SAA 04 319. Is a Letter Sent to Assurbanipal Reliable? (PRT 119) [miscellaneous]

~675 BCE·Neo-Assyrian·P336361

Translation — scholar edition

SAA 4

High confidence

(Beginning destroyed) (7) [... The 'well-being'] is smashed on the [rig]ht. (8) [...] is affected. (9) [...]: route of the army. (10) [...]... of the enemy. Grief. (11) The base of the [middle 'finger' of the lung] is 'bound.' The breast-bone is thick. (12) The coils of the colon are 14 in number. The heart of the ram is normal. (13) [...] The top of the le[ft] surface of the [gall] bladder [...] faces the le[ft side] of the 'finger.' (14) [... in the] middle [surface] of the 'finger' there is a 'weapon'-mark which faces the top of the 'finger.' (15) [...] there is a 'weapon'-mark. The top of…

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

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Transliteration

[x x x x x x x x x x]+⸢x⸣ IGI? / [x x x x x x x x x x]-šú? / [x x x x x x x x x x]+⸢x⸣ / [x x x x x x x x x x] ši / [x x x x x x x x x x] mi / [x x x x x x x x x x]+⸢x⸣ / [x x x x x x x SILIM] ⸢15⸣ SÌG-iṣ / [x x x x x x x x x]+⸢x⸣ TAG-at / [x x x x x x x x] KAR-ut ERIM-ni / [x x x x x x] ⸢ub?⸣ MI KÚR ŠÀ.ḪUL / [BE ŠU.SI—MUR] ⸢MURUB₄⸣ SUḪUŠ-sà KÉŠ-is GAG.ZAG.GA e-bi / [BE] ŠÀ.NIGIN 14? ⸢x⸣ 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 P336361.

Attribution

Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.earth/artifacts, P336361). 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/P336361/.

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