Position in chronology
SAA 04 045. Will Dusanni of Saparda or Kaštaritu Appear before the City ...? (PRT 004) [military and political]
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) [Šamaš, great lord, giv]e [me] a firm positive answer [to what I am asking you]! (2) [From this day, the 3rd day of] this [month], Iyyar (II), [of] this [year, to the 2nd day of this month, Sivan (III), of] this [yea]r, 30 days [and nights], my [stip]ulated term — (4) [within this stipulated term, will either] Dusanni, the Sa[pardean, or] Kaštaritu, [city lord of Karkaššî, with either an ar]my of the C[immerian]s, or of the Manneans, [or of the Medes, ......]? (7) [......] Will they appear [before that city]? (8) [...... Does your great divinity] know it? [Will he who can see, see it?…
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/P236960/
Why it matters
Transliteration
[dUTU EN GAL-ú šá a-šal-lu-ka] an-na GI.NA [a]-⸢pal-an⸣-[ni] / [TA UD an-ni-i UD 03-KAM šá ITI] ⸢an⸣-ni-i ITI.GUD.SI.⸢SÁ⸣ [šá MU.AN].⸢NA⸣ an-ni-ti / [EN UD 02-KAM šá ITI.SIG₄ šá MU.AN].NA an-ni-ti 30 UD-MEŠ [30 MI-MEŠ ši]-⸢kin⸣ a-dan-ni-ia / [ina ši-kin a-dan-ni UR₅-tu lu-u m]du-sa-an-ni LÚ.sa-[par-da-a.a lu]-u mkaš-ta-ri-ti / [EN—URU šá URU.kar—kaš-ši-i a-di Á].KAL ⸢lu⸣-ú šá LÚ.⸢gi⸣-[mir-ra]-a.a…
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 P236960.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P236960). 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/P236960/.
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