Position in chronology
SAA 04 159. Query Similar to No. 156 (AGS 117) [appointment]
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) [Šamaš, great lord, give] me [a firm positive answer to what I am asking you]! (2) [Should Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, ap]point [the man whose name is written in this papyrus] and placed before your great divinity, to the posi[tion which is written in this papyrus]? (5) [If he appoints him, as long as] he holds th[is position], will he instigate [an insurrection and rebellion against Esarhaddon], king of Assyria, [and Assurbanipal, the crown prince of the] Succession [Palace]? (8) [Will he cause others to instigate it? Will he plot it or cause others to] plot it? [Will he order it, or…
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/P336094/
Why it matters
Transliteration
[dUTU EN GAL-ú šá a-šal-lu-ka an-na GI.NA a-pal-an]-ni / [a-me-lu šá MU-šú i-na ni-ia-a-ri an-na-a šaṭ-ru-ma a-na IGI] DINGIR-ti-ka GAL-ti GAR-un / [mdaš-šur—ŠEŠ—SUM-na LUGAL KUR—aš-šur.KI a-na pi-qi]-tu-ú-tu / [šá i-na ŠÀ-bi ni-ia-a-ri-im-ma an-na-a šaṭ-rat-ma] ⸢lip⸣-qi-is-su / [GIM ip-taq-du-uš a-di UD-MEŠ mál pi-qi-tu-ú-tu šu]-a-⸢tu⸣ ip-pu-uš / [si-ḫu bar-tú i-na UGU mdaš-šur—ŠEŠ—SUM-na] LUGAL…
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 P336094.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P336094). 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/P336094/.
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