Position in chronology
SAA 04 073. Will the City Lord of Nartu Array himself against Assyrian Troops? (AGS 085) [military and political]
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) [Šamaš, great lord], give me a firm positive ans[wer to what I am asking you]! (2) Will [......] city lord of the land of Nart[u] line up (a battle array) [against troops of Esarhaddon, king of Assyr]ia? (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. (r 4) [...] A design is drawn crosswise in the top of the area of the 'finger.'…
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/P336071/
Why it matters
Transliteration
[dUTU EN GAL-ú šá a-šal-lu-ka an]-na GI.NA a-pal-an-ni / [x x x x x x x x x x x] LÚ.EN—URU šá KUR.na-ar-⸢ti⸣ / [x x x x x x x x x KUR—aš]-⸢šur⸣.KI i-sa-da-⸢ra⸣-[a] / [i-na ŠÀ UDU.NÍTA an-ni-i GUB-za-am-ma an-na GI.NA GIŠ.ḪUR]-⸢MEŠ SILIM⸣-[MEŠ] / [UZU-MEŠ ta-mit SIG₅-MEŠ SILIM-MEŠ šá KA DINGIR-ti-ka GAL-ti šuk-nam]-⸢ma⸣ lu-mur / [UGU DINGIR-ti-ka GAL-ti dUTU EN GAL-ú] ⸢lil⸣-lik-ma UR₅.ÚŠ…
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 P336071.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P336071). 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/P336071/.
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