Position in chronology
SAA 04 022. Fragment Similar to Nos. 20-21 (AGS 087) [military and political]
Translation · reference
High confidence(Beginning destroyed) (1) honestly [...... speak friendly words of] reconciliation [with Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, keep the treaty, and do] what[ever is pleasing] to [Esarhaddon, king of Assyria]? (4) [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)]. (6) [May (this query) go to] your great [divini]ty, [O Šamaš, great lord, and may an oracle be given as an answer]. (7) [......] It has a 'station.' The 'pa[th' ......]. (8) [...... The right of the 'finger'] and the left of the 'finger' [......] (Rest destroyed)
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/P239000/
Why it matters
Transliteration
[ina kit-ti] ⸢ŠÀ⸣-bi-šú ⸢id⸣-[x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x] / [x x x šá] su-lum-⸢mé⸣-[e it-ti x x x x x x x x x x x] / [ù mim]-⸢ma⸣ šá a-na UGU [mdaš-šur—ŠEŠ—SUM-na LUGAL KUR—aš-šur.KI ṭa-a-bu ip-pu-šu] / [i-na ŠÀ] ⸢UDU⸣.NÍTA an-ni-i [GUB-za-am-ma an-na GI.NA GIŠ.ḪUR-MEŠ SILIM-MEŠ] / [UZU-MEŠ] ⸢ta⸣-mit SIG₅-MEŠ [SILIM-MEŠ šá SILIM-tim šá KA DINGIR-ti-ka GAL-ti šuk-nam-ma lu-mur] / [UGU…
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 P239000.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P239000). 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/P239000/.
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