Position in chronology
SAA 04 007. Will Assyrian Troops Conquer Quhna, a Fortress of Mugallu of Melid? (AGS 021+) [military and political]
Translation · reference
High confidence(Beginning destroyed) (1) [Should NN with the army of Esarhaddon, king of Assyria], set up [cam]p [against the ci]ty Quh[na, a fortress of Mugallu of Melid? Is it pleasi]ng [to your great divinity]? (3) If they, having planned, go, [...] set up camp and do whatever pertains to the capture of a city [...], will they conquer the city Quhna, capture it, and enter it? (6) [Will Es]arhaddon, king of Assyria, be pleased, be happy, andrejoice? (7) [Will he who can see, see it]? Will he who can hear, hear it? Does your great divinity know it? (8) [Disregard what] they speak [with their mouth]s. (9)…
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/P238969/
Why it matters
Transliteration
[x x x x x x x x x ana UGU] ⸢URU.qu⸣-uḫ-[na bir-ti] / [šá mmu-gal-lu KUR.mi-li-da-a.a ma-dak]-⸢ti⸣ li-iš-kun-⸢ú⸣ [o] / [ana UGU DINGIR-ti-ka GAL-ti DÙG]-⸢ab⸣ GIM ik-tap-du-ma il-⸢la-ku⸣ / [ana UGU URU.qu-uḫ]-⸢na⸣ ma-dak-ti il-tak-kan-ú-⸢ma⸣ mim-ma šá DIB URU ip-pu-šú / [URU UR₅-tú] ⸢URU⸣.qu-uḫ-na i-kaš-šá-du-ú i-ṣab-⸢ba⸣-[tu]-ú ana ŠÀ-šú ir-⸢ru⸣-bu-ú / [ŠÀ-bi šá mAN].⸢ŠÁR⸣—ŠEŠ—SUM-na LUGAL…
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 P238969.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P238969). 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/P238969/.
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