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Babylonian-Assyrian
Birth-Omens
And
Their Cultural Significance
by
Morris Jastrow, jr.
Ph. D. (Leipzig) Professor of Semitic Languages in the University
of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia)
Gießen 1914
Verlag von Alfred Töpelmann (vormals J. Ricker)
=Religionsgeschichtliche
Versuche und Vorarbeiten=
begründet von
Albrecht Dieterich und Richard Wünsch
herausgegeben von
Richard Wünsch und Ludwig Deubner
in Münster i. W. in Königsberg i. Pr.
XIV. Band. 5. Heft
To
SIR WILLIAM OSLER
Regius Professor of Medicine
Oxford University
This volume is dedicated
as a mark of esteem and admiration.
"Most fine, most honour'd, most renown'd."
(King Henry V, 2d Part, Act IV, 5, 164.)
=Analysis=
Divination in Babylonia and Assyria 1
Three chief methods: hepatoscopy, astrology and birth-omens 1-6
Spread of Hepatoscopy and Astrology to Hittites, Etruscans,
Greeks and Romans and to China 3-4
The Transition motif in religious rites and popular customs 5-6
Omen collections in Ashurbanapal's Library 6-7
Birth-omen reports 9-12
Animal Birth-omens 12-28
Double foetus 13-16
Principles of interpretation 14-15
Multiple births among ewes 17-18
Malformation of ears 19-22
Excess number of ears 20-22
Ewe giving birth to young resembling lion 23-26
Ewe giving birth to young resembling other animals 27-28
Human Birth-omens 28-41
Twins 29-30
Monstrosities 30
Multiple births 31
Malformation of ears 32-33
Malformation of mouth, nostrils, jaws, arms, lips, hand 33-34
Malformation of anus, genital member, thigh, feet 35-36
Principles of interpretation 36
Misshapen embryos 37
Weaklings, cripples, deaf-mutes, still-births, dwarfs 38-39
Talking infants, with bearded lips and teeth 39
Infants with animal features 32. 33. 35-36. 40-41
Study of Human Physiognomy among Greeks and Romans 43-44
Resemblances between human and animal features 45
Porta's and Lavater's Views 45-48
Study of Human Physiognomy based on birth-omens 49-50
Birth-omens in Julius Obsequens 50-52
Birth-omens in Valerius Maximus 52
Cicero on birth-omens 53-54
Macrobius on birth-omens 55
Birth-omens among Greeks and in Asia Minor 56-58
Birth-omens as basis of belief in fabulous and hybrid
beings 59-62
Dragons, Hippocentaurs and hybrid creatures in
Babylonian-Assyrian Literature and Art 63-64
Fabulous creatures of Greek Mythology and Birth-omens 64-66
Egyptian sphinxes 67-70
Totemism 70
Metamorphosis of human beings into animals and vice versa 70-72
Talking animals in fairy tales 71
History of monsters and persistency of belief in monsters 72-78
Lycosthenes' work 73-75
Summary 78-80
Index 81-86
"... they do observe
unfather'd heirs and loathly births of natures"
(King Henry V. 2nd part
Act IV, 4, 121-122).
I
As a result of researches in the field of Babylonian-Assyrian divination,
now extending over a number of years[1], it may be definitely said that
apart from the large class of miscellaneous omens[2], the Babylonians and
Assyrians developed chiefly three methods of divination into more or less
elaborate systems--divination through the inspection of the liver of a
sacrificial animal or Hepatoscopy, through the observation of the
movements in the heavens or Astrology, (chiefly directed to the moon and
the planets but also to the sun and the prominent stars and
constellations), and through the observance of signs noted at birth in
infants and the young of animals or Birth-omens. Elsewhere[3], I have
suggested a general division of the various forms of divination methods
into two classes, voluntary and involuntary divination, meaning by the
former the case in which a sign is deliberately selected and then
observed, by the latter where the sign is not of your own choice but
forced upon your attention and calling for an interpretation. Hepatoscopy
falls within the former category[4], Astrology and Birth-omens in the
latter.
Each one of these three methods rests on an underlying well-defined theory
and is not the outcome of mere caprice or pure fancy, though of course
these two factors are also prominent. In the case of Hepatoscopy, we find
the underlying theory to have been the identification of the 'soul' or
vital centre of the sacrificial victim--always a sheep--with the deity to
whom the animal is offered,--at least to the extent that the two souls are
attuned to one another. The liver being, according to the view prevalent
among Babylonians and Assyrians as among other peoples of antiquity at a
certain stage of culture, the seat of the soul[5], the inspection of the
liver followed as the natural and obvious means of ascertaining the mind,
i. e., the will and disposition of the deity to whom an inquiry has been
put or whom one desired to consult. The signs on the liver--the size and
shape of the lobes, and of the gall bladder, the character or
peculiarities of the two appendices to the upper lobe, (the processus
pyramidalis and the processus papillaris), and the various markings on the
liver were noted, and on the basis of the two main principles conditioning
all forms of divination (1) association of ideas and (2) noting the
events that followed upon certain signs, a decision was reached as to
whether the deity was favorably or unfavorably disposed or, what amounted
to the same thing, whether the answer to the inquiry was favorable or
unfavorable.
In the case of Astrology,--a relatively more advanced method of
divination,--the underlying theory rested on the supposed complete
correspondence between movements and phenomena in the heavens and
occurrences on earth. The gods, being identified with the heavenly
bodies,--with the moon, sun, planets, and fixed stars--or as we might also
put it, the heavenly bodies being personified as gods, the movements in
the heavens were interpreted as representing the activity of the gods
preparing the events on earth. Therefore, he who could read the signs in
the heavens aright would know what was to happen here below. Astrology
corresponded in a measure to the modern Weather Bureau in that it enabled
one to ascertain a little in advance what was certain to happen,
sufficiently so in order to be prepared for it. Compared with Hepatoscopy,
Astrology not only represents a form of divination that might be
designated as semi-scientific--only relatively scientific of course--but
also occupies a higher plane, because there was no attempt involved to
induce a deity unfavorably disposed to change his mind. The signs were
there; they pointed unmistakably to certain occurrences on earth that were
certain to occur and it was the task of the diviner--the =bârû= or
'inspector' as the Babylonian called him--to indicate whether what the
gods were preparing would be beneficial or harmful. Both Hepatoscopy and
Astrology as developed by the Babylonians and Assyrians =bârû=-priests
exerted a wide influence, the former spreading to the Hittites and
Etruscans and through the one or the other medium to Greeks and Romans[6],
while Babylonian-Assyrian Astrology passing to the Greeks became the basis
for Graeco-Roman and mediaeval Astrology, profoundly influencing the
religious thought of Europe[7] and in a modified form surviving even to
our own days. The chain of evidence has recently been completed[8] to
prove the direct transfer of the cuneiform astrological literature to
Greek astrologers and astronomers. The possibility also of a spread or at
least of a secondary influence of both systems to the distant East is also
to be considered. In fact considerable evidence is now available to show
that Babylonian-Assyrian astrological notions and in part also
astronomical data spread to China[9].
II
The observation of signs observed in young animals and in infants at the
time of birth constitutes a third division of Babylonian-Assyrian
divination, quite equal in prominence to Hepatoscopy and Astrology. Here
too we are justified in seeking for some rational or quasi-rational basis
for the importance attached by Babylonians and Assyrians, and as we shall
see by other nations as well, to anything of a noteworthy or unusual
character observed at the moment that a new life was ushered into the
world. The mystery of life made as deep an impression upon primitive man
and upon ancient peoples as it does on the modern scientist, who endeavors
with his better equipment and enriched by the large experience of past
ages, to penetrate to the very source of life. A new life issuing from
another life--what could be stranger, what more puzzling, what more
awe-inspiring? If we bear in mind that there is sufficient evidence to
warrant us in saying that among peoples in a primitive state of culture,
the new life was not associated with the sexual act[10], the mystery must
have appeared still more profound. The child or the young animal was
supposed to be due to the action of some spirit or demon that had found
its way into the mother, just as death was supposed to be due to some
malicious demon that had driven the spirit of life out of the body. The
many birth customs found in all parts of the world[11], are associated
with this impression of mystery made by the new life; they centre largely
round the idea of protection to the mother and her offspring at a critical
period. The rejoicing is tempered by the fear of the demons who were
supposed to be lurking near to do mischief to the new life and to the one
who brought it forth. The thought is a natural one, for the young life
hangs in the balance, while that of the mother appears to be positively
threatened. All bodily suffering and all physical ailments being ascribed
to the influence of bad demons, or to the equally malevolent influence of
persons who could by their control of the demons or in some other way
throw a spell over the individual, Birth, Puberty, Marriage and Death as
the four periods in life which may be regarded as critical and
transitional are marked by popular customs and religious rites that follow
mankind from primitive times down to our own days. A modern scholar, Van
Gennep, who has recently gathered these customs in a volume and
interpreted them, calls his work 'Rites de Passage', i. e., customs
associated with the four periods of transition from one stage to the other
and which survive in advanced forms of faith as Baptism, Confirmation,
Marriage ceremonies and Funeral rites, just as the chief festivals in all
religions are the 'Rites de Passage' of nature--associated with the
transition periods of the year, with the vernal equinox, the summer
solstice, the autumnal equinox and the winter solstice or, expressed in
agricultural terms, with sowing time, with blossoming or early harvest
time, with the later harvest time and with the period of decay.
The significance attached to birth omens is thus merely a phase of the
ceremonies attendant upon the passage of the new-born from its mysterious
hiding place to the light. The analogy between the new life and the
processes of nature is complete, for the plant, too, after being hidden in
the earth, which is pictured in the religions of antiquity as a 'great
mother', comes to the surface.
III
The field of observation in the case of the new-born among mankind and in
the animal world is large--very large, and yet definitely bounded. Normal
conditions were naturally without special significance, but any deviation
from the normal was regarded as a sign calling for interpretation. Such
deviations covered a wide and almost boundless range from peculiar
formations of any part of the body or of the features, to actual
malformations and monstrosities. The general underlying principle was, the
greater the abnormality, the greater the significance attached to it; and
as in the case of the movements in the heaven, the unusual was regarded as
an indication of some imminent unusual occurrence. We are fortunate in
possessing among the tablets of Ashurbanapal's library, unearthed by
Layard just fifty years ago and which is still our main source for the
Babylonian-Assyrian religious literature, many hundreds of texts
furnishing lists of birth omens and their interpretation[12], just as we
have many hundreds of texts dealing with liver divination[13], and even
more dealing with Astrology[14], apart from the many hundreds of texts
dealing with miscellaneous omens of which up to the present only a small
proportion has been published[15]. From this division of the great
collection gathered by Ashurbanapal's scribes chiefly from the temple
archives of Babylonia, it appears that the =bârû=-priests made extensive
collections of all kinds of omens which served the purpose of official
hand-books to be consulted in case of questions put to the priests as to
the significance of any particular phenomenon, and which were also used as
textbooks for the training of the aspirants to the priesthood.
Confining ourselves to the birth-omens[16], the first question that arises
is whether the signs entered are based on actual occurrences or are
fanciful. In the case of many entries, as will presently be made evident,
the anomalies noted rest upon =actual= observation, but with the desire of
the priests to embrace in their collections all possible contingencies so
as to be prepared for any question that might at any time arise, a large
number of signs were entered which the diviners thought _might_ occur. In
other words, in order to be on the safe side the diviners allowed their
fancy free rein and registered many things that we can positively say
never did occur and never could occur[17]. With the help of hand-books on
human and animal pathology, we can without difficulty distinguish between
two classes. Thus, twins being regarded as significant and triplets even
more so, the priests did not stop at this point but provided for cases
when four, five six up to eight and more infants were born at one
time[18]. Again in regard to animals, inasmuch as bitches and sows may
throw a litter of ten and even more, the priests in their collections
carried the number up to thirty[19] which is, of course, out of the
question. For sheep and goats the number was extended up to ten, though it
probably never happened that more than triplets were ever born to an ewe
or to a mother-goat. Even twins are rare, and I am told that there are few
authenticated cases of triplets.
Malformations among infants and the young of animals were of course
plentiful, but here too the anomalies and monstrosities are not as
numerous and varied as were entered in the handbooks of the Babylonian and
Assyrian diviners. The factor of fancy to which I have referred enters
even more largely in the entries of many actual malformations, through the
assumption of a more or less fanciful resemblance of some feature or of
some part of an infant or of the young of an animal with the features or
parts of some animal.
An excess number of limbs--three legs or four arms in the case of an
infant, or five or six legs in the case of a lamb, puppy, pig or foal, or
two heads--is not uncommon. On this basis the priests entered cases of
excess legs and arms and heads up to nine and more[20]; and similarly in
regard to ears and eyes.
That, however, despite the largely fanciful character of the entries in
the omen texts, these collections not only rested on a firm basis of
actual observation, but served a practical purpose is shown by the
examples that we have of official reports made by the =bârû=-priests of
human and animal anomalies, with the interpretations attached that
represent quotations from the collections[21]. A report of this kind in
reference to an animal monstrosity reads in part as follows[22]:
'If it is a double foetus, but with one head, a double spine, two
tails and one body, the land that is now ruled by two will be ruled
by one person.
If it is a double foetus with one head, the land will be safe.'
We have here two quotations from a text furnishing all kinds of
peculiarities connected with a double foetus and we are fortunate in
having the text from which the quotations are made[23]. Evidently an ewe
has given birth to a monstrosity such as is here described, the case has
been reported to the diviners who furnish the king[24] with this report,
indicating that since the monstrosity has only one head, what might have
been an unfavorable omen is converted into a favorable one.
Another report[25] regarding a monstrosity born of a sow reads:
'If a foetus has eight feet and two tails, the ruler will acquire
universal sway. A butcher, Uddanu by name, reported as follows: A sow
gave birth (to a young) having eight feet and two tails. I have
preserved it in salt and kept it in the house. From
Nergal-etir[26].'
Here we have the name of the =bârû=-priest who made the report expressly
indicated. The report begins with a quotation from the collections,
indicating the interpretation to be put upon the occurrence, after which
the report of the actual event that took place is given in detail; and
Nergal-etir is careful to add that he has preserved the specimen as a
proof of its occurrence, precisely as to-day such a monstrosity would be
bottled and kept in a pathological museum. In another report[27]
containing various quotations from the collections of birth-omens and
closing with one in regard to a mare that had given birth to two colts,
one male and one female, with smooth hair over the ears, over the feet,
mouth and hoofs, which is interpreted as a favorable sign[28], the one who
makes the report adds 'Whether this is so, I shall ascertain. It will be
investigated according to instructions'. Evidently, the facts had not been
definitely ascertained and the diviner, while furnishing the
interpretations for various possibilities, promises to inform himself
definitely and report again as to the exact nature of the unusual
occurrence. Frequently these omen reports contain interesting and
important allusions to historical events which are then embodied in the
collections[29]. In fact the event which followed upon any unusual or
striking sign, whether in the heavens or among the newly born or what not,
was carefully noted and on the principle of =post hoc propter hoc= was
regarded as the event presaged by the sign in question. The definite
indication of the interpretation to be put upon the omen itself was
supplied by the actual event that followed upon the appearance of some
sign, though it was not supposed that the sign would always be followed by
the same occurrence. The point to which attention was primarily directed
was whether the occurrence was of a favorable or an unfavorable nature. If
favorable, the conclusion was drawn that the sign was a favorable one and
hence in the event of its recurrence some favorable incident might be
expected according to existing circumstances--victory in an impending
battle, suppression of an uprising, recovery of some member of the royal
household who may be lying ill, good crops at the approaching harvest or
whatever the case may be--or in general a favorable answer to any question
put by a ruler. The same would apply to a combination of signs, one of the
fundamental principles of divination being--once favorable, always
favorable.
Among the birth-omen reports we have one containing a historical reference
of unusual interest[30].
'If the foetus is male and female--omen of Azag-Bau who ruled the
land. The king's country will be seized.
If a foetus is male and female, without testicles, a son of the
palace[31] will rule the land or will assert himself against the
king.'
We must assume in this case that a monstrosity has been born, having
partly male and partly female organs. The priest by way of interpretation
notes a series of signs registered in the collections, all prognosticating
an abnormal state of affairs--a woman on the throne, captivity, seizure
of the throne by an usurper and revolt. We frequently find in the
collections several interpretations registered in this way,--a valuable
indication of the manner in which these collections were compiled by the
priests from a variety of documents before them. The name of this female
ruler, hitherto known only from this report and from a list of proper
names in which Azag-Bau occurred, has now turned up in an important list
of early dynasties ruling in the Euphratean Valley, discovered and
published by Scheil[32]. We may conclude, therefore, that at the time that
Azag-Bau sat on the throne or shortly before, such a monstrosity actually
came to light. As an unusual occurrence it presaged something unusual, and
was naturally associated with the extraordinary circumstance of a woman
mounting the throne. Azag-Bau according to the newly discovered list is
the founder of a dynasty ruling in Erech as a centre and whose date
appears to be somewhere between 2800 and 3000 B. C.--possibly even
earlier. As a founder of a dynasty that overthrew a previous one, Azag-Bau
must have engaged in hostilities with other centres, so that the second
interpretation that 'the king's country will be seized' may well refer to
some historical event of the same general period. Be that as it may, the
important point for us is that we have here another proof of the practical
purpose served by the observation of birth-omens.
IV
Passing now to some illustrations of birth-omens from the collections of
the =bârû=-priests, let us first take up some texts dealing with omens
from the young of animals. Naturally, the animals to which attention was
directed were the domesticated ones--sheep, goats, cows, dogs, horses and
pigs. Among these the most prominent is the sheep, corresponding to the
significance attached to the sheep in liver divination where it is, in
fact, the only animal whose liver is read as a means of forecasting the
future[33]. As a result of this particularly prominent position taken by
the sheep in birth-omens, the word =isbu=, designating the normal or
abnormal foetus--human or animal--when introduced without further
qualification generally indicates the foetus of a sheep[34].
A text[35] dealing with a double foetus, i. e., of a sheep[36], reads in
part as follows:
'If it is a double foetus with slits (?) on the head and tail, the
land will be secure.
If it is a double foetus and enclosed[37], confusion in the country,
the dynasty [will come to an end].
If it is a double foetus, encompassed like an enclosure, the king
will [subdue ?] the land.
If it is a double foetus and encompassed like an enclosure, confusion
in the land, hostilities [in the country].
If it is a double foetus, encompassed like an enclosure, with slits
on the body, end of the dynasty, confusion and disturbances in the
country.
If it is a double foetus, encompassed like an enclosure, with twisted
necks and only one head, the land will remain under one head.
* * * * *
If it is a double foetus, the heads enclosed, with eight legs and
only one spine, the land will be visited by a destructive storm[38].
If it is a double foetus with only one head, the land will be secure,
the ruler will prevail against his enemy, peace and prosperity in the
country[39].
If it is a double foetus with one head, a double spine, eight feet,
two necks and two tails, the king will enlarge his land.
If it is a double foetus with one head, double spine, two tails and
one body, then the land that is ruled by two will be ruled by one.
If it is a double foetus with only one head and one spine, eight
feet, two necks and two tails, the king will enlarge his land.
If it is a double foetus with only one neck, the ruler will enlarge
his land.
If it is a double foetus with only one spine, the ruler will enlarge
his land.
If it is a double foetus with only one mouth, the land will remain
under the command of the king.
If it is a double foetus with only one breast, the land will be
enlarged, rule of a legitimate king.
In order to grasp the principles underlying the interpretation of such
omens, we must take as our starting point the conceptions connected with
the various parts of the body. Bearing in mind that the omens deal
primarily with public affairs and the general welfare and only to a
limited extent with private and individual concerns[40], the head of the
foetus by a natural association stands for the ruler or occasionally for
the owner of the mother lamb. One head to the double foetus, therefore,
indicates unity--a single rule--whereas two heads point to disruption of
some kind. If the double foetus is so entwined as to be shut in within an
enclosure, a similarly natural association of ideas would lead to the
country being shut in, in a state of confusion, the land in a condition of
subjugation or the like. On the other hand, if merely the heads are
enclosed so as to give the impression of unity and the rest of the two
bodies is disentangled, the unfavorable sign is converted into a favorable
one. A second principle involved in the interpretation results in a more
favorable conclusion if the double foetus shows less complications. So, a
single neck or a single spine or a single breast or a single mouth point
again, like a single head, towards unity and therefore to flourishing
conditions in the land. In the case of legs and tails, to be sure, the
conditions seem to be reversed--the eight legs and two tails and two necks
with one head pointing to enlargement of the land, whereas a double foetus
with only six or five feet forebodes some impending misfortune[41].
Let us proceed further with this text.
If it is a double foetus, one well formed and the second issuing from
the mouth of the first[42], the king will be killed and his army will
[revolt ?], his oil plantation and his dwelling will be destroyed[43].
If it is a double foetus, the second lying at the tail [of the
first], with two breasts and two tails, there will be no unity in the
land[44].
If it is a double foetus, and the second lies at the tail of the
first and enclosed and both are living, ditto.
If it is a double foetus, and one rides over the other, victory,
throne will support throne.
If it is a double foetus and one rides over the other and there is
only one head, the power of the king will conquer the enemy's land.
If it is a double foetus, one above and one below, with only one
spine and eight feet, four [Variant: 'two'] ears, and two tails,
throne will support throne.
If it is a double foetus with the faces downward, approach of the son
of the king, who will take the throne of his father, or a second son
of the king will die, or a third son of the king will die.
* * * * *
If it is a double foetus with five feet, serious hostility in the
country, the house of the man will perish, his stall[45] will be
destroyed.
If it is a double foetus with six feet, the population will be
diminished, confusion in the land.
If it is a foetus within a foetus, the king will weaken his enemy,
his possessions will be brought into the palace[46].
* * * * *
If a foetus gives birth to a second foetus[47], the king will assert
himself against his opponent.
It will be observed that in quite a number of cases two alternative
interpretations are given, one of an official character referring to the
public welfare, or to occurrences in the royal household[48], the other of
an unofficial character bearing on the welfare of the individual to whom
the mother lamb that had produced the monstrosity belonged. One foetus
issuing from the other, or one within the other, appears to have been a
favorable or an unfavorable sign, according to the position of the second.
If the one lay above the other, the association of ideas pointed to a
control of the ruler over his enemy. In some cases, the association of
ideas leading to the interpretation is not clear; and we must perhaps
assume in such instances an entry of an event that =actually= occurred
after the birth of the monstrosity in question. A certain measure of
arbitrariness in the interpretations also constitutes a factor to be taken
into consideration; and the last thing that we need to expect in any
system of divination is a =consistent= application of any principle
whatsoever.
The text passes on to an enumeration of the case of an ewe giving birth to
more than two lambs. The 'official' interpretations are throughout
unfavorable[49], and the priests were quite safe in their entries which
were purely arbitrary in these cases, since such multiple births never
occurred. It is worth while to quote these interpretations as an
illustration of the fanciful factor that, as already indicated, played a
not insignificant part in the system unfolded.
If an ewe gives birth to three (lambs), the prosperity of the country
will be annulled, but things will go well with the owner of the ewe,
his stall will be enlarged.
If an ewe gives birth to three fully developed (lambs), the dynasty
will meet with opposition, approach of an usurper, the country will
be destroyed.
If an ewe gives birth to four, the land will encounter hostility, the
produce of the land will be swept away, approach of an usurper,
destruction in the land.
If an ewe gives birth to four fully developed lambs, [locusts (?)]
will come and [destroy] the country.
If an ewe gives birth to four, approach of an usurper, the country
will be destroyed.
If an ewe gives birth to five, destruction will ravage the country,
the owner of the house will die, his stall will be destroyed.
If an ewe gives birth to five, one with the head of a bull[50], one
with a lion-head, one with a jackal-head, one with a dog-head and one
with the head of a lamb[51], devastation will take place in the
country.
If an ewe gives birth to six, confusion among the population.
If an ewe gives birth to seven,--three male and four female--, the
king will perish.
If an ewe gives birth to eight, approach of an usurper, the tribute
of the king will be withheld.
If an ewe gives birth to nine, end of the dynasty.
If an ewe gives birth to ten, a weakling will acquire universal
sovereignty[52].
The general similarity of the interpretations may be taken as a further
indication that the =bârû=-priests were simply giving their fancy free
scope in making prognostications for conditions that could never arise;
nor is it of serious moment that in the case of triplets the
interpretation is favorable to the owner of the ewe, or that in the case
of ten lambs, even the official interpretation is not distinctly
unfavorable--in view of the purely 'academic' character of such entries.
An extract from a long text[53] furnishing omens derived from all kinds of
peculiarities and abnormal phenomena noted on the ears of an
animal--primarily again the sheep, though no doubt assumed to be
applicable to other domesticated animals--will throw further light on the
system of divination devised by the =bârû=-priests, and will also
illustrate the extravagant fancy of the priests in their endeavor to make
their collections provide for all possible and indeed for many impossible
contingencies.
If a foetus[54] lacks the right ear, the rule of the king will come
to an end, his palace will be destroyed, overthrow of the elders of
the city, the king will be without counsellors, confusion in the
land, diminution of the cattle in the land, the enemy will acquire
control[55].
If the foetus lacks a left ear, a god will harken to the prayer of
the king, the king will take the land of his enemy, the palace of the
enemy will be destroyed, the enemy will be without a counsellor, the
cattle of the enemy's country will be diminished, the enemy will lose
control.
If the right ear of the foetus is detached, the stall[56] will be
destroyed.
If the left ear of the foetus is detached, the enemy's stall will be
destroyed.
If the right ear of the foetus is split, the herd will be destroyed
or the leaders of the city will leave (it)[57].
If the left ear of the foetus is split, the herd will be enlarged,
the leaders of the enemy's country will leave (it).
If the right ear of the foetus is split and swollen with clay, the
country [will have a rival].
If the left ear of the foetus is split and swollen with clay, the
enemy's country will have a rival.
If the right ear of the foetus is destroyed, the stall will be
enlarged, the stall of the enemy will be diminished.
If the outside of the right ear is destroyed, the land will yield to
the enemy's land.
If the right ear of the foetus lies near the cheek[58], the enemy
will prevail against the power of the king, the king will be without
counsellors, a ruler will not inhabit the land, or the son of the
king of universal sway[59] will be king.
If the left ear of the foetus lies near the cheek, an enemy will be
installed in the royal palace.
If the right ear of the foetus lies near the jaw, birth of a
demon[60] in my land, or in the house of the man[61].
If the left ear of the foetus lies near the jaw, birth of a demon in
the enemy's land, or the land of the enemy will perish.
The guiding principle of the interpretation in these instances is the
natural association of the right as your side and the left with the
enemy's side. A defect on the right side is unfavorable to you, i. e., to
the king or to the country or to the individual in whose household the
birth occurs, while the same defect on the left side is unfavorable to the
enemy and, therefore, favorable to you. The principle is quite
consistently carried out even to the point that if the sign itself is
favorable, it is only when it is found on the right side that it is
favorable to you, while its occurrence on the left side is favorable to
the enemy.
Defects of any kind appear to be unfavorable, whereas an excess of organs
and parts are in many instances favorable, though with a considerable
measure of arbitrariness.
If the foetus has two ears on the right side and none on the left,
the boundary city of the enemy will become subject to you.
If the foetus has two ears on the left side and none on the right,
your boundary city will become subject to the enemy.
If the foetus has two ears on the right side and one on the left, the
land will remain under the control of the ruler.
If the foetus has two ears on the left side and one on the right, the
land will revolt.
If within the right ear of the foetus a second ear[62] appears, the
ruler will have counsellors.
If within the left ear of the foetus there is a second ear, the
counsellors of the ruler will advise evilly.
If behind the right ear of the foetus there is a second ear, the
ruler will have counsellors.
If behind the left ear of the foetus there is a second ear, confusion
in the land, the land will be destroyed[63].
* * * * *
If a foetus has [four] ears, a king of universal sway will be in the
land.
[If a foetus has four ears], two lying in front (and) two in back,
the ruler will acquire possessions in a strange country[64].
* * * * *
If behind the right ear, there are two ears, visible on the
outside[65], the inhabitants of the boundary city will become subject
to the enemy.
If behind the left ear there are two ears visible on the outside, the
inhabitants of the boundary city of the enemy will become subject to
you.
If a foetus has three ears, one on the left side and two on the right
side, the angry gods will return to the country.
If a foetus has three ears, one on the left side and two on the
right, the gods will kill within the country.
If within the right ear of a foetus there are three ears with the
inner sides well formed, the opponent will conclude peace with the
king whom he fears, the army of the ruler will dwell in peace with
him.
If within the left ear of a foetus there are three ears with the
inner sides well formed, thy ally will become hostile.
If behind each of the two ears there are three ears visible on the
outside, confusion in the land, the counsel of the land will be
discarded, one land after the other will revolt.
If within each of two ears there are three ears visible on the inner
side, things will go well with the ruler's army.
If within each of the two ears there are three ears, visible on the
outside and the inside, the army of the ruler will forsake him and
his land will revolt.
If within each of the two ears there are three ears, visible on the
outside and the inside, the army of the ruler will forsake him and
his land will revolt.
If the ears of a foetus are choked up[66], in place of a large king a
small king will be in the land.
In general, therefore, an excess number of ears points to enlargement,
increased power, stability of the government and the like; and this is
probably due in part to the association of wisdom and understanding with
the ear in Babylonian[67], for as a general thing an excess of organs or
of parts of the body is an unfavorable sign, because a deviation from the
normal.
In the same way as in the case of the ears, we have birth-omen texts
dealing with the head, lips, mouth, eyes, feet, joints, tail, genital
organs, hair, horns and other parts of the body[68]. In many of these
texts dealing with all kinds of peculiar formations and abnormalities in
the case of one organ or one part of the body or the other, a comparison
is instituted between the features or parts of one animal with those of
another and the interpretation is guided by the association of ideas with
the animal compared. A moment's reflection will show the importance of
this feature in extending the field of observation almost =ad infinitum=.
A lamb born with a large head might suggest a lion, a small long head that
of a dog, or a very broad face might suggest the features of a bull. From
comparisons of this kind, the step would be a small one to calling a lamb
with lion-like features, a lion, or a lamb with features recalling those
of a dog, a dog and so on through the list, the interpretations being
chosen through the ideas associated with the animal in question. A text of
this kind[69], of which we have many, reads in part as follows.
If an ewe gives birth to a lion, the abandoned weapons will make an
attack (again), the king will be without a rival.
If an ewe gives birth to a lion, but with a head of a 'rain bow'
bird[70], the son will seize the throne of his father.
If an ewe gives birth to a lion, but (some of) the features are
(also) human, the power of the king will conquer a powerful country.
If an ewe gives birth to a lion, but (some of) the features are those
of a lamb, the young cattle will not prosper.
If an ewe gives birth to a lion, but (some of) the features are those
of an ass, severe famine will occur in the country.
If an ewe gives birth to a lion, but (some of) the features are those
of a dog, Nergal[71] will cause destruction.
If an ewe gives birth to a lion but (some of) the features are those
of a =khupipi=[72], the ruler will be without a rival and will
destroy the land of his enemy.
If an ewe gives birth to a lion, but with the mouth of a wild cow,
the rule of the king will not prosper.
If an ewe gives birth to a lion but with the mouth of a bull, famine
will ensue.
If an ewe gives birth to a lion with the horny exuberance of an ibex
on its face, prices will be lowered[73].
If an ewe gives birth to a lion with the horny exuberance of an ibex
on its face and if the eyes are open[74], prices will be high.
If an ewe gives birth to a lion with fatty flesh on the nose, the
land will be well nourished.
If an ewe gives birth to a lion, and the right temple is covered with
fatty flesh, the land will be richly blessed.
If an ewe gives birth to a lion, and the left temple is covered with
fatty flesh,--rivalry.
If an ewe gives birth to a lion, and it is covered all over with
fatty flesh, the king will be without a rival.
If an ewe gives birth to a lion but without a head[75], death of the
ruler.
If an ewe gives birth to a lion with the gorge torn off[76],
destruction of the land, the mistress[77] will die.
If an ewe gives birth to a lion with the gorge torn off and a
mutilated tail[78], the land [will be destroyed (?)]
From texts like these it would appear that the phrase of 'an ewe giving
birth to a lion' had acquired a purely conventional force to describe a
lamb whose head or general features suggested those of a lion. It may have
come to be used indeed for a newly born lamb of unusually large
proportions. Hence one could combine with the description of a lion-lamb
such further specifications as that it also suggested human features, or
looked like an ass or a dog, or that while it came under the category of a
lion-lamb, it yet had some of the features of a normal lamb. At all events
we must not credit the Babylonians or Assyrians with so absurd a belief as
that an ewe could actually produce a lion. Such a supposition is at once
disposed of when we come to other texts where we find entries of an ewe
producing a whole series of animals--a jackal, dog, fox, panther, hyena,
gazelle, etc. and where we must perforce assume resemblances between a
young lamb and the animals in question and not any extravagant views of
possible cross-breeding[79]. To clinch the matter, we have quite a number
of passages in which the preposition 'like' is introduced[80] instead of
the direct equation, showing that when the texts speak of an ewe giving
birth to a lion, a jackal, a dog, etc., the priests had in mind merely a
resemblance as the basis of such statements.
The general idea associated with the lion in divination texts is that of
power, success, increase and the like. The sign, therefore, of an ewe
producing a lion is a favorable one; it is only through attendant
circumstances that the character of the sign is transformed into an
unfavorable or partly unfavorable omen. So in case the lion-lamb has a
head suggestive of the variegated colors of the rainbow bird, the sign
still points to power, but to a power exercised by the crown prince
against the father. If some of the features suggest those of an ass or of
a dog or of a pig, the ideas associated with these animals convert what
would otherwise have been a favorable sign into an unfavorable one. The
mouth of a wild cow or of a bull, thus interfering with the complete
identification of the young lamb as a lion-lamb, similarly, brings about
an unfavorable interpretation. Fatty flesh by a natural association points
to increased prosperity, while mutilations of the head, tail or of any
other part naturally carry with them unfavorable prognostications.
It is interesting to see from a long list of comparisons of a new-born
lamb with all kinds of animals[81] the extent to which the association of
ideas connected with the animals in question is carried.
If an ewe gives birth to a dog ... the king's land will revolt.
If an ewe gives birth to a beaver[82] (?), the king's land will
experience misery.
If an ewe gives birth to a fox, Enlil[83] will maintain the rule of
the legitimate king for many years, or[84] the king will strengthen
his power.
If an ewe gives birth to a Mukh-Dul[85], the enemy will carry away
the inhabitants of the land, the land will despite its strength go to
ruin, the dynasty will be opposed, confusion in the land.
If an ewe gives birth to a panther, the kingdom of the ruler will
secure universal sway.
If an ewe gives birth to a hyena (?), approach of Elam.
If an ewe gives birth to a gazelle, the days of the ruler through the
grace of the gods will be long, or the ruler will have warriors.
If an ewe gives birth to a hind, the son of the king will seize his
father's throne, or the approach of Subartu will overthrow the land.
If an ewe gives birth to a roebuck, the son of the king will seize
his father's throne, or destruction of cattle[86].
If an ewe gives birth to a wild cow, revolt will prevail in the
land.
If an ewe gives birth to an ox, the weapons of the ruler will prevail
over the weapons of the enemy.
If an ewe gives birth to an ox that has _ganni_[87], the ruler will
weaken the land of his enemy.
If an ewe gives birth to an ox with two tails, omen of Ishbi-Ura[88],
who was without a rival.
If an ewe gives birth to a cow, the king will die, another king will
draw nigh and divide the country.
One might have supposed that such omens represent a purely imaginative
theoretical factor, but the introduction of the historical reference
proves conclusively that the Babylonians and Assyrians attached an
importance to the fancied resemblance of an animal to an other, and that
in the case of such strange statements as that an ewe gives birth to one
of a series of all kinds of animals, it is this fancied resemblance that
forms the basis and the point of departure for the interpretation.
V
If, now, we turn to birth-omens in the case of infants, we find in the
omen texts the same two classes, those in which all kinds of abnormalities
and malformations are registered, and such in which the fancied
resemblance of the new-born infant to some animal, or of some features of
an infant to those of an animal is introduced as a factor. The principles
underlying the interpretation, so far as they can be recognized, are
naturally the same as in the case of birth-omens for the young of
domesticated animals. A few illustrations will make this clear.
A text[89] dealing with twins, and passing on to multiple births up to
eight, reads in part as follows:
If a woman gives birth to two boys, famine will prevail in the land,
the interior of the country will witness misfortune, and misfortune
will enter the house of their father[90].
If a woman gives birth to two boys with one body--no union between
man and wife, [that house will be reduced][91].
If a woman gives birth to two boys of normal appearance, that
house[92] ...
If a woman gives birth to a boy and a girl, ill luck will enter the
land, the land will be diminished.
If a woman gives birth to twins united at the spine, with the faces
[back to back ?], the gods will forsake the country, the king and his
son will abandon the city.
If a woman gives birth to twins without noses and feet, the land
[will be diminished][93].
If a woman gives birth to twins in an abnormal condition, the land
will perish, the house of the man will be destroyed.
If a woman gives birth to twins united at the sides[94], the land
ruled by one will be controlled by two.
If a woman gives birth to twins united at the sides, (and) the right
hand of the one lying to the right is missing, the weapon of the
enemy will kill me, the land will be diminished, weakness will bring
about defeat and my army will be destroyed.
If a woman gives birth to twins united at the sides, and the left
hand of the one lying to the left is missing[95] ...
If a woman gives birth to twins united at the sides and the right
hands are missing--attack, the enemy will destroy the produce of the
land.
If a woman gives birth to twins united at the sides, and the left
hands are missing, [the produce of the enemy's land will be
destroyed][96].
If a woman gives birth to twins, united at the sides, and the right
foot of the one lying to the right is missing, the enemy will abandon
the rest of my land, the land will be captured.
If a woman gives birth to twins united at the sides, and the left
foot of the one lying to the left, is missing, I will [abandon] the
rest of the enemy's land, [and the land of the enemy will be
captured[97]].
If a woman gives birth to twins united at the sides, and the right
feet are missing, the seat of the country[98] will be overthrown and
captured.
If a woman gives birth to twins united at the sides and the left feet
are missing, the seat of the enemy's land [will be overthrown and
captured].
If a woman gives birth to two girls, the house will be destroyed.
If a woman gives birth to two girls and they die[99] ...
If a woman gives birth to three well developed girls, the land of the
ruler will be enlarged.
If a woman gives birth to two girls with one body, [no union] between
man [and wife, the land will be diminished][100].
If a woman gives birth to two girls of normal appearance ...[101].
If a woman gives birth to three boys, distress will seize the land
...
If a woman gives birth to [four (?)] boys, [destruction in the
land][102].