This oracle inquiry, unusally preserved in two duplicate manuscripts, concerns two topics. Firstly, it seeks to determine the location of a future revolt which has been confirmed by a previous oracular inquiry and where the Hittite king should therefore campaign. It is deterined through KIN and liver oracles that the campaign of the king will take place in Turmitta and Nerik. This section concludes with a fragmentary inquiry about an offering made by the king. The second topic which this oracular inquiry addresses is a potential attack by an Assyrian king, likely Adad-nirari I (see Historical Context). It is first determined by liver and KIN oracles that the king will not cross the border into Hittite lands. The next question is too broken to be understood, but is followed by another inquiry which determines that the Assyrian king will not enter the city of Malitiya. The final question asks whether the Assyrian king will build a fortification, but the text ends before the KIN oracle observations, and no answer is recorded, and the rest of the tablet is instead left uninscribed.

Handcopies: Walther A. 1928a; Otten H. − Rüster C. 1974a; Groddek D. 2006a; Miller J.L. 2008a.

Partial transliterations: Groddek D. 2008c, 252-256; Groddek D. 2010d, 66-68; Groddek D. 2012a, 62-63.

Partial editions: Heinhold-Krahmer, AfO 35, 1988, 101-104; Warbinek L. 2020a, 377-384.

Full edition: Sakuma Y. 2009a, 294-310.

Unusually for a Hittite oracle text, this oracular inquiry is preserved in two parallel manuscripts.

Manuscript A is a large fragment from the bottom left corner of a medium sized two-column tablet. The entire width of the left-hand column is preserved, as well as about one third to one half of the right hand column. An indirect join with KUB 50.23 was suggested by Sakuma and included in his edition (Sakuma Y. 2009a, 294-310). However, as noted by the Konkordanz, the script of this latter fragment is smaller than that of KBo 22.264, and this, combined with a number of palaeographic differences, suggests that this join is incorrect. It has therefore not been included in this edition, and KUB 50.23 will be edited separately.

Manuscript B comes in the form of three fragments, two of which (KBo 54.106 and KUB 22.29) join directly can come from the top left corner of a two column tablet, preserving the entire width of the left-hand column of the text for several lines, as well as a very small part of the right-hand column. These join indirectly with KBo 58.96, which is to be placed somewhere further down the left-hand column. This latter fragment has two inscribed columns of text on the left edge.

Both manuscripts a written in a New-Hittite script (diagnostic signs include: DA, E, LI, RU).

The oracular inquiries contained in this text reveal something of the tension and hostilities between the Hittite and Assyrian kingdoms. Both topics addressed relate to the possibility of Assyrian expansion and incursion into Hittite lands. The first set of questions pertain to future revolts in Hittite cities which have been confirmed by several previous oracular inquiries and are in some way connected to an Assyrian military campaign. It is asked where the Hittite king should go on campaign, presumably in response to this revolt, and the KIN and liver oracles confirm that this will take place at Turmitta and Nerik.

The text then moves on to ask a series of questions about possible future Assyrian campaigns into the Hittite lands. This inquiry is introduced by the enigmatic phrase “since the Storm-God went to heaven“ (colon 59, appearing again at 83). The exact meaning of this is unclear, but given the fact that (kī) kuit is often used at the start of oracular inquiries to refer back to a previous response to an earlier oracular question which logically leads to the current question, it is likely that this phrase refers to a previous confirmation that the Storm-God’s going to heaven is a portent of the Assyrian incursions.

The text seems to contain a reference to the son of Adad-nirari, who is likely to be identified with the Assyrian king mentioned several other times in the text as Shalmaneser I. The Hittite king therefore would be Ḫattušili III or Tudḫaliya IV, as suggested by Heinhold-Krahmer, AfO 35, 1988, 90-91; Orlamünde J. 2001a, 516-517. Both connect the situation outlined in this text to the turbulent relationship between the Hittite and Assyrian kingdoms in this period. However, it seems that Shalmaneser has not made a similar incursion at least in the previous year, since the first of these inquiries refers to this fact. It is confirmed that again, he will not cross the border on this ocassion.

The text relates a concern that Shalmaneser will reach the city of Malitiya, which, according to Heinhold-Krahmer, AfO 35, 1988, 90-91, suggests that he has either captured sites nearby or has campaigned there before. Orlamünde J. 2001a, 516-517 connects this more generally to the tense relations between the two kings as also exemplified by KBo 18.24, a letter mentioning a legal dispute between them in the past, in which Shalmaneser suggests that the city of Malitiya should be put under the control of someone trusted by the Hittite king.

The text ends by asking whether Shalmaneser will come to build a fortification, though the location of this is not specified. The text ends somewhat abruptly, with no oracular observations or responses recorded, and the rest of the tablet, so far as it is preserved, is left uninscribed.