SAA 08 157. Morning First of Mercury (RMA 217) [planetary]

~670 BCE·Neo-Assyrian·P336518

Translation — scholar edition

SAA 8

High confidence

(1) Mercury became visible in the east. (2) If a planet becomes visible at the beginning of a month: rain and f[lood]. (4) If a planet becomes visible either [in] Iyyar (II) or in Sivan (III): the flood will come and irrigate the fields. (7) If a planet stands in the east: attack of Subartu and the Kassites against the land. (r 1) This is the time for work. I shall go to Nineveh and station the scribes for writing in the [...] pa[lace]. I shall do whatever the k[ing my lo]rd s[ays] in the center of Nineveh. (r 7) Maybe they won't let me to enter; let them give me a sealed order. (r 9) From Nabû-mušeṣi.

State Archives of Assyria, volume 8 — scholar edition (ORACC).

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Transliteration

dGUD.UD ina dUTU.È IGI / 1 dUDU.IDIM ITI IGI.LAL / A.AN u A.[KAL] / 1 dUDU.IDIM šum-ma [ina] ITI.GUD / šum-ma ina ITI.SIG₄ IGI.LAL / A.KAL DU-ma A.ŠÀ A.QAR i-ma-kir / 1 dUDU.IDIM ina IM.KUR.RA GUB / ZI-ut SU.BIR₄.KI / ù kaš-ši-i ana KUR / si-mì-in dul-li šu-u / a-na URU.NINA la-al-lik / LÚ.A.BA-MEŠ a-na šá-ṭa-ri / ina É.[GAL x x] ⸢lu⸣-u-šá-⸢x x⸣ / mi-i-nu ša ⸢LUGAL⸣ [be]-lí i-[qab-bu-u-ni] / ina qab-si URU.NINA le-e-pu-uš / is—su-ri la ú-šá-ru-ni la e-rab / un-qu li-di-nu-ni / ša mdPA—mu-še-ṣi

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 P336518.

Attribution

Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.earth/artifacts, P336518). source
Translation excerpted from Hunger, H. 1992. Astrological Reports to Assyrian Kings. SAA 8. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa08/P336518/.

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