Position in chronology
SAA 04 047. Fragment Similar to No. 43 (PRT 070) [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 [...th] d[ay of this month ... of this year, to] the 30th day of Siva[n (III) of this year, for ... days and nights, the] term [stipulated] for the performance [of (this) extispicy — within this stipulated term], (5) will [the troops of ...] stri[ve and plan? ...] (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) [May (this query) go] to [your great] divinity, [O Šamaš, great lord, and may an oracle be given as an answer].
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/P237387/
Why it matters
Transliteration
dUTU EN GAL-[ú šá a-šal-lu-ka an-na GI.NA a-pal-an-ni] / TA UD-mu NE-i ⸢UD⸣ [x-KÁM šá ITI NE-i ITI.x šá MU.AN.NA NE-ti] / [EN] UD 30-KÁM šá ITI.⸢SIG₄⸣ [šá MU.AN.NA NE-ti a-na x UD-MEŠ x MI-MEŠ] / [ši-kin] ⸢a-dan⸣-ni DÙ-ti [ba-ru-ti i-na ši-kin a-dan-ni UR₅-tu ERIM-MEŠ] / [KUR.x x x] i-ṣar-⸢ri⸣-[mu-ú i-kap-pi-du-ú x x x x x x x x] / ⸢i-x⸣+[x x x x x x x x i-na ŠÀ UDU.NÍTA an-ni-i GUB-za-am-ma] /…
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 P237387.
Attribution
Image: Adapted from Ivan Starr, Queries to the Sungod: Divination and Politics in Sargonid Assyria (State Archives of Assyria, 4), 1990. Lemmatised by Mikko Luukko, 2018, as part of the research programme of the Alexander von Humboldt Chair in the Ancient History of the Near and Middle East at LMU Munich (Karen Radner, Humboldt Professorship 2015). The annotated edition is released under the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike license 3.0. Please cite this page as http://oracc.org/saao/P237387/..
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/P237387/.
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