Originalverffentlichung in: G. Leick (Hrsg), The Babylonian World, New York/London, 2007, S.

361-372

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

D I V I N A T I O N CULTURE
A N D T H E H A N D L I N G OF
THE FUTURE
Stefan M.

Maul

n omen is a clea rly defined perception understood a s a sign pointing to future

events whenever it manifests itself under identica l circumsta nces. The cla ssifica tion
of a perception a s ominous is based on an epistemological development which esta blishes
a norma tive rela tionship between the perceived a nd the future. This cla ssifica tion
process is preceded by a period of deta iled exa mina tion a nd is thus initia lly built on
empirica l knowledge. O m i n a only cea se to be detected empirica lly when a firm
conceptu a l link ha s been esta blished between the observed a nd the future which then
a llows omina to be construed by the a pplica tion of regula rities. In the Mesopota mia n
written sources from the first a nd second millennia BC, omina ba sed on regula rities
fa r exceed those ba sed on empirica l da ta . Mesopota mia n schola rs genera lly collected
da ta without forma lly expressing the funda menta l principles behind their method.
It wa s the composition of non-empirica l omina a s such which a llowed students to
detect the regula rities on which they were ba sed without this formula ted ora lly or
in writing. Modern a ttempts a t a systematic investiga tion of such principles however,
a re still outsta nding.
It is interesting tha t there is no Sumeria n or Akka dia n equiva lent for the terms
'ora cle' or 'omen'. Assyriologists use the term omen for the sentence construction 'if
x then y' which consists of a ma in cla use beginning with summa ('if') describing the
ominous occurence, a nd a second cla use which spells out the predicted outcome. The
former is ca lled prota sis (Greek for 'ca use, question'), the la tter a podosis (Greek for
'rendition', 'renumera tion'), following the Gra eco-Roma n divina tion system. Such
sentence constructions a re also common in the so-ca lled lega l codes (such a s the Code
of Ha mmura bi) a nd in medica l dia gnostic texts without being cla ssified a s omina by
Assyriologists, a distinction which proba bly did not occur to a ncient schola rs. The
most importa nt form of the oracle was the exa mina tion of entrails of sacrificial a nima ls
(extispicy). Like the sponta neous signs a nd other ora cles, extispicy a nd va rious other
forms of oracles (see below) had to be performed a nd interpreted by schooled specia lists.
Since the mea ning of these signs wa s codified in the sentence structure of 'if x then
y', Assyriologists cla ssify them a s oil omina , smoke omina , liver omina , etc. even
though the a ssocia ted pra ctices a re rea lly ora cles.
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M.

Maul

The relationship between empirical observation and the systematic study of

regularities has parallels to the working methods of modern science and there are
also structural similarities in the f orm of presentation ('scientif ic' systematization).
The notion that the world is f ull of signs does not have to imply a belief in the
existence of gods, in contrast to the system of oracles. However, at least during the
historical periods in Mesopotamia, ominous signs were indeed interpreted as divine
revelations and insights into the intentions of the gods. The f uture outcome revealed
by the sign was hardly ever considered as irrevocable. Human beings could resort to
prayer, sacrifice and incantations in order to soothe the angry gods and to make them
revise divine intentions in their f avour.
We can see that the future as crystallized in the present was not considered by the
Babylonians as created solely by the gods but as the result of a dialogue between man
and god, an act of communication that could be initiated by gods or men. Deities
could speak directly through the medium of a prophet or ecstatic, or appear in dreams,
in order to convey their wishes and directives. They also announced their will by a
plethora of signs that had to be read like a written text. Such unsolicited signs, which
appeared spontaneously in the sky, on earth, and even on people, were not immediately
intelligible by themselves but needed to be read by a trained interpreter of signs who
had spent many years learning the highly sophisticated art of divination.
Of ten there was no time to wait f or such spontaneous manif estations of the gods'
will, as when decisions about important undertakings had to be made which needed
divine approval. The human beings could take the initiative and seek f or divine
guidance in a variety of ways. The dif f erent procedures used to ellicit the will of the
gods are generally called oracles. Rituals, complete with sacrifices and prayers, prepared
the way f or communication with the deities. An oracle was always tied to a concrete
enquiry about a future event or whether a planned activity would be sanctioned or
not. It was also possible to provoke the divine word directly or indirectly through a
priestly medium. A consciously evoked dream within the framework of the incubation
ritual could also lead to a response. If the dream was not unequivocal, it had to be
interpreted. In legal practice the divine will was revealed by the ordeal which was
considered proof .

T H E W O R L D AS A S Y S T E M OF S I G N S
The caref ul and detailed observation of nature and environment convinced the
Babylonians, long bef ore omina were first written down, that there were connections
between apparently discrete natural phenomena which, in their entirety, could allow
conclusions as to what could be expected. Since the theistic world view of the ancient
Orient did not allow for chance or hazard, this meant that everything was an expression
of the divine, creative will which manif ested itself in the world again and again. This
form of thinking made it possible to draw conclusions about the divine plans f or the
future on the basis of exact observations of the ever changing material world. The
f uture as envisaged by the gods could only come into being within and through the
material world and the constituents of the material world were united by the common
desire to become their will. That is why the dif f erent procedures of divination not
only led to identical conclusions but f urnished complementary insights. Hence it was
obvious that conclusions based on astral observations could be refined through extispicy,
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Divination

culture

and

the handling

of the future

for instance, or that stellar signs always had to be examined together with terrestrial
ones. It was taken as evident that the different sign systems of sky, the earth or the
complex surface of a sacrificial animal's liver were all 'saying the same thing'. Such
a concept must have been deeply influenced by the Mesopotamian scholars' longestablished habit of bilingualism.
The Babylonian interpreters of signs did not only collect signs to predict the future
but considered a future that had become present by looking for related signs, or those
that may have been overlooked, among events of the past. One product of such a
search is a document know as the 'Babylonian Book of Prodigies', which brings
together 47 signs of different provenance which collectively led to the 'downfall of
the land Akkad' (Kessler-Guinan 2002). The collection known as 'Astronomical
Diaries, assembled over centuries, can also be seen as a daring long-term project to
record the signs of the world in greater detail (Hunger and Sachs 1988-1996). These
'diaries' were produced in the form of annual reports which record not only astral
signs and meteorological data, but also the price of staples, the water levels, ominous
terrestrial events, as well as significant historical happenings. The aim must have
been to register regularities in world events in order to make such knowledge useful
for the political activities of the (royal) client.

T H E I M P O R T A N C E OF O M I N A A N D
ORACLES IN B A B Y L O N I A N SOCIETY
The extraordinary amount of writing concerned with the 'science of portents' and oracles
in the second and first millennia BC reveal that the future was ultimately considered
as a threat, something that had to be reified in time in order to deal with it.
Mesopotamian omina can be seen as a sort of warning of what was to come rather
than an attempt to predict the future. They made it possible to act before the foreseen
could actually happen. Divination was, therefore, not an expression of fatalism or a
listless resignation. Instead, it allowed shape to be given to an amorphous, in many
situations threatening, future. This deprives the at first unfathomable future of some
of its dread. After all, the perspective towards the future as revealed by the omen
marshalls a human response, a directive that was needed especially when the portents
were bad. Omina concretized the future which could then be furthered or prevented
by specific actions. In this way, the omen lore fulfilled the purpose of modern trend
predications or statistics. A vital difference, however, was the fact that Babylonians
considered the appearance of negative signs as the manifestation of an essentially
benign divine will. The various oracular procedures made it possible to consider
important, or even controversial decisions as not having been made by a possibly
errant individual but by the will of the gods. Since the oracles and omina must have
enhanced the decisiveness and self-confidence of the rulers who utilized them, they
were politically highly important and effective. To what extent the knowledge of
diviners was considered to be of hegemonic impact (Pongratz-Leisten 1999) can be
seen in the wording of oaths taken by omen interpreters (Durand 1988: 13-15), as
well as in the fact that the specialist tablet collections were plundered on royal
command (Lambert 1957/58: 44). N or is it surprising that everything to do with
omina was seen as 'classified' by large sectors of the population.
363

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M.

Maul

After the fall of the Neo-Babylonian empire, the Greeks and Romans used the
title 'Chald ean' (a synonym for 'Babylonian') to d esignate the much appreciated
Babylonian soothsayers, astrologers, d iviners, incantation priests and scholars.
This also shows how much the science of omina and oracles were consid ered the
most characteristic trait of Mesopotamian culture d uring classical antiquity.

T H E A R E A S OF C O M P E T E N C E OF T H E
VARIOUS D I V I N A T O R Y PRACTICES
Increasingly complex political structures forced the kings to submit their relationship
to the god s to a form of permanent scrutiny. Such a practice would be able to d iagnose
and soothe any enflamed d ivine wrath before it could unleash its d estructive potential
to d estabilize a dynasty and the whole kingd om. Astrology was almost id eally suited
to this purpose because the night sky could be observed and 'd eciphered ' at
professionally staffed observation posts. In Mesopotamian cosmology, the sky above
the earth was seen as its mirror image and its signs concerned 'all four corners of the
world '. Accord ing to litetary sources from the first millennium BC, the movements
of the stars in all their complexity were consid ered as a stellar script which gave
initiates permanent access to the evolving d ivine intentions, to which other method s
of d ivination could only have momentary access. T h i s universal applicability of
astrology contributed greatly to its popularity d uring the second and first millennia
BC. Political lead ers with imperial intentions beyond the Mesopotamian heartland
found it an invaluable source of information on a universal scale.
In contrast to astral signs, terrestrial signs were perceived within a much more
circumscribed rad ius and hard ly observed systematically. Unless they were visible
across larger d istances or of such momentous nature that they caused a great stir,
such as really weird birth d efects, they were generally not consid ered relevant for
political or social contexts on a large scale and only achieved local interest. Terrestrial
omina obtained the status of royal or national importance only if they occurred in
places visited by the king. A l t h o u g h royal ord inances d ecreed that terrestrial omina
should be painstakingly tecord ed , they were only collected systematically if othet
omina, for instance an impend ing lunar eclipse, had ind icated a grave d anger for the
king. Then more d etailed guid ance was sought to obtain more precise ind ications in
ord er to counteract the potential ill fortune by magical means.
W e have seen that Babylonian d iviners d id not rely solely on spontaneous signs
of nature but solicited provoked responses. Oracles which d elivered d ivine verd icts
were particularly popular because they mad e it possible to check whether a planned
activity had the god s' approval of not. Especially extispicy became an important royal
d evice to legitimize d ecisions and thus it had a great political importance, although
it could also be used for private purposes. Other, less costly and time-consuming
forms of d ivination were also available, for all levels of Babylonian society.

T H E L I M I T A T I O N S OF O M I N A A N D

ORACLES

Although the achievements of diviners were highly respected and inspired great confi
dence, cuneiform sources known as W i s d o m Literature also document the conviction
that diviners were unable to deal with all contingences of life within their hermeneutic
364

Divination

culture

and

the

handling

of the future

f r a m e w o r k . O n the other h a n d , a l t h o u g h literary sources refer t o c i r c u m s t a n c e s w h e r e

p e o p l e have d i s r e g a r d e d d i v i n e 'signs', there is n o t a s i n g l e d o c u m e n t w h i c h c h a l l e n g e s
t h e f u n d a m e n t a l efficacy o f d i v i n a t i o n . D o u b t s a b o u t t h e c o m p e t e n c e a n d r e l i a b i l i t y
o f i n d i v i d u a l d i v i n e r s , h o w e v e r , are a m p l y d o c u m e n t e d in literary a n d n o n - l i t e r a r y
sources.

SIGNS OF T H E S K Y : A S T R O L O G I C A L

OMINA

A n exact o b s e r v a t i o n o f t h e s k y was needed for a g r i c u l t u r a l a n d c a l e n d r i c purposes,

especially in o r d e r t o c a l i b r a t e l u n a r m o n t h s w i t h t h e solar year. T h e e x p e r i e n c e that
c o n d i t i o n s o f t h e s k y , t h e stars, w i n d a n d w e a t h e r c o u l d f u r n i s h u s e f u l i n f o r m a t i o n
m u s t have h a d a v e r y l o n g h i s t o r y in M e s o p o t a m i a . Since h i g h l y e v o l v e d

omen

c o m p e n d i a were available a n d t r a n s m i t t e d i n the O l d B a b y l o n i a n p e r i o d , the b e g i n n i n g s

o f astral d i v i n a t i o n m u s t g o b a c k t o t h e t h i r d m i l l e n n i u m BC.
T o w a r d s t h e e n d o f t h e second m i l l e n n i u m , astral o m i n a ( l u n a r , solar, w e a t h e r ,
e a r t h q u a k e , p l a n e t s a n d star o m i n a ) w e r e c o l l e c t e d i n an all e n c o m p a s s i n g series called
enuma Anu

Enlil

after its m y t h o l o g i c a l i n t r o d u c t o r y l i n e ( K o c h - W e s t e n h o l z

1995:

7 7 ; H u n g e r a n d P i n g r e e 1 9 9 9 : 14). T h e apodoses o f t h e a s t r o l o g i c a l w o r k all concern

t h e w e l l b e i n g o f t h e c o l l e c t i v e a n d the k i n g . It c o n t a i n s n o t o n l y i n f o r m a t i o n a b o u t
m i l i t a r y m a t t e r s , harvest y i e l d s a n d t h e fate o f t h e k i n g d o m b u t p r o g n o s e s a b o u t
o t h e r parts o f t h e w o r l d . C a t a l o g u e s , as w e l l as a short v e r s i o n , a l l o w e d s o m e o v e r v i e w
over t h i s text w h i c h c o m p r i s e s several t h o u s a n d entries. F u r t h e r m o r e , there were
excerpts u n d e r d i f f e r e n t h e a d i n g s , as w e l l as c o m m e n t a r i e s , for t h e purposes o f s t u d y i n g
a n d t e a c h i n g , as w e l l as for d i v i n a t o r y practice.
Astronomically
Together

with

t r a i n e d e x p e r t s called t h e m s e l v e s 'scribes o f enuma Anu

the incantation

s p e c i a l i s t s (asipu)

they

Enlil'.

w e r e r e s p o n s i b l e for

the

i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f stellar s i g n s , w h i c h a l w a y s h a d t o b e c o n s i d e r e d i n c o n n e c t i o n w i t h
tertestrial s i g n s , never in i s o l a t i o n , as t h e M a n u a l for D i v i n a t i o n expressively records.
T h e d a n g e r p r e d i c t e d in an astral e v e n t c o u l d be averted by the a p p r o p t i a t e rituals.
T h e d e a t h o f t h e k i n g , for instance, presaged b y a lunar eclipse or an e a r t h q u a k e ,
c o u l d be p r e v e n t e d b y the r i t u a l o f the ' s u b s t i t u t e k i n g ' . T h e idea that t h e p o w e r o f
t h e stars i n f l u e n c e s the lives o f i n d i v i d u a l s ( P a r p o l a 1 9 8 3 : x x i i - x x x i i ; B o t t e r o 1 9 9 2 :
1 3 8 1 5 5 ) has great a n t i q u i t y (already d o c u m e n t e d in the H i t t i t e o m e n c o l l e c t i o n s )
b u t t h e earliest c u n e i f o r m p r o t o c o l s c o n c e r n i n g the p o s i t i o n o f stars at the b i r t h o f
a c h i l d d a t e o n l y f r o m t h e t h e fifth c e n t u r y BC. T h e c e n t u r y - l o n g a c t i v i t i e s o f B a b y l o n
ian astro lo gers exerted c o n s i d e r a b l e i n f l u e n c e o n E g y p t i a n , I n d i a n a n d G t e e k a s t r o l o g y
and led t o calculated astro no my d u r i n g the Seleucid-Parthian perio d.

S I G N S OF T I M E
T h e t h e o r y o f g e n e r a l l y f a v o u r a b l e o r u n f a v o u r a b l e d a y s , as w e l l as days a n d m o n t h s
that were f a v o u r a b l e o r u n f a v o u r a b l e fo r p a r t i c u l a t a c t i v i t i e s , is d o c u m e n t e d i n the
Akkadian

h e m e ro lo g i e s a n d

m e no lo g i e s

kno wn

f ro m t h e m i d d l e o f t h e

s e co n d

m i l l e n n i u m u n t i l t h e end o f c u n e i f o r m w r i t i n g . T h e i n s i g h t that there was a c o n n e c t i o n

b e t w e e n t h e f u n d a m e n t a l m e a n i n g o f a s i g n a n d t h e t i m i n g o f its m a n i f e s t a t i o n led
to

t h e f o r m u l a t i o n o f tules w h i c h co nsidered certain t i m e s t o be o m i n o u s fo r certain

a c t i v i t i e s . A m a i n l y m e n o l o g i c a l l y o rdered calendar, d a t i n g f r o m the last t h i r d o f the

365

Stefan

second m i l l e n n i u m a n d k n o w n as iqqur

M.

Maul

ipus ('he d e m o l i s h e d , h e b u i l t u p ' ) p r o v i d e s

i n f o r m a t i o n in t h e f o r m o f lists a n d tables as to w h e n a c t i v i t i e s s u c h as b u i l d i n g
w o r k s or certain r i t u a l s , w e r e a u s p i c o u s or u n a u s p i c i o u s . S i n c e t h e t e x t was p r e s e n t e d
in o m e n f o r m ( ' I f h e b u i l d s a house in t h e m o n t h s x , t h e n . . .') it a l l o w e d

quick

access as t o t h e f u t u r e s i g n i f i c a n c e o f d a i l y events t h a t w e r e c o n s i d e r e d o m i n o u s , or
o f certain diseases, fires, or i m p o r t a n t astral s i g n s for each m o n t h o f t h e year.

S IGNS

OF T H E

EARTH

Terrestrial o m i n a and the collection summa

alu

T h e u n u s u a l b e h a v i o u r o f a n i m a l s , e x t r a o r d i n a r y h a p p e n i n g s in a n d a r o u n d t h e h o u s e ,
peculiarities o f p l a n t s , w e r e all c o n s i d e r e d to p o i n t t o w a r d s forces t h a t m a y c o m p r o m i s e
t h e safety o f h u m a n existence. U n b i d d e n s i g n s o f this n a t u r e w e r e p r o b a b l y o b s e r v e d ,
c o l l e c t e d a n d p o n d e r e d as early as t h e p r e h i s t o r i c a l p e r i o d . K n o w l e d g e o f the h i d d e n
c o n n e c t i o n s b e t w e e n terrestrial s i g n s a n d t h e i r effects o n h u m a n b e i n g s were considered
o f such i m p o r t a n c e t h a t o m e n c o m p e n d i a l i s t i n g such s i g n s a n d t h e i r o u t c o m e s were
already w r i r t e n d o w n in t h e O l d B a b y l o n i a n p e r i o d . T h e y can b e seen as precursors
o f the very c o m p r e h e n s i v e c o l l e c t i o n o f terrestrial o m i n a t h a t are first d o c u m e n t e d
for the e l e v e n t h c e n t u r y BC ( F r e e d m a n 1 9 9 8 : 1 3 ) b u t f u l l y represented b y t h e m u c h
later texts in the l i b r a r y o f t h e N e o - A s s y r i a n k i n g A s h u r b a n i p a l . T h i s series, c o m p r i s i n g
at least 1 2 0 t h e m a t i c a l l y d e f i n e d tablets a n d m o r e t h a n 1 0 , 0 0 0 entries, was called
after its i n i t i a l l i n e summa alu ina mele sakin

( ' w h e n a c i t y is b u i l t o n h i g h g r o u n d ' ) .

T h e m a j o r i t y o f s i g n s in this c o l l e c t i o n w e r e g a t h e r e d f r o m t h e n a t u r a l u r b a n a n d
rural e n v i r o n m e n t o f the M e s o p o t a m i a n p o p u l a c e a n d n o t t h e royal c o u r t . A p a r t f r o m
signs o r i g i n a t i n g f r o m the i m m e d i a t e surroundings o f the h u m a n h o m e ( w i t h i n the
house, i n a n i m a l s , a n d in o t h e r v a r i o u s m a n i f e s t a t i o n s o f a n d a r o u n d t h e h o u s e , tablets
1 - 5 3 ) , t h e series is d e d i c a t e d t o o m i n o u s s i g n s w i t h i n t h e c i t y , t h e fields a n d g a r d e n s
(tablets 5 4 - 6 0 ) , i n rivers a n d watercourses (tablets 6 1 6 3 ) ,

an

trle

birds of the

s k y ( t a b l e t s 6 4 7 9 ) . O t h e r s e c t i o n s are d e v o t e d t o t h e b e h a v i o u r o f h u m a n s

and

a n i m a l s (tablets 8 0 8 7 , 1 0 3 - 1 0 4 ) . T h e o r i g i n a l k e r n e l o f t h e c o m p o s i t i o n m u s t have
been h o u s e a n d c i t y o m i n a , h e n c e t h e j u s t i f i e d n a m e o f t h e w h o l e c o l l e c t i o n as 'If a
c i t y ' ( t a b l e t s 1 - 8 8 ) . O t h e r sections o f w o r k t h a t e n u m e r a t e i n t e r p r e t a t i v e rules for
oracular p r o c e d u r e s a n d are therefore n o t u n p r o v o k e d o m i n a , m u s t b e later a d d i t i o n s .
I t also n o t e w o r t h y t h a t t h e m a j o r i t y o f t h e a p o d o s e s o f h o u s e a n d c i t y o m i n a c o n c e r n
t h e w e l l - b e i n g a n d h e a l t h o f t h e p e r s o n s in w h o s e h o u s e h o l d t h e y w e r e o b s e r v e d ,
rather t h a n royal or p u b l i c c o n c e r n s . T e r r e s t r i a l s i g n s d i d n o t refer t o an u n a l t e r a b l e
f u t u r e s i n c e t h e d i v i n e r s w e r e t r a i n e d t o avert t h e p o t e n t i a l m i s f o r t u n e before it c o u l d
h a p p e n , w h i c h is w h y a l m o s t all t h e m a i n t h e m a t i c sections c o n t a i n
rituals ( M a u l

redemption

1994).

D e s p i t e t h e e n o r m o u s s c o p e o f t h e terrestrial o m e n series, t h e user was a b l e t o

n a v i g a t e it w i t h t h e h e l p o f c a t a l o g u e s a n d t h e m a t i c a l l y ordered s h o r t versions. N u m
erous excerpts a n d c o m m e n t a r i e s p r o v e t h e e x t e n t o f its usefuleness to scribes a n d
scholars.
T e r r e s t r i a l s i g n s , q u i t e u n l i k e the h e a v e n l y s i g n s c o u l d n o t be o b s e r v e d s y s t e m a t i c
a l l y . T h e r e f o r e , e x t r a o r d i n a r y o c c u r e n c e s h a d t o be r e p o r t e d t o t h e k i n g i f t h e y were
s u s p e c t e d t o c o n c e r n t h e p u b l i c welfare. W r i t t e n reports a b o u t s u c h s i g n s are k n o w n

366

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culture

and

the

handling

of the

future

f r o m t h e O l d B a b y l o n i a n , as w e l l as t h e first m i l l e n n i u m BC. T h e y were i n t e r p r e t e d ,

at least d u r i n g the latter p e r i o d , b y the i n c a n t a t i o n specialist, the asipu. T h e h e r m e n e u t i c
p r i n c i p l e s o f i n t e r p r e t a t i o n w h i c h c a n n o t be r e d u c e d to s i m p l e f o l k rules r e m a i n to
be i n v e s t i g a t e d . V a r i o u s ' h a n d b o o k s ' w a r n p r a c t i o n e r s n o t t o c o n s i d e r terrestrial signs
w i t h o u t c o r r e l a t i n g t h e m t o astral ones.

Birth omina
T e r a t o m a n c y ( f r o m G r e e k teras ' m o n s t e r ' a n d manteia

' p r e d i c t i o n ' ) , the p r o c e d u r e o f

d e r i v i n g i n s i g h t s i n t o the f u t u r e f r o m t h e m a l f o r m a t i o n s o f n e w b o r n h u m a n s a n d
a n i m a l s , was o n e o f the m o s t i m p o r t a n t B a b y l o n i a n d i v i n a t i o n m e t h o d s . T h e appearance
a n d f o r m a t i o n o f b i r t h defects {izbu) were regarded as c o n c e r n i n g p r i m a r i l y the f u t u r e
o f t h e w h o l e c o u n t r y a n d h e n c e the k i n g s h i p . T e r a t o m a n t i c c o m p e n d i a were already
w r i t t e n in the O l d B a b y l o n i a n p e r i o d b u t t h e first c o m p r e h e n s i v e c o l l e c t i o n , c o n s i s t i n g
o f 2 4 tablets, c o m e s f r o m t h e l i b r a r y o f A s h u r b a n i p a l a n d was called summa izbu ('if
a b i r t h defect') ( L e i c h t y 1 9 7 0 ) . T h e protases deal w i t h all t h e varieties o f p o s s i b l e
c o n g e n i t a l m a l f o r m a t i o n s . A s m e n t i o n e d , the m a j o r i t y o f t h e apodoses concern the
k i n g . T h e f e w e x c e p t i o n s w h i c h d o c u m e n t p r i v a t e usage m a i n l y refer t o the person
i n w h o s e h o u s e h o l d the m a l f o r m a t i o n o c c u r e d . A n izbu was e x a m i n e d b y a baru 'seer',
a specialist in t h e i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f e x t i s p i c y . S o m e t i m e s , an izbu

o b s e r v e d in the

c o u n t r y was p i c k l e d a n d sent t o t h e c i t y for a m o r e d e t a i l e d e x a m i n a t i o n . T h e r e are

texts f r o m the first m i l l e n n i u m w h i c h c o n c e r n t h e p u r i f i c a t i o n rituals t h a t h a d t o be
p e r f o r m e d in t h e h o u s e w h e r e the b i r t h defect h a d h a p p e n e d .

SIGNS ON H U M A N BEINGS:
O M E N C O L L E C T I O N S AS A I D S I N T H E
E X A M I N A T I O N OF H U M A N B O D I E S
B a b y l o n i a n healers c o u l d also m a k e use or a c o m p r e h e n s i v e c o l l e c t i o n of s o - c a l l e d
d i a g n o s t i c a n d p r o g n o s t i c o m i n a w h i c h were c o m p i l e d in t h e e l e v e n t h c e n t u r y BC
a n d t r a n s m i t t e d i n t o t h e S e l e u c i d p e r i o d . T h e y c o n t a i n e d t h o u s a n d s o f entries des
c r i b i n g s y m p t o m s (in t h e p r o t a s i s ) w i t h c o m m e n t s a b o u t the chances o f recovery a n d
t h e n a t u r e o f t h e disease c o n c e r n e d ( i n t h e a p o d s i s ) ( H e e f M 2 0 0 0 ) . A s soon as the
d e i t y w h o had sent the a f f l i c t i o n was i d e n t i f i e d b y m e a n s o f t h e o m e n c o l l e c t i o n , the
i n c a n t a t i o n specialist c o u l d p r o c e e d w i t h the t h e r a p y . T h i s c o n s i s t e d as m u c h o f a
r e c o n c i l i a t i o n w i t h t h e g o d s achieved b y m a g i c - r e l i g i o u s m e a n s as m e d i c a l t r e a t m e n t
i n t h e m o d e r n sense. N u m e r o u s m e d i c a l - t h e r a p e u t i c c u n e i f o r m texts s h o w clearly that
t h e B a b y l o n i a n s c o n s i d e r e d b o t h t r e a t m e n t s as a s i n g l e , h o m o g e n e o u s

discipline.

V a r i o u s c o m p e n d i a o f p h y s i o g n o mi c o m i n a a n d others w h i c h are concerned w i t h h u m a n

b e h a v i o u r p r o v i d e d p r o g n o s e s a b o u t p o s s i b l e life e x p e c t a n c y , the general state o f health,
t h e character a n d t h e social s t a n d i n g o f t h e i n v e s t i g a t e d p e r s o n . O m i n a c o n c e r n i n g
w o m e n refer t o f e r t i l i t y as w e l l as p r o g n o s e s for her f u t u r e h u s b a n d a n d his h o u s e h o l d .
T h e p h y s i o g n o m i c o m e n c o l l e c t i o n served d i v i n e r s as a t e a c h i n g a n d reference w o r k
for the s c r u t i n y o f h u m a n b e i n g s . It was t h u s m u c h in d e m a n d at c o u r t , o n occasions
w h e n p e o p l e were a b o u t t o be a d m i t t e d t o the i n n e r circle a r o u n d the k i n g , achieve
h i g h office, or g e t m a r r i e d t o a h i g h status person.

367

S IGN
S

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M.

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D U R I N G S LEEP: D R E A M

OMINA

Procedures c o n c e r n i n g d r e a m i n t e r p r e t a t i o n are m e n t i o n e d in the oldest c o m p r e h e n s i b l e

c u n e i f o r m t e x t f r o m M a r i , d a t i n g f r o m t h e m i d - t h i r d m i l l e n n i u m BC ( B o n e c h i a n d
Durand

1992). A

m a n t i c a l l y i m p o r t a n t d r e a m w h i c h was n o t i m m e d i a t e l y

clear,

say t h r o u g h a d i v i n e m e s s a g e , h a d t o b e i n t e r p r e t e d regardless o f w h e t h e r t h e d r e a m
had been s o l i c i t e d t h r o u g h t h e i n c u b a t i o n r i t u a l or appeared s p o n t a n e o u s l y . T h i s was
d o n e b y t h e barum
A k k a d . sa'ilu(rn),

'seer', as w e l l as b y m a l e a n d f e m a l e ' q u e s t i o n e r s ' ( S u m . ensi,

sailtum)

w h o clarified t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n t h e d r e a m c o n t e n t

a n d f u t u r e h a p p e n i n g s , n o t least t o a l l o w c o u n t e r m e a s u r e s t o b e t a k e n i n t i m e .
D e s p i t e t h e g r e a t a n t i q u i t y o f M e s o p o t a m i a n d r e a m o m i n a , there are f e w tablets
o u t s i d e A s h u r b a n i p a l ' s l i b r a r y w h i c h p u t t o g e t h e r i m a g e s a n d e v e n t s seen i n d r e a m s ,
a n d t h e i r m e a n i n g . A s h u r b a n i p a l ' s e d i t i o n , k n o w n t o us as the ' T h e A s s y r i a n D r e a m
B o o k ' , was c a l l e d iskar Za/iqiqu

after t h e d r e a m - g o d Z a q i q u / Z i q i q u a n d c o m p r i s e d

11 tablets ( e d i t i o n : O p p e n h e i m 1 9 5 6 ) . M a n y o f t h e d e s c r i b e d d r e a m m o t i v e s d o n o t
occur in real life or transgress a g a i n s t e x i s t i n g m o r a l a n d e t h i c a l standards.

The

i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s c o n t a i n e d in t h e a p o d o s e s a l w a y s c o n c e r n p r i v a t e m a t t e r s as w e l l as
p r o g n o s e s a b o u t success, h e a l t h a n d life e x p e c t a n c y . A separate c h a p t e r c o n c e r n e d the
dreams of the k i n g and their m e a n i n g .
D r e a m s b y t h i r d persons t h a t w e r e c o n s i d e r e d i m p o r t a n t h a d t o b e r e p o r t e d t o t h e
k i n g a n d t h e n i n t e r p r e t e d (see, for i n s t a n c e , D u r a n d

1988: 4 5 5 - 4 8 2 ) . A

prognosis

s u p p l i e d b y a d r e a m i n t e r p r e t a t i o n c o u l d b e m a d e m o r e precise b y a d d i t i o n a l d i v i n a t o r y
p r o c e d u r e s . T h e r e were n u m e r o u s r i t u a l s t o p r o c u r e d r e a m o m i n a , as w e l l as those
m e a n t t o avert t h e p r e d i c t e d

misfortune.

I N V E S T I G A T I O N OF S A C R I F I C I A L A N I M A LS ,
OF T H E I R E N T R A I L S ( E X T I S P I C Y ) , T H E I R L I V E R S
(HEPATOS COPY)
T h e o b s e r v a t i o n o f a sacrificial a n i m a l ( g e n e r a l l y a s h e e p ) d u r i n g a n d after the sacrifice,
t h e i n s p e c t i o n o f its carcass a n d i n n e r o r g a n s , was first d o c u m e n t e d in M e s o p o t a m i a
in t h e t h i r d m i l l e n n i u m a n d t h e n spread t h r o u g h o u t t h e A n c i e n t N e a r East a n d the
classical M e d i t e r r a n e a n

(though

not to E g y p t ) . It p r o m i s e d

insights into

future

h a p p e n i n g s as w e l l as d i v i n e a p p r o v a l or d i s a p p r o v a l for i m p o r t a n t d e c i s i o n s .
It w a s h e l d in h i g h e s t e s t e e m d u r i n g all p e r i o d s o f M e s o p o t a m i a n h i s t o r y because
it p r o v i d e d for t h e rulers t h e u l t i m a t e l e g i t i m a t i o n for d e c i s i o n s c o n c e r n i n g p o l i t i c a l ,
m i l i t a r y , p e r s o n a l a n d r e l i g i o u s m a t t e r s . T h e e x a m i n a t i o n o f t h e sacrificial sheep,
w h i c h e s t a b l i s h e d a d i r e c t l i n e o f c o m m u n i c a t i o n b e t w e e n m a n a n d g o d , h a d sacra
m e n t a l character a n d w a s p e r f o r m e d as a r i t u a l b y a p r o f e s s i o n a l d i v i n e r . T h e sacrifice
was d i r e c t l y related t o t h e i n t e n t i o n o f the sacrificer.
A l m o s t i n n u m e r a b l e n u m b e r s o f c u n e i f o r m tablets d o c u m e n t t h e v a r i o u s f o r m s o f
sacrificial d i v i n a t i o n , f r o m t h e O l d B a b y l o n i a n p e r i o d o n w a r d . A p a r t f r o m t h e tablets
that c o n s t i t u t e d a sort o f ' h a n d b o o k ' w h i c h d i v i n e r s a n d t h e i r s t u d e n t s c o p i e d a g a i n
a n d a g a i n for reference a n d t e a c h i n g p u r p o s e s a n d w h i c h were c o l l e c t e d i n t o s o m e t i m e s
very larg e series o f o m e n c o l l e c t i o n s a n d o m e n c o m m e n t a r i e s , there were i n c a n t a
t i o n s for t h e r i t u a l c o n t e x t o f such d i v i n a t i o n (Starr 1 9 8 3 ; L a m b e r t 1 9 9 5 ) , as w e l l as
d e t a i l e d i n s t r u c t i o n s for such rituals ( Z i m m e r n

368

1 9 0 1 , N r . 1 - 2 5 and N r .

71-101).

Divination

culture

and

the handling

of the future

Protocols about specific oracular rituals and the letters exchanged between rulers and
their advisers, dating from the second and first millennia BC, allow a deep insight
into the practice of sacrificial divination. The ritual instruction tablets for the diviner
(barum), trace the origin of extispicy to Enmeduranki, the first prediluvian (mythical)
king of Sippar. He had been granted access to the 'secret of heaven and earth' by the
gods Shamash and Adad, to pass it on to 'the sons of N ippur, Sippar and Babylon'
(Lambert 1998).
Around the turn from the second to the first millennium BC, the written sources
about sacrificial divination underwent a process of large-scale systematization, most
likely in response to the increasingly powerful role of Mesopotamian kings, who
demanded a comprehensive and reliable system of divination. This process culminated
with the edition of a work called iskar baruti (Koch-Westenholz 2000: 27-31),
which brings together thousands of sacrificial omina on some 100 tablets, sub-divided
into ten series. King Ashurbanipal, who declares in a colophon that he made copies
with his own hand 'in the assembly of scholars', had the first-known examples of the
massive compendium in his library (Jeyes 1997). The series describes in great detail
the outer appearance of the sacrificial sheep, the shape of its entrails, and particularly
the 'topography' of the liver, gall bladder and the lungs. It was made easy to use by
the list form of the individual tablets and by catalogues. For the purposes of further
studies and for practical purposes, there were numerous excerpts (Koch-Westenholz
2000: 437-473).
The apodoses of the omina almost exclusively address the concerns of the king and
the state: the well-being of the royal family, catastrophes and good harvest, wealth
of the kingdom, epidemics and, last but not least, success in warfare. The huge
importance of the omen collection for the exercise of kingship can be seen by the
fact that Tukulti-Ninurta I ordered the confiscation of extispicy tablets on the occasion
of his Babylonian campaign (Lambert 1957/58: 44) and by the efforts made by
Ashurbanipal to assemble all relevant texts in his library.
Oracle questions from the Old Babylonian period (Durand 1988: 24-34, 44-46
and passim) and the first millennium (Starr 1990) also document the enormous
political importance of sacrificial divination at Mesopotamian courts. They also show
that strict secrecy surrounded not only the object of enquiry but the knowledge of
the discipline as such, which constituted vital 'hegemonic knowledge'. A considerable
proportion of royal enquiries concerned decisions of a military and strategic nature
and many must have been made during campaigns. Others were meant to clarify the
success of a war, the development of threatening situations in the provinces and
occupied territories.
Private queries generally concern the health and well-being of the person consulting
the oracle but there are also some about the likely outcome of business ventures.
Occasionally there are questions concerning the fidelity of a wife.
Prayers and rituals frequently refer to the inner organs of the sacrificial sheep as
a 'tablet' inscribed by the gods which reflects the hermeneutic basis of extispicy. The
richly structured surface of the liver was seen as a text, rather like the night sky,
which described the human world in an initially incomprehensible but ultimately
accessible manner. The various observed individual phenomena were like the ideograms
of the cuneiform script which have more than one reading (and meaning), the correct
one of which is made clear only through context. An oracular result could be classified
369

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M.

Maul

Figure 25.1 Old Bab ylonian clay model of a sheep's liver, c. 1700 BC. The text refers to the
ominous implications of any mark in that place (courtesy of The Trustees of the British Museum).

as auspicious (positive), unclear, or unauspicious (negative). In the worst case, as in

the absence of a certain sign on the liver (Leiderer 1990: 24), it meant that the deity
was absent and refused to enter into communication with the person commissioning
the oracle. Some of the more unusual results were considered to be highly dangerous
and the negative effects had to b e averted b y specially constructed rituals.
The Mesopotamian practice of sacrificial divination had a widespread influence.
Collections of omina from Mesopotamia were found at the courts of Anatolia, Syria
and Iran as early as the second millennium BC and they were translated into different
languages (Hi trite, Hurrian, Ugaritic). Ancient Israel practised it under Mesopotamian
influence, as did the Greeks, Etruscans and Romans.

OTHER

ORACLES

The inspection of (sacrificial) b irds ('ornithoscopy') involved the appearance of the

b ody of a dead and plucked b ut unopened b ird where spots on the skin were given
particular attention. Existing omen compendia from the Old Bab ylonian period show
370

Divination

l
cu ture

and

the handl ing

of the future

that this form of divination was also used by kings and generals since not a few refer
to future wars or warn of enemies (edition: Durand 1997).
The patterns made by oil poured into a bowl of water (lecanomancy, from Greek
l ekdne 'bowl') was also considered as an ancient divinely sanctioned practice. It appears
that the plant oil used for the oracle was seen as a sacrifice to the gods, and thus a
vehicle of divine communication in itself. The diviner poured oil on the water filling
the basin and then more water on top of the oil. The oracular result was derived from
the colour, the direction and form of movement the oil made. Oil and water were
seen as opposing forces and their collision triggered movements understood as a fight
between two principles. The inherent hermeneutic principle of the oil omina can also
be revealed by the fact that one could elicit information about the relationship between
two people by pouring out a few drops of oil 'for' these persons and then examining
how they behave towards each other (edition: Pettinato 1966).
L ibanomancy (from Greek Itbanos 'incense'), the method of using incense to gain
insights into the future, is first known from the third millennium BC and omen
collections are, so far, only documented in four Old Babylonian tablets (Finkel
1983/84). Here, too, incense was seen as an offering to the gods who then communicated
their will by means of its substance. The diviner sprinkled flour or incense into a
container with glowing coals and observed the shape of the resulting fire or smoke.
While some of the apodoses provide answers for private queries, the majority show
clearly that military leaders consulted this oracle on royal command. They were
technically easy enough to perform even in the midst of battle.
Aleuromancy, divining by means of scattered flour (from Greek dl euron 'flour') is,
so far, only known from a single late Babylonian omen tablet (Nougayrol 1963).
There is little evidence that oracles concerning birds in flight played an important
role in Mesopotamia, unlike in Anatolia. Unsolicited signs concerning flying birds,
however, were carefully observed.
Popular forms of folk divination which everybody could undertake were doubtlessly
important during all periods of Mesopotamian history but because they were easily
accessible they rarely entered the written evidence.

BIBL IOGRAPHY
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