DIVINATION AS A SCIENCE IN ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIAI)

Ulle Jevss(LoNooN) in The science questionis the type of divination which by variousassyriologists "inductive" or "deductive", "empirical", has been called "artificially procured", "provoked", or "deliberatelysought out", whicheverterm one would choosefor A sheep, oil, libanomancy, and aleuromancy2). slaughtered lecanomancy, extispicy, in incense and flour were all ingredients a food offeringto a deity, and it was in a sacrificial setting that these particularly Mesopotamian types of divinarion were based3). who performedthese The barfi, "diviner" or "examiner", was the professional was by far the most important and complex extispicy typesof divination.Of these, to the challenge the diviner. methodand the one which presented greatest The barfi fulfilled many roles as: a man of educationand learning,a scribe,a a copyist,an editor,a librarian,a masterof ceremonies, man of god, an anatomist, and a courtier. The few who reachedthe top of their professionwere called "experts" or "masters"4). ummdnil, as outsidethe omen literature the task of the diviner is summarized In sources "the'touch of hand', the follows: lipit qati hiniq immeri naqEniq| nEpeitibarftti, restriction(?) of the sheep, the offering of the sacrifice,the performanceof extispicy"s).

I i' L

*.

1) Text of a lecturepresented the Symposium,"Sciencein Ancient Mesopotamia", Leiden, 14-15 at May 1992. 2) The various descriptiveterms have beenby compiled by O. Gurney in M. Loewe and C. Blacker (eds.),Divinationand Oracles(London l98l) 142and n. 3. 3) For the divinationfrom slaughtered pluckedfowl, see J.-M. Durand,ARM 26I/1 (Paris1988) and ll. a) For the title ummdnu, S. J. Lieberman,"Canonical and Official Cuneiform Texts: Towards an see and PersonalTablet Collection", in: T. Abusch, J. Huehnergard of Understanding Assurbanipal's P. Steinkeller(eds.),Lingering over ll'ords. Moran Homage Volume,HSS 37 (1990)305-336.The title in appearsto have been used mostly by the scholarswho specialized astrology, but a tablet of the "the assembly the ummdni", seeStreck, of by Multdbiltz, is discussed Assurbanipalin extispicy series, DA 13:. I is (Leipzig 1916)II 254:15.The following reference from the mukallimtu,Boissier, Assurbanipal "if your masterasksyou: ...". i-ia-'-al-ka..., 47'.sn-maum-ma-an-ka s) The references quoted in the CAD L, 202. are

24

JAARBERICHT "EX ORIENTE LUX'' 32 -

1991.92

The lipit qdti, I presume,refers to a gestureby which the sacrificialanimal was ritual6). introducedinto the extispicy The hiniq immeri is difficult. Hanaquin the meaning,"to strangle",is hardly wascertainlynot killed by strangulation. a guess, At the appropriate because sheep might refer to a way of handlingand restricting animal prior to the the expression the slaughter. butcheringof the animal The naqEniq| must refer to the killing and subsequent of and perhaps also to the libationsafterwards waterT). The nEpeSti bdrftti refersto the application of knowledgewhen interpreting the entrails. The compositetask of the barft is describeddifferently in the Neo-Assyrian ikribu, Zimmern, BBR no.94+: obv. 2l'-22' (duplicated by Zimmern, BBR nN ana no. 82+ : i 1'-3'): ... ina stttu ENGARZA GARZA.!-fu ih-zi ana ih-zi-iu [ENri{it-kal, "upon a good (omenresult), la-ti ana til-la-ti-irt [n]Ne-mu-qiana e-mu-qi-i{t the masterof the rite has trustedhis rite, the masterof skill his skill, [the masterof his the as]sistence assistence, masterof his strength".According to this tentative all translation, diviner had to mobilizea proper ritual or rile Qtarsu), his skill or the know-how (ihzu), the back-up forces(?) available to him (tillatu), and his own physicalstrength(emuqu)8). Samaiand Adad as follows: ba-ru-taqiIn the sameikributhe diviner addresses "grant me bdritu, give me pJel-ka-a ma-ii-ta lu-uh-su-us, ia-a-ni [pJi-ta-a-niuz-[nt-ia let the intelligence, me remember forgottenknowledge"(Zimmern, BBR no.94+: BBRno. 82+: i 5'-6')' ). obv.23'-24'and duplicate bdriltu from Nineveh,especially colophonsof Assurbanipal's the Other sources in divining required intelligence, Akkadian literally "wide texts, emphasize that (Neu.xu.zu) likewise palkft).NEmequ openear" (uznurapaitu,uznapalkdtu,haslsu colophonsand, like uznu, it refers to god-given occursin the above-mentioned knowledgeor wisdomlo). Ritual texts from Zimmern, B.BRalso specifythat the bdrfi must be kaiid ihzliu, "accomplishedin his craft" LL).Ihzu is gainedfrom mangiveninstructionand perhaps kaiid ihztilushouldsimply be translated"experienced".
6) According to the Mari material, not just the sheepto be sacrificed, also the peoplefor whom but J.-M. Durand,ARM 26 I/1 38weretaken,could be "touched"on their forehead the omens Q)frtu),see 39. ?) SeeZimmern, BBR(Letpzigl90l) no. 84: l0 and duplicate 85: obv. l0: ik-rib l.t'tE5 no. a-za ruors uou.MTe, nel-e, "prayer when libating water for the cut of the ram". 8) The joins which have made a fuller understandingof this important passage possiblehave been the madeby W.G. Lambertwho is publishing ,krrb, texts. e) No. 82: i 6' has: uz-'ni pal-ka'. The reading of this line is uncertain; palkdlpelki must be considered be an error for palkdti. to 10) For the terms for intelligence, H.D. Galter, "Die W<irterftir'Weisheit'im Akkadischen", see Meqor Hajjim. GeorgMolin Festschrift(Graz 1985)89-105. 11) No. l-20: 19and no. 24: obv.42. No,24 has beentreatedin W.G. Lambert"Enmeduranki and Refated Matters".JCS 2l (1967\132-138.

U. JEYES -

DIVINATION AS A SCIENCE IN ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA

25

The intelligence which the diviner was expectedto possess was of the most comprehensive kind and because the very wideness the field he was supposed of of to cover,"scholar" or "scientist"hardly describes bdrft. the Neo-Assyrian ritualsstatefurther requirements the diviner.His eyesmust not for be zaqtaand his finger must not be nakpatL2). The AHw has two verbs,zaqdtuI, "to sting"/"to hurt", "to be pointed". and zaqatuII, Although the exactmeaning of zaqtd t-ndcannotbe ascertained is reasonable suggest it to that the expression refersto a conditionwhich results impairedvision if not blindnessl3). in According to the CAD, there are two verbs nakdpa, I translated "to butt", and tI left untranslated. would suggestthat nakdpuin the mentionedcontext should be I "to butt" and that the relativelycommon apodosis, translated nikip ubani,should be translated:"butting of a finger" and that it, like the expression, ubaniu .ia nakpat,"whosefinger is butting", refersto clumsinessla). Furthermore, according to one Neo-Assyrian ritual, the diviner was not to have chippedteeth eitherls). Perhapsthis requirement should be understoodin the context of the chewingof cedarwhich was part of the purificationritual of the barAr6). Texts from mainly the Old Babylonianand Neo-Assyrian periodssuggest that therewas a bedrockof tradition for the performance extispicies. of The basicpattern can be summarized follows: A ram or lamb was sacrificed, as not to Samai and Adad, but, I believe,to the personalgod of the clientlT). A question about one specific matter and, when relevant, a limited periodwasput for judge to the Divine Council Qtuhru), chairedby Sama5. This deity as the supreme authorized the verdict of the Council to be encodedinto the entrails of the slaughtered animal.The diviner,usingcedaras a cleansing agent,underwent rite a of purificationbeforethe ritual during which the greatgodswereinvited for a meal. The sheepused for divination was killed by cutting the throat, decapitated,and

12) See 4-5 Zimmem,BBRno. 1-20: and no.24: obv. 3l-32. 13) SeeM. Stoll, "Blindness in and NightBlindness Akkadian", JNES45 (1986)295-299, especially 295n. 5. In the commenlary, CT20,26, the followingtwo apodoses parallelled: are obv. l7: tct.2 ltl ri"the man's eyeswill deteriorate(literally: fall ill)", and ial-la (var. CT 20, ll: obv. 27': is-sal-la), CT 20, 26: r. 2'.ni-krpSu.st. la) In CI5l, no. 216: 6', nikip ubdniis menlionedin connectionwith the musicalinstrument,sinnatu. Lack of dexterity would be as disastrousfor the musicianas it was for the diviner. 1s) Zimmern, BBR24: obv.31:he-puz,t.un(. 16) Zimmern, BBR 75+: obv. 16': ctS.rnINina rct-iu i-na-'-is,"he chewscedar in his mouth" (duplicatedby no. 76+ obv. 4); no. I l: iii 7' has: cd.nnn ina rt-irt u-na-['-asJ. The cleansingof the mouth with cedaris also referredto in the Old Babylonianritual, IOS ll no. 22: obv. 6: ak-pu-urpi-ia i"I wipedmy mouth with ... cedar". na ia-bi-imcd.rnrN, 17) The role of personalgod of the client in an extispicywill be dealt with in a monograph under preparation. The following passagegives an indication of the essentialrole played by this deity: Zimmern,BBR no. 88: r. 17'-18':cuB-dzDINGTR-iuduru i-sal-la anadBu-ne-n[e...J suu-indl.ru ana rutuu lt.nlr no.slt dutu il oI[M...],"his (the client's) personalgod is present,he (the personalgod) grantsto the barfrthe secret Samaiand Adad". appeals Sama5, Bunene to to of [...], Sama5

26

JAARBERICHT *EX ORIENTE LUX" 32 _ 1991.92

dismembered accordingto a settledprocedurel8).The liver and the lungs were taken out and subjected a detailedexamination. to The condition of the various parts was recordedand upon a majority of good featuresthe omen anatomical perhaps resultwas declared favourable, with reservations therehad beenadverse if features special of In significance. certaincases, wasdeemed it necessary conduct to a check-upexamination(piqittu) and even a third one. It is not entirely certain whetherthis meantthat one or two more animalswereslaughtered colleagues or of the diviner checked entrailsof the sameanimalle). the The basicrulesof interpretation had beenestablished the time of the earliest by recorded extispicies which are the Mari liver modelsfrom the early Old Babylonian period2o). The main bulk of the omen literatureconsists the compendia of which are composedto a strict pattern of repeatingthe iummo sentence. This grammatical unit first occursin the afore-mentioned liver modelsand it usually consists a of protasiswhich describes givenconditionof the entrailsand an apodosis a which,in somecases, phrased an answerto a question"). Obviously,the ancientscribes is as found this listing of iumma sentences very useful way of communicating a and storingknowledge. Also it was an aid to memorization which the diviner needed in his task. One Neo-Assyrian sourcestates:Zimmern,BBR 11: ii 9': ina eli bel niq bdrfita teppui,"over the owner of the sacrifice you perform bAriltu".In other words, the interpretative apparatus the diviner shouldonly be usedfor the sakeof the client of in a specificsituation.There is nothing to suggest that animalswere slaughtered and entrailsobserved merelyin order to increase study material,althoughone the would have thought that the compilation of additional data from experimentation would havebeenmost useful. However,omenresultsfrom extispicies might havebeenman-made they were but god-given. also Only in a carefullystagedsettingwith an aura of mystiquewould the gods communicate through the entrails.In this settinggod and man, Heaven and Earth met. The link was, as claimed earlier, the personalgod of the client functioning as an intermediarybetweenthe great gods and the human prot6g6. Beforeevencontemplating petition to the Divine Council, the individual had to a keep on good terms with his own personalgod by regular offeringsand also by keepingto a certain standardof appearance, behaviourand ethical values.The

18) See-D.A. Foxvog, "A Manual of SacrificialProcedure",DUMU-Er-DUB-BA-A. Studiesin (Philadelphia1989)167-176. Honor of Ake W. Sji)berg 1e) For the expressions, qdtumandpiqittum,seeJ.-M. Durand,ARM 26 I/l (Paris1988) 46-48. 20) First published M. Rutten,"Trente-deux in moddles foie en argileinscritsprovenant Tellde de Hariri (Mari)", Rl 35 (1938) 36-70. For a studyof these liver models, D.C. Snell,"The Mari Livers see and the OmenTradition", JANES 6 (1974)ll7-123. 21) SeeU. Jeyes, Old Babylonian Extispicy. Omen Texts in the British Museum(Istanbul 1989)44.

U. JEYES

DIVINATION AS A SCIENCE IN ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA

27

r*

:ffi

.-ss

physiognomicomens are one source which highlights the relationship betweena man and his personalgodtt). A good omenresultcould therefore described the crowningglory of this all be as important relationship.But it was also the result of an expensive and laborious ritual and a manifestation god-givenknowledge. of Not surprisingly, barfttu was sometimescalled a nisirtu, "a treasure" or "a secret", i. e. somethingto be safeguarded23). actualomentabletsand, in the first millennium,writing boards The were regardedas manifestations the divine, costly possessions of and therefore something well worth stealing. Because diviner'swork programme the was dictatedby the needs his client his of gradually.Its sacredness studymaterialcould only increase meantvalidity but also, it could not be ignored. Tradition and stagnation,rather than innovation and progress, have caughtthe attentionof assyriologists to redress balance, and I the go to some length to characterizeMesopotamian extispicy as a developing shall science. Therewereindeedsomefactorsin the whole system divinationwhich infused of it with a certaindynamicforce. As already hinted at, the ritual was rich and elaborateand comparableto a in courtcase which the judges,before giving their verdict, had been mollified by There must have beena belief that one could, at leastto splendidentertainment. mould the will of the gods,because somedegree, otherwise, why go to suchlength? Apparently,the Mesopotamians not havea principlewhich corresponds our did to "fate", i.e. something predetermined inevitable and which meant that they did not haveto look to the future in a laid-back,fatalisticframe of mind2a).In partnership with the divineman could,in a sense, shapehis own future, by necessity taken step by step,because systemrequiredregularconsultations acts of extispicy. the by In this form of divinationthe godscould only deliver(or refuseto deliver)an answer to a question.If not askedthey would have to express themselves other means by and through other channels. The needsof the client in this anthropocentric form of divination were,up to a point, centredaround words and expressions like: kapddu,"to plan", summirdtuf ta;mirtu, "enterprise". gibAn, "project", kiiitti qdti, "gain", Jallatu, "booty", zittu,

") Publishedin F.R. Krats, Texte zur babylonischen Physiognomatik, AfO Beih.3 (Berlin 1939). Another sourcein which the personalgod is frequentlymentionedis the proverbs,seeW. G. Lambert, BabylonianWisdomLiterature (Oxford 1960)222-282;one exampleis: 227: 23-26:un-mata-kap-pu-ud ptNcln-/caku-u un-maul ta-kap-pu-ud oINcIn-ka la-a ku-u, "on the day you plan ahead, your god is yours,on the day you do not plan ahead, your god is not yours".Accordingto my interpretation this of proverb,the meaning something is like: "God helpshim who helpshimself'. For a comprehensive studyof this deity,seeH. Vorliinder,Mein Gott,AOAT 23 (Neukirchen 1975). 23) SeeI. Starr, The Rituals of the Diviner, BM 12 (Mallbu 1983)55-56. "Fate and Divination in Mesopotamia", 2a) SeeF. Rochberg-Halton AfO Beih. 19 (1982) 363-371; alsoDurand.ARM 26 lll 25 and 62 n. 308.

28

JAARBERICHT 'EX ORIENTE LUX" 32 -

1991.92

"profit", mtli irti, "success", iumu, "fame", all frequentlyoccurringin the omen literature. This enterprising spirit also shines throughin e.g.the Neo-Assyrian royal inscriptionsin which the kings claim to build bigger, better and higher, travel further afield,annexmore land, collectmore booty and, in Assurbanipal's case, be Looking back at his ancestors more learned than any predecessor. with their failingsand misfortunes, king, as a client of the diviner,must havebeenminded the for expressing needfor an improved and improving systemof divination. a in Developments the ritual We have ambletextual materialto reconstruct Neo-Assyrian the extispicyritual performedfor the royal client. The material from other periodsis not nearly as will comprehensive comparisons haveto be madewith greatcaution.However, and there are indications that this ritual peakedin its complexity during the Sargonid period. One important sourceis the collections ikribil someof which are published of in Zimmern, BBR.An ikribu may containa petition to the Divine Councilbut alsoan introductionand consecration a sacrificial of item or a pieceof the ritual gadgetry. Theseprayerswerealso recitedduring the Old Babylonianperiod but perhaps not in such quantity. In any case, it was consideredto be necessary the first in millenniumto producetexts which gaveinstructions about the order in which the In ikribu shotild recited. Zimmern,BBR no. 75+, dublicated nos. 76+,77, be by and 78+, 2l different prayersare referredto. If this number of prayers,if not more, had to be offeredduring one ritual, it is not surprisingthat an excuse, soa had to be givenat the beginning the wholeprocedure calledezib-formula, of about a slip of the tongue. Altogether seven ezib-formulae are attested2s). They are for error which might creepinto the ritual. Theseformulae excuses any indeliberate to are not attested any earlierperiod and they may be a first millenniumaddition. Perhaps following unique apodosis the from a Ninevehcompendium refersto the diviner havingto start all over againif he madea mistakein his recitation:CI 30, 15: obv. ll': ru.H,c.rana ik-ri-bi-iu cun-dr, "the diviner will turn back (to the of) beginning his ikribus". posedto the Divine Council As far as I havebeenable to make out, the question waswhispered into the ear of a lamb which wasgivenas a special offeringto Sama5 questionthesegods communicated and Adad26).Having, so to speak,eatenthe

25) SeeI. Statr, Divination and Politics in SargonidAssyria,Sll 4 (Helsinki Queriesto the Sungod. published E. Leichty"A tamltu 1990) XXil-XXVII. Two ezrb-clauses also found in CBS 12578, are in from Nippur", flSS 37 (Atlanta 1990) 301-304. 26) SeeZimmem, BBRno. 98: 8'-9' (duplicated no. 99: r. 5'-6'):uDU.srLA4 qud-du-ia mi-naby ru id lamb of tu-ii ial-lma . . .l ta-mit li-ka ina cIS.rnINina cnSruo2 150-[i, . . .], "You [.. .] a pure, consecrated healthybody. The query of your choice[...] in a cedar(pipe?)in [its] left ear"; also Sm 998* obv. l0'

U, JEYES -

DIVINATION AS A SCIENCE IN ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA

29

:: **, i:!
i

the reply to the personalgod of the client,the deity who for a short while became present anotheranimal,the ram which wasusedfor the extispicy. is likely that in It we are dealingwith a late refinementin the use of two animals as channelsof communication. Ritual purity The Old Babylonianrituals, I'OS I I nos. 22 and 23, publishedby Goetzeand Starr respectively, havereferences the cleansing the diviner'sperson; fOS I I to of no.22 specifies mouth and hands2T). According to the first millennium texts, it appearsthat the diviner's toilette becamemore elaborate.The washingof mouth of hands was, of course,still a requirement2s), thereare also a reference a changeof clothesand tamarisk but to and cedarput into the earsof the diviner. Also mention is made of an anointing and fumigation of the diviner with sulphur and yellow sulphur (kibritu and ru'tltu)2e). "Behaviourof the Sacrificial In the Neo-Assyrian textsbelonging the category, to Lamb", and in the series, iumma isru and iumma manzdzu, following apodosis the is recurring:la ellu niqd ilput, "an uncleanpersonhas touchedthe sacrifice"3o). This apodosishas not been found in the earlier material and only two Old Babylonian parallels are attested3l).Such apodoses could have been given as "What went wrong with the extispicy to like: answers a question which produced a bad omenresult"? This assumed increased awareness the need for ritual purity is reflectedln of like Ihe iumma dlu text, K 1562, which was first published in other sources,

(duplicatedby K 4733*, 6'): ik-rib un-ninfun-nin-ni.id cnSruc.2 lu-[uh-hu-ii], "prayer when wh[ispering] that this is the lamb which was given as a the plea into the ear", (quotedby the CAD IlJ, 63).I suggest special offering to Samai and Adad during the ritual, referred to in Zimmern, BBR l-20: ll2-114. Although the entrails of this animal were an object of a cursory examination,I believethat it was the proper:.B.BR l-20: l15: dnaDINGTR ram, referred in the followingline,that wasusedfor the extispicy to "for the personalgod of the man you sacrificethe immer nrqi". Thus I KUD-rs, Lt uou.nttl, sIsKUR Miscellanies (Copenhagen I 1980)16.This depart from an earlier held view, publicizedin Assyriological uDU.Nrrl, Sun-e, ram is alsoreferredto in B.BR84: obv. 5 ; 85 obv. 5';86: 5' : ik-rib e.rur53-iu ana KUD-rs "prayer when pouring water three times for the slaughtering the ram"., of 21) YOS ll no. 22 is published A. Goetze"An Old Babylonian Prayerof the DivinationPriest", in in obv. 5. IOS I I no. 23 is published Starr,Riluals(Malibu 1983); obv. 8. see JCS 22 (1968)25-29;see For the duplicateline in AO 7032obv. 8, seeStarr, Rituals122, 28) See Zimmern,BBRno. 96: i 3; no. 97+ : r. 8'. 2e) Zimmern,88R no. 79: obv. 4-8; no. 11: iii 2'-ll'. 30) Usually written:Nu rt) srsrunrAG-u/, f . ex.CT3l,32: r.8'; KAR423: i ll; K 2722+r: obv. see 1 2 4 , 2 9 , 3 1 , 3 3 ; 3 9 7 8 + * : i i 4 : C T5 l n o . 1 5 5 : 3 ' , 1 9 ' . K 31) The first example,fOS 10, l7'. r.65, is quoted in U. Jeyes, Extispicy(1989)43. The second i11ehi,"anuncleanpersonhas beennear to the sacrifice" exampleis: CI 3, 2: obv.2: la ellumana niqOm (oil omen compendium).

30

JAARBERICHT "EX ORIENTE LUX" 32 -

I99I-92

on Boissier.Choix II (1906)4l-4432).The "wash omens" in this text concentrate into the the washingof hands.Another text, KAR 52, which was not incorporated givesinstructions the right time and placefor one'sablutions; for series, iummaa-la "liff a man washes ru, the first line is: [orS]Ne ina tal-lak-te.q..N{ES ul-tab-bar, from an himselfin the approach(to his house):he will last long"33).In a passage it inscription says:Borger,Esarh.105$68 ll: ii 29: ktma lillli (...)l Asarhaddon "like a fo[ol (...)] you washyourselfafter your sacrifice" 3a). tarammuk, arki niqEka Etiquette only attestedto Tabletswhich I would label "etiquette" are, to my knowledge, by the first millennium.One text, K 57, was published Nougayrolin Rl 6l (1967) "if he (the client) standswhile the 36. One instructionfrom this text is: obv. 2l: paralleltext, K sign)". An unpublished bdril is seated: pitrustu(i.e,an ambiguous a (?), quotedby the CAD,warns not to sneeze snivel,fidget,dress ll716 + K 12895, sloppilyor to be clumsy3s). Thesetextshavelinks with iummaalu wheretablet95 (CT 39, 4l-42) dealswith a on with his god. Another text, CT 39, 34-36,also focusses the man's relationship god. Further textswhich may or may not belongto this series cult of the personal was a priority36).In my view,it is not justified that etiquette suffice demonstrate to requiredmere technique and no morals. to claim that divination in Mesopotamia On the contrary, etiquetteas well as ethicsshould be includedin the list which comprised barA'sfield of expertise. the Timing "(it is) written (as The afore-mentioned text, K 57, has a colophonwhich says: "The Good Days of Divination"'. Although the Mari material an extract)from gives indicationsthat there, at that period, was a concept of good timing for performingextispicies3?, hemerologies from Assur and Ninevehprovide more the the shouldnot Accordingto the earlierAssurhemerology bdrr2 instructions. specific his skills on the following days of the month: the lst, 7th,9th, l4th, l9th, apply KAR 151,excludes the 2lst, 28th, 29th, and 30th38).The extispicycommentary,
"The 32) For the placeof this text in iumma alu, see . Kiicher and A. L. Oppenheim, F Old Babylonian 62-77, especially 73. 70, OmenText VAT 7525",AfO 18(1957-58) 33) According to a private communicationfrom E. Leichty, KAR 52 is not a iumma dlutext. 3a) Quoted ir the CAD L, 189. "ifhe wrinkleshis nose(sniffs?): 3s) For obv.8': ium-maap-pa-iuu-gan-na-as HAR.BAD the d[al-hatJ, omen is co[nfused]", see the CAD G, 40. The full text will be published in the afore-mentioned monograph, n. 17. see 3 6 )B o i s s i eC,h o i x l l , 1 2 - 1 3 ( K 2 6 8 5 + K 3 7 6 2 ) : C T 3 9 , 3 8 ( a 0 5 7 ) ; T 3 9 , 4 3( K 1 2 3 1 0 ) ; T 4 0 , 4 4 r C C (K 3821); K CT 48,48(K 6278+): obv. 19-25: 4000*. 3?) SeeDurand,ARM 26 I/l 35-36. 38) See R. Labat, Un calendricrBabylonienfus travaux, des signeset des mois, (s6riesiqqur ipu5)

u. JEyES- DIVINATToNAs A scrENcE IN ANcIENT MEsoporAMIA

3l

same days from the bdrft acting professionally3e).The number of unsuitable days is r e d u c e d t o f i v e i n t h e N i n e v e h c a l e n d a r ,e n b u b E l a r h i : t h e 7 t h , l 4 t h , l 9 t h , 2 l s t , a n d 28th4o). When checking the nearly one hundred datings preserved in the NeoAssyrian queries and extispicy reports, it is clear that the days, 7, 14, 19, 21, and 28 were avoided as well as the days around the disappearanceof the moon, i.e. the 29th, the 30th, and the lstal). From the far fewer datings (26) of the Old Babylonian and Kassite reports one Thus there is a can observethat the days, l, 19,21,28, and 30 were not avoideda2). sure indication of a move towards a more regularized timing for performing extispicies. The first millennium material informs us that one apparently could anger the cf. divine by overzealousness, the bdrft ritual, Zimmern, BBR l1:iii 18-19:iumma "if the diviner is in the habit of barA ana biri kajanu sadir milt arni imdt, continuously being engaged in extispicy: he will die the death of wrongdoing". Another interesting referenceis found in CT 51, no. 147: obv. 39' : iumma ana ihiu "if he keeps going to his god for a verdict : 'punishment'/ dlna sqdir 'iiptf f 'sibiat' ili, 'anger' of the god"a3). For the first time in the Neo-Assyrian period one finds references to some months being more favourable than others for taking extispicies. Zintrrern, BBR l-

uo.[9 (rAu) (Paris1965) is 144-146. passage KAR 178:r. i 65-70: One [ur.1].(rAu) ur.Z.(r,4,trl) u]o.30.(xAu) uo.xur.cArfanl-nu-ti uo.28.rAn uo.14.(rir'l)luo./9.(ri,rrr) [uo.29.rArrr [uo.2]1.(xAu)
"[the purr,ruli;.rHr- oucn.c[l] NU GAR4t1aou aS Nu na-tuuo.t'nl Se.cl.up5 ll.rrl, first day], the 7th day, gthl day, [the l4th day], the l9th day, [the 2]lst [day], the 28th day, [the 29th day], the 30th day, lthe [th]ese (are) the evil days (when) the diviner must not give a prognosis, they (the days) are not suitable for 'the Favourable Days', completed". carrying out a project, tel KAR l5l: r. 53-56: [ur.2.xAr'r] uo.-l.rirr,t uo.J.rArrr uo.6.xArrl uo.8.rAu uo..l0.rAnr uo.11.r,4.tr,t.

uol2.rlu ur..l5.rAr'r uo.,/6.rirrr lvo.20l. xArr,r 2l2.rAu up.23.r.{rrruo.24.rl.uuo.26.rru uo.29.x.ltr,t [uo uo.[1].r,lu .l uou.Ntr,c.r it-ti rik-si ou-a.f [...] 'x' 1J uo.urS .il ki-i d30ina dvru i-e-'em' IaJ-a te-ep-pu-ui "[the second], rru-r.,s-sr, third, 5th,6th,8th, l0th, llth, l2th, l5th, l6th, [20]thl2l2nd,23rd, H^L-ti id you should 24th, 26th; you should 'not' do (extispicy)on the 29th day when Sin departsfrom Sama5, 'do'one ram with offerings day per for [...], l5 days(suitable) divinationeachmonth". It can be deduced as that the samedays,and a few more, are unsuitablefor taking extispicies in the text quoted in n. 38. a0) SeeB. Landsberger, kultischeKalender BabylonierundAssyrer,ZSS 6 (Leipzig l9l 5), I 19. der Der a1) A datingto the second ofthe month is found in Starr,Sll 4 (Helsinki1990) 157;the 3rd no. day 318,335;the 5th: none;the6th: nos.49, day:nos.43,45, l5l; the4th day: nos.48,89,90,280,303,309, t 6; t , 5 9 , 7 4 , 1 3 9 ; e8 t h :n o s . 5 0 6 5 , 1 5 2 , 2 8 1 , 3 3 4 , 3 3h e9 t h :n o . 3 1 9 ; h e l O t h :n o s . 3 , 8 ,1 4 , 2 8 , 5 1 , 2 3 0 , th the 326,327; l2th: none;the l3th: nos.155,229,293; l5th: the 304,324: llth: nos.4,5,285,300, the he n h n o . 2 8 2 ;t h e l 6 t h : n o s .1 3 , 1 1 4 , 2 1 2 , 2 8 3 , 2 8t6 ;e l T t h : n o s . 5 7 , 1 1 0 , 2 ' 1 3 , 2 7 9 : t 1 8 t h : o . 1 5 6 ;t h e t01; t; 2 0 t h :n o . 2 8 4 ; t h e 2 n d :n o s .2 3 , ' 7 6 , 1 8 5 , 1 9 5 , 2 1 0 , 2 2 8 , 3 h e 2 3 r d :n o s . 2 6 2 , 3 0 5 h e 2 4 :n o s .1 3 7 , 2 nos.94,279,296. 331,332: 25th:no. 351the 26th:nos. 16,77,317:'the27th: the +z; The dating,first of ajaru,is found in Kraus,"/CS37 (1985)146no. 16and the first of sina-nu in pl. in 3 I 34 no. 3; the l9th [...] in Ungnad,Babyloniaca (1909) 9; the 2lst of addaru Ungnad,Babyloniaca pl. 2 (1908) 6; the 28thday in YOS 10,8: r. 37; the 28th of iabdtuin Kraus,JCS 37,147no. 17;the 30th 93 of simdnu Goetze, in "fCS ll (1957) no. 4. ar; The text is published by E. Reiner in "A Manner of Speaking", Zikir iumim, Kraw Homage Volume(Leiden l98D 282-289.

32

JAARBERICHT "EX ORIENTE LUX" 32 -

I99I-92

20:27 refersto ajaru, simdnuand taintu, i.e. the 2nd, 3rd, and 7th month. In the Neo-Assyrian reports one finds the highestnumber of datings(15) to ajaru, but otherwise extispicies wereperformedall year round as one would expectaa). Another apparentnovelty attestedto the Ninevehmaterialis the compendium, CT 30, 12 (K 1813) with the duplicate CT 28, 44 (K 717).This text contains12 protases which the very negative in sign of a missinggall bladderis combinedwith eachof the 12 monthsas). can be deduced It that the hottestmonths,du'il2u,abu, and ululu are the most unfavourableones,whereassddaru,nisannu,and ajaru are the most favourableonesa6). A certainsophistication introducedinto the calculationof the adannuwhich was is the term usedfor the period "covered"by the prognosis. my knowledge, To this term doesnot occur in the old Babylonianomen literature,althoughin the Mari materialthereare references omensbeingtaken for a givenperiodaT). to The Assur text, KAR 452, and textsfrom Nineveh,CT 31,2 (K 12390)and CT 31,16,18 (K 4061)link appearances eithera Split (pitru) or a Hole (J/u) on the of caudatelobe with the calculation the adannuag). of I would suggest that the meaningof the following passage that the unfavouris able featureof a Hole of the right Plain (sEru)of the Finger (ubanu)reduces the length of the adann , so if the diviner takes omensfor two months, the adannuwill only be 20 days. CT 31,16:obv. 3'-5': 3': sr suHuS rorN 15Su.sl Sus-di u 10l.nl'3 30'[30 uo-mfl 4' : ina cIS.TUKUL Sun-tiERrNr-ni l^NJu'[Sun-nun] 5': ium-maa-na rcu.2.rc4u nu-a.i ssc a-dan-ni-ka 20 un-m[i(...)] 20 "if a Hole is situated(on) the baseof the right Plain of the Finger: ten times 'three(is) thirty' [thirty days], in warfare:fall of the army, rain [will fall], if you do (a divination) for two months: (from) the beginningof your adannu twenty,twentyday[s(...)]".

a a )D a t i n g s t o a j a r u a r e f o u n d i n S t a r r , 5 A A 4 n o s . 3 , 5 , 4 3 , 4 4 , 4 5 , 4 9 , 5 0 , 5 1 , 5 71 4 2 , 2 8 8 , ,74 94, 1t71?5 as) In K lll42a amissingubdnu combined is with eachof the 12months. a6) The apodosisrelatingto du'frzuis: CT 28,44: obv. 4: orNcrn r,0 ir-ba l.prN-ei ana qi-bit dDumu-z| "the god will request gift a from the man, on the commandof Dumuzi"; obv. 5 (for abu)'.zLn bu-ii ii It ctc rt-gt, "lossofproperty belonging the man,the patientwill recover";obv. 6 (for ululu):lu-itp-nu to ina rur- GAR-ma Nl run-lr, "There will be poverty in the country and the man's estate will be E diminished";r. 12 (for addaru):NA.BI ucx-mab,-su stx-ah,"that man will die and his estatewill be "[the man squandered",obv. I (for nisannu)'. [Nt ina nfl-qi-iu lu-u ouwrs-iu /z-a ouMu.'sal-.ir2 [ucl, during his salcrifice,either his son or his daugh[terwill die]"; obv. 2 (for ajaru): nN slsKUR. uc., "the owner of the sacrifice will die". a7) SeeDurand,ARM 26 Ill 57-59. 4E) CT 31, 16, 18 is treated in E. Weidner, "Zahlenspielereien akkadischenLeberschautexten", in oLZ 20 (tgt't) 2s8-266.

U. JEYES -

DIVINATION AS A SCIENCE IN ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA

33

ffi

The Animal used the extispicy for According to the old Babyloniantextual material, a lamb (puhadu) a ram or (immeru) could be sacrificed a divinationae). the Neo-Assyrian for In textsone only finds the writing uDU(.NrrA2) perhapsreflectinga practicein the later period of using the fully grown animal for the extispicyand reservingthe lambs for food offeringsand for sacrifices atonement. of The "pure lambs", described idyllic in termsin the ikribus,zimmern,BBR nos. 100-101, the sacrifices innocence are of to atone for everythingwhich might have gone wrong in a previouslyperformed extispicywhich had producedan unfavorable resultso). Incidentally,in ajaru, the favouredmonth for taking extispicies, therewould havebeena freshstock of oneyear-oldand just fully grown rams. parts observed Anatomical The generaltrend in the Neo-Assyrian period, in comparison with earliertimes, is to concentrate fewerorgansand anatomical on parts.This impression based is on the evidence exispicyreportsand serialized of compendiasl). However,compendia have been recovered Nineveh which deal with parts of the sheep'sanatomy in which were not examinedaccordingto current practice.Thesecompendiarepresenteda tradition which could not be dismissed altogether.one exampleis K 4ll2*, a copy of an old Babylonianoriginal, which containskukkudru (abomasum) s2). omens while the heart quite clearly was examinedin the old Babylonianperiod, not s3). one singlelibbu omenhascometo light in textsfrom the first millennium often, "rhe libbu of the ram a report from this period concludes: was normal". Libbu,in this context, I would translate,"the inside", and suggest that the term refersto the thoradicand abdominalcavities. An innovation,according the Kassiteand Neo-Assyrian to reports,appears be to the inspectionof the elitu and the Japlltu, "the upper"/"lower part',. Nineveh commentaries identify elltu with iubat imitti, "the seatto the right", which again is

ae) The writing,srLA4, occursf. ex. in Ungnad,Babyloniaca (1908)pl.6: obv. l, ll;3 (1909) 2 pl.9 obv. l; Goetze, /CS ll (1957)92 6: obv. l; 9l no. 8: obv. l; TCL 17 no. 27: obv. 10.srlr..rrrr, no. occursin Frank, Strassburger (1928)no. 5 obv. l: uou is found in Goetze."/CS I I (1957) Keilschrifttexte 9l no. 7: obv. I ; Nougayrol,"/CS2l (1967)220("8"): obv. l, ("C"): obv. l; r-ou.wu, is found in Starr, Finkelstein Memorial Volume (1977)207 obv. l. Invnerumis written syllabiratlyi CT 4,3rlb: obrl. Seealso,Durand,ARM 26 lll 36-37. so) In no. 100obv. 8-9,thereis mentionof "unfavourable (or) confused omens". s1) SeeJeyes, Extispicy(1989)ll. s2) For the term kukkudru,seeStarr, Rituals(1983)92. In Boissier,DA (1896)97-99there are small collectionsof kukkudru, isru, tapaiiu, and iubtu omens.Only the term lsnr occursin the Neo-Assyrian reports. 53) SeeJeyes, Extispicy (1989)7'l-79.

34

JAARBERICHT "EX ORIENTE LIJX" 32

1991.92

identified with irtu, "chest" sa).SubatimittiliumEli are terms which occur in the Old Babylonianreportsand, at a guess, would identify "the upper / lower part" with I "the seatto the right/left" and with the serous membranes which coverthe thoradic and abdominalcavities,i.e. the pleura and the peritoneum.If this identification should happento be correct so that accordingly"right"/"1eft" become"upper"/ "lower", perhapsit reflects changein the way in which a the diviner handledthe carcass the sacrificedanimal. of Thefinger measurement It is a well known principle,established the Old Babylonianperiod, that the in normal length of a normally occurringgroove on the visceralsurfaceof the liver was assessed be threefingerwidthsss). to What was in excess this measurement of was interpretedas favourable.However,when the diviners used their fingersas measuring units, the problemwould arisethat one man with a small hand would delivera good omen result whereas anotherwith a big hand would delivera bad result.Shortness, contrastto length,was namelyinterpreted unfavourables6). in as "in My interpretation the following expression, the big finger,(in) the finger of of the bdrt, (in) the finger(measurement) the asluunit" (seebelowp. 38),is that we . of have here an attempt to conform the diviner'sfinger to the aslu standardunit. In Boissier, DA 12: i 27-28the parallelexpression . . . ina Su.sr is: as-liSu.sr c,lr-/i 3u.sr ruR-/i Su.stru.slr 3 Su.st.re.Au man-da,"in the finger (measurement) the aslu of unit, (in) the big finger,(in) the small finger,(in) the finger of the bdrfi, they (the normally occurringgrooves) measured threefingerwidths". are to One unpublished text, K 3690 + K 3722,appearsto commenton this more accuratemethod of measuring. me, the full meaningof the text has remained To elusive, but I assume that the following equations made: are : 1 Su.sr 1...1 r. 3': ... Su.sl clr-ll as-li : 1 Su.sr sac.u5 r. 5': ... Su.sr 3-tuouvxtJBo-tun as-li : 1 Su.stLt.HAL r. 6': \v.st 4-tunid L rvn-ti : / Su.struR-ti r. 7' : ... Su.sl 5-lan "... the big finger... (is) the finger(measurement) asluunit of the [...] ... the third finger,the middle one ... (is) the finger(measurement) the regular of aslu uniI,

sa) Elitu(Nu.ur'l.rr,rE)or(rN-lzn)isequatedwithiubatimitti(DAG l5)inBoissier, DAll:i lg,quoted by the CAD_E99. Subatimitti is equared with irtu in K 3667+K 1808:iii 16',quotedin Starr, Rituals (1983)83. Subtu whiclt also is mentionedin f. ex. fOS 10, 49: 15-20, should not be confusedwith the iubtu ol the zoneof thepaddnu, Jeyes, see Extispicy(1989)57-58. 5s) SeeJeyes, Extispicy(1989)14. s6) one example Yos 10, 3l:vi 36-38:ium-mamar-tu[mJ "If is ik-ta-ri le-me-in a-we-lim, the gall bladderhas shortened: miseryfor the man".

U. JEYES -

DIVINATION AS A SCIENCE IN ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA

35

... the fourth fingerof the small side ... (is) the diviner'sfinger, ... the fifth finger... (is) the smallfinger" My interpretation these quotations that the diviner may usehis index finger, of is middlefinger,ring-finger, little fingerin any combination, or but his fingermust be equal to the regular aslu tnit. It appearsthat the averagemiddle finger comes closestto this standardunit. Right and left It is a well established principlethat the right sideis "my side" and the left side belongs the enemy,but what exactlyis right and left? to We can tracea development which the surfaces the liver and the lung were by of "right" or divided into more and more, smallerand smallersquaresdesignated "left". CT 31, l-5 (K 70+) is "orientation a so-called tablet" which labelseach subsection "right" or "left". One line of this somewhat as tedious, text goes:CT 31, l:ii l0': sAGEDrN ctn Su.sr cuB MURUB^ EorNcris Su.sr zlc suHuS BoN cus Su.sr "the headof the left Plain of the finger(is) "left", the middle of the left plain [cun], of the Finger (is) "right", the base of the left Plain of the Finger is ["left"]. "Orientationtablets"are not attested beforeNeo-Assyrian Nineveh. From the Neo-Babylonian periodwe havethe liver model,BM 50494, which was publishedby Nougayrol in R,4 62 (1968)3l-50. This model illustratesthe same intensive dividing up of the liver. This refinement definitionwas a bit selfdefeating. more subsections of The there were,the risk would increase the ambiguity of a marking falling directly on a of borderline right in the middle of a zone.In theory the rulesof interpretation or were simple; the practicality of applying these rules created ever increasing difficulties. Muksllimtu Mukallimtu is the name for a seriesof learned commentaries and I would translate it, "Demonstration". Each of the ten extispicy (barfttu) seriesfrom Nineveh has a mukallimtu.The unpublishedone to the iummq rsru series(K 3978 ) is almost completeand quite a number of duplicates, + one Babylonian(K 6075*)havecometo light. Older versions not attested this type of text. are to With various traditions compiled in one place, Nineveh, the scribeswould inevitablybe confrontedwith the problem that the samecondition of the entrails would be described differentways.I believe in that one objective the mukallimtu of tabletswas to collectand numberthe variousdescriptive expressions to take a and decision about which one should be adopted.One passage from the mukallimtuto the Summa manzazu series shouldserveas an example:Boissier, DA 17 iv 35-38: 35: sE Nt kab-suKAL BAL-utu-ial-lam-iu 36: sE ii-bu-iil Nn ina sip-pi 150rr{n.M c,c.n-kin

36

JAARBERICHT "EX ORIENTE LUX" 32 _ 1991.92

37: ss NA. kq-bi-isKALGAR ii-bu-iu 38: sn Nt ina sip-pi 150ME.Nr cAR-rn BAL-ut a "If the Presence obliterated (and) the Strength turned90': it will benefithim is is (to express like this), it If (in) its old version, the Presence placed in the left Doorjamb of the Palace is Gate, If the Presence obliterated is (and) the Strength there,(in) its old version, is If the Presence placedin the left Doorjamb of the Palace is Gate and it is turned 90"'. The condition which I believethesefour lines describeis that of the normally occurringgroove, the manzazu, missingand the other groove, the dandnabeing observed its normal positionbut turned 90 degrees in from usuallyrunningparallel to the bab ekalli to beingdrawn at a right angleto the umbilicalfissure. Somepassages from the mukallim, texts may list up to ten different versionsof descriptionsT). Inserted into the text one often findsexplanations words,e.g.K of 3978+: i 38: ta-ra-kula-pa-tu,"to be dark (equals) damage".Another example to "(the sign)KAR (means) is: CZ 20,27: ii 9: xln e-ke-mu e-!d-ru ka-ba-su, to hide (whichequals) take away(or) to obliterate". to The ideabehindthese explanations is not to claimthat wordsof a different meaning synonymous, to list descriptive are but words which in the context of an extispicywould warrant the sameinterpretation. whether a certainfeature "hidden", "taken away",or "obliterated", evaluation is the would be the same. In mukallimtu one finds expressions like, "you should say" (taqabbl),"as they "which they used usedto say" (ktma iqbft),or to say" (ia iqbils8). The following "it warningis found in Boissier, DA 12: i 25: ana rrl Ne.unul iq-qab-bi, shouldnot be saidto anyone". Multtibiltu The learned series, Multdbiltu, "Interpretation", comprised,accordingto the catalogue tablet CT 20, l, l7 tablets.The first tablet of this series lists the rulesof association. very first line is often quoted: cr 20,39: obv. l: otl a-rik-tuokaThe iit-tuo sr NA,cin.oA-ma Gir' [xun]-rzd NuN lna KASKAL ou-ku xun-dd,..if length: (example:)if the Presence long and reaches success is the Path: the prince will succeed with the campaign which he is going". This type of apodosis, on consisting of one word plus an elaboration not new,cf. this old Babylonian is example: Scheil RA 27 (1930) 142: obv. 2: ki-ii-i[tJ-tum a-al la-wi-at a-na SA-iu te-e-ru-ub, "conquest,you will enter the city which you are besieging".
s7) F. ex. CT3l,44 + K3324* + K 3926*:i37':sr I}-u,"if, its l0th (description)". s8) SeeY. Elman, "AuthoritativeOral Tradition in the Neo-Assyrian ScribalCircles",JANES 7 (1975) 19-32.S.J. Lieberman,Moran Homage Volume(Atlanta 1990)307-308.

U. JEYES

DIVINATION AS A SCIENCE IN ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA

37

from omen compendiaof all periodsthat the diviner, One getsthe impression having memorizedtheserules of interpretation,was programmedto produce a prognosiswhich consistedof one word and possibly, but not necessarily, an explanation. Tabletstwo and three of Multabiltu deal with the ambiguoussignswhich turn (nukkuru)the final omen resultse). One of these'Jokers" isthe pitrusta which is a negativitywhich occurssimultaneously a right and left side.If the negative on sign appears right in the centreof a zone,suchas the grooveof the manzazr,r itself,it is also a pitrustu. The other 'Joker" is the niphu which is, amongstother things, associated with the numberthree.If f. ex. thereare threeSplitson a right side,it is a niphu6o). Thesetwo ambiguoussignsare attestedin the Old Babylonianperiod and the earliesttext which providesa compact study of "difficult signs" is VAT 13798 which datesto Tiglatpileser I61). In the "Sammeltext", KAR 423,thereis a section, from r. i 78 to the end of the text, which methodically lists the features which are difficultto interpret.It is clearthat it is not all occurrences a negativityon both a of right and a left side and not all triples which should be regarded, pitrustusand as niphusrespectively, and one purpose of tablets two and three of Multabiltu might havebeento settlewhich formationsexactlyshouldbe given 'Joker" status. These sametabletsdisplaya mindboggling complexity demonstrating by how one and up to sevenniphusor pitrustuswould, in their differentway, affect the final omen resultwhich could be described follows: "all good", "many good and few as "mixed", "many bad and few good", "all bad". Furthermore,we have the bad", implicationof such an ambiguous sign on the first, check-up, and third extispicy. Passages from the first three tablets of Multabilta show that indeed the ancient in scribes expressed themselves other waysthat by the list. But, on the whole,it was obviously not considered be either necessary desirableto detach abstract to or grammatical structureof the iumma sentence. thoughtfrom the Sometimes, instead of a "a niphu", one finds "ten tfrdnu". The count ten of the half turns of the colon spiral was a niphu62).Instead of "unfavourable", an unfavourableapodosisis for written63).This preference the concretehas perhapsto the modern scholar disguisedan approachwhich was both methodicaland logical.
5e) See f. ex. K 6450* (is joined to CT 31,48-49) obv. l: [nE uu.urS] id ina ba-ru-ti nu-uk-ku-ru-ma "if the omens which turn round (the omen result) in bdrituand 1...1".A variant writing is in CI30. [...], 43 r. 7' : gr-rza r',Iu.tvtES ina ba-ru-ti run.wS-n[a . . .]. ia 60) See U. Jeyes, "The Act of Extispicy in Ancient Mesopotamia: An Outline". Assyriologicol Miscellanies I (Copenhagen 1980) 26-27. 61) See E. Weidner, "Die Bibliothek Tiglatpilesers I", AfO 16 (1952-53) Tafel XIII and 210. 62) Compare KAR 423: r. ii 54: sE SA.NtctoN10; (one entry in a list of difficult signs); Boissier, Dl 2 3 1 : r . 3 2 : B E d i t t o ( : H A R . B A D o l i ) - m a i n a r u r r r - tS A . N r c r N / 0 , " i f y o u t a k e a n o m e n a n d i n a g o o d s f (result) there are ten tlrdnu". 63) See below, CT 20, 44: i 49.

38

JAARBERICHT 'EX ORIENTE LUX" 32 -

IggI-92

In the following passagefrom the second tablet of Multdbiltu, the whole interpretative system has beenput in a nutshell:CT 20,44: i 48-61: 48: ct5.rurur a-[riJ-du ma-hi-ir-iuanq rcr crS.rurur e-p6-,ri,1...] u 49:'rfl'-ti tu ina rI-sYl lucar- rtiu ana IDrMa MaS.EN.r.c,x 'srcr' [...] a-.iar 50: Nu run.ilrsS rt.ott.sA.AN.NA b.:gg.t.ra, ma-laba-iu-,u, ina ina 15 5l: crS.ruruI, GiRu DUsKAM-tu4 BAR-tu4 kak-su-u KAR-tu4 ni-ip-,hu, 52: tvtuRuro.MES sar-ra-a-tuo bi-re-e-tun ni-ip-ha-a-li GiR NA 53: x,q.ouc.cAKALME.Nr srlrMzE sic-is lcr rnn, run SuseS.rnsrJ.sr ri-ra 54: r.r UAS Su.sl.r,c.AM 3 crS.nun.Ms5 ruN man-daura Su.srcuL-ti rcr 55: Su.sr ri;.Har-Su.sr cs-li crS.ruKUL IS-ti 7-ti 56: ou, 3-ti anarzr.GtR-ma ta-nam-bi,1 Su.sr ll2 Su.sl cin ou, 57) 2 Su.sriit-qu 3 Su.sl.iir-lrrz Nic.crc u-lap-pa-tun ru 58) si-hi-ir-tirA 1 nt5 6 Su.sr sAG.Kr tcr zu-u-risA /4 Su.sr sA 59) bi-rit 15 ia-um-ma150id rctn ana srlrM LUGAL crs.ruKuL ana KASKL c/?d 60) ana sa-batURUana SrLrM ana Sun-ar AN-e GrG ana ou-e.fi,S 6l) u mim-mama-'-da-a-li HAR.BAD oi-ma Translation: 48: A vertical weapon and its equivalent(?) t...1 to the front of a weapon of is dust, 49: the king will take away the dignity of the man in his (the man's)lifetime,for the importantman and the commoner: placeof good [...] a 50: they will not achieve. the central area,in the Houseof Division to the right, In as many as thereare: 5l: the weapon, the Foot, the Hole, the Split, the Request, cross, thekaksfi, the the nEkemtu, niphu, the 52: the middle areas(are)lies,the centralareas(are)confusion.The presence. the Path. 53: the Good word, the strength,the PalaceGate, the well-being,the Defeatof the Enemy'sArmy, the Throne Base,the Finger,the yoke, 54: and the Increase: threefinger(widths) the measure the grooves(..Drawings") is of on the liver ("Pouch"), in the big finger, 55: (in) the finger of the diviner, (in) the finger(measurement) the qslu unit. of Seven Weapons the right to 56: (and) three splits you shoulddeclarea niphu.A Foot is one Finger,a Split is half a Finger. 57: A cut of two Fingers (and) a damagedarea of three Fingers will defile the consecrated place. 58: The circumference the liver (is) one cubit and six Fingers.The front of the of liver on(?)the body(?)of the liver is 14 Fingers.

U. JEYES -

DIVINATION AS A SCIENCE IN ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA

39

to 5 9 :(What is to) the right of the centralareais mine,(what is to) the left belongs for For the welfareof the king, for the armedforces, the campaign, the enemy. 60: for taking a city, for the welfareof the patient,for rainfall, for carryingout a project 6l: and for many other thing (when)you take an omen: Commentary: point on the liver. A vertical 48: Normally a Weaponpoints towardssomespecific (unfocussed) Weapon is a difficult sign to interpret and requires special in kakku aridu, has so far only appeared the first attention.The expression, millennium texts, for references,see the CAD under dridu. Posslbly, the prominence given to the "vertical Weapon" in this text is because are here we innovationto the interpretative apparatus. dealingwith a Neo-Assyrian applyingto other populationsgroups,is not new, seeU. 49: A secondapodosis, Jeyes, Extispicy(1989)45,48. is 50: The birttu, "central" or "median" line, I assume, the line which dividesa zone of the liver in a right and a left half. The birrtu will go through the normally occurringgrooveitself. The btt zitti is a rarely occurringexpression which first appearsin the Mari material, see Durand, ARM 26 Vl (1988) "House of Division" is unidentified. Perhaps is a "noit no. 164:obv. 4'. The man'sland" between someof the zones. kaksft,and ndkemtu the names are 5l: The kakku, iepu, itlu, pitru, eriitu, iJpalurtu, for the most frequentlyoccurringfortuitous marks which might be found on in not to be understood the entrails.Niphu,mentioned this context,is perhaps samename, but as a fortuitous mark, "Inflated as the ambiguoussign of the Part". "the middles",are the lineswhich crossthe birEtuat a right angle. 52: The qabliatu, pft padanu, tabu, dandnu, iulmu, mihispan ummAn nakri and 53-54:The manzdzu, namesfor the normally occurringgrooves("drawings") on ntdi kussare the see the liver. For the fingermeasurement, p. 34-35 of 55-56: The SevenWeaponsand three Splits are two examples formations which as shouldbe regarded niphus. are 57: The "cut" and "damagedarea", I guess, the oneswhich havebeencaused seep. 25. by the clumsydiviner, 58: The secondhalf of this line is uncertain.Zu'ru, I understandas the Neo"fingers" on the "body" of of Assyrianform for zumru.The measurement 14 and it is not known how it was obtained. unattested the liver is otherwise ubanu. i.e. ca. 50 cm. according to the ClD, see under One ammatu is 30 ammalu. put to the divine found in questions 59-61: A list of key-wordsand expressions was performed. when an extispicy

&

&

JAAnBEIEIIT -EX ORTENTE LiJX- 32_ lgsr_92

A paralleltext to this extractfrom Multdbiltu, tablettwo, is Boissier, DA l2:i 27"from 34. In the sametext 14: ii l0 it says: idki-is-ri cABA.Rr BAL.rrLkt, section(s), copy (copies)from Assur". Perhapswe have here a case of Assyrian diviners assertingtheir competence and authority over their Babyloniancolleagues. ob_ viously, one purposeof Multabiltu was to. direct the diviner towardsdeliveringa correctomenresult,favourable not, but this is not necessarily only purpose. or the Tablet ten has as its first line: cr 20 l:r.25: unrN, rctn ana KUR.MU ug-tip-pi-ia HAR.BAD oti-ma .i'zin,c,n.sA.o GAR,"(if) you perform an extispicy when the ciR enemy'sarmy is massed againstmy country and, of (this) extispicy,the path is there".The tablethassurvived an incomplete in stateand hasbeenpublish in CT ed 20, 49. Many apodoses this text are unique and stronglysuggest connection in a with recentpolitical eventsof Assurbanipal's reign6a). Tablets 14-16 Multsbittu of contain iumma amutu omens, somethinghitherto unattested extispicycompendia. in The liversdescribed a whole in thesetabletsare of extraordinaryappearances as and thus hardly susceptible normal rulesof interpretation65). to Tablets10, 14-16, and perhaps other tablets of this series,I assume,had a special commemorative purpose. Extispicy, a secretscience The changes which the extispicytextsunderwent over the centuries obv;ous. are New termsfor some,but not all features, the interpretative in apparatusreplaced old onesand the writing became increasingly ideographic. the old Babylonian In texts' readable the literatelayman,the underlyingrulesof interpretation by would not easily have been detectedby him and neither would they have been by the modern scholarif thesetexts were the only ones available.The first millennium texts are much more forthcoming in revealingthe underlyingprinciplesof this science' but they would not have been readableby the literate non-professional. Someof the learnedcommentaries howevercarry this warning,f. ex. Boissier, do DA 46: r. 6'-7': sAL.sEs NAM.uzu2 zv.t zu.A DTNGIR zu.A NrJ ina NU rcr-marNic.crc "the secret dSullat i dHa[nii of bdrfttu, into the knowledgeof the god, an )], ignorantpersonmay not see;it is consecrated Sullat and Hanii (i.e. Samai and to Adad;"oo;. There are few cases this secretknowledgefalling into the handsof the nonof professionals. Sulgi's claim to competence this scienceis under dispute6z). in
6a) See the published version of "Assurbanipal's bdrAu", the paper given at the XXXIXe RAI, Heidelberg1992. 6s) CT 30,31 (Rm 153)is a fragment of tablet 14. The Seleucid versionhas survived intact: TCL 6 no' l' CT 30' 9-10is a commentary tablet 15. Fragments iumma am'ltutablets to of are: K 10599*, K ll0ll*, K Ill4lt, K 14549x,79-7Sg+*,8l_2_4.249*. -8, 66) A variantis Klx l5l:.r. dsullatu[dHanifl. NU ^6f lyil-lir-ti NAM.uzu2 zu NUrcr Nic.crc 67) Durand,ARM 26 25 Vl (1988) n.87.

u. JEyES- DrvrNATroN AS A scrENcE rN ANcrENT MEsoporAMrA

4l

Assurbanipaldoes not, to my knowledge,insist that he is able to perform extispicies, Sulgi, but he doespromote himselfas somebody like who possesses a soundknowledge the whole theoretical of basisof this appliedscience6s). judge To from the Mari letters,the rulers there certainlyhad a working knowledgeof the whole process performingexispicies6e). of Whereasit is doubtful whether the king could becomea bdrfr,in the caseof Aqba-Hammu it has beensuggested that a bari becamekingTo). Conclusion The omen results from extispicies were projected towards past, presentand "bad luck" could be explained. future.A run of what we would call The cause a of problem like an illnesscould be pinpointed and a plan for the near future could be sanctioned through this form of divination. That was basedon the belief that the liver of a sacrificed sheepwas a map of what constitutedhuman life: the king, the city, the palace,the personalgod, the enemy etc. and that the whole interpretative system was a code waiting to be crackedby the expertdiviner. "A firm foundation", a favoured expression the omen in texts, came about by a successfully conducteddialoguebetween gods and the individual with the diviner the success, acting as an interpreter.On this basisman could proceedtowardshappiness, and fulfillment, unimpededby divine angerand will to punish. of The efforts towards a full understanding this divinely ordained systemof on two fronts, firstly by eliminatingfrom the ritual communication were directed by the for and, secondly, increasing chance settingany humanerror or shortcoming the diviner of passing examwhich everyextispicyposedfor him. the To meet this intellectualchallenge,data were collectedin a manner which clearly talent for order and organization. demonstrates Mesopotamian the wererefinedand more As the studymaterialincreased, rulesof interpretation the in and standardization measuring,description, emphasiswas put on exactness a definition, and interpretation, and in this one observes move towards a scientific method.
1 " ., , $ ; i ::r,rr

;s
L&

,c

t{

68) Most noticeableis the Assurbanipalcolophon to the extispicytexts in which the king claims to have been taught by SamaSand Adad themselves,see H. Hunger, Babilonische und Assyrkcle Kolophone, AOAT 2 (Neukirchen 1968) 315(type"1"). no. 6e) For the Mari letterswhich containdetailsof extispicies, Durand,ARM 26 I I (1988)53. see ?0) S. Dalley, C.B.F. Walker, and J.D. Hawkins, The Old Babylonior TabletsFron Tell al Rittuh rL97s\32-33.