Position in chronology
SAA 08 461. Venus in Taurus (RMA 243) [planetary]
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) The Pleiades portends a boiling day; "boiling day" (means) [...]. — Venus sta[nds] in the Pleiades. (3) [If] Ištar wears a silver crown: a fl[ood] of dragonflies wi[ll come]. [A "flood] of dragonflies" is a mass[ive] flood. (5) — Venus stands in Taurus(!). (6) [...] massive rains wi[ll come] for the king my lord. (7) They should perform [th]at rainmaking [ritual] of Adad, and [they should also] perform all the 'hand-lifting' pr[ayers] that exist with [the ritual]. (r 1) "Seek the gate of Adad, bring upuntu-flour in front of him, let maṣhatu-flour come to him as an offering; may he rain down a mist in the morning, let the field furtively bring double (harvest)." (r 5) When rains become scarce in Akkad, do this! (r 6) From Bel-le'i, descendant of Egibi, exorcist.
Source: Hunger, H. 1992. Astrological Reports to Assyrian Kings. SAA 8. Helsinki: Helsinki University Press. https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/saao/saa08/P237874/
Why it matters
Transliteration
MUL.MUL a-na UD ŠEG₆.GÁ ⸢UD ŠEG₆⸣.GÁ [x x x] / MUL.dil-bat ina MUL.MUL ⸢GUB⸣-[ma] / [1] diš-tar AGA KUG.UD ap-rat ⸢A⸣.[KAL] ku-li-li ⸢DU⸣-[kam] / [A.KAL] ku-li-li A.KAL gap-[šu] / [MUL].dil-bat ina MUL.GU.AN.NA GUB-⸢ma⸣ / [x]+⸢x⸣ A.AN-MEŠ gap-šu-tu ana LUGAL be-lí-ia ⸢il⸣-[la-ku] / [dul-lu] ⸢šá⸣ dIM A.AN a-na za-na-[ni] / [šu]-ú li-pu-šu ù ŠU.ÍL.LA.[KÁM-MEŠ] / ⸢ma⸣-la i-ba-áš-šú-ú it-ti [dul-li]…
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 P237874.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P237874). 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/P237874/.
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