Position in chronology
SAA 04 084. Should Esarhaddon Go to Egypt and Wage War against Taharka? (AGS 068) [military and political]
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) [Šamaš, great lord], give me a firm positive answer [to what] I am asking you! (2) [Should Esarhaddon, king of] Assyria, strive and plan? [Should he take the road] with his army and camp, and go to the [dis]trict of Egypt, as [he wis]hes? (4) [Should he wage] war [against Taharka], king of Cush, [and the troops which] he has? (5) [If he go]es, will he [engage in battle] with [Taharka, k]ing of Cush and his army? (6) In waging [this war, will the weapo]ns of Esa[rhad]don, ki[ng of Assyria, and his army, prevail ov]er the weapons of T[aharka], king of Cush, and the troops w[hich he has]?…
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/P237483/
Why it matters
Transliteration
[dUTU EN GAL-ú šá] a-šal-lu-ka an-nam ⸢GI⸣.NA a-pal-an-ni / [mdaš-šur—ŠEŠ—SUM-na LUGAL] KUR—aš-šur.KI li-iṣ-rim lik-⸢pid⸣-ma EN ERIM.ḪI.A-šú ù KI.KAL×BAD-šú / [ur-ḫa KASKAL li-iṣ-bat-ma a-na na]-gi-i šá KUR.mi-ṣir a-šar ŠÀ-[ba-šú ub]-lu lil-lik-ma / [it-ti mta-ar-qu-ú] LUGAL šá KUR.ku-ú-šú ⸢EN⸣ [ERIM-MEŠ mál] ⸢it⸣-ti-šú GIŠ.TUKUL MURUB₄ ⸢MÈ!⸣ [x]+⸢x⸣ / [li-pu-uš GIM it]-⸢tal⸣-ku it-ti…
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 P237483.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P237483). 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/P237483/.
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