Position in chronology
SAA 04 343. Fragment Similar to No. 340 [unclassifiable]
Translation · reference
High confidence(Beginning destroyed) (1) The upper [part ......] (2) Between [the 'cap' of the lung and the 'lift of the head' of the lung] a piece of flesh is ...[...]: the sun in its rising. [......] (5) From the mouth [......]. (Break) (r 1) judgment [......] (r 2) true [......] (r 3) is not unfavorable [......] (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/P238939/
Why it matters
Transliteration
BE AN.⸢TA?⸣ [x x x x x x x x] / BE ina bi-⸢rit⸣ [U.SAG MUR u MU.SAG MUR] / UZU mun-[dur x x x x x x x x] / dUTU ina MÚ-[šú x x x x x x] / šá KA ⸢x⸣+[x x x x x x x x x] / DI.⸢KUD?⸣ [x x x x x x x x x] / GI.NA ú-[x x x x x x x x] / ul TAG [x x x x x x x x x] / lu? [x x x x 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 P238939.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P238939). 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/P238939/.
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