Position in chronology
SAA 04 144. Fragment Similar to No. 139 (AGS 109) [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) [From the ...th day of this month ..., to the ...th day of the month ... of] this [year, for ... days and nights, my stipulated term — (3) within this stipulated term, will (any of) the] magnates (and) governors, [or (any) of the eunuchs (and) the bearded (officials), the king's entourage, o]r any among senior members of the royal line (5) [or junior members of the royal line, or the prefects, the recruitment officers (and) the team commanders, or] the chariot drivers (and) the 'third men,' (or) the chariot…
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/P336087/
Why it matters
Transliteration
[dUTU EN GAL-ú šá a-šal-lu-ka an-na GI.NA a]-⸢pal⸣-an-ni / [TA UD x-KAM šá ITI NE-i ITI.x a-di UD x-KAM šá ITI.x šá MU.AN.NA] an-ni-ti / [a-na x UD-MEŠ x MI-MEŠ ši-kin a-dan-ni-ia i-na ši-kin a-dan-ni šu-a-tú lu-ú LÚ].GAL-MEŠ LÚ.NAM-MEŠ / [lu-ú i-na LÚ.SAG-MEŠ šá—ziq-ni man-za-az—pa-ni LUGAL lu]-⸢ú⸣ i-na NUMUN—LUGAL IGI-MEŠ / [lu-ú i-na NUMUN—LUGAL EGIR-MEŠ lu-ú GAR-nu-MEŠ mu-šar-kis-a-ni…
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 P336087.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P336087). 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/P336087/.
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