Position in chronology
SAA 04 165. Fragment Similar to No. 156 (PRT 060) [appointment]
Translation · reference
High confidence(Beginning destroyed) (r 1) (whether) they will capture [......], (r 2) [plot t]o kill [Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, and Assurbani]pal, the crown prince [of the Succession Palace], (r 4) [(whether) they will ... over]turn, over[throw ......], (r 5) [(whether) he will ob]ey, or [set out on disobedience], (r 6) [(whether) ...] will oc[cur to] 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/P240374/
Why it matters
Transliteration
[x x x x i]-ṣab-⸢ba-tu⸣ [x x x x x x x x x] / [x x x x i-na] ⸢UGU⸣ da-a-ka [šá mdaš-šur—ŠEŠ—SUM-na LUGAL KUR—aš-šur] / [ù mdaš-šur—DÙ]—DUMU.UŠ DUMU—⸢LUGAL⸣ [šá É—re-du-ú-ti i-dab-bu-bu] / [x x x i-sak]-ki-pu ú-šam-[ḫa-ṣu x x x x x x x x x] / [x x x x i]-⸢šem⸣-mu-ú lu-ú [pa-ni-šu a-na la šá-me-e i-šak-ka-nu] / [x x x i-na ŠÀ]-⸢bi⸣-šú i-ma-[x x x x x 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 P240374.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P240374). 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/P240374/.
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