Position in chronology
SAA 04 195. Fragment Similar to No. 192 (PRT 050) [medical]
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) [Šamaš, great lord, give me] a firm positive answer to what I am asking you! (2) [The lady NN], whose name [is written] in this papyrus, (3) [and ..., whose name] is writ[ten] in this papyrus and placed [before] your great [divinity] (5) [... the 'ha]nd' of god ...[...] (Break) (r 1) [...]... is split. [Be present] in [this ram], (r 2) [...] ... a god or [......] (r 3) place [in it a firm positive answer by the command of] your great [divinity, and may I see (it)]. (r 5) May (this query) go [to] your great [divinity, O Šamaš], great [lord], and may an oracle [be given as an answer]. (r 6) [......] Month Marchesvan (VIII), 22nd day. (r 7) [(Performed) i]n Arbela.
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/P236927/
Why it matters
Transliteration
[dUTU EN GAL]-⸢ú⸣ šá a-šal-lu-ka an-na GI.⸢NA⸣ [a-pal-an-ni] / [MÍ.x x x x] šá MU-šá i-na ni-ʾa-a-ra an-na-[a šá-aṭ-ru-ma] / [x x x šá MU-šú] ⸢i⸣-na ni-ʾa-a-ra an-na-a šá-⸢aṭ⸣-[ru-ma] / [i-na IGI DINGIR]-⸢ti⸣-ka GAL-ti šá-ak-nu ⸢x⸣+[x x] / [x x x x x x qa]-⸢at⸣ DINGIR qa?-⸢at? x x x⸣ [x x x x] / [x x x x x x x x] ⸢ú?⸣ [x x x x x x x x] / [x x x x x]+⸢x BAR DU₈ i-na ŠÀ⸣ [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 P236927.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P236927). 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/P236927/.
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