Position in chronology
SAA 04 341. Fragment of a Report Containing Blessings (CT 54 069+) [unclassifiable]
Translation · reference
High confidence(1) The ['sta]tion' is long [...]. (2) The 'path' [reaches] its 'seats.' (3) The 'strength' is present. The 'path' on the left of the gall [bladder] (4) and the coils of the colon are 16 in number. In [your] fa[vorab]le ext[ispicy] there are two niphus. (6) If [over] the 'increment' there is a 'weapon'-mark and [it rises] from [right to left: my army will take] the enemy's [bo]oty. (Break) (r 2) Month Elul (VI), 17th day, eponym ye[ar of NN]. (r 3) May Šamaš and Adad, impose [a just] verdict and grant th[is to the ki]ng, my lord! (r 6) May they make you attain your goal and [bestow] eternal happiness and health [upon the ki]ng, my lord!
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/P237222/
Why it matters
Transliteration
BE ⸢NA⸣ GÍD.DA [x x x x] / BE GÍR DAG-MEŠ-⸢šú⸣ [ka-šid] / BE KALAG GAR GÍR 150 ⸢ZÉ⸣ [x x] / ù ⸢ŠÀ⸣.NIGIN 16 ina UR₅.[ÚŠ-ka] / ⸢SILIM-tim⸣ 02 IZI.GAR GAR-⸢MEŠ⸣ [x] / BE [ina UGU] MÁŠ GIŠ.TUKUL GAR-ma TA [15 ana 150 te-bi] / [ERIM-ni ḫi]-⸢im⸣-ṣa-a-ti KÚR [KÚ] / [x x x x] ban du [x] / [x x x x]+x-ti [x x] / [x x x x] ⸢GUR?⸣ [x x x] / ITI.KIN UD 17-KÁM lim-⸢me⸣ [mx x x x] / dUTU u dIM DI.⸢KUD⸣…
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 P237222.
Attribution
Image: BM — (British Museum, London, UK) — from Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) — Photo via Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/artifacts, P237222). 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/P237222/.
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