SAA 10 179. Will the Chief Eunuch Take over the Kingship? (ABL 0755+) [from diviners][via saao/saa10]


Obverse
o 1o 1	[a-na LUGAL KUR.KUR be-lí-ia ARAD]-ka ^mNÍG.GUB	(1) [To the king of the lands, my lord]: your [servant] Kudurru. [May Aššur, Šamaš, Bel and Nabû bless] the king of the lands, my lord!
o 22	[aš-šur ^dUTU ^dEN u ^dAG] a-na LUGAL KUR.KUR be-lí-ia
o 33	[lik-ru-bu TA] ⸢UGU^*⸣ UD-mu šá LUGAL be-la-a	(3) [Ever si]nce the day when the king my lord [dep]orted me, I have sat in confinement, praying to the king, my lord, [every day], (until) [Nabû-kill]anni the chief cupbearer sent [a cohort commander] to release me.
o 44	[ú-še-eg]-la-an-ni ṣab-ta-ak^* u áš-ba-ak^*
o 55	[UD-mu-us-su a]-⸢na⸣ LUGAL be-lí-ia ú-ṣal-la
o 66	[^m^dAG—kil-la]-an-ni LÚ.GAL—LÚ.ŠU.DU₈.A-MEŠ
o 77	[LÚ.GAL—ka-ṣir ki]-i iš-pu-raš-šú ip-ta-ṭar-an-ni
o 88	[it-ti-šu ki]-i al-li-ku i-qab-ba-a	(8) As I was walking [with him], he says to me: "You are an expert in [scrib]al lore? [NN] tells me [you] are an expert in scribal lore."
o 99	[um-ma LÚ.DUB].⸢SAR^*⸣-ru-ú-ti ta-le-ʾe-e
o 1010	[x x x x] ⸢i^-qab^⸣-ba-a um-ma LÚ.DUB.SAR-ú-tu
o 1111	[ta]-⸢le⸣-ʾe-e^* ⸢ina ŠÀ⸣-bi ITI.APIN ^m^dAG—⸢kil^*⸣-la-an-ni	(11) It was the month of Marchesvan (VIII) when Nabû-killanni fetched me, and I ended up standing in the temple of Bel Harran. The cohort commander re-emerged and took me to an upper room into his presence. There was nobody in his presence except the cohort commander, the major-domo, the chamberlain and the chief cupbearer; in addition, the overseer of the city kept entering and leaving his presence.
o 1212	ki i-bu-kan-ni ina É—^dEN—KASKAL ul-te-ez-zi-an-ni
o 1313	LÚ.GAL—ka-ṣir ki-i ú-ṣa-a a-na pa-ni-šú
o 1414	a-na ŠÀ-bi É e^?-li-ti ul-te-la-an-ni
o 1515	mam-ma ia-a-nu ina pa-ni-šú al-la LÚ.GAL—ka-ṣir
o 1616	LÚ.GAL—É LÚ.šá—UGU—É-a-nu u LÚ.GAL—ŠU.DU₈.A-MEŠ
o 1717	ù LÚ.šá—UGU—URU a-na pa-ni-šú ir-ru-ub u uṣ-ṣi
o 1818	GIŠ.ku-su-ú ki-i is-su-ku-nu ki-i ú-ši-bu	(18) They tossed me a seat and I sat down, drinking wine until the sun set. Moving my seat closer, he started speaking to me with the quota of the temple of Nusku, saying: "You are an expert in divination?"
o 1919	GEŠTIN a-šá-at-ti a-di ^dUTU ir-bu-ú
o 2020	GIŠ.GU.ZA-ú-a ki-i ú-qar-ri-bu it-ti
o 2121	GIŠ.iš-QAR-šú ša É—[^d]PA.TÚG i-qab-ba-a
o 2222	um-ma LÚ.ḪAL-⸢ú⸣-[tu] ⸢ta^-le^-ʾe^⸣-e^
	rest (a few lines only) broken away	(Break)
Reverse
rr	beginning (probably one line only) broken away
r 1'1'	ú-šar^*-im-man-⸢ni x⸣+[x x x x x x x x x]	(r 1) he made me love him [......]
r 2'2'	ši-i a-qab-bak-⸢ka⸣ [um-ma LUGAL] in-du-[na-an]-⸢ni⸣	(r 2) "I'll tell you this: [the king] has provi[ded for m]e, until in anger he placed (me) in your service.
r 3'3'	a-di ina lib-bat a-na ⸢pa⸣-[ni]-ka ú-še-[zi]-⸢zu⸣
r 4'4'	um-ma a-lik-ma LÚ.ḪAL-ú-ti a-na tar^*-ṣi ^dUTU	(r 4) "Go and perform the (following) divination before Šamaš: 'Will the chief eunuch take over the kingship?'"
r 5'5'	bi-ri GAL—LÚ.SAG LUGAL-ú-tú i-na-áš-ši-i
r 6'6'	a-na ŠÀ-bi É e-li-ti šá-ni-ti	(r 6) I washed myself with water in another upper room, donned clean garments and, the cohort commander having brought up for me two skins of oil, performed (the divination) and told him: "He will take over the kingship." (Only) at his insistence did I tell him, "The chief eunuch will take over the kingship."
r 7'7'	A-MEŠ ar-ta-mu-uk ⸢eb^*⸣-bu-ti at-ta-ši
r 8'8'	LÚ.GAL—ka-ṣir 02 KUŠ Ì.GIŠ^* ki-i ú-še-la-a
r 9'9'	e-te-pu-uš aq-ta-ba-áš-šú um-ma LUGAL-u-tú
r 10'10'	i-na-áš-ši ul-tu UGU-ḫi-šú aq-ba-áš-šú^*
r 11'11'	um-ma LÚ.GAL—SAG LUGAL-u-tú i-na-áš-ši
r 12'12'	[ina 02-i] ⸢UD⸣-mu šap-pa-ti šá GEŠTIN a-na tar-ṣi	(r 12) [Next d]ay, they libated a jug of wine before [...] and Banitu, and made [merry] until the sun was low. From that (day) on [he has been telling me]: "He will take you back into your father's [house], [......] and give you the kingship [of] all [Babyl]onia."
r 13'13'	[x x x] ⸢^d⸣ba^?-ni-ti it-ta-aq-qu
r 14'14'	[x x x x]+⸢x⸣ a-na ma-ṭi-i ^dUTU
r 15'15'	[ni-gu-ú-tu] ⸢e^*⸣-te-ep-šú ul-tu a-ga-a
r 16'16'	[i-qab-ba-a um-ma ina É]—AD^*-ka ú-še-ri-ib-ka
r 17'17'	[x x x x x x]-bi-ma LUGAL-ú-tu
r 18'18'	[šá KUR—ak-ka-di]-i gab-bu i-nam-dak-ka
r 19'19'	[DINGIR-MEŠ šá LUGAL be-lí]-ía ki-i LÚ.ḪAL-ú-tu	(r 19) [By the gods of the king], my [lord]: The extispicy [which I performed was] but a colossal fraud! (The only thing) [I was th]inking of (was), "May he not kill me."
r 20'20'	[šá i-pu-šu] al-la šá-a-ru me-ḫu-u
r 21'21'	[šu-ú TA ŠÀ-bi-ia a]-dab-bu-ub um-ma la <i>-du-kan-ni
r 22'22'	[en-na a-du]-⸢ú⸣ a-na LUGAL al-tap-ra	(r 22) [Now th]en I am writing to the king, lest [the king my lord] hear about it and kill me.
r 23'23'	[um-ma LUGAL be-lí-a] ⸢la⸣ i-šem-me-ma la <i>-du-kan-ni
r 24'24'	[x x x x x x] ⸢pa^?⸣-ni-im-ma ki-i ip-ru-ṣa-an-ni	(r 24) [......] when he betrayed me
r 25'25'	[x x x x x x x x] LUGAL in-du-na-an-ni	(r 25) [......] the king has provided for me
Right		(r 25) [......] the king has provided for me
r.e. 26r.e. 26	[x x x x x x x x] al-tap-ra	(r 26) [......] I wrote
r.e. 2727	[x x x x x x x x x]+⸢x⸣ a-mu-ru	(r 27) [......] I saw
r.e. 2828	[x x x x x x x x x x]+⸢x⸣-bi	(r 27) [......] I saw
		(Rest destroyed or untranslatable)
Edge
e. 1e. 1	ú-zu^*-[x x x x x x x x x x x x]

Adapted from Simo Parpola, Letters from Assyrian and Babylonian Scholars (State Archives of Assyria, 10), 1993. Lemmatised by Mikko Luukko, 2016, as part of the research programme of the Alexander von Humboldt Chair in the Ancient History of the Near and Middle East at LMU Munich (Karen Radner, Humboldt Professorship 2015). The annotated edition is released under the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike license 3.0. Please cite this page as http://oracc.org/saao/P237270/.