Position in chronology
SAA 04 318. Query Concerning the Land (PRT 111) [miscellaneous]
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) [The middle of the 'station' is effa]ced. The 'path' [......]. (2) [The l]eft of the gall bladder is atta[ched ......]. (3) [...] there is a 'weapon'-mark [facing up]ward. (4) [The upper/lower part] is elevated. The middle 'finger' of the lung [......]. (5) [The breast-bon]e is thick. The coils of the colon are 14 in number. The heart of the sheep is no[rmal]. (6) First extispicy. (7) [The middle of the 'sta]tion' is effaced. The 'paths' are two, the upper one is short. (8) [The 'well-being'] and the 'path' on the left of the gall bladder are present. (9) [...] is split. The base of the…
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/P336358/
Why it matters
Transliteration
[BE MURUB₄ NA pa]-⸢áš⸣-ṭa GÍR ⸢x⸣+[x] / [BE] ⸢150⸣ ZÉ ṣa-[mid] / [BE x] GIŠ.TUKUL GAR-ma AN.⸢TA⸣ [IGI] / [BE AN.TA]-⸢tum⸣ DU-ik U—MUR MURUB₄ [x] / [BE GAG.ZAG].⸢GA⸣ e-bi ŠÀ.NIGIN 14 ŠÀ UDU ⸢SILIM⸣ / [o] (blank) IGI-tum / [BE MURUB₄] ⸢NA⸣ pa-áš-ṭa GÍR 02-ma AN.TA-ú ku-ri / [BE SILIM] GÍR 150 ZÉ GAR-MEŠ / [BE x] DU₈ SUḪUŠ EDIN 15 DU₈ / [BE x] ⸢KÁM?⸣-tum ŠUB-át / [BE x x] ⸢UZU?⸣ GAR-ma SUḪUŠ U IGI /…
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 P336358.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P336358). 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/P336358/.
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