Position in chronology
SAA 04 323. Fragment Concerning an Extispicy in Year 652 (PRT 104) [unclassifiable]
Translation — scholar edition
SAA 4(Beginning destroyed) (3) [...... In] the right side of the 'finger' [there is] a 'wea[pon'-mark]. (4) [......] facing [......]. (5) [In the top] of the left surface of the 'finger' there is a 'fo[ot'-mark]. (6) [......] The 'increment' is normal. (7) [The 'ca]p' rides upon the 'outside.' (8) [The left side of the 'cap'] grows a 'weapon'-mark. (9) [The coils of the co]lon are 14 in number. The heart of the ram is normal. (10) The left ['se]at' of the 'path' is present. (11) [...] it faces [......]. (Break) (r 2) [Month ..., ...th day, eponym year of Aššur-du]ru-uṣu[r] (652) . [......] (r 3) [... Marduk]-šumu-uṣu[r ......] (Rest destroyed)
State Archives of Assyria, volume 4 — scholar edition (ORACC).
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Transliteration
[x x]-⸢iḫ⸣ ŠÀ [x x x x x] / [x x x] 15 U GIŠ.[TUKUL x x x x] / [x x x] IGI? ⸢x⸣+[x x x x x] / [BE ina SAG] EDIN 150 U ⸢GÌR⸣ [x x x x] / [x x x]+⸢x⸣ BE MÁŠ šá-lim [x x x x] / [BE U].⸢SAG⸣ UGU SA-ti U₅ [x x x] / [x x x] GIŠ.TUKUL DÙ-nu [x x] / [BE ŠÀ].⸢NIGIN⸣ 14 ŠÀ UDU.NÍTA šá-lim / [BE šu]-bat 150 GÍR GAR-át [x x x x] / [x x x]+⸢x⸣ IGI ⸢ti?⸣ [x x x x] / [ITI.x UD x-KÁM lim-mu mdaš-šur]—⸢BÀD—ŠEŠ⸣ [x x x x] / [x x x mdAMAR.UTU]—MU—⸢ŠEŠ⸣ [x x x x] / [x x x x x]-⸢ú⸣ ub [x x x x x] / [x x x x x x]-me [x x x x x]
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 P238945.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.earth/artifacts, P238945). 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/P238945/.
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