Position in chronology
SAA 04 014. Will Kuzzurakeans, Tabaleans or Cilicians Invade Que? (AGS 060) [military and political]
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) [Šamaš, great lord, give me a firm positive answer to what I am asking you]! (2) [From this day, the 10th day of this month ..., to the ...th day of the month, ... of this year, for] 30 [days and nights, my stipulated term] — (4) [within] this stip[ulated term, will the Kuzzurakeans, or] the Tabaleans, or [the Cilicians, strive and pl]an? [Will they take the road] from wh[ere they are and in]vade Que [......]? (8) Does your great divinity know it? [Is the invasion ......] of Kuzzurak [......] or of the Tabaleans, [or of the Cilicians ......] to Que decreed [and confirmed] in a favorable…
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/P238976/
Why it matters
Transliteration
[dUTU EN GAL-ú šá a-šal-lu-ka an-na GI.NA a-pal-an-ni] / [TA UD NE-i UD 10-KÁM šá ITI an-ni-i ITI.x EN UD x-KÁM šá ITI.x] / [šá MU NE-ti a-na 30 UD-MEŠ] 30 [MI-MEŠ ši-kin RI-ia] / [i-na ši]-kin RI UR₅-tú [lu-ú LÚ.ku-uz-zu-ra-ak-a.a] / [lu-ú] LÚ.ta-bal-a.a lu-[ú LÚ.ḫi-li-ka-a.a i-ṣar-ri-mu-ú] / [i]-⸢kap⸣-pi-du-ú TA a-[šar áš-bu ur-ḫa KASKAL i-ṣab-ba-tu-ú] / a-na KUR.qu-ú-e ⸢DU⸣-[MEŠ-ku-ni-i 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 P238976.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P238976). 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/P238976/.
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