Position in chronology
SAA 04 304. Fragment Similar to No. 303 (PRT 131) [appointment]
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) [......] the right [......]. (2) [...] in the top of the right [...] (3) The place of the gall bladder is blo[cked]. (4) The gall bladder [...]... (5) The left of the gall bladder is att[ached]. (6) The 'finger' is th[ick]. (7) The 'increment' is split in two and ... (8) The upper part is elevated. (9) The 'outside' [rides u]pon the ['cap']. (10) If there is [a hole] inside the 'cap' of the lung, [an important temple will be consumed by] fire. (Break) (r 1) [will he ...] with Assur[banipal]? (r 2) Un[favorable]. (r 3) Month Shebat (XI), 10th day, epon[ym year of NN]. (one line broken) (r 5) Dannaya (and) Ziz[î], reporters. (Rest destroyed)
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/P238790/
Why it matters
Transliteration
[BE x x] 15 [x x x x] / [BE] ina SAG 15 [x x x x] / BE ZÉ KI-šá ⸢GIL⸣ [x x x] / BE ZÉ [x x]+⸢x⸣ mu ne [x x x] / BE 150 ZÉ ṣa-[mid] / BE ŠU.SI eb-[bet] / BE MÁŠ ana 02 BAR-ma ⸢MÁŠ?⸣ [x x x] / BE AN.TA-ti DU-[ik] / BE SA-ti ⸢UGU⸣ [U.SAG U₅] / BE U.SAG MUR ŠÀ-⸢nu⸣ [BÙR ŠUB-di É—DINGIR SIG-am] / [o] IZI [KÚ x x x x] / KI mAN.ŠÁR—[DÙ—A x x x] / ul [DÙG.GA] / ITI.ZÍZ UD 10-KÁM lim-⸢mu⸣ [mx x x] / mdan-a u mzi-⸢zi⸣-[i] / EN-MEŠ—ṭe-me
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 P238790.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P238790). 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/P238790/.
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