Position in chronology
SAA 04 079. Should Assurbanipal Send Ša-Nabu-šu to Ellipi? (AGS 075) [military and political]
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) [Šamaš, great lord], give me a fi[rm positive answer to what I am asking you]! (2) [Should Assurbanipal, son of Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, str]ive and plan? Should he send [Ša-Nabû-šû, chief eunuch, with men, hors]es, and an army, as great as he wishes, [to the city ... in the district of Ellipi], and should they go? (5) [If he, having planned, sends] him, and he sets up [camp against the city ...], will he also be able to set up [camp wherever he wishes] in the district [of Ellipi]? (7) [Will Ša-Nabû-šû, chief eunuch, with the army a]t his [disposal], escape from Ellipian troops,…
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/P336066/
Why it matters
Transliteration
[dUTU EN GAL-ú šá a-šal-lu-ka an-na GI].⸢NA⸣ a-pal-an-ni / [mdaš-šur—DÙ—DUMU.UŠ DUMU mdaš-šur—ŠEŠ—SUM-na LUGAL KUR—aš-šur.KI li]-⸢iṣ⸣-rim lik-pid-ma / [mšá—dPA—šú-ú LÚ.GAL—SAG-MEŠ a-di LÚ.ERIM-MEŠ ANŠE.KUR].⸢RA⸣-MEŠ Á.KAL-MEŠ mál ŠÀ-ba-šú ub-lu / [a-na URU.x x šá i-na na-ge-e ša KUR.il-li-pi liš-pur]-ma lil-li-ku / [GIM ik-tap-du-ma il-tap-ru i-na UGU URU.x x ma-dak]-tú GAR-un ù i-na na-ge-e /…
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 P336066.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P336066). 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/P336066/.
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