Position in chronology
SAA 04 210. Fragment of a Query on Behalf of Esarhaddon (PRT 071) [unclassifiable]
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) [Šamaš], great [lord, give me a firm positive answer to what I am] asking you! (2) [Esarh]addon, king of Assyria, who is now intent on [......]... and (whom) your [great divinity knows ......] (Break) (r 1) [...] the vertebrae [......]. (r 2) [...] The breast-bone is located in the middle of the liver [...]. (r 3) [May (this query) go to] your great divinity, O Šamaš, [great] lord, [and may an oracle be given as an answer]. (r 4) [... Mo]nth Adar (XII), 22nd day, [...].
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/P240298/
Why it matters
Transliteration
[dUTU EN] ⸢GAL-ú⸣ [šá a]-šal-lu-ka [an-na GI.NA a-pal-an-ni] / [mAN.ŠÁR]—⸢ŠEŠ⸣—SUM-na LUGAL KUR—AN.ŠÁR šá ⸢TA⸣-[an-ni x x x x x] / [x x x] ⸢ti-iṣ?-mu?-ru-ma DINGIR-ut-ka⸣ [GAL-ti ZU-ú] / [x x x] KIŠIB [x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x] / [x x x] GAG.ZAG.GA ina MURUB₄ BÀ ŠUB [x x x x] / [UGU DINGIR]-⸢ti⸣-ka GAL-ti dUTU ⸢EN⸣ [GAL-ú lil-lik-ma KIN li-tap-pal] / [x x x] ⸢ITI.ŠE⸣ UD 22-KÁM [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 P240298.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P240298). 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/P240298/.
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