Position in chronology
SAA 04 299. Should Nabu-šarru-uṣur be Appointed as Chief Eunuch? [appointment]
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) The middle of the 'sta[tion' is effaced]. (2) The 'path' is c[urled]. (3) The 'strength' is absent. (4) The left of the gall [bladder is attached]. (5) The gall bladder [...]. (6) The 'finger' is abnormally [small]. (7) The 'increment' [...] the 'yoke.' (8) The upper part is elevated. (9) The 'cap' (rides) upon the 'outside.' (10) The base of the middle 'finger' of the lung is 'loose.' (11) The breast-bone is thick. (r 1) The coils of the colon are r[aised] and turned on the left (and) are 24 in number. (r 3) Unfavorable. (r 4) Dannaya (and) Zizî, reporters. (r 5) Month Tebet (X), 24th…
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/P238809/
Why it matters
Transliteration
BE MURUB₄ ⸢NA⸣ [pa-áš-ṭa x x x x] / BE GÍR ⸢ka⸣-[pí-iṣ x x x x x] / BE KALAG NU [GAR x x x x x x] / BE 150 ⸢ZÉ⸣ [ṣa-mid x x x x x] / BE ZÉ [x x x x x x x x] / ⸢BE U⸣ UGU ŠID-[MEŠ-šú TUR] / BE MÁŠ ni-ri ⸢x⸣+[x x x] / BE AN.TA-ti DU / BE U.SAG UGU SA-ti / BE U—MUR MURUB₄ SUḪUŠ-sà BAR / BE GAG.ZAG.GA KUG / BE ŠÀ.NIGIN 150 ⸢ZI⸣-[MEŠ] / u GUR-MEŠ ⸢24⸣ ŠID-šú-nu / TAG-át / mdan-a mzi-zi-i EN-ME*—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 P238809.
Attribution
Image: Adapted from Ivan Starr, Queries to the Sungod: Divination and Politics in Sargonid Assyria (State Archives of Assyria, 4), 1990. Lemmatised by Mikko Luukko, 2018, as part of the research programme of the Alexander von Humboldt Chair in the Ancient History of the Near and Middle East at LMU Munich (Karen Radner, Humboldt Professorship 2015). The annotated edition is released under the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike license 3.0. Please cite this page as http://oracc.org/saao/P238809/..
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/P238809/.
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