SAA 10 042. The King is Scared by Lightning (ABL 0074) [from astrologers]


Obverse
o 1o 1	a-na LUGAL EN-ia [ARAD-ka]	(1) To the king, my lord: [your servant] Balasî. Good health to the king, my lord! [May Nabû and Marduk bless] the king, my lord!
o 22	^mba-la-si-i lu DI-[mu]
o 33	a-na LUGAL EN-⸢ia⸣ [^dPA ^dAMAR.UTU]
o 44	a-na LUGAL EN-ia [lik-ru-bu]
o 55	ša LUGAL ⸢be⸣-[lí iš]-pur-[an-ni]	(5) As to what the king, m[y lord, wr]ote [to me]: "[In] the city of H[ar]ihumba lightning struck and ravaged the fields of the Assyrians" — why does the king look for (trouble), and why does he look (for it) [in the ho]me of a tiller? There is no evil inside the palace, and when has the king ever visited Harihumba?
o 66	ma-⸢a^⸣ [ina] ⸢URU^.ḫa^-ri⸣-ḫum^-⸢ba^*⸣
o 77	ma-a [i]-⸢šá^-tú^ TA^v^*⸣ AN-e
o 88	⸢ta^-at^⸣-tu^-uq-ta A.ŠÀ^-MEŠ^*
o 99	⸢ša^⸣ KUR^.áš-šu-ra-a.a ta-ta-kal
o 1010	⸢LUGAL^*⸣ a-ta-a ú-ba-ʾa-a
o 1111	[ina] ⸢É⸣ LÚ.qa-tin-ni LUGAL
o 1212	[a]-ta-a ú-ba-ʾa-a-ma
o 1313	⸢ḪUL^*⸣ ina ŠÀ É.GAL la me-me-ni
o 1414	⸢LUGAL⸣ ina URU.ḫa-ri-ḫum-ba
o 1515	im—ma-te il-lik-ma
o 1616	ú-ma-a šum-ma ina ŠÀ É.GAL	(16) Now, provided that there is (evil) inside the palace, they should go and perform the (ritual) "Evil of Lightning" there. In case the king, my lord, says: "How is it said (in the tablets)?" — (here is the relevant interpretation): "If the storm god devastates a field inside or outside a city, or if he puts down a ... of (his) chariot, or if fire burns anything, the said man will live in utter misery for 3 years." This applies (only) to the one who was cultivating the field.
o 1717	i-ba-áš-ši ḪUL mì-qit-ti
o 1818	i-šá-ti lil-li-ku
o 1919	ina ŠÀ-bi le-pu-šu
Bottom
b.e. 20b.e. 20	šum-ma LUGAL be-lí
b.e. 2121	i-qab-bi ma-a
b.e. 2222	a-ke-e qa-bi
Reverse
r 1r 1	A.ŠÀ lib-bi URU lu-u
r 22	qa^-an^-ni^* URU ^dIM ir-ḫi-iṣ
r 33	lu ṭi-bi-iḫ ma-ga-ar-ri
r 44	iš-kun lu-u i-šá-ti
r 55	mì-im-ma ú-qa-al-li
r 66	a-me-lu šu-u 03 MU.AN.NA-MEŠ
r 77	ina ku-ú-ri u ni-is-sa-te
r 88	it-ta-na-al-la-ak
r 99	a-na ša A.ŠÀ i-ru-šu-u-ni
r 1010	qa-bi ina UGU da-ra-ri	(r 10) Concerning the adding of the intercalary month about which the king wrote to me, this is (indeed) a leap year. After Jupiter has become visible, I shall write (again) to the king, my lord. I am waiting for it; it will take this whole month. Then we shall see how it is and when we have to add the intercalary month.
r 1111	ša ITI^* ša LUGAL iš-pur-an-ni
r 1212	MU.AN.NA di-ri ši-i
r 1313	ki-ma MUL.SAG.ME.GAR
r 1414	it-ta-mar a-na LUGAL EN-ia
r 1515	a-šap-pa-ra ina pa-ni
r 1616	a-da-gal ITI an-ni-i-ú
r 1717	ú-gam-ma-ra a-ke-e
r 1818	ši-ti-i-ni
r 1919	ina ŠÀ-bi né-em-mar
r 2020	im—ma-te ni-da-ra-ru-ni

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/P334024/.