Position in chronology
SAA 04 031. Will Army of Assyria Retake Dur-Illil? (PRT 010) [military and political]
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) [Šamaš, great lord, gi]ve me [a firm positive answer to what I am asking you]! (2) [Dur-Illil, a fortress of Esarhaddo]n, king of Assyria, [located on the border of Mannea, which the Ma]nneans captured, [took possession of], and stationed th[eir troops] within it — (5) [should NN together with men, horses], and an army, as he wishes, [g]o [to capture that city Dur-Illil], and [will they], (7) be it by means of war, [or by means of friendliness or peaceful negotiations], or by means of a breach or a tunnel, [or by means of hunger, or] through lack of soldiers in the city [......] (Break)…
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/P240267/
Why it matters
Transliteration
[dUTU EN GAL-ú šá a-šal-lu-ka an-na GI.NA a]-pal-an-ni / [URU.BÀD—dEN.LÍL? bir-tu šá mdaš-šur—ŠEŠ—SUM]-⸢na⸣ LUGAL KUR—aš-šur.⸢KI⸣ / [šá i-na UGU ta-ḫu-mu šá KUR.man-na-a.a na-du-ma LÚ].⸢man⸣-na-a.a iṣ-ba-tu-ši-ma / [a-na šá ram-ni-šú-un ú-tir-ru-uš ERIM-MEŠ-šú]-un a-na ŠÀ-bi ú-še-lu-ú / [x x x x x x x x a-di ERIM-MEŠ ANŠE.KUR.RA-MEŠ] e-mu-qu ma-al ŠÀ-ba-šú ub-lu / [a-na ṣa-ba-a-ta URU šá-a-šú…
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 P240267.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P240267). 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/P240267/.
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