Position in chronology
SAA 04 088. Will Chief Eunuch Ša-Nabu-šu be Attacked by the Egyptians? (PRT 036+) [military and political]
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) Šamaš, great lord, [give me a firm positive answ]er to what I am asking you! (2) Ša-Nabû-šû, chief eunuch, whom [Esarhaddon, king of Assyria], has now sent and who has gone, (whom) your great divinity kno[ws — (3) in accordance with the command of your great divinity, Šamaš, great lord], and your favorable decisions, should the subject of this query, Ša-Nabû-šû, [chief eunuch, ......]? (5) [After he ...] has reached the city [...]-Aššur [..., will N]echo and Šar[ru-lu-dari, Egyptian kings, ......] and the Egypti[ans ......]? (8) As long as [he stays] in the dis[trict of Egypt, will either…
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/P336341/
Why it matters
Transliteration
dUTU EN GAL-ú šá a-šal-lu-ka ⸢an⸣-[na GI.NA a-pal-an-ni] / mšá—dAG—šú-ú LÚ.GAL—SAG-⸢MEŠ⸣ šá i-ne-an-na md[aš-šur—ŠEŠ—SUM-na LUGAL KUR—aš-šur.KI] / iš-pur-šú-ú-ma il-li-ku ⸢DINGIR⸣-ut-ka GAL-ti ⸢ZU⸣-[u GIM KA DINGIR-ut-ka GAL-ti dUTU EN GAL-ú] / ù EŠ.BAR-ka šal-mu EN—MU.[MU] ⸢NE⸣-i mšá—dPA—šú-⸢ú⸣ [LÚ.GAL—SAG-MEŠ x x x x] / [GIM a]-⸢na URU.x-ni—aš-šur x⸣ [x x]-ú ik-tal-du [x x x x x x] / [x x x x x…
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 P336341.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P336341). 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/P336341/.
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