Position in chronology
SAA 08 001. Thunder in Ab, King Ill (RMA 257) [weather]
About this tablet
This is a Neo-Assyrian astrological report addressed to the king, most likely one of the Sargonid monarchs at Nineveh or Kalhu (7th century BCE). A scholar-astrologer records that Adad, the storm-god, 'raised his voice' (thundered) during the summer month of Ab — an ominous event whose interpretation is drawn from standard celestial omen series. The report reassures the king that despite dire signs (famine, illness), the pious ruler who fears the gods will receive divine protection. These tablets form part of a vast court advisory system in which professional scholars monitored the sky and reported directly to the king.
Plain-language summary by the engine — meant as a doorway into the literal translation below.
Translation — our engine
Our engine1. In the month of Ab (month V), Adad raised his voice: the sky was darkened, the heaven rained down, lightning flashed, / waters were withheld in the spring(s). / 1. When Adad cried out on a cloudless day, / it is the 'daummattu'-omen: ditto. Famine will be in the land. / Regarding the unfavorable body[-omen]: / the king, my lord, should not speak from his heart [about this], / illness — that year is it. / As many of the people as are sick — / all [will have] well-being. / It will turn around, and the king, my lord — / he who fears the gods, / day and night the gods will pray for him / …
Our translation engine — Sonnet 4.6. Reads the photo, translates the cuneiform, and writes a plain-language interpretation. See methodology for limits.
Engine notes
read from photo5 uncertain terms ↓
- IDIM — Can mean 'underground spring,' 'source,' or 'ground water'; context favors 'spring/cistern' but some translate as 'reservoir.' Sign visible in photo but resolution too low to confirm determinative.
- da-um-ma-tu KI.MIN — 'KI.MIN' is a scribal abbreviation meaning 'ditto / same as above' — the omen repetition formula. 'da-um-ma-tu' may refer to darkness/gloom or a specific meteorological phenomenon; reading is conventional but debated.
- la ṭu-ub UZU — Literally 'non-goodness of flesh/body,' i.e., an unfavorable omen sign or bodily ailment; the phrase is a standard technical term in omen apodoses but the precise nuance (disease omen vs. inauspicious sign) is contextually ambiguous.
- ú-ṣal-lu-u-ni — From ṣalālu, 'to pray, intercede, lie down (in prayer)'; the form here is a durative subordinate clause. Some editors render 'pray for him,' others 'prostrate themselves for him.'
- mur-ṣu MU.AN.NA šu-ú — 'This illness (belongs to) that year' — a reassurance that the sickness is a passing annual phenomenon, not a permanent calamity. 'MU.AN.NA' is the logogram for šattu, 'year.'
Reasoning ↓
Photo examined: the tablet is a small, fired clay Neo-Assyrian lens-shaped or rectangular tablet photographed in multiple orientations (obverse, reverse, edges, and two side views with a small label tag reading '81-7-27, 19'). The reddish-brown clay is in generally fair condition; wedge impressions are clearly visible though somewhat shallow and the photo resolution limits precise sign-by-sign confirmation. I can broadly confirm the columnar layout and density of signs matching the transliteration. The opening sign cluster on the obverse face is consistent with 'ina ITI.NE' (month-name wedges visible), and I can see what appear to be sign groups consistent with 'dIM' (Adad determinative + name) recurring, and 'LUGAL be-lí' patterns in the lower registers. Several lines on the reverse and edges are harder to confirm due to shallow impressions and oblique lighting. The transliteration follows SAA 08 001 (State Archives of Assyria, vol. 8, celestial omen reports), a well-known astrological report from a scholar to the Neo-Assyrian king interpreting a thunder omen in Month Ab; the scholarly tradition (Hunger, SAA 8, 1992) is well established. The phrase 'gab-bu šulmu' ('all is well/peace for all') is a standard reassurance formula in these letters.
Generated by claude-sonnet-4-6 · prompt 2026-05-11/v2 · May 11, 2026 · 2681 in / 945 out tokens
Transliteration
1 ina ITI.NE dIM GÙ-šú ŠUB-ma / UD ŠÚ AN ŠUR-nun NIM.GÍR ib-ríq / A-MEŠ ina IDIM LÁ-MEŠ / 1 ina UD la er-pí dIM is-si / da-um-ma-tu KI.MIN SU.KÚ ina KUR GÁL / ina UGU la ṭu-ub UZU an-ni-i / LUGAL be-lí TAv ŠÀ-bi-šú la i-da-bu-ub / mur-ṣu MU.AN.NA šu-ú / UN-MEŠ am—mar mar-ṣu-u-ni / gab-bu šul-mu / tu-ra-ma LUGAL be-lí / ša pa-lìḫ DINGIR-MEŠ šu-tu-u-ni / UD-mu ù mu-šú DINGIR-MEŠ ú-ṣal-lu-u-ni /…
Scholarly note
Astrological report from a court scholar to an Assyrian king, edited by Hermann Hunger (SAA 8, 1992). Celestial and meteorological observation correlated with omens. ORACC text P336558.
Attribution
Image: Adapted from Hermann Hunger, Astrological Reports to Assyrian Kings (State Archives of Assyria, 8), 1992. Lemmatised by Mikko Luukko, 2016-17, as part of the research programme of the Alexander von Humboldt Chair in the Ancient History of the Near and Middle East at LMU Munich (Karen Radner, Humboldt Professorship 2015). The annotated edition is released under the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike license 3.0. Please cite this page as http://oracc.org/saao/P336558/..
Translation excerpted from engine:claude-sonnet-4-6 (2026-05-28/v6-glossary-aware).
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