a⸣ EN—UMUŠ

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 P239107.

Attribution

Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.earth/artifacts, P239107). 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/P239107/.

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