Position in chronology
SAA 04 057. Should Esarhaddon Send his Messenger to Kaštaritu? (PRT 003+) [military and political]
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) [Šamaš, grea]t [lord, give me a f]irm positive answer to what I am ask[ing you]! (2) [Should Esarhad]don, ki[ng of Assyria, send] the messenger whom he wishes [to Kašt]ar[itu, city lord] of Karkaššî? [And if Esarhaddo]n, king of Assyria, [sends his messenger to go to K]aštaritu, [will he, on the advice of his coun]sellors, [seize] that messenger, [question him], (and) kill him? (8) [Does your great divinity know it? Will he who can se]e, se[e it? Will he who can he]ar, he[ar it]? (Break) (r 1) [Disregard that he who touches the forehead of the sheep is dressed in] his ordinary soiled…
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/P238985/
Why it matters
Transliteration
[dUTU EN GAL]-ú šá a-⸢šal⸣-[lu-ka] ⸢an⸣-na ⸢GI⸣.NA [a-pal-an-ni] / [mdaš-šur—ŠEŠ]—⸢SUM⸣-na ⸢LUGAL⸣ [KUR—aš-šur].⸢KI⸣ DUMU—šip-ri šá ŠÀ-šú ⸢ub⸣-[lu] / [liš-pur-ma a-na UGU mka-áš]-⸢ta-ri⸣-[ti LÚ.EN]—⸢URU⸣ šá ⸢KUR.kar⸣—kaš-ši-i / [lil-lik-ma GIM mdaš-šur—ŠEŠ—SUM]-⸢na⸣ LUGAL KUR—aš-šur.KI / [LÚ.DUMU—šip-ri-šú a-na UGU m]⸢ka⸣-áš-ta-ri-ti / [il-tap-ru il-la-ku i-na GALGA LÚ.AD].⸢GI₄⸣.GI₄-MEŠ-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 P238985.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P238985). 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/P238985/.
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