As I said I would do, I’m now slogging my way through the equid omens in Šumma Ālu. When I’m happy with the results I plan to post my complete translation along with some notes on a variety philological problems. It may take a while, not because the Akkadian is all that hard but because the principle publication is problematic in a number of ways. I often need to hunt around to make sure I understand the readings. Nötscher uses some forms that we would not use today. I’m also collating as much as this as I can with Gadd’s transcriptions of CT 40:33-37.
Anyway, one of the early omens in the series seems more obvious than ominous. The following is CT 40 33:4 as restored by a duplicate.
[DIŠ] ANŠ[E] i-nam(na)-ga-ag TÙR BI BIR-aḫ
šumma imēru inagag tarbaṣu šuāti issapaḫ
If a donkey brays, that courtyard/pen will be scattered.
Now does that seem like an omen? Back in 1970, a donkey staging area was directly below my room at Christ Church Hostel inside Jerusalem's Jaffa Gate. But I didn’t know this until I was awaken by the braying of donkeys the first morning of my stay. The sound was enough to scatter just about anything.
If you’re wondering, CT 40:33:4 reads i-nam-ga-ag but its duplicate reads i-na-ga-ag.
References:
Nötscher, Friedrich, “Die Omen-Serie šumma ālu ina mēlê šakin,” Orientalia, NS, 51-54 (1930), 13-29