The Sargonid queries invariably begin with the line Šamaš bēlu rabû ša ašallūka anna kīna apalanni, "Šamaš, great lord, answer me with a firm 'yes' to what I ask you," a formula they have in common with the tamītu texts (see below).[[7]]
As a haruspical terminus technicus, the expression anna apālu, "to answer with a 'yes'" is already attested in the Old Babylonian period; cf., e.g., "the enemy had extispicies (têrētim) made ... to which the god will not give him a positive answer (annam la ippalūšu): he will go to his destruction, (but) it is favorable (for us)" (RA 33 172:37ff, a letter to Zimri-Lim, king of Mari); "I had extispicies made; my extispicies were favorable, and the god answered me with a firm 'yes' (ilum annam īpulanni)" (ARM 3 84:24f, see also ARM 3 42:8ff). The opposite term ulla apālu, "to answer with 'no'," is attested in an unpublished omen: "If the 'path' descends on the right, and is split on the right, he who gave you a negative answer (ša ulla īpulū[ka]), will give you a positive answer" (BM 122657:1f).[[8]]
Occasionally, if the suggested restorations are correct,[[9]] the latter part of the opening line may also appear in the repetition of the query, see no. 52:4, 53:4, and 235 r.4.
7 Cf. TCL 3 64:416, "by the firm 'yes' (anni kēni) of Šamaš", referring to extispicies, and "by the precious 'yes' (anni šūquri) of Šamaš", ibid. line 319; see also Klauber PRT, p. xiif and CAD A/2 135, s.v. annu.
8 So, evidently, is to be restored K 9851:3 (cited Bezold Cat., p. 1043), [BE GÍR ana 15] ma-qit 15 DU8 ša ul-la i-pu-lu-ka an-[na ip-pal-ka]. For other duplicates, see KAR 423 i 63 and STT 308 i 33f, 309:33f.
9 See Klauber PRT, p. xii and p. 6.
Ivan Starr
Ivan Starr, 'The Formulary and Terminology of the Queries', Queries to the Sungod: Divination and Politics in Sargonid Assyria, SAA 4. Original publication: Helsinki, Helsinki University Press, 1990; online contents: SAAo/SAA04 Project, a sub-project of MOCCI, 2020 [http://oracc.org/saao/saa04/formularyandterminology/]