Sumerian·Book

Position in chronology

SAA 08 304. New Moon on 30th Day (RMA 025) [lunar]

~670 BCE·Neo-Assyrian·P237879

Translation · reference

High confidence
(1) [If] the moon becomes visible in [Ni]san (I) on the 30th day: [...] will devour the We[stla]nd. (3) [If the moon's] horns at its appearance are very dark: [disbanding of the fortified] outposts, [retiring of the guards]; there will be reconciliation [and pea]ce in the land. (r 1) Gi means "to be dark," gi means "to be well," gi means "to be stable." Its horns are stable. (r 5) (It is) bad for the Westland, and good for the king my lord. (r 7) From Zakir.

Source: Hunger, H. 1992. Astrological Reports to Assyrian Kings. SAA 8. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa08/P237879/

Why it matters

Transliteration

[1] 30 ina ⸢ITI.BARAG⸣ UD 30-KÁM IGI-⸢ir⸣ / [x].KI* ⸢MAR?⸣.KI KÚ / [1 30 ina IGI].LAL-šú SI-ME-šú tur-ru-ka / [pa-ṭar bi-ra]-a-ti / [a-rad EN.NUN-MEŠ] taš-mu-ú / [u sa-li]-mu ina KUR GÁL-[ši] / GI : ta-ra-ki / GI : šá-la-mu / GI : ka-a-nu / SI-ME-šú kun-na / ḪUL šá KUR—MAR.KI ù SIG₅ / šá LUGAL EN-ia / šá mza-kir

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 P237879.

Attribution

Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P237879). 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/P237879/.

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