Position in chronology
SAA 04 113. Should a Eunuch be Sent to a Destination Named on Papyrus? [military and political]
Translation · reference
High confidence(Beginning destroyed) (1) [Should Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, strive and plan, and send] the eunuch whose name [is written in this papyrus and placed before your great divinity, to the ...] which [is written] in this papyrus? (3) [If he, having planned], sends him, [......]. (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/P336612/
Why it matters
Transliteration
[li-iṣ-rim lik-pid-ma] ⸢LÚ.SAG⸣ šá ⸢MU-šú⸣ [ina ni-a-ri x x x x x x x x x] / [a-na x x x x]-bi šá a-na ŠÀ ni-a-[ri x x x x x x x liš-pur] / [GIM ik-tap-du] ⸢il⸣-ta-pa-a-⸢ra⸣ [x x x x x] / [x x x x x x]+⸢x⸣ ti an [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 P336612.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P336612). 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/P336612/.
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