Position in chronology
SAA 04 008. Should Assyrian Army Lay Siege to a Fortress of Mugallu of Melid? (PRT 027) [military and political]
Translation · reference
High confidence(Beginning destroyed) (1) [Disregard the (formulation) of tod]ay's [ca]se, be it good, be it faulty, (and that) a clean or an unclean person [has touched] the sacri[ficial sheep]. (2) [Disregard that the ra]m (offered) to your great divinity for the performance of the extispicy is deficie[nt or faulty]. (3) [Disregard that he who tou]ches the forehead of the sheep is dressed in his ordinary soiled garments, [(or) has touched] the (libation) beer, [the maṣhatu-flour, the water, the container and the fire]. (4) [Disregard that] I, the haruspex your servant, am dressed in my ordinary soiled…
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/P236926/
Why it matters
Transliteration
[e-zib šá di]-⸢nim UD⸣-[mu an-ni-i] GIM DÙG-ab GIM LAL-u KUG lu-ʾu-u ⸢SISKUR⸣.[SISKUR TAG-MEŠ] / [e-zib šá UDU].⸢NÍTA⸣ DINGIR-ti-ka šá ana MÁŠ MÁŠ-u LAL-[u ḫa-ṭu-u] / [e-zib šá TAG]-it pu-ut UDU.NÍTA TÚG gi-né-e-šú ár-šá-tú lab-šú mi-iḫ-ḫa [ZÍD.MAD.GÁ A-MEŠ ḫaṣ-bu IZI TAG-MEŠ] / [e-zib šá a-na]-ku DUMU LÚ.ḪAL ARAD-ka TÚG gi-né-e-a ár-šá-tú lab-šá-[ku mim-ma lu-ʾu-u KÚ NAG ŠÉŠ-šú] / [ku-un qa-ti]…
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 P236926.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P236926). 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/P236926/.
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