Position in chronology
SAA 04 056. Has Kaštaritu Made Sincere Approaches for Peace? (AGS 142+) [military and political]
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) [Šamaš, great lord], give me [a firm positive answer to what I am asking you]! (2) [Kaštaritu, the city lord of Kark]aššî, [who] has sent [......]... [to Nabû-šuma-iškun the ...], (5) [saying:] "Tell [the scribe who] is with you to send [a message to the king of Assyria, stating that the king's envoy should come and] conclude [a (peace) treaty w]ith me; [...... and] go [on you]r [way"] — (9) have [truthful, sincere words of reconciliation r]eally been sent to [......]? (11) [Does your great divinity know it? Is it decreed and confirmed in a favorable case, by the command] of your great…
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/P237526/
Why it matters
Transliteration
[dUTU EN GAL-ú šá a-šal-lu-ka an-na GI].⸢NA⸣ a-pal-an-ni / [mka-áš-ta-ri-ti LÚ.EN—URU šá KUR.kar]—⸢kaš⸣-ši-i / [šá x x x x x x x x x] ⸢pi?⸣-šá-a.a / [a-na mdAG—MU—GAR-un LÚ.x x x] iš-pu-ra / [um-ma a-na LÚ.DUB.SAR? šá it-ti-ka] qí-bi / [um-ma ši-pir-ti a-na LUGAL KUR—aš-šur.KI] šup-ra / [LÚ.A—šip-ri šá LUGAL lil-lik-ma a-de-e it]-⸢ti⸣-ia liš-kun / [x x x x x x-ma a-na KASKAL-ku]-⸢un⸣ al-ka /…
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 P237526.
Attribution
Image: BM 098976 + (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P237526). 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/P237526/.
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