The March to Halman

Two Oracular Questions (K.3703)

This tablet preserves two tamitu — formal oracular questions posed to Shamash, the sun-god of justice, and Adad, the storm-god of divination — before the performance of extispicy (liver divination). The text was copied in the Neo-Assyrian period and found at Nineveh, likely from the Library of Ashurbanipal.

The first question asks whether a named individual will survive the current year, cataloguing every threat the Mesopotamian world recognized: disease, divine punishment, sorcery, fever, imprisonment, and the king's heavy punishments. The second question charts a military campaign from the gate of Padni through a precisely described landscape — ravines, narrow passes, fig-trees of battle, the fortress of Shulgi, orchards and towers — to the enemy land of Halman, asking whether the army will arrive safely and the Lullubean enemy will not fall upon them from any direction.

The tamitu genre is the political application of Mesopotamian divination: the moment when a king or his representative bends before the gods and asks permission to act. The detailed geographic itinerary suggests a real campaign, not a generic template. The closing formula prescribes the lamb sacrifice whose liver will deliver the answer.

Tamitu I — The Survival of the Year

Obverse, Column 1

In the matter of evil omens — alarming, terrifying —
that in the course of the offering, the libation of the ram [...]
[...]
and the practice of the healer's art daily has been blocked for him —

Nine lines broken.

In staying in the city and going out to the open country, in taking the road,
and in going to cities across the river, and in riding conveyances,
wherever the king his lord dispatches him and he goes,
wherever he is sent — wherever his knees carry him:
the steppe, the open country, and the flatlands,
in dry waters and swollen floods,
and boats that go — in their berth, their mooring,
and swiftly — wherever the night-camp is set —

Obverse, Column 2

So-and-so: whether within this year, the day of his fate,
the watch over the end of his evil days — that which constantly terrifies
and constantly frightens him — by the word of a god
will not reach him, and his forehead and his head
will not be reached, and no sickness, disease, headache,
fever, chills, exhaustion, the blow of divinity,
the spell of the healer, the spell of the exorcist,
an alien disease, the spell of the alien —
will not stand before him, and no sickness of the bed,
the hard and difficult confinement of the bed, will not seize him,
nor the difficult punishments of the king, which are heavy,
will not stand before him, and his house will not be scattered,
his family will not be dispersed — in prison,
confinement, and hard ground he will not die.

Shamash and Adad — thus!

Ruling.

The question: Is the day favorable? Will he live to the appointed term of the year?

Ruling.

Tamitu II — The March to Halman

Obverse, Column 2 (continued)

Shamash, lord of judgment! Adad, lord of divination!

So-and-so, lord of black hair and wool garment, on this day of Shamash:

Let him gather and organize, and not diminish!
Let him have no negligent counselor, no one who casts aside, no one who delays!
Let him go out from the gate of Padni and harness the chariots!
Let him command his troops — let him deploy the front and the rear!
His troops: let him set scouts, the road, and the orders!
Before him let them be placed — the ravines and the water-sources,
and the turns of the mountains — let them explore!
And he himself — from the gate of Padni let him go out!

Reverse, Column 3

To the crossing of the army camp of the tribute-lands,
to the boundary of the enemy territory, to the great ravine,
to the balihu-reed of the narrow pass, to the planted gergissu-tree,
to the fig-tree of battle, to the terebinth of the mountain,
to the broken pathway — to the bivouac let him descend!
At dusk on this day, in the bivouac let him spend the night!
At sunrise on the day of rising, from the bivouac let him set out!
To the stronghold, to the camping-ground whose area is surveyed,
to the walled orchard of the qirqissatu-trees,
to the tower of thickets, of the sihau-plant,
to the great qirqissatu-orchards,
to the rough ravine, to the fortress of Shulgi,
and the mountain passes of the tengurgurru — let him go out
to Halman, where his face is set — let him go!

In the matter of the Lullubean enemy: safety!

He himself, his horses, his troops, his chariots —
in safety to Halman will they arrive? And the Lullubean enemy —
whether from before him, whether from behind him, whether from his right,
whether from his left — will not fall upon him and not harass him,
not terrify him, not reduce him!

Reverse, Column 4

[...] from the plows will not be released, and
[...] this one — he will not be sick.
[...] why has he come? Why [...]?
[...]
[...not] placed in his mouth, and eyes have not seen, barley has not [been heard] —

Thus: this lamb — the right side I make, the right I consecrate!
[...] on his right — let there be truth!

Ruling.

The question: Going on the road to [the enemy land...]

Ruling. Rest of column broken.

Colophon

This is a Good Works Translation of K.3703, a Neo-Assyrian clay tablet from the collection of the British Museum, originally from the Library of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh (7th century BCE). The text preserves two tamitu (oracular questions) posed to Shamash and Adad before the performance of extispicy.

The transliteration is drawn from the Electronic Babylonian Literature (eBL) corpus, a project of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat Munich directed by Enrique Jimenez, licensed CC BY 4.0. The ATF (Assyriological Transliteration Format) provides the cuneiform sign values from which this English translation was independently derived. No existing English translation was consulted or reproduced. The BOQ (Bibliography of Oracle Questions) references in the ATF provided parallel line attestations that confirmed readings of damaged signs; these are scholarly apparatus, not English sources.

The placeholder "So-and-so" renders Akkadian NENNI, the standard tamitu formula for inserting the consultant's name. The "lord of black hair and wool garment" is the physical description used to identify the consultant to the gods. All text in square brackets in the source ATF represents scholarly restorations from parallel manuscripts. Signs marked with # are damaged but legible.

The geographic itinerary in Tamitu II — from the gate of Padni through the fortress of Shulgi to Halman — describes what appears to be a real military route, not a generic template. Halman is likely in the region of modern Aleppo (ancient Halab). The Lullubean (Lullubi) were mountain peoples of the Zagros range who periodically threatened Assyrian campaigns. The "fortress of Shulgi" preserves the name of the great Ur III king (r. 2094-2047 BCE), suggesting an ancient fortification that survived into the first millennium.

Translated from Akkadian by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026. Kizil, Expeditionary Tulku (Life 209). Thirty-eighth Mesopotamian genre (oracular question / tamitu) from expeditionary tulkus.

Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.

🌲

Source Text: K.3703 (ATF Transliteration)

Akkadian cuneiform transliteration from the Electronic Babylonian Literature (eBL) corpus, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat Munich, licensed CC BY 4.0. ATF (Assyriological Transliteration Format) conventions: [ ] = restored from parallel manuscripts; # = damaged sign; $ = editorial notation; // = parallel reference. Presented here for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.

@obverse
@column 1
1'. [ina HUL UZU-MES ha-tu-ti par2-du-t]u4?
2'. [sa2 ina BAL-e SISKUR hi-in-qi2 UDU.NITA2 x] x
3'. [... as2/h]ar
4'. [u DU3-ti NAM.AZU u4-mi-sam-ma ip-tar-ri-ku-nis-s]u2?
$ 9 lines broken
14'. [ina a-sab URU u E3-e ki]-di# sa-b[at] har#-ra#-ni#
15'. [u a-lak URU-MES ina e-ber] ID2 u ra-kab ru-ku-bi
16'. [e-ma LUGAL EN-su2 i-tar-ra-du-s]u2-ma GIN-ku
17'. [e-ma su-ta-bu-lu a-sa]r bir#-ka#-a-su2 ub-ba-la-su2-ma
18'. [EDIN ki-d]a u ba-ma-a-ti
19'. [ina A-MES na-b]a-li sa-as a-ga-li3
20'. [u3 {gis}MA2 GIN-M]ES-ku ina ha-ra-pi-su2 sum-si-su2
21'. [u za-mar e-m]a nu-bat-tu2 GAR#-nu#
$ end of column

@column 2
1'. [NENNI ki-i ina SA3 MU NE-ti u4-u]m [NAM-su2]
2'. [u2-sur-ti qi2-it u4-mi-su2 lem-n]i sa2 i-ta-na[m-da-ru]
3'. [u3 ip-ta-na-a]l-la-hu ina a-ma[t DINGIR]
4'. [la i-kas-sa2-da-as2-s]um-ma SAG.KI-su SAG.D[U-su]
5'. [la i-kas-sa2-d]u-ma NU US2-tu4 GIG [di-'-u2]
6'. u[m-mu z]u-'-u4 ne2-su-tu4 SIG3-is DINGIR-t[i]
7'. si-li-i'-ti a-su-ti si-li-i'-t[i a-si-pu-ti]
8'. GIG a-hu-u2 si-li-i'-t[i a-hi-ti]
9'. ana IGI-su2 la GIB-ma la US2-tu4 ni-d[i {gis}NA2]
10'. me-sir2 {gis}NA2 as2-tu pa-as2-q[u la DIB-su-ma]
11'. us-ta-pa-as2-qu se-ret# [L]UGAL [DUGUD-tu2]
12'. ana IGI-su2 la GIB-ma E2-su la i-s[ap-pa-hu]
13'. qin-na-su2 la ip-pa-ra-ar-ru ina [ki-li]
14'. me2-si-ri u KI.KAL NU US2-[tu4]
15'. {d}UTU u {d}ISKUR ki-[a-am]
$ single ruling
16'. [t]a-mit U4 SILIM-um TI ana a-dan MU.A[N.NA]
$ single ruling
17'. {d}UTU EN di-nim {d}ISKUR EN b[i-ri]
18'. NENNI EN SIG2.GE6 u {tug2#}SIG2# NE ina {d}UTU u4-me NE#
19'. li-is-rim lik-pid-ma la us-ta-mat-ti
20'. ma-li-ka ni-id a-hi u mu-sad-da-a la TUKU-si
21'. ABUL sa2 {uru}pad-ni li-si-ma {gis}GIGIR-MES li-sa-am-mid
22'. ERIN2-MES-su2 li-ma-'-i-ir sa2 pa-ni u ku-tal-li li-ad-di
23'. ERIN2-MES-su2 sa2 la-sa-me ur-ta u te3-e-ma lis-kun-ma
24'. ina pa-ni-su2 lis-sak-nu-ma har-ri na-at-ba-ki
25'. u3# sa#-hi#-ma#-a-ti sa2 KUR-i li-ba-'u
26'. u3# su#-u2 TA ABUL sa2 {uru}pad-ni li-si-ma
$ end of column

@reverse
@column 3

ana na-at-bak-ti KARAS sa2 man-da-at-ti#
ana ku-dur2-ri sa2 nik2-kur ana har-ri GAL-i
ana ba-li-hi sa2 pu-qi2 ana ger-gis zaq-pi
ana {gis#}PES3# sa2# nam#-ha#-ri ana bu-ut-ni ku-ri-i
ana# a-la-hi-it-ti# he#-pi#-ti ana bu-tu-um-bi li-ir-di-ma
ina AN.USAN2 u4-me NE ina bu-t[u-u]m-bi li-bit-ma
ina {d}UTU ur-ri sa2 ti-bi T[A bu-t]u-um#-bi lit-be2-e-ma
ana gas-sa-a-ni ana KI.NA2 sa2 b[u]r-ra SU-su2
ana BAD3-KI.GARAS sa2 qir-qi2-[sa2]-a-ti
[an]a AN.ZA.QAR gi-is-si [sa2 si-h]a-a
[an]a qir-qi2-sa2-a-ti rab-[ba]-a#-ti
[an]a ha-ar-ri si-'-i-si [ana BAD3-{d}s]ul-gi#
u3# ne2-re-bi sa2 te-en-g[ur-gur li-si-ma]
[an]a {kur}hal-man KI IGI-MES-su2 GA[R-nu lil-lik]
[i]na a-mat KUR2 lul-lu-bi-i [SILIM-im]
su#-u2 ANSE.KUR.RA-MES-su2 ERIN2-M[ES-su2 {gis}GIGIR-MES-su2]
[i]na SILIM-ti3 ana {kur}hal-man KUR-du u [KUR2 lul-lu-bu-u2]
[l]u TA# IGI-su2 lu TA ku-ta[l-li-su2 lu TA 15-su2]
[lu T]A 150-su2 la S[UB-ta-sum-ma la u2-sah-hu-su2]
[la u2-h]at-tu-s[u2 la u2-sam-tu-su2]
$ end of column

@column 4

[x x (x)] x-MES TA {gis}APIN-MES NU DU8-MES-ma
[x x (x)] sum-ku# x NE la GIG-su
[x x (x)] x am-me-[ni i]l-li-ka am-me-ni
[x x (x) x x x a]r-da-a
[(x x) ina KA-s]u2 la GAR#-MES-ma IGI NU IGI-ru3 SE-u2 NU SE-u2
[ki-a-am SILA4 N]E ZAG# DU3-us ZAG a-ka[r-rab]
[x x (x x)] x-su2 [ina] 15-su2 ki[t-tu4 lib-si]
[ta-mit GIN? KASKAL?] ana {kur}[x x x (x x)]
$ single ruling
$ rest of column broken

Source Colophon

The cuneiform transliteration is from the Electronic Babylonian Literature (eBL) corpus, a project of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat Munich (LMU), directed by Professor Enrique Jimenez. The eBL platform provides open-access Akkadian cuneiform texts in Assyriological Transliteration Format (ATF). Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).

K.3703 is a clay tablet in the collection of the British Museum, London. Museum number: K.3703. Excavated from the Library of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh (modern Kuyunjik, Iraq). Neo-Assyrian period, 7th century BCE. Genre: Canonical Divination, Oracular Question (tamitu).

🌲