he public weal, plied with questions upon which the fate
of the land depended, is shown by the stereotyped form which such
official solicitations in the course of time acquired. Dating from the
reigns of Esarhaddon and Ashurbanabal we have an elaborate series of
prayers addressed to the sun-god, all dealing with questions of a
political import. These prayers, so admirably edited and analyzed by
Knudtzon,[493] are all arranged according to a single pattern. Each one
opens with a question or series of questions which Shamash, the sun-god,
is asked to answer. The god is then implored not to be angry, but to
lend his aid against any errors unwittingly committed in the sacrificial
rites. For a second time the same question is put in a somewhat varying
form. Another appeal is made, and the various omens derived from the
inspection of animals are interpreted as a guide to the priests.
According to the application of these omens to the sacrifice before the
priest, a decision is rendered. It will be sufficient for our purposes
to present a single specimen of such a fixed ritual.[494]

Esarhaddon, being hard pressed by a group of nations to the northeast of
Assyria, led by a certain Kashtariti, and among whose followers the
Gimirrites, the Medes, and Manneans are the most prominent, asks for an
oracle from Shamash as to the outcome of the situation. The priest,
acting as mediator, addresses[495] the god:

O Shamash! great lord! As I ask thee, do thou in true mercy
answer me.

From this day, the 3d day of this month of Iyar[496] to the 11th
day of the month of Ab[497] of this year, a period of one
hundred days and one hundred nights is the proscribed term for
the priestly activity.[498]

Will within this period, Kashtariti, together with his soldiery,
will the army of the Gimirrites, the army of the Medes, will the
army of the Manneans, or will any enemy whatsoever succeed in
carrying out their plan, whether by strategy (?) or by main
force, whether by the force of weapons of war and fight or by
the ax, whether by a breach made with machines of war and
battering rams[499] or by hunger, whether by the power residing
in the name of a god or goddess,[500] whether in a friendly way
or by friendly grace,[501] or by any strategic device, will
these aforementioned, as many as are required to take a city,
actually capture the city Kishassu, penetrate into the interior