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Abschnitt 1ID=1: Address formula |
| 1ID=1 | -- | Say to the lord, the Chief of the Palace Officials, my lord: |
| 2ID=2 | -- | [Thus] (says) the ‘mayor’: |
Abschnitt 2ID=2: Communication of a KIN oracle report of Iya, Old Woman |
| 3ID=3 | -- | Iya, the ‘Old Woman’, told me as follows: |
| 4ID=4 | -- | “For the life1 of the daughter of the Priest, the (oracular) signs have turned out2 negative each time. |
| 5ID=5 | -- | The following signs occurred: |
| 6ID=6 | -- | evil was taken |
| 7ID=7 | -- | and it (was given) back to the throne deity. |
| 8ID=8 | -- | I determined this matter four times by means of oracle, |
| 9ID=9 | -- | and four times it turned out bad. |
| 10ID=10 | -- | There as well, let them conduct proper oracular inquiries!” |
Abschnitt 3ID=3: Confirmation oracles: first bird oracle |
| 11ID=11 | -- | We continued to inquire by means of bird oracles likewise. |
| 12ID=12 | -- | “Concerning the fact that Iya spoke as follows: |
| 13ID=13 | -- | we fear for the life of the daugher of the Priest”. |
| 14ID=14 | -- | It was confirmed:3 |
| 15ID=15 | -- | A šūraššūra- bird (was) GUN(-li-). |
| 16ID=16 | -- | A ḫalliya- bird (was) GUN(-li-). |
| 17ID=17 | -- | Then an(other) ḫalliya- bird (came) in the back down from the unfavorable side. |
| 18ID=18 | -- | A ḫaštapi- bird (came) in front from the unfavorable side |
| 19ID=19 | -- | and it (came) in the back down from the unfavorable side. |
| 20ID=20 | -- | Away, behind the road:4 |
| 21ID=21 | -- | a ḫaštapi- bird (came) in the back down from the unfavorable side. |
| 22ID=22 | -- | A ḫalliya- bird (was) GUN-(l)i-. |
Abschnitt 4ID=4: Confirmation oracles: second bird oracle |
| 23ID=23 | -- | We continued making further observations concerning the life of the daughter of the Priest: |
| 24ID=24 | -- | “Are we not to worry for anything for the life of the daughter of the Priest?” |
| 25ID=25 | -- | A ḫalliya- bird (was) GUN-li-. |
| 26ID=26 | -- | A calling šūraššūra- bird (was) GUN(-li-). |
| 27ID=27 | -- | An aramant(i)- falcon (came) in front from the favorable side. |
| 28ID=28 | -- | A ḫalliya- bird (was) GUN-li-. |
| 29ID=29 | -- | An eagle came in front from the favorable side. |
| 30ID=30 | -- | An ālliya- bird (came) in the back down from the unfavorable side. |
| 31ID=31 | -- | Away, behind the road: |
| 32ID=32 | -- | a šūraššūra- bird (was) GUN-li-. |
| 33ID=33 | -- | A ḫaštapi- bird (came) in front from the favorable side. |
| 34ID=34 | -- | A ḫalliya- bird (was) GUN-li-. |
(erasure) |
rest of rev. blank |
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Alternatively, “For the person of …”. This translation of SAG.DU in this context is supported by the parallel formulation in obv. 22 (TI ‘life’).
The verbal form ḫa-an-da-a-na-at must be understood as a 3SG.PST, presumably of a factitive -nu- form. The “confirmation” seems to refer to the unfavorable result of the bird oracle, which confirmed that the concerns of the Old Woman were founded. The negative result is evident in the following report, in which all the flights came from the ‘unfavorable’ side. It is possible to read the verb also in its neutral sense, “It was determined: …” (similarily Wilhelm G. 1998a), in which case the interpretation of the following report is, apparently, left to the letter’s addressees. Differently from Wilhelm G. 1998a, 180 and Sakuma Y. 2009b, II, 655: “Behind the road (it flew) away” (“Hinter dem Weg <flog er> weg”). Since “Behind the road” tipically introduces a new set of observations, it is unlikely that arḫa refers to the movement of the same bird mentioned in the previous sentence; the meaning of the sentence is probably close to “Far/further away, (from) behind the road: …” vel sim. This interpretation is confirmed by the parallel of lo. e. 30, where the paragraph line unmistakably separates KASKAL- ši EGIR-an ar-ḫa from the previous sentence. For a very similar use of arḫa, this time with place names, see DAAM 1.21 obv. 4 and KBo 15.28 obv. 4 (with further discussion). |
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