Position in chronology
SAA 04 322. Will Assurbanipal Survive this Insurrection? (ABL 1368) [military and political]
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) [I as]k you, [Ma]nlaharbanuni, (2) about this rumor of insurrection which was reported to Assurbanipal, king of Assyria, son of Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, thus: (5) "They are making an insurrection against you." (6) Will Assurbanipal, king of Assyria, survive and escape this insurrection? (r 3) Will he prevail over those who are making the insurrection against him, and will they fall, [and ...]? (r 6) Disregard that a woman has wri[tte]n and placed it before you.
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/P334867/
Why it matters
Transliteration
[dma]-an-la-ḫa-ar-ba-nu-ni / [a-šá]-⸢ʾa⸣-al-ka TAv ŠÀ da-ba-bi / [an]-ni-i ša si-ḫi ša a-na maš-šur—DÙ—A / LUGAL KUR—aš-šur DUMU maš-šur—PAB—AŠ MAN KUR—aš-šur-ma / iq-bu-u-ni ⸢ma⸣-a si-ḫu ina UGU-ḫi-ka* / ep-pu-šú maš-šur—DÙ—A MAN KUR—aš-šur.KI / i-bal-la-ṭá ú-še-za-⸢ba*⸣ / TAv ŠÀ si-ḫi an-ni-i / ina UGU ša si-ḫu ina UGU-ḫi-⸢šu⸣ / e-pa-šú-u-ni iz-za-a-⸢za*⸣ / i-ma-qa-tu-u [x x x] / e-zib ša MÍ ta-⸢áš⸣-[ṭu-ru]-⸢ma⸣ / ina ma-ḫa-⸢ri⸣-ka taš-⸢ku-nu⸣ o*
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 P334867.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P334867). 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/P334867/.
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