Position in chronology
SAA 04 255. Fragment of a Query (AGS 164) [unclassifiable]
Translation · reference
High confidence(Beginning destroyed) (1) [Disregard that he who] touches the forehead [of the sheep is dressed in his ordinary soiled garments, has eaten], drunk, (or) anointed himself [with anything unclean, (or) has altered or changed] the pro[ceedings]. (2) [Disregard] that I, the haruspex [your servant, am dressed in my ordinary soiled garments ...] (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/P239004/
Why it matters
Transliteration
[e-zib šá] ⸢TAG⸣-it SAG.[KI UDU.NÍTA TÚG gi-né-e-šú ár-šat lab-šú] / [mim-ma lu-ʾu-ú KÚ] NAG ŠÉŠ-šú ku-[un qa-ti BAL-ú uš-pe-lu] / [e-zib] šá a-na-ku DUMU—LÚ.⸢ḪAL⸣ [ARAD-ka TÚG gi-né-e-a ar-šá-a-ti lab-šá-ku]
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 P239004.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P239004). 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/P239004/.
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