Position in chronology
SAA 04 168. Fragment Similar to No. 156 (AGS 125+) [appointment]
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) [Šamaš, great lord], g[ive me] a firm positive answer to what I am asking you! (2) Should [Esarhaddon, king of Assy]ria, app[oint the man whose name is w]ritten [in] this papyrus [and placed before] your great [divinity], to a posit[ion of his choos]ing? (6) [Will he make an uprising and rebellion aga]inst Esarhaddon, k[ing of Assyria]? (Break) (r 1) [Be present in this ram], place (in it) [a firm positive answer, favorable designs, favorable, propitious omens by the oracular command] of your great [divinity], and [may I see (them)]. (r 2) May (this query) go [to your great divin]ity, O…
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/P336101/
Why it matters
Transliteration
[dUTU EN GAL-ú] šá a-šal-lu-ka an-na GI.NA a-[pal-an-ni] / [LÚ šá MU-šú i-na] ŠÀ-bi ni-ʾa-ra an-na-a ⸢šá⸣-[aṭ-ru-ma] / [i-na IGI DINGIR]-⸢ti⸣-ka GAL-ti [GAR-un] / [mdaš-šur—ŠEŠ—SUM-na LUGAL KUR—aš]-⸢šur⸣.KI a-na EN—pi-qit-[tu-ú-ti] / [KI ŠÀ-ba-šú ub]-lu li-ip-⸢qid⸣-[su] / [si-ḫu bar-tu ana] ⸢UGU⸣-ḫi mdaš-šur—ŠEŠ—SUM-na ⸢LUGAL⸣ [KUR—aš-šur.KI] / [x x šá KA DINGIR]-⸢ti⸣-ka GAL-ti šuk-nam-ma…
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 P336101.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P336101). 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/P336101/.
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