Position in chronology
SAA 04 095. Fragment Similar to No. 96 (PRT 037) [military and political]
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) [Šamaš, great lord, gi]ve me [a firm positive answer to what I am asking you]! (2) [.... NN], chief eunuch (3) [... (whom) your great divinity] knows — (4) [in accordance with the command of your great divinity, Šamaš, great lord, and your favo]rable [decisions, ......] (Break) (r 1) [... the base of the middle 'finger' of the lung] is 'loose.' (r 2) [......] there is an [atrop]hied part. (r 3) [...... Third] extispicy. (r 4) [May (this query) go to your great divinity, O Šamaš, great lord, and may an oracle] be given as an answer.
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/P240296/
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 x x x x] LÚ.GAL—LÚ.SAG / [x x x x x x x x x x DINGIR-ut-ka GAL-ti] ZU-ú / [x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x]-mu / [x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x]+⸢x⸣ / [x x x x x x x x x x ŠU.SI—MUR MURUB₄ SUḪUŠ]-⸢sà⸣ BAR / [x x x x x x x x x x x x x KAR-tum] ⸢ŠUB⸣-át / [x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x 03]-KÁM / [UGU DINGIR-ti-ka GAL-ti dUTU EN GAL-ú lil-lik-ma KIN li]-tap-pal
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 P240296.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P240296). 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/P240296/.
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