Position in chronology
SAA 04 353. Fragment of a Report [unclassifiable]
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) The 'station,' 'well-being,' and 'base of the throne' are present. (2) The left of the gall bladder is split. (3) There is a design in the middle surface of the 'finger.' (4) [... of the 'yo]ke' enters to the left. (5) [... The mid]dle of the 'path' is effaced. (6) [...] the 'outside.' (7) [...] is split. (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/P238940/
Why it matters
Transliteration
⸢BE⸣ NA SILIM u ŠUB—AŠ.TE GAR-MEŠ / BE 150 ZÉ DU₈ / BE ina EDIN U MURUB₄ GIŠ.ḪUR / [x x x ni?]-ri ana 150 er-bet / [x x x] ⸢MURUB₄⸣ GÍR pa-áš-⸢ṭa⸣ [x x] / [x x x x x x x x x] SA?-ti? / [x x x x x x x x x]+⸢x DU₈⸣ / [x x x x x x x x x x x x]-qa / [x x x x x x x x x x x x] šu-ú
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 P238940.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P238940). 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/P238940/.
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