The phrase lū nashā lū bêrā serves as the link between the first statement of the query and its repetition, an abbreviated version of the former,[[56]] which invariably begins with ašâlka Šamaš bēlu rabû "I ask you, Šamaš, great lord."[[57]] In contrast to the query proper, the repetition is always formulated as an indirect question, beginning with the subjunction kî "whether" and having its predicates in the subjunctive, as is normal in Akkadian subordinate clauses.
Occasionally, if the suggested restorations are correct, the latter part of the opening line may also appear in the repetition of the query; see nos. 52:4, 53:4, and 235 r.4 and cf. Klauber PRT, p. xii and p. 6.
56 An unusually brief version is 142, reverse; see Klauber PRT, p. xxiii.
57 In fact, the two usually share the same line in the text.
Ivan Starr
Ivan Starr, 'The Repetition of the Query', 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/repetitionofthequery/]