Position in chronology
SAA 04 104. Fragment Similar to No. 101 (PRT 072) [military and political]
Translation · reference
High confidence(Beginning destroyed) (1) [Should ..., king of Assyria, send NN], together with [men, horses and troops, to ......]? (2) If [he sends him, will ......] (3) against [......]? (4) Disregard the (formulation) of the pra[yer to god, request to god and goddess]. (5) Disregard the (formulation) of the pray[er for today's case, be it good, be it faulty]. (6) Disregard that [an unclean man or woman has come near] the place of the extispicy [and made it unclean]. (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] divi[nity, and may I see (them)]. (r 3) The gall bladder is flatt[ened ......]. (r 4) The middle [part ......]. (Rest destroyed)
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/P240295/
Why it matters
Transliteration
EN [x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x] / GIM [x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x] / UGU [x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x] / e-zib šá ⸢ik⸣-[rib DINGIR me-reš-ti DINGIR u iš-ta-ri] / e-zib šá ik-[rib di-nim UD-mu NE-i GIM DÙG-ab GIM ḫa-ṭu-ú] / [e]-zib šá KI ⸢MÁŠ⸣ [lu-ʾu-ú lu-ʾu-ú-tú DIB-MEŠ-ma ú-le-ʾu-ú] / ⸢UZU⸣-[MEŠ ta-mit SIG₅-MEŠ SILIM-MEŠ šá SILIM-tim] / šá KA ⸢DINGIR⸣-[ti-ka GAL-ti šuk-nam-ma lu-mur] / BE ZÉ šub-[bat x x x x x x x x] / BE MURUB₄-⸢tum?⸣ [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 P240295.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P240295). 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/P240295/.
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