The oracular queries are enclosed within an elaborate formulaic framework. Rarely does a query proceed directly from opening to closing formula. Almost invariably it winds its way, as it were, through a maze of formulas until it comes to its conclusion. The theme of a query is usually stated twice, once on the obverse and once on the reverse, and each statement is characterized by its own distinct formulary.
The first statement of the query is, naturally enough, the more extensive and elaborate one. In its simplest form, a query may proceed directly from line 2 to its closing formula ("Does your great divinity know it?", etc., see below), followed by the chain of ezibs; cf., for example, no. 41:2ff, "Kaštaritu, city lord of Karkaššî, who wrote to Mamitiaršu, a city lord of the Medes: 'Let us act together and break away from Assyria' - Will Mamitiaršu listen to him? Will he comply? Will he become hostile to Esarhaddon this year?" See also nos. 3, 10, 23, and 269. (When a stipulated term is called for, the query follows it, as, for example, in no. 45.)
More commonly, however, certain stereotyped key phrases embedded in the wording of the query serve as its opening formula, leading to an equally stereotyped core. For example, when referring to action to be undertaken by the king, a query typically begins with the precatives of the verbs ṣarāmu and kapādu (e.g., "should Esarhaddon strive and plan?", 44:2, 64:2, 84:2, 86:2, 100:2, 110:2, 149:2 and passim), followed by a statement of the action to be undertaken or contemplated. Where a stipulated term follows the opening line, these precatives follow immediately after, e.g. 51:4, 60:4, and passim. When enemy action or intention is referred to, the present-future of ṣarāmu and kapādu is used, e.g. 14:3f, "Will they strive and plan (iṣarrimû ikappidû)? Will they take the road from where they are and march on Que?" See also nos. 4, 5, 18, 43, and passim. Occasionally, the two formulas are found in the same query, e.g. 28:7 (liṣarim likpidma) and 13 (iṣarri[mû ik]appidû). This particular query is concerned with an Assyrian expedition which is expected to encounter enemy opposition.
The query proper abounds in other stereotyped key phrases. For instance, when dispatch of troops by Esarhaddon is referred to, the phrase is commonly ṣābē sīsê emūqē mal libbašu ublu lišpur, "should he send men, horses, (and) troops, as (many as) he wishes?" When the concern is the safe return of troops to Assyrian soil, the phrase used is miṣir ša māt Aššūr kabāsu. When Assyrian or enemy troops are about to set out on their way, it is urha harrāna ṣabātu. When they are about to engage in battle, it is kakkī qabli tāhāzi epēšu. When an enemy attack is involved, the verbs dakû, habātu, šalālu are commonly used. When the query is about the possible capture of a city, the verbs ṣabātu, erēbu, kašādu, as well as ina qāti manû are commonly used.[[20]] When the fate of Assyrian troops is in question, the verbs used are šêtu, eṭeru, ezebu Š, and aṣû. When the subject of the query is the potential capture of a city (especially by the enemy), the question commonly involves a tedious listing of all the possible means, fair or foul, by which the city may be captured (see, e.g., nos. 43, 44, 63, and 101).
The first query is always formulated as an interrogative main clause, recognizable from predicates showing a lengthening of the final vowel or (in verbs ending in a consonant) an "overhanging" vowel, as usual in Neo-Assyrian; for example, i-ṣar-ri-mu-u i-kap-pu/pi-du-ú (plural) 23:6 and 43:6, but i-ṣar-ri-i-mi i-kap-pi-id-di (singular) 18:5; i-kaš-šá-a-da (singular) 43:12 (cf. 44:13), but i-kaš-šá-du-ú (plural) 62:7.[[21]] In precative forms, the vowel lengthening was usually left unexpressed in the singular (e.g., liṣrim likpidma "should he strive and plan?", passim) but not in the plural (cf. liṣpurma ... lillikû, "should he dispatch, and should they go?" 63:2ff).[[22]]
In its most elaborate formulation, the query is structured as follows:
"RN who is now intent on sending ... (b) (and whom) your great divinity knows - (c) in accordance with the command of your great divinity, Šamaš, great lord, and your favorable decisions, (d) should RN strive and plan? ... (e) Is it pleasing to your great divinity? If he, having planned, sends ..."
This formula was mostly used where the plans or intentions of Esarhaddon are the subject of the query. See, for example, nos. 28, 34, 81, 108, 111, 124, 137. The king is usually referred to in this formula as EN-MU.MU (see below). These queries may refer to the sending of troops (e.g. no. 28) or an individual (e.g. nos. 108, 111).
In practice, the formula need not include all of its parts. Parts (b) and (c) alone are attested in no. 77:2ff: "The city Ṣiṣṣirtu, which ... is located on the border of Ellipi and (which) your great divinity knows - in accordance with the command of your great divinity and your favorable decisions, Šamaš, great lord, hathe enemy captured that city?" Note also no. 88:2ff: "Ša-Nabû-šû, whom [Esarhaddon] has now sent and who has gone, (b) whom your great divinity knows - (c) in accordance with the command of your great divinity, Šamaš, great lord, and your favorable decisions, (d) should the subject of this query (EN-MU.MU), Ša-Nabû-šû ..."
20 Cf. Klauber PRT, p.xiv.
21 For numerous additional examples, see Knudtzon AGS, pp. 18ff; see also Klauber PRT, p. xiii.
22 This function of the precatives in the queries was apparently first recognized by Jensen apud Manitius ZA 24 (1910) 211; cf. Klauber PRT, p. xiii.
Ivan Starr
Ivan Starr, 'The Query Proper and its Formulary', 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/thequeryproper/]