Position in chronology
SAA 04 308. Should NN be Appointed as Priest of Sin? [appointment]
Translation · reference
High confidence(Beginning destroyed) (1) [...] is overturned [...]. (2) [The 'well-being'] is inundated. The 'path' on the right of the gall bladder is raised, lies in the cystic duct, and is inundated. (5) The top of the 'finger' is atrophied. (6) In the wide part of the left side of the 'finger' there is a cross-shaped marking. (7) The left side of the 'increment' is split. [The up]per part is elevated. (8) The 'outside' rides upon the 'cap,' and its 'doorjamb' is split. (10) If there is a cross-shaped marking in the right side of the lung, there will be confusion in the land. (11) The 'cavity' of the…
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/P238757/
Why it matters
Transliteration
[x x x] BAL [x x x x] / [BE SILIM] RA-iṣ GÍR 15 ZÉ / ul-lu-ma ina SUR ZÉ GAR / ù RA-iṣ / BE SAG U KAR-im / BE ina DAGAL 150 U BAR-tum / BE 150 MÁŠ DU₈ ⸢AN⸣-ti DU-ik / BE SA-ti UGU U.SAG U₅-ma / sip-pa-šá DU₈ / BE ina 15 MUR BAR-tum SÙḪ ina KUR GÁL-ši / BE SAL.LA MUR 150 DU₈ / BE U—MUR MURUB₄ SUḪUŠ-sà BAR / [BE GAG].ZAG.GA KUG ŠÀ.NIGIN 10 / [x x x x]+⸢x 150⸣ [x x x] / [x x] ⸢TAG*-MEŠ*⸣ ina ⸢ŠÀ⸣ /…
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 P238757.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P238757). 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/P238757/.
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