Position in chronology
SAA 04 112. Fragment of a Military Query [military and political]
Translation · reference
High confidence(Beginning destroyed) (1) [......] words [......] (2) [......] nearby [......] (3) [......] will conquer [... in order to kil]l, plunder, and loot [...] (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/P236943/
Why it matters
Transliteration
[x x x x x]+⸢x⸣ dib-bi [x x x x x] / [x x x x x]-MEŠ qir-bu [x x x x x] / [x x x a-na?] ⸢GAZ⸣ SAR u IR i-KUR-⸢da⸣ [x x x x] / [x x x x x]-⸢MEŠ⸣ ki? ⸢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 P236943.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P236943). 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/P236943/.
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