Position in chronology
SAA 04 153. Fragment Similar to No. 151 (AGS 121) [appointment]
Translation · reference
High confidence(Beginning destroyed) (1) [... will he instigate an insurrection and rebellion] against [Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, or make common] cau[se with his enemy? Does] yo[ur great di]vinity [know it]? (4) Is it decreed [and confirmed in a favorable case], by the command [of your great divinity, Šamaš, great lord? Will he who can see, see it? Will he who can hear, hear it]? (Break) (r 1) Let them be taken [out and put aside]![I ask you, Šamaš, great lord, whether, (should) Esar]haddon, king [of Assyria], appoint the man whose name is written in [this papyrus and placed before your great divinity, to the position which is] written [in this papyrus ...] (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/P238970/
Why it matters
Transliteration
[a]-⸢na⸣ UGU [mdaš-šur—ŠEŠ—SUM-na LUGAL KUR—aš-šur.KI ip-pu-ú-šu lu-ú] / ⸢pi⸣-i-[šú ù ŠÀ-ba-šú it-ti LÚ.KÚR-šú i-šak-ka-a-na] / ⸢DINGIR⸣-ut-⸢ka⸣ [GAL-ti ZU-e i-na SILIM-tim] / [i]-na KA [DINGIR-ti-ka GAL-ti dUTU EN GAL-ú] / ⸢qa⸣-bi-[i ku-un-i IGI-ru IGI-ra ŠE.GA-ú ŠE.GA-e] / [lu]-ú ⸢ZI⸣-[MEŠ lu-ú BAR-MEŠ a-šal-ka dUTU EN GAL-ú] / [ki-i] ⸢LÚ⸣ šá MU-šú i-⸢na⸣ [ni-a-ra an-na-a šaṭ-ru-ma i-na IGI…
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 P238970.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P238970). 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/P238970/.
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