Position in chronology
SAA 04 281. Will the Elamites Mobilize and Join the War? (PRT 128) [military and political]
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) If the base of the 'station' is protruding pointedly: the enemy will take the vanguard of my army. (2) If a filament lies crosswise in the top of the 'station': the god will not listen to the prince's prayer. In warfare: the prince's army will not achieve its enterprise. (4) The 'well-being' is destroyed. There is a hole in the right side of the 'pouch.' (5) It takes the place of a cyst. If the front of the top of the gall bladder is split, it is a split referring to the diviner's negligence. A pole will break. The merchant will lose his money bag on the (business) trip he is taking, and…
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/P238054/
Why it matters
Transliteration
BE SUḪUŠ NA šá-miṭ EGIR ERIM-MU KÚR ⸢TI⸣ / BE ina SAG NA GU GIL ik-rib NUN DINGIR ul ⸢iš⸣-me / ina GIŠ.TUKUL ERIM NUN ŠÀ.SÈ.SÈ.KI-šá NU KUR-ád / BE SILIM RA-iṣ BE ina DÙN 15 BÙR ŠUB-di / BE KI di-ḫu TI IGI-it SAG ZÉ DU₈ / DU₈ e-gu-ti DUMU—LÚ.ḪAL GIŠ.me*-še-du TAR-ir / DUMU DAM.QAR ina KASKAL DU-ku ki-is-su / ú-ḫal-laq SUD*-sa GUR-ra / BE ina 150 ZÉ DU₈ SUḪUŠ U IGI / IZI.GAR KA NU GI.NA / BE ⸢SAG⸣…
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 P238054.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P238054). 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/P238054/.
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