RMA 268 (P238143)
Divination, Neo-Assyrian, Nineveh · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE
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| Designation | RMA 268 |
|---|---|
| ID | P238143 |
| Museum no. | BM — |
| Collection | British Museum, London, UK |
| Language | Akkadian |
| Period | Neo-Assyrian · c. 911 BCE–612 BCE |
| Genre | Divination |
| Find spot | Nineveh (mod. Kuyunjik) |
| Coordinates | 36.3582, 43.1621 |
English translation
By ORACC project saao/saa08 · Via Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus (ORACC) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (ORACC)
| Line | English |
|---|---|
| Obverse [0:2] o 1o 1–o 22 | I could not let the king my lord hear the words about the eclipse from my mouth. Now in compensation I send a written report to the king my lord. |
| Obverse [2:4] o 33–o 44 | The evil of an eclipse affects the one identified by the month, the one identified by the day, the one identified by the watch, the one identified by the beginning, where (the eclipse) begins and where the moon pulls off its eclipse and drops it; these (people) receive its evil. |
| Obverse [4:12] o 55–o 1212 | Sivan (III) means the Westland, and a decision is given for Ur. The evil of the 14th day, as is said, the 14th day means Elam. The beginning, where (the eclipse) began, we do not know. (The moon) pulled the amount of its eclipse to the south and west; that is evil for Elam and the Westland. That it became clear from the east and north, is good for Subartu and Akkad. That it covered all of (the moon), is a sign for all lands. The right side of the moon means Akkad, the left side of the moon means Elam, the upper part of the [moon means the Westl]and, the lower part of the moon means Subartu. |
| Obverse [12:13] o 1313–o 1313 | Because of the evening watch [......] which came out [...] |
| Obverse [13:14] o 1414–o 1414 | which covered all of it [......] |
| Obverse [14:15] o 1515–o 1515 | and everything not [......] |
| Obverse [15:16] o 1616–o 1616 | the Šarrabu (people) will say [......] |
| Obverse [16:17] o 1717–o 1717 | the people of the land must not hear [......]. |
| Obverse [17:21] o 1818– | [Let] the chief exorcist do what he [deems best ......] and let the king again remove one prince among the nobles of the Chaldeans or Arameans or [...] from his office. These will receive (the consequences) of the sign, and the king my lord can be happy. |
| Reverse [2:6] r 33–r 66 | In the eclipse [of the moon] Jupiter stood there: well-being for the king, a famous important person will die in his stead. The king should have much trust in this omen. Until someone speaks a (message of) well-being to the king, how can the king trust? The king of the gods of heaven and earth sent a (message of) well-being to the king my lord. |
| Reverse [6:11] r 77–r 1111 | Maybe the king will say: "The king of the gods sent me a (message of) well-being; why then did you write of the Šarrabu (people) and of a prince?" I say as follows: Let the king be concerned about his work and be set to his work, and let the king my lord become happy. May Bel and Nabû give all lands as substitute for the king my lord. |
| Reverse [11:17] r 1212– | The king gave order to me: "Keep watch for me, and whatever you know tell me." Now I have written to the king whatever appears correct and propitious to me (and) what is good to the king my lord. Let them read the te[xt] two or three times before the king so that the king can penetrate the words. Let the king discern that I wrote true words to the king my lord. |
| Right [2:3] r.e. 1717–r.e. 1717 | From Munnabitu. |
Transliteration (ATF)
From Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus (ORACC) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (ORACC default); per-file JSON license fields say: This data is released under the CC0 license (133618)
| Line | ATF | Machine English (draft) |
|---|---|---|
| o | ||
| 1 | dib-bi ša₂ AN.MI ina pi-ia a-na LUGAL be-li₂-ia₂ ul u₂-še-eš-mu | |
| 2 | a-du-u₂ ma-al-ṭa-ru ku-u₂-mu a-na LUGAL be-li₂-ia₂ al-tap-ra | |
| 3 | ša₂ AN.MI HUL-šu₂ a-na EN ITI EN UD-mu EN ma-aṣ-ṣar-tum EN taš-ri-tum | |
| 4 | a-šar u₂-šar-ru-u₂ u₃ a-šar {d}30 AN.MI-šu₂ i-šah-ha-ṭu-ma i-na-as-su-ku | |
| 5 | HUL-šu₂ an-nu-tum i-mah-ha-ru {iti}SIG₄ KUR—MAR.TU{ki} u₃ | |
| 6 | pu-ru-us-su-u₂ a-na ŠEŠ.UNUG{ki} na-din HUL ša₂ UD 14-KAM₂ ša₂ qa-bu-u₂ | |
| 7 | UD 14-KAM₂ {kur}NIM.MA{ki} taš-ri-tum a-šar u₂-še-er-ru-u₂ ul ni-i-du | |
| 8 | ⸢mi-ni⸣-tu₂ AN.MI-šu₂ a-na UGU {im}U₁₈.LU u {im}MAR.TU il-ta-ha-aṭ | |
| 9 | HUL ša₂ {kur}NIM.MA{ki} u KUR—MAR.TU{ki} ul-tu {im}KUR.RA u {im}SI.SA₂ | |
| 10 | KI ⸢ša₂⸣ im-mir SIG₅ ša₂ su-bar-tum{ki} u URI{ki}i gab-bi-šu₂ ša₂ i-ri-mu | |
| 11 | it-tum ša₂ ma-ta-a-ti gab-⸢bi⸣ [ši]-⸢i⸣ 15 {d}30 KUR—URI{ki} 150 {d}30 | |
| 12 | {kur}NIM.MA{ki} e-la-a-ti {d}30 KUR—MAR].⸢TU⸣{ki} šap-la-a-ti {d}30 {kur}SU.BIR₄{ki} | |
| 13 | aš₂-šu₂ ma-aṣ-ṣar-tum ša₂ ba-⸢ra⸣-[ri-tu x x x x x x] ša₂ u₂-ṣa-a [x x x] | |
| 14 | gab-bi-šu₂ ša₂ i-ri-mu [x x x x x x x x x x x x] | |
| 15 | u mam-ma ka-la-mu la [x x x x x x x x x x x x] | |
| 16 | {lu₂}šar-ra-bu i-qab-[bi x x x x x x x x x x x x] | |
| 17 | UN-MEŠ ma-a-ti la i-šem-⸢mu⸣-[u₂ x x x x x x x x x x] | |
| 18 | {lu₂}GAL—a-ši-pi {lu₂}GAL—a-ši-pi a-ki ša₂ i-le-[ʾu-u₂ li-pu-uš x x x x x] | |
| r | ||
| 1 | u₃ ina GAL-MEŠ ša₂ {lu₂}ka-al-du lu-u₂ {lu₂}a-ra-mu ⸢x {kur⸣}[x x x x] | |
| 2 | 01-en NUN LUGAL lu-še-en-ni la qip-ti-šu₂ lu-pe-et-tu-šu₂ an-nu-[tu] | |
| 3 | it-tum i-mah-ha-ru-ma ŠA₃-bi LUGAL be-li₂-ia₂ i-ṭa-ab ina AN.MI {[d}30 | |
| 4 | {mul}SAG.ME.GAR GUB-iz a-na LUGAL šu-lum ku-mi-šu₂ kab-tu e-du-u₂ UŠ₂ | |
| 5 | ina UGU šu-mu a-ga-a LUGAL ma-aʾ-du lu-u₂ ra-hu-uṣ a-di man-nu šu-lum | |
| 6 | a-na LUGAL i-qab-bu-u₂ ki-i LUGAL i-qep-pi LUGAL DINGIR-MEŠ ša₂ AN-e u KI.TIM | |
| 7 | šu-lum a-na LUGAL be-li₂-ia₂ il-tap-ra min₃-de-e-ma LUGAL i-qab-bi um-ma | |
| 8 | LUGAL DINGIR-MEŠ-ma šu-lum il-tap-ra ša₂ {lu₂}šar-ra-bu u₃ ša₂ ru-be₂-e | |
| 9 | am—me-ni-i am—me-ni-i taš-pu-ra a-na-ku um-ma LUGAL e-li dul-li-šu₂ lu-u₂ | |
| 10 | e-ti-ik-ma e-li dul-li-šu₂ lu-u₂ ša₂-kin-ma ŠA₃-bi LUGAL be-li₂-ia₂ li-ṭib | |
| 11 | {d}EN u {d}AG ma-ta-a-ti gab-bi a-na pu-uh LUGAL be-li₂-ia₂ lid-di-nu | |
| 12 | LUGAL ṭe₃-e-mu il-tak-na-an-ni um-ma EN.NUN-a u₂-ṣur u mim-ma ša₂ ti-du-u₂ | |
| 13 | qi₂-ba-a en-na mim-ma ša₂ ina pa-ni-ia₂ ba-nu-u₂ u₃ ša₂-lam ⸢KUR⸣ ina UGU LUGAL be-li₂-ia₂ | |
| 14 | ṭa-a-bu a-na LUGAL al-tap-ra 02-šu₂ 03-šu₂ ma-⸢al⸣-[ṭar] ina pa-an LUGAL | |
| r.e. | ||
| 15 | lil-su-ma LUGAL a-na ŠA₃ dib-bi li-ru-ub LUGAL lu-mi-is-su | |
| 16 | ša₂ dib-bi ša kit-tum a-na LUGAL be-li₂-ia₂ aš₂-pur | |
| 17 | ša₂ {1}mun-na-bi-te | |
Sources & licences
- Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative · CDLI: reuse of catalogue/transliteration data with citation of CDLI; images restricted (not fetched) · Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI), https://cdli.earth/ ; cite CDLI and the P-number
- Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus (ORACC) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (ORACC default); per-file JSON license fields say: This data is released under the CC0 license (133618) · ORACC project editions, https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/ ; cite the individual project (see texts.extra_json.project)
Cite the original edition and translator. Page generated by Unread Atlas from the public corpus export of 2026-10-11.