Position in chronology
SAA 04 052. Will Kaštaritu ...? (PRT 002) [military and political]
Translation · reference
High confidence(Beginning destroyed) (2) [Disregard that I, the haruspex your servant, am dressed in my ordinary soiled garments, have eaten, drunk (or) anointed myself with anythi]ng unclean, [have changed or altered the proceedings, or (that) the oracle query] has become jumbled or impaired [in] my mouth.[Let them be taken out and put aside]! Give me [a firm positive answer]! (r 1) [I ask you, Šamaš, great lord, whether from this day, the ... day of t]his [month], the month Adar (XII) [of this year, to the ...th day of the month ... of the] coming [year], (r 3) [Kaštaritu, city lord of Kar]kaššî [...] (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/P240286/
Why it matters
Transliteration
[x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x]+⸢x⸣ / [e-zib šá a-na-ku DUMU—LÚ.ḪAL ARAD-ka TÚG gi-né-e-a ár-šat lab-šá-ku mim]-⸢ma⸣ lu-ʾu-ú / [KÚ NAG-ú ŠÉŠ-šú ku-un qa-ti BAL-ú uš-pe-lu ú—lu ta-mit i-na] ⸢KA⸣-ía ip-tar-ri-du LAL-MEŠ-ú / [lu-ú ZI-MEŠ lu-ú BAR-MEŠ an-na GI.NA] a-pal-an-ni / [a-šal-ka dUTU EN GAL-ú ki-i TA UD x-KÁM šá ITI] ⸢an⸣-ni-i ITI.ŠE.KIN.KUD / [šá MU.AN.NA an-ni-ti EN UD x-KÁM šá ITI.x šá MU.AN].⸢NA⸣ e-rib-⸢ti⸣ / [lu-ú mka-áš-ta-ri-ti EN—URU šá URU.kar]—kaš-ši-⸢i⸣ / [x x x x x x x x x x x]+⸢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 P240286.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P240286). 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/P240286/.
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