Position in chronology
SAA 04 003. Will the Chief Eunuch Drive Mugallu away from a Fortress of Melid? (AGS 055) [military and political]
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) Šamaš, great lord, [give me a firm positive answer] to what I am [asking you]! (2) Mugallu and the troops [of ..., (allied) with him], who have now [set up ca]mp aga[inst ..., a fortress] of the city Melid — (4) [will the chief eunuch of Esarhaddon, ki]ng of Assyria, and [his] troop[s and army who] have gone against him, [drive Mugallu and his troops away] from the w[all of ..., and will he] aban[don the w]all? (9) Does your great divinity kn[ow it? Will he who can see, see it? Will he who can hear, hear it]? (10) Disregard the (formulation) of [to]day's case, [be it good, be it faulty].…
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/P238967/
Why it matters
Transliteration
dUTU EN GAL-ú šá a-[šal-lu-ka an-na GI.NA a-pal-an-ni] / mmug-gal-lum a-di ERIM-⸢MEŠ⸣ [x x x x x x mál it-ti-šú] / šá i-na-an-na i-na ⸢UGU⸣ [URU.x x x x x bir-ti?] / šá URU.mi-li-di ma-⸢dak⸣-[ta iš-ku-nu LÚ.GAL—SAG šá mdaš-šur—ŠEŠ—SUM-na] / ⸢LUGAL⸣ KUR—aš-šur.KI a-di ERIM-⸢MEŠ⸣ [e-mu-qu šá it-ti-šú] / [a]-na UGU-ḫi-šú it-tal-ku-[ma mmu-gal-lu a-di ERIM-MEŠ šá] / ⸢it⸣-ti-šú TA UGU ⸢BÀD?⸣ [šá URU.x…
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 P238967.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P238967). 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/P238967/.
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