Position in chronology
SAA 04 280. Will Nabu-bel-šumate Join the War? (PRT 105) [military and political]
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) The 'station' is present. If the 'paths' are two, (and) the left 'path' is located on the right 'path': the enemy's weapons will prevail over the prince's weapons. (3) If the 'strength' is absent: strife. (4) If there is a hole in the right side of the 'station': downfall of the army. Secondly, 'station' (in the protasis) refers to shrine and dais. (6) If the left of the gall bladder is attached: your expeditionary force will slay the enemy. (7) The 'finger' and 'increment' are normal. (8) If the back of the lung is smashed: defeat; changed disposition of my army. (10) The upper part is…
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/P237793/
Why it matters
Transliteration
BE NA GAR GÍR 02-ma GÍR 150 UGU GÍR 15 GAR / KÚR GIŠ.TUKUL-MEŠ-šú UGU GIŠ.TUKUL-MEŠ NUN ŠEŠ-MEŠ / BE KALAG NU GAR ni-ip-ḫu / BE ina 15 NA BÙR ŠUB-di ŠUB-ti ERIM-ni / šá-niš NA suk-ku u BARAG / BE 150 ZÉ ṣa-mid GÌR-ka sad KÚR / BE ŠU.SI u MÁŠ šal-mu / BE ku-tal MUR 15 SÌG-iṣ SÌG-iṣ SAG.DU / MÌN-e ṭè-e-mu šá ERIM-MU / BE AN.TA-ti DU-ik / BE SA-ti UGU U.SAG U₅ U—MUR MURUB₄ SUḪUŠ-sà* BAR / BE…
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 P237793.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P237793). 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/P237793/.
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