Position in chronology
SAA 04 010. Hostilities between Iškallu of Tabal and Mugallu of Melid (AGS 056a) [military and political]
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) Šamaš, gr[eat lo]rd, [give me a firm positive answer] to what I am as[king you]! (2) Will Iškallû the Tab[alean ......], who engaged in mutual hostilities with Mugallu the Me[lidean concerning ......] and the city Ištiar[u ......], (6) will the argument and quarrel which [they had......] (7) talk [......] (Break) (r 1) [Be present in this ram, place (in it) a firm positive answer, favorable designs, favorable, propitious] omens [by the oracular command of your great divinity, and may I see (them)]. (r 3) The middle of the 'station' is effaced ...[......]. (r 4) The 'finger' is thick…
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/P238971/
Why it matters
Transliteration
dUTU ⸢EN GAL⸣-ú šá a-šal-⸢lu⸣-[ka an-na GI.NA a-pal-an-ni] / miš-kal-lu-ú LÚ.ta-⸢ba⸣-[la-a.a x x x x x x x x x x x] / šá KI mmu-gal-lu LÚ.mi-[li-da-a.a x x x x x x x x x x x x x] / ù URU.iš-ti-a-⸢ru*⸣ [x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x] / ṣal-ti a-ḫa-meš ig-[ru-ú x x x x x x x x x x x x x x] / dib-bi u ṣal-ti šá KI ⸢a⸣-[ḫa-meš x x x x x x x x x x x x x] / dib-bi i-⸢x⸣+[x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x 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 P238971.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P238971). 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/P238971/.
Related tablets
Related sources
The single most important literary discovery of the 19th century. It rewired the understanding of the Bible's literary context and proved that the Mesopotamian flood tradition is older. It is the oldest surviving epic poetry in human history.
The literary tradition is no longer anonymous from this point. Authorship — the idea that a specific human voice composes a specific work — enters the historical record with her.
The single most influential Mesopotamian king list — the model for every later attempt to chronicle the deep history of the region. It transmits the political theology of divinely granted kingship, an idea that would echo through Babylon, Assyria, and into the Hebrew Bible. The Weld-Blundell prism (WB 444) at the Ashmolean is the most complete surviving copy.