Position in chronology
SAA 04 145. Fragment Similar to No. 139 [military and political]
Translation · reference
High confidence(Beginning destroyed) (1) [or jun]ior members of the royal [line], or [the king's relatives], (2) [or the] eunuchs, recruitment officers (and) te[am] command[ers], (3) [or] the royal chariot men (and) [...] chariot men, (4) [or] the staff-bearers, guards (and) [...] (5) [or] the mounted scouts, trackers (and) [...], (6) [or] the Assyrians, or the Arameans, [or the ...], (7) [o]r the Egyptians, [Nubians (and) ...], (8) [the auxili]ary troops of the Ya[......], (9) [or] the men [who are their accomplices and confederates], (10) [or] th[eir brothers ......] (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/P336615/
Why it matters
Transliteration
[x x x lu-ú NUMUN]—⸢LUGAL*⸣ EGIR*-ú-te lu-⸢ú⸣ [qur-ub LUGAL] / [lu-ú] ⸢SAG?⸣-MEŠ mu-šar-kis-a*-ni GAL-⸢ú⸣-[ra-a-ti] / [lu]-⸢ú⸣ LÚ.GIŠ.GIGIR*-MEŠ LUGAL* GIŠ.GIGIR-MEŠ [x x x x x] / [lu]-⸢ú⸣ LÚ.šá—GIŠ.PA-MEŠ šá—EN.NUN-MEŠ šá—⸢x⸣+[x x x x] / [lu]-⸢ú⸣ LÚ.kal-lab-MEŠ UŠ—kib-si-[MEŠ x x x x] / [lu]-⸢ú⸣ aš-šur.KI-a.a lu ar-ma-a.[a x x x x x] / [lu]-ú KUR.mu-uṣ-ra-a.a [KUR.ku-sa-a.a 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 P336615.
Attribution
Image: BM 099070 (British Museum, London, UK) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P336615). 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/P336615/.
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