Position in chronology
SAA 04 300. Should Assurbanipal Appoint Sin-tabni-uṣur over Ur? (PRT 135) [appointment]
Translation — scholar edition
SAA 4(Beginning destroyed) (1) [......] the angry [god] will recon[cile himself] with the man. (2) [If the left side of the 'cap'] grows a 'finger': [divine] merc[y for the man]. (3) [The breast-bon]e is thick. The coils of the colon are 12 in number. The heart of the ram is [normal]. (4) Favorable. (5) Will [Si]n-tabni-uṣur, [so]n of Nikkal-iddina, be reliable? If [he is ap]pointed [ov]er Ur, will he make common cause [with] Šamaš-šumu-ukin? (Break) (r 1) [Month A]b (V), 11th day, eponym year of [NN]. (r 2) Dannaya, eunuch, r[eporter]. (r 3) [Performed in] Arbela.
State Archives of Assyria, volume 4 — scholar edition (ORACC).
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Transliteration
[BE-ma DINGIR] zi-nu-u KI LÚ ⸢SILIM⸣-[im x x x] / [BE 150 U].⸢SAG ŠU⸣.SI DÙ-nu ta-a.a-⸢rat⸣ [DINGIR ana LÚ] / [BE GAG.ZAG].⸢GA⸣ e-bi ŠÀ.NIGIN 12 ŠÀ ⸢UDU.NÍTA⸣ [šá-lim] / [o] (space) DÙG.GA-ab / [md]⸢30⸣—tab-ni—ŠEŠ / ⸢DUMU⸣ mdNIN.GAL—MU / i-šá-lim GIM-ma / [a]-⸢na⸣ UGU ŠEŠ.UNUG.KI / [ip]-⸢pi⸣-qid KA-šú u ŠÀ-šú / [KI md]GIŠ.NU₁₁—MU—GI.⸢NA⸣ / [i-šá]-⸢ka-an⸣ / [x x x] šá ⸢x⸣+[x x x] / [ITI].⸢NE⸣ UD 11-KÁM lim-mu [mx x x] / [m]⸢dan⸣-a LÚ.⸢SAG LÚv⸣.[EN—UMUŠ] / [ina] ⸢URU⸣.arba-ìl [e-tap-šú]
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 P336365.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.earth/artifacts, P336365). 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/P336365/.
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