Position in chronology
SAA 04 111. Should a Man Named on Papyrus be Sent against ...? (AGS 047) [military and political]
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) Šamaš, great lord, [give me a firm positive answer] to what I am asking you! (2) Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, who is n[ow intent on sending the person] whose name is written [in this papyrus and placed] before [your great] divinity, [against the cities of ...], and [(whom) your great divinity knows] — (5) in accordance with the command of your gre[at] divinity, [Šamaš, great lord, and your favorable decisions], should the subject of this query, [Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, strive and plan, and send ...] against the cities of [...? Is it pleasing to your great divinity]? (8) If he, having…
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/P240393/
Why it matters
Transliteration
dUTU EN GAL-ú šá a-šal-lu-ka [an-na GI.NA a-pal-an-ni] / mAN.ŠÁR—ŠEŠ—SUM-na LUGAL KUR—AN.ŠÁR šá ⸢TA⸣-[an-ni LÚ šá i-na ni-ʾa-a-ra an-na-a] / MU-šú šaṭ-ru-ma ina IGI DINGIR-ti-[ka GAL-ti GAR-un UGU URU-MEŠ šá x x x x] / ana KIN-šú-ma ti-iṣ-mu-ru-ma [DINGIR-ut-ka GAL-ti ZU-u] / GIM KA DINGIR-ti-ka ⸢GAL-ti⸣ [dUTU EN GAL-ú EŠ.BAR-ka šal-mu] / EN—MU.MU NE-i m[AN.ŠÁR—ŠEŠ—SUM-na LUGAL KUR—AN.ŠÁR…
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 P240393.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P240393). 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/P240393/.
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