VARIOUS CLASSES OF OMENS.
There is a close connection between the various branches of the
religious literature of Babylonia and Assyria that we have hitherto been
considering. The magic incantations are, as we have seen, a form of
prayer. On the other hand, prayers, whether hymns or confessions of sin
with an appeal for relief from suffering or distress, or embodying the
petition for a divine response to some question or questions, are never
entirely dissociated from incantations, and are invariably based upon
the same beliefs that give to the element of magic such a prominent
place in the religion. The omens form part of this same order of
beliefs. The connecting link between incantations and omens is the sense
of mystery impressed upon man by two orders of phenomena--the phenomena
of his own life and the phenomena of the things about him. In his own
life, nothing was more mysterious to him than the power of speech. It is
doubtful whether he recognized that the animals communicated with one
another by means of the sounds that they emitted; but even if he did,
the great gap separating such means of communication from the power
residing in the combination of sounds, of which he could avail himself,
must have been all the more impressive. In view of this, it is not
difficult to understand that a magic force was attributed to words as
such. Of course, a somewhat advanced degree of culture must have been
reached before such a belief would be given a definite form of
expression; but even in the simplest form of social organization the
notion of _authority_ necessarily exists, and authority is inseparable
from words. The chief commands, and the conclusion is naturally drawn
that the words he utters are imbued with the power to force obedience.
These two factors--the mystery of speech and the practical demonstration
of the power residing in words--are sufficient to account for the part
played by incantations among all nations at a certain stage of their
religious development; and once introduced, the conservatism attaching
to religious rites would ensure their continuance even after the popular
religious beliefs had passed far beyond the stage in question. The
modifications introduced into the incantations would be nigh endless.
There would develop a tendency to greater complications in the
combination of words. At the same time their literary form would be
improved. Prayers and hymns reflecting advanced religious sentiments
would be produced, but the magic element connected with the words as
such would not for that reason be lost sight of. The efficacy of such
prayers would still depend upon their being uttered in the right manner
and--what is equally to the point--by the right person. Corresponding to
the chief in secular affairs--who alone can pronounce words that give
evidence of their power by the results produced--is the priest in
religious affairs to whom, as the mediator between the gods and men, the
secret is entrusted of uttering the right words in the right way, so as
to produce the desired results, to force, as it were, obedience from the
gods, as a chief forces obedience from his subjects. In a more advanced
stage of religious culture, the position of the priest is no less
powerful and important. When incantations yield to prayers in the proper
sense, or are combined with prayers, it is only the priests who can make
the prayers effective by their interceding in some way with the gods,
whether by adding their appeal to that of the supplicant, or by the
performance of the rites accompanying prayer, or by their aid in leading
the worshipper into the presence of the deity and standing with him
before the throne of grace.
When man turns from a contemplation of self to the things around him,
there is added to the sense of the mysterious which is aroused in him,
the feeling of his own weakness which is borne in upon him with
overpowering force. He cannot fail to realize how dependent he is upon
the sun, the moon, the rain, and the storm. At every step he takes
dangers beset his path. The animal world is at times hostile, at times
friendly; but whether the one or the other, it is essential for him to
carefully _note_ all that is going on around him. Every happening or
sight of an unusual character arouses now his sense of fear, and again
his hope. He learns to attach special importance to deviations from the
normal course of things. There must be a reason for the exception from
the rule. It betokens something, and, concerned as man primarily is for
his own welfare, he naturally comes to connect both the regular
phenomena of nature as well as the deviations, the normal traits and
habits of the animal world as well as peculiar features occasionally
occurring, with his own fate. To forestall the future was his only
safeguard against the dangers in store for him. It was of the utmost
importance to him to know what was coming or, at all events, to be on
the lookout for _something_, in order to be in a proper frame to receive
either the benefits or to meet the difficulties of the situation.
His powers of observation--upon which man in a primitive state depended
almost entirely for his sustenance--were thus further strengthened by
the necessity of protecting himself, so far as possible, against the
uncertainties of the future. Nothing would escape him. The movement of
the stars and planets, their position at different seasons and periods,
the appearance of the clouds, an eclipse, the conditions of the streams,
an earthquake, the direction of the winds, storms, the flight of birds,
the barking of dogs, the movements of snakes and serpents, peculiar
marks on the bodies of children, of adults and animals, monstrosities
among mankind or the brute creation, the meeting with certain persons or
animals, the rustling of leaves, the change of seasons, the lustre of
precious stones, all attracted man's attention. Whatever he saw might
portend something to him, in fact _did_ portend something; hence the one
great aim and ideal of his life was to _see_ everything. Seeing meant
foreseeing, and the man who could see everything--the _seer par
excellence_, who could also understand what he saw--held in his hands
the key that would unlock the secrets of the future. He possessed the
means of forecasting events.
Apart, then, from the interpretation of omens in connection with
sacrifices and incantations, the individual had to be on the outlook at
all times for signs and portents. To neglect them would entail serious
consequences.
This wider aspect of omens accounts for the extensive omen literature
that arose in Babylonia and Assyria. Fully one-fourth of the portion of
Ashurbanabal's library that has been discovered consists of omens,[548]
tablets of various size in which explanations are afforded of all
physical peculiarities to be observed in animals and men, of natural
phenomena, of the position and movements of the planets and stars, of
the incidents and accidents of public and private life,--in short, of
all possible occurrences and situations.
As yet but a small proportion of this literature has been published, and
a thorough understanding of it is impossible until systematic
publications shall have been issued. Meanwhile it is safe to assert
that, as in the case of incantations and prayers, the omens were
generally combined into series by the Babylonian and Assyrian scribes.
Omens From Planets and Stars.
Ihering observes[549] that the stars were observed by the Babylonians in
the interest of navigation. While this is true, yet the chief motive in
the development of astronomy in the Euphrates Valley was the belief that
the movements of the heavenly bodies portended something that was
important for man to know. That the stars served as guides to the
mariner was only an additional reason for attaching great importance to
the heavenly phenomena. Scientific observations were but means to an
end; and the end was invariably the derivation of omens from the
movements and position of the planets and stars. When, therefore, we
find the astronomers sending reports to their royal masters apparently
of a purely scientific character, we may be certain that although no
omens are mentioned, both parties had omens in mind. The astronomical
reports, of which quite a number have already been published,[550] may
therefore be reckoned as part of the omen literature. The vernal equinox
was a period of much significance. The astronomer royal accordingly
reports:[551]
On the sixth day of Nisan,[552]
Day and night were balanced.
There were six double hours of day,
Six double hours of night.
May Nabu and Marduk
Be gracious to the king, my lord.
On another occasion the equinox took place on the 15th of Nisan,[553]
and accordingly this is reported. Again, the appearance of the new moon
was anxiously looked for each month, and the king is informed whether or
not it was seen on the 29th or 30th day of the month.[554]
A watch we kept
On the twenty-ninth day,
The moon we saw.
May Nabu and Marduk
Be gracious to the king, my lord.
From Nabua of the city of Ashur.
An extraordinary event, such as an eclipse, is made the subject of a
more elaborate report. The Babylonian astronomers had developed their
scientific attainments to the point of calculating the time when an
eclipse of the sun or the moon would take place. As this period
approached, they watched for the eclipse. We have an interesting
specimen of a report in which the astronomer announces that an expected
eclipse for which a watch was kept for three days did not appear.[555]
Another addressed to an official reads:[556]
To the Agriculturist,[557] my lord,
Thy servant Nabushumiddin,
An officer of Nineveh,
May Nabu and Marduk be gracious
To the Agriculturist, my lord.
The fourteenth day we kept a watch for the moon.
The moon suffered an eclipse.
The reports pass over into indications of omens with an ease which shows
that the observations of the astronomers were made with this ulterior
motive in view. A report which forms a supplement to one above
translated furnishes the interpretation given to the vernal
equinox:[558]
The moon and sun are balanced,
The subjects will be faithful,[559]
The king of the land will reign for a long time.
The complement, then, to the purely scientific observations is furnished
by these official communications to the kings and others, setting forth
in response, no doubt, to commands or inquiries, the meaning of any
particular phenomenon, or of the position of the planets, or of any of
the stars at any time, or of their movements. Of such communications we
have a large number. They illustrate the great attention that was paid
to details in the observation of the heavenly bodies. The moon as the
basis of the calendrical system occupies the first place in these
reports. Its movements were more varied than those of the sun. Through
its phases, its appearance and disappearance at stated intervals, a safe
point of departure was obtained for time calculations. While the sun
through its daily course regulated the divisions of the day, the moon by
its phases fixed the division of weeks and months. The moon never
appeared quite the same on two successive nights nor in the same part of
the heavens. The more variety, the more significance--was a principle of
general application in the interpretation of omens. Whether the
Babylonians also recognized an influence of the moon on the tides, we
have no certain means of determining, but it is eminently likely that
trained as their astronomers were in careful observation, this was the
case. But apart from this, there were many events in public and private
affairs that appeared to them to stand in close connection with the
movements of the orb of night. Nothing that occurred being regarded as
accidental, the conclusion was forced upon the Babylonians that the time
when something was undertaken was of significance. The fact that certain
undertakings succeeded, while others failed, was most easily explained
upon the theory that there were periods favorable for the action
involved and periods unfavorable. The gathering of past experience thus
becomes a guiding principle in the interpretation of the movements of
the moon; and what applies to the moon applies, of course, to the other
planets and to the stars. No doubt other factors are involved, such as
association of ideas; but it is evident from a careful study of the omen
literature that conclusions drawn from what appears to us as the
accidental relation of past occurrences to the phenomena presented by
the planets and stars constituted fully three-fourths of the wisdom of
the Euphratean augurs. The same report, of which a portion has already
been quoted,[560] continues after interpreting the meaning of the
equinox with a diagnosis of other concurrent conditions:[561]
Sun and moon are seen apart,[562]
The king of the country will manifest wisdom.[563]
On the fourteenth day sun and moon are seen together,
There will be loyalty in the land,
The gods of Babylonia are favorably inclined,
The soldiery will be in accord with the king's desire,
The cattle of Babylonia will pasture in safety.[564]
From Ishtar-shumeresh.
The same conditions appearing on another day may portend precisely the
reverse. So another report informs the king:[565]
On the fifteenth day the sun and moon are seen together,
A powerful enemy raises his weapons against the land,
The enemy will smash the great gate of the city,
The star Anu appears bright,
The enemy will devastate.
It is quite evident that such reports must have been sent in response to
royal orders asking for the meaning of existing conditions or of
conditions that may be observed on certain days. At times the
prognostications assume a remarkable degree of definiteness which forms
a striking contrast to the general vagueness of the oracles. An
official, Balasi, reports[566] on one occasion regarding the
significance of the moon appearing unexpectedly:
The moon is seen out of season,
Crops will be small.
On the twelfth day the moon is seen together with the sun.[567]
Contrary to the calculated time,
The moon and sun appear together,
A strong enemy will devastate the land.
The king of Babylonia will be forced to submit to his enemy.
On the twelfth day, the moon with the sun is seen,
On the twelfth day is seen.
Evil is in store for Babylonia.
It is a favorable sign for Elam and the west land,
But surely unfavorable for Babylonia.
The reports were not always concerned with political affairs. Frequently
there is a reference to lions and hyenas that might be expected to make
their appearance because of certain natural phenomena. Often crops are
referred to, and according as the conditions are favorable or not,
fertility or famine is predicted in the official reports. On other
occasions the astrologers venture the very safe prognostication that
male children will be born or that there will be miscarriages, though it
seems likely that in such cases the forecast is intended for the affairs
of the palace alone.
We have seen[568] what great importance was attached by the Babylonians
to eclipses. It will be appropriate, therefore, to give a specimen of an
astrologer's report in reference to such a phenomenon:[569]
The moon disappeared,[570] evil will settle in the land.
The moon, contrary to calculation, disappeared.
An eclipse has taken place.
On the twenty-ninth day the moon disappeared
And the sun on the day of the eclipse entered the circle.[571]
It is an eclipse of Elam.[572]
If in the month of Kislev,[573] an eclipse is observed
That encircles (?) the sun and the moon disappears,
Upon the observation of the eclipse,
Then may the king be exalted.
May the heart of the king, my lord, rejoice.
From Khushi-ilu, the servant of the king, the eponym.
Another report reads:[574]
To the king, my lord,
Thy servant Ishtar-iddinabal,
The chief of the astronomers of Arbela.
May Nabu, Marduk, Ishtar of Arbela
Be gracious to the king, my lord,
On the twenty-ninth day a watch we kept.
At the observatory clouds,
The moon we did not see.
This report was sent on the second day of the month of Shebat.[575] From
these specimens and others, it is evident that reports regarding the
appearance or non-appearance of the new moon were regularly sent. But in
addition to this, the kings sent to the observatory on numerous other
occasions for information with reference to the significance of certain
phenomena.
As in the case of the moon, so also for the sun and the stars, reports
were transmitted that served as guides in directing the kings in their
affairs. So on one occasion Nabu-mushesi forecasts that[576]
If the 'great lion' star is dark,
It is favorable for the country.
If the 'king' star is dark,
The chamberlain[577] (?) of the palace dies.
The official character of these reports is one of their significant
features. Their great variety is an indication of the frequent occasions
on which the kings consulted the astrologers. No important enterprise
was undertaken without first ascertaining what phenomena might be looked
for on the day fixed for any action, and what these phenomena portended.
In the case of the Assyrian reports, it is natural to find many
allusions to foreign nations, since war occupied so much of the time and
energies of the Assyrian rulers. But we have seen that for private
affairs the astrologers were also consulted, as well as for the internal
affairs of the country. The reports illustrate the practical application
of what became known in the ancient world as "Chaldaean wisdom." If,
however, we would know the source whence the astrologers derived the
knowledge which they furnished in their reports, we must turn to the
long lists prepared by the priests, in which all possible phenomena
connected with the planets and stars were noted and their meaning
indicated. These compilations constitute the 'Priestly Codes' of the
Babylonians, and, as already intimated, they were combined just as the
incantations and prayers, into series. Many such series must have
existed at one time in Babylonia. A great temple was incomplete without
its observatory, and we are warranted in concluding that every great
religious center of the Euphrates Valley had its collection of omen
tablets. The natural ambition of the priests was to make such a series
as complete as possible. The larger the number of observations it
contained, the greater the possibility of finding an answer to the
question put to them. To these lists additions would constantly be made,
and, if we may judge from the manner of literary composition that
prevailed among the ancient Hebrews and later among the Arabs, the work
of the compilers of omen series consisted essentially in combining
whatever material they could obtain, and adding such observations as
they themselves had made. While, therefore, the omen code of one place
might differ in details from that of another, not only would the
underlying principles be the same in all, but each series would
represent an aggregation of experiences and observations drawn from
various quarters.
A large omen series of which as yet only fragments have been
published[578] bears the title 'Illumination of Bel.' It is estimated
that this astrological code embraced more than one hundred tablets. From
the fragments published, the general method employed in the preparation
of the series can be gathered. To the moon and to the sun, to each of
the planets, and to the important stars a separate section was assigned.
In this section the peculiarities, regular and irregular, connected with
each of the bodies were noted, their appearance and disappearance, the
conditions prevailing at rising and at setting, the relationship of the
moon to the sun or to a star, of the stars to one another and to the
ecliptic, were set forth. Since, however, the time when a phenomenon
connected with a planet or star was as important as the phenomenon
itself, observations were entered for the various months of the year and
for various days in each month. The days were not arbitrarily chosen,
but, as there is every reason to believe, selected on the basis of past
experience. Similarly the interpretations of the phenomena were founded
on the actual occurrence of certain events at certain times when the
conditions indicated actually existed. A single occurrence might suffice
for predicating a connection between the event and the phenomenon. The
coincidence would constitute an observation, but the omen would
naturally gain additional force if it was based on a repeated
observation of the same phenomenon on the same day of the same month.
But such a case would be rare, and the effort of the astrologers would
be directed simply towards gathering as many observations of phenomena
as possible. They would rest content when they had found a single
connection between the phenomenon and the event. Their success in giving
an answer to a question put to them as to what might happen on a certain
day, fixed for battle or for laying the foundations of an edifice, or
for dedicating a temple, for setting out on an expedition, or for any
undertaking whatsoever, would depend on the completeness of their lists,
and correspondingly the interpretation of a phenomenon occurring on any
day would entail no difficulties if in their consultation lists the
phenomenon would be recorded.
The 22d tablet of the series 'Illumination of Bel' deals with the
important subject of eclipses. It contains 88 lines, and furnishes us
with a good specimen of the class of omens under consideration. It
begins[579] with eclipses that may take place during the first month,
and runs along through the twelve months of the year. The 14th, 15th,
16th, 20th, and 21st days of the month are those set down when eclipses
have been observed. The official character of the omens is indicated by
their repeated references to the nations with which Babylonia--and later
Assyria--came into contact, and to the fate in store for the rulers of
the country. For the third month, the tablet notes:
In the month of Sivan, an eclipse happening on the 14th day,
proceeding from east to west, beginning with the middle
watch,[580] and ending with the morning watch, the shadow being
seen in the east--the side of obscuration--furnishes an
omen[581] for the king of Dilmun.[582] The king of Dilmun is
slain.
An eclipse happening on the 15th day, the king of Dilmun is
slain, and some one seizes the throne.
An eclipse happening on the 16th day, the king is deposed and
slain, and a worthless person seizes the throne.
An eclipse happening on the 20th day, rains descend from heaven,
and the canals are flooded.
An eclipse happening on the 21st day, sorrow and despair in the
land. The land is full of corpses.
The eclipses for the fourth month furnish omens for the king of
Guti--another district with which Babylonia and Assyria had frequent
dealings.
An eclipse happening in the month of Tammuz on the 14th day,
proceeding from the west to the south, beginning with the first
watch and ending with the middle watch, the shadow being seen in
the west--the side of obscuration--furnishes an omen for the
king of Guti. Overthrow of Guti by force, followed by complete
submission.
An eclipse happening on the 15th day[583], rains descend from
heaven, floods come upon the land, famine in the land.
An eclipse happening on the 16th day, women have miscarriages.
An eclipse happening on the 20th day, storms set in and famine;
afterwards for a year storms destroy property[584].
An eclipse happening on the 21st day, the armies of the king
revolt and deliver him into the hands of enemies.
The eclipses of the following month deal with several countries.
An eclipse in the month of Ab[585] on the 14th day, proceeding
from the south to the east, beginning with the first watch, or
with the morning watch, and ending at sunrise, the shadow being
seen in the south--the side of obscuration--furnishes an omen
for the king of Umliash. The soldiery are engaged in severe
conflicts for a year, and are slain by force of arms.
An eclipse happening on the 15th day[586], the king dies, and
rains descend from heaven, and floods fill the canals.
An eclipse happening on the 16th day, the king of Babylonia
dies. Pestilence[587] feeds upon the country.
An eclipse happening on the 20th day, the king of the
Hittites[588] in person (?) seizes the throne.
An eclipse happening on the 21st day, a deity strikes (?) the
king, and fire consumes king and land.
From these specimens, the general principle of the section is apparent.
Since eclipses portend public and political disasters of some kind, the
compiler has carefully gathered oracles given on previous occasions to
some ruler, or observations of the events that occurred at the time of
the recorded eclipses. The apparently restricted application of the
omens was no hindrance to their practical use. In the event of an
astrologer being consulted with regard to the significance of an eclipse
on a certain day, his list would furnish a safe basis for further
prognostications, suitable to the political conditions that prevailed.
But in order to meet all contingencies, other lists furnishing further
omens for eclipses were added. The 22d tablet of the 'Illumination of
Bel' series is followed by one[589] which, while dealing with the same
subject, approaches it somewhat differently, and is based on a different
principle. It begins again with the first month, and in twelve
paragraphs takes up in succession the months of the year. Choosing for
comparison the same three months, the third, fourth, and fifth, which we
selected in the case of the 22d tablet, it will be seen that, while the
references are again to public affairs, the prognostications are of a
more general character and of wider applicability.
If in the 3d month an eclipse takes place on the 14th day, rains
will descend and flood the canals. Storms will cause
inundations. The soldiery of Babylonia will destroy the country.
An eclipse on the 15th day indicates that king against king will
send troops[590]. The king of legions dies. An eclipse on the
16th day signifies that the king will be slain, and that some
one will seize the throne.[591] An eclipse on the 20th day means
that the king will hand his throne to his son. An eclipse
happening on the 21st day portends rain,[592] and an invasion of
the enemy's land.
For the 4th month an eclipse on the 14th day portends that rains
will descend and the canals will be flooded. Rains will cause
inundations. There will be famine. A large country will be
reduced to a small one. An eclipse on the 15th day portends that
rains will descend, canals will be flooded, and there will be
famine in the land. An eclipse on the 16th day portends famine
for a year. An eclipse on the 20th day portends destruction of
the king and his army. An eclipse happening on the 21st day
indicates that there will be a strong wind that will destroy the
riches of the sea.[593]
For the 5th month an eclipse on the 14th day portends rains and
flooding of canals. The crops will be good and king will send
peace to king.[594] An eclipse on the 15th day portends
destructive war. The land will be filled with corpses. An
eclipse on the 16th day indicates that pregnant women will be
happily delivered of their offspring. An eclipse on the 20th day
portends that lions will cause terror and that reptiles will
appear; an eclipse on the 21st day that destruction (?) will
overtake the riches of the sea.[593]
The vagueness of many of the prognostications is in all probabilities
intentional, just as we found to be the case in most of the oracles
announced to the kings. To predict rains during the rainy months was
comparatively safe. The storms which visited Babylonia annually brought
with them destruction of cattle. They conditioned the fertility of the
country, but pestilence was often caused by the evaporation of the
waters. Again, military expeditions were usually undertaken in the
spring of the year before the great heat set in, and in a country like
Assyria, it was safe to hazard a vague prediction that hostilities would
ensue, and that some district would be diminished.
What may be called the 'eclectic' character of the omen series under
consideration thus becomes apparent. The lists consisted, on the one
hand, of omens obtained on certain occasions and with reference to some
specific circumstance, such as a campaign against some country, and, on
the other hand, of prognostications of a more general character, based
on the general climatic conditions of the country, and referring to
events of frequent occurrence. All that the scribes in preparing the
series were concerned with, was to collect as many omens as they could,
and to arrange them in some convenient order. Just as they prepared
lists referring to military events, so they put together others in which
some other theme was treated. The reports and omen tablets thus
complement one another. The latter are based on the former, and the
former were obtained by the interpretation of phenomena, furnished by
the tablets and applied to the particular case submitted to the priests.
We need not, of course, suppose that _all_ prognostications found in the
series, especially in those parts of it which are of a more general
character, were based upon reports actually made, any more than that the
official reports to the kings even in later days were always based upon
a consultation of some series of tablets. Individual judgment, both in
compiling a series and in interpreting phenomena, must at all times have
played some part. The reports and the series also embody to some extent
the results of experience not previously put to writing; but these
considerations do not alter the general proposition set forth in this
chapter as to the practical purpose served by the omen series as well as
by the reports, and the pragmatic origin of both.
The importance of eclipses gave to omens connected with such events a
special significance. Eclipses, however, were after all rare events, and
while because of their rarity they always portended something of great
moment, still the ordinary phenomena were the ones that had to be
studied by the astrologers with great care in order to obtain a rational
view of the relationship between the phenomena of nature and the fate of
the individual or of the state. Again, eclipses, as a general thing,
pointed to a public disaster of some kind, and this recognized belief
lightened the task of the priest considerably in this instance. In the
case of ordinary phenomena it was much more difficult to find the
connection between cause and effect; and in the vast majority of
instances when kings and individuals sought the temples for omens, the
heavens must have presented a normal and not an abnormal appearance.
What answers were the priests to give to the questions put to them? Was
it a favorable period for undertaking a military campaign? On what day
should the king set out? Was the day fixed on by the council of war
favorable for a battle? On what day should the foundation for the temple
or palace be laid? Will the sick person recover? Should one set out on a
proposed journey? Is the day fixed for a marriage auspicious?
Recognizing by experience that the same thing undertaken at different
times turned out differently, in the one case being brought to a
successful issue, in the other followed by misfortune, the conclusion
was forced upon the popular mind (as already set forth above) that the
day on which something was done or was to be done was of great moment.
But how did one day differ from the other? That was the question for the
priests to determine. During the hours that the sun was in control, the
clouds produced constant changes in the appearance of the heavens, but
because of their irregular character, these changes impressed the
Babylonians less forcibly than the striking changes that the nights
showed. The planets and stars never appeared alike on two successive
nights. There was always some change in the position of some of the
heavenly bodies. To these changes, then, the priests directed their
attention. In the variations presented by the heavens at night they saw
a potent reason for the varying results produced by the same act
undertaken at different times.
If it made a difference at what moment something was done, that
difference could only be determined by observing the variations that one
night presented from the other. The astrologers observed that many of
the stars were, or seemed to be, fixed in their orbits; others rose and
set like the sun and moon, and appeared in different parts of the
heavens at different seasons of the year. The regularity of these
changes made it possible to study the course of these stars, and as
knowledge progressed, to determine also in advance where a particular
body would be seen at a certain time.
The planets accordingly were the bodies to which the astrologers
especially directed their attention. It has been conjectured with some
show of probability that one of the purposes served by the lofty seven
staged towers,[595] which were attached to many of the great temples,
was for the better observation of the movements of the planets. The
official standing of the astrologers is indicated by the references in
texts to the 'court astrologer.'
However this may be, there is no doubt that at all the large temples and
at many of the smaller ones, observations of the planets were recorded.
The collection of these observations formed the manuals for the priests
in answering many of the questions put to them. Each of the great
planets was identified (by a process of thought that we will have
occasion to describe) with some deity, though this was not done until
the attempt was also made to gather the astrological knowledge of the
day into some kind of consistent system. Our own names of the planets,
as handed down to us through the Greeks and Romans, are but the
classical equivalents of the Babylonian deities.[596]
Jupiter is Marduk, the head of the Babylonian pantheon. Venus is the
Babylonian Ishtar. Mars is Nergal, the god of war and pestilence.
Mercury is Nabu, the god of wisdom and the messenger of the gods, and
Saturn is Ninib.
Among the astrological texts preserved, Ishtar-Venus figures more
prominently than the other planets. The appearance of Ishtar during each
month and for various days of the month was noted, and then interpreted,
partly on the basis of past experience, but also by other factors that
for the most part escape us. A tablet, furnishing omens derived from the
position of the planet Venus and which may belong to the series
'Illumination of Bel,' deals with the periods of the disappearance of
Venus as evening star, and her reappearance as morning star, and _vice
versa_[597].
In the month of Tammuz (4th month) Venus disappeared on the 25th
day at sunset, for seven days was hidden[598], and on the 2d day
of Ab (5th month) was seen at sunrise. Rains in the land.
Destruction of[599] ...
In the month of Adar (12th month) Venus disappeared on the 25th
day at sunrise. For a year (?) weapons are wielded[600] (?),
gold[599] ...
In the month of Marcheshwan (8th month), 10th day, Venus
disappeared at sunrise, for two months and six days was hidden,
and reappeared on the 16th day of Tebet (10th month). There will
be abundant crops.
In the month of Elul (6th month), 26th day, Venus disappeared at
sunset, for eleven days was hidden, and in the second[601] Elul,
on the 7th day, reappeared at sunset. The heart of the land is
good.[6]
In the month of Nisan (1st month), on the 9th day, Venus
disappeared at sunsets[602] (?), and for five months and sixteen
days was hidden, and reappeared in the month of Elul (6th
month), on the 25th day, at sunset. The heart of the land is
good.
In the month of Ab (5th month), 10th day, Venus disappeared at
sunset[603] (?), and for two[604] months and sixteen days was
hidden, and reappeared on the 26th day of Marcheshwan (8th
month). Rains in the land.
In the month of Nisan, 2d day, Venus appeared at sunrise. There
will be distress in the land.
If Venus is stationary to the 6th day of Kislev (9th month) at
sunrise, and then disappears on the 7th day of Kislev, and is
hidden for three months to reappear on the 8th day of Adar (12th
month) at sunset, it indicates that king against king will send
hostility.
In the month of Kislev (9th month), 10th day, Venus appeared at
sunrise. Lack of corn and hay in the land. If she remains in
position up to the 14th day of Ab (5th month) at sunrise, and
then on the 15th day disappears, and for three months is hidden,
and on the 15th day of Marcheshwan (8th month) rises at sunset,
the crops of the land will be good.
A colophon informs us that the tablet in question embodies a series of
observations of the movements of Venus recorded by Babylonian scholars.
It was evidently the purpose of the compilers to commit to writing as
many variations in the appearance and disappearance of the planet as
possible. The omens must either have been furnished at one time or they
embody actual occurrences that were observed in connection with the
observation recorded. In either case the omens served as guides for the
priests in their replies to inquiries. An omen once furnished or an
event once observed as having taken place under given conditions of a
planet served for all times.
The omen lists for the other planets were arranged on the same principle
as the Venus list. The motions of the planets were carefully observed.
It was noted whether they rose brilliantly or with a pale color. Their
position towards other stars was determined, and much more the like.
Besides the planets, various stars that were distinguished by their
brilliancy, as Sirius, Antares, Regulus, and also comets, were included
in the sphere of astronomical calculations, and furnished omens to the
priests.
These omens, so far as we may judge from the texts at present published,
all hinge around the same series of events that are referred to in the
illustrations given,--rain, crops, war, distress, the country's
prosperity, the king's welfare or misfortune.
Another piece of evidence is thus furnished for the hypothesis that
these lists are based upon reports made to royal masters, and that the
reports again are obtained from the lists prepared for public and
political needs. We must not, however, conclude from this fact that the
observation of heavenly phenomena was of no significance at all for the
private individual, but only that the position of the king and the
general welfare of the country were regarded of larger moment.
Just as the gods were held responsible chiefly for the larger affairs of
this world, the trifles being relegated to the spirits and demons,[605]
so the planets and stars, as symbols of the gods, were regarded as
auguries for the chief of the country rather than for the miscellaneous
population, and more for the general welfare than for individual
prosperity. The individual shared in the omen furnished, in so far as
his well-being was dependent upon such important contingencies as
whether there was to be war or peace, good crops or bad. A population so
largely engaged in agriculture as the Babylonians were, would be
satisfied if they could be reassured as to the outcome of their work in
the fields. Ihering has properly emphasized the strong hold that the
conception of communal interests obtained in Babylonia.[606] This
conception is reflected in the prominence given to public and political
affairs in the omen lists and 'omen' reports. Agriculture was the primal
factor in producing this conception in the south; war which united the
population, even though military service was forced upon the people, was
the second factor; and in Assyria, where military expeditions occupied a
much larger share of public attention than in Babylonia, war became the
chief factor in keeping alive the thought of national solidarity.
Omen Calendars.
There was still another reason why the king and with him public affairs,
received such prominence in the omen texts. As the nation's ruler he was
not only an important personage by virtue of his power over his
subjects, but also by virtue of his close relationship to the gods. The
theory of the 'divine right of kings' was rigidly adhered to in
Babylonia and Assyria. When the monarchs speak of themselves as
nominated by this or that god to be the ruler of the country, this was
not a mere phrase. The king was the vicar of the deity on earth, his
representative who enjoyed divine favor and who was admitted into the
confidence of the gods. In earlier days priestly functions were
indissolubly associated with kingship. The oldest kings of Assyria call
themselves 'the priests of Ashur,' and it is only as with the growth of
political power a differentiation of functions takes place that the
priest, as the mediator between the deity and his subjects, becomes
distinct from the secular ruler.
The further development of this process led to the curious but perfectly
natural anomaly that the king, from being originally identical with the
priest, becomes in large measure dependent upon the latter in his
relations to the gods. In the more advanced stages of the religious
cult, the king requires the service of a priest to act as mediator
between himself and the gods, precisely as all of his subjects need this
mediatorship. The king cannot obtain an oracle directly. He must send to
the temple and inquire of the priests. The priest must intercede for the
king when he throws himself upon the mercy of an angered god or goddess.
The royal sacrifice is not acceptable unless the priest stands by the
side of the king.
Still there are traces left of the old direct relationship existing
between the king and his gods. A god sometimes reveals himself directly
to a ruler. Ishtar appears in a dream and gives him directions. Another
and more significant trace of this older relationship is to be found in
the importance assigned to the religious conduct of the king. If an
individual offends a deity, the individual alone suffers, or at the most
his family is involved in the punishment inflicted; but if the king
sins, the whole country suffers, and correspondingly the king's
atonement and reconciliation with the gods is essential for dispelling
some national calamity. Frazer has shown by his admirable
investigations[607] that this view of kingship is common to many nations
of antiquity. While it did not lead among the Babylonians and Assyrians
to that extreme which is best illustrated by Japan, where the Mikado, by
virtue of his divine right, is hedged in with prescribed formalities
that make him almost a prisoner, so closely is he watched by his
attendants lest any mistake be made by him which is certain to entail
serious consequences for the country, still the priests had to see to it
that the rulers performed their duties towards the gods in the
prescribed manner and with all possible accuracy.
The conduct of the king was of special significance at periods when for
some reason or other, the gods were not favorably disposed. Partly on
the basis of actual observation that eclipses (which were especially
feared) had occurred on certain days of the month, partly as a
consequence of the belief that the change in the moon's phase augured
something good or evil for humanity, and in part perhaps through the
coincidence that on a certain day of the month, mishaps of some kind had
occurred several times, certain months and certain days of each month
were regarded as favorable, while others were unfavorable. Some months
and some days were suitable for dedicating a building, others were not.
On some days an oracle might be sought, on others not. Some days were
days of rejoicing, on others again mourning was appropriate. Advantage
had to be taken of the favorable days to keep the deity in good humor,
and it was equally important on the unfavorable ones to exercise great
care not to do aught which might arouse the anger of a god, ready to be
incensed. It is the king who can best accomplish the one thing and avoid
the other. To him, as standing nearer the deity than any private
individual, the country looked for safety and protection. Calendars were
prepared for each month of the year, in which the peculiar character of
each day was noted and instructions added what was to be done on each
day. These instructions all have reference to the king and to the king
alone. A complete calendar for the intercalated month of Elul has been
preserved.[608] It may serve as an example of the branch of the omen
literature to which it belongs.
The thirty days of each month are taken up in succession. The deity to
which each day is sacred is indicated, and various sacrifices or
precautions prescribed.
A curious feature of this calendar was that, since it was the hope to
make every day 'favorable,' each day was called so, even when it is
evident that it was not.
For the 1st day of Elul the second,[609] sacred to Anu and Bel,
a favorable day. When the moon makes its appearance in this
month, the king of many peoples brings his gift, a gazelle
together with fruit, ... his gift to Shamash, lord of the
countries, and to Sin, the great god, he gives. Sacrifices he
offers, and his prayer to his god[610] is acceptable.
On the 2d day sacred to goddesses, a favorable day. The king
brings his gift to Shamash, the lord[611] of countries. To Sin,
the great god, he offers sacrifices. His prayer to the god is
acceptable.
On the 3d day, a day of supplication to Marduk and Sarpanitum, a
favorable day. At night, in the presence of Marduk and
Ishtar,[612] the king brings his gift. Sacrifices he is to offer
so that his prayer may be acceptable.
On the 6th day, sacred to Ramman and Belit,[613] a favorable
day. The king, with prayer and supplication (?), at night in the
presence of Ramman, offers his gift. Sacrifices he is to bring
so that his prayer may be acceptable.
On the 7th day, supplication to Marduk and Sarpanitum, a
favorable day (_sc._ may it be). An evil day. The shepherd of
many nations is not to eat meat roasted by the fire, or any food
prepared by the fire. The clothes of his body he is not to
change, fine dress (?) he is not to put on. Sacrifices he is not
to bring, nor is the king to ride in his chariot. He is not to
hold court nor is the priest to seek an oracle for him in the
holy of holies.[614] The physician is not to be brought to the
sick room.[615] The day is not suitable for invoking
curses.[616] At night, in the presence of Marduk and Ishtar, the
king is to bring his gift. Then he is to offer sacrifices so
that his prayer may be acceptable.
This 7th day, it will be observed, is expressly called an evil day. It
is evident, therefore, that the phrase 'favorable day' in the first line
expresses a hope and not a fact, or is added to indicate the manner in
which the day can be converted into a favorable one. Just as the 7th
day, so the 14th, 21st, and 28th are called evil days, and the same
ceremonies are prescribed for the king on these days. These days were
evidently chosen as corresponding to the phases of the moon. But besides
these four days, a fifth, namely, the 19th, is singled out in the same
fashion. The comparison with the Biblical Sabbath naturally suggests
itself. The choice of the 7th day and of the corresponding ones rests,
of course, in both instances upon the lunar calendar, and there is also
this similarity between the Sabbath of the Hebrews and the 'evil day' of
the Babylonians, that the precautions prescribed in the Pentateuchal
codes--against kindling fires, against leaving one's home, against any
productive labor--point to the Hebrew Sabbath as having been at its
origin an 'inauspicious day,' on which it was dangerous to show oneself
or to call the deity's attention to one's existence. Despite the
attempts made to change this day to one of 'joy,' as Isaiah would have
it,[617] the Hebrew Sabbath continued to retain for a long time as a
trace of its origin, a rather severe and sombre aspect.
A striking difference, however, between the Babylonian and the Hebrew
rites is the absence in the latter of the theory that the atonement of a
single individual suffices for the community. The precautions prescribed
for the Sabbath are binding upon every one. Emphasis is laid in the
Pentateuch upon the fact that the whole people is holy, whereas among
the Babylonians the king alone is holy. He alone is to abstain from his
ordinary acts, to conduct himself on the evil day with becoming
humility, to put on no fineries, not to indulge in dainty food,[618] not
to appear in royal state, neither to appeal to the gods (for they will
not hear them), nor even to interfere with their workings by calling in
human aid against the demon of disease, who may have been sent as the
messenger of one of the gods. It is only at the close of the day that he
can bring a sacrifice which will be acceptable. The king, by observing
these precautions, insures the welfare of his people. The gods cared
little for individual piety, but they kept a jealous eye on their
earthly representative. His appeals were heard if properly presented and
if presented at the right time, but woe to the people whose king has
aroused the divine anger. Just as his acts of penitence have a
representative character, so the gifts and sacrifices and supplications
mentioned in the calendar are offered by the king on behalf of the whole
people.
For the remaining days of Elul, the ordinances have much the same
character as those instanced. The variation consists chiefly in the god
or gods to whom the days are sacred. Now it is Nabu and his consort
Tashmitum--on the 4th, 8th, and 17th days--to whom gifts and prayers are
brought; again Ninib and his consort Gula, on the 9th,[619]--or Gula
alone, on the 19th. To Marduk and Sarpanitum the 16th day is assigned,
besides the 3d and 7th days as above set forth; to Ramman and his
consort the 6th, to the old Bel and Belit the 5th, the 12th, the 25th,
and to Nergal and Bau the 27th. At times two male deities are in
association. So Anu and Bel for the 1st and the 30th day, Ea and Nergal
for the 28th, Sin and Shamash for the 18th, 20th, 21st, and 22d, or two
goddesses, as Tashmitum and Sarpanitum, or a god alone, as Ea for the
26th, or Sin alone for the 13th, and once--the 29th day--Sin and Shamash
are combined with the miscellaneous group of Igigi and Anunnaki. All the
great gods are thus represented in the calendar. The basis on which the
days are assigned still escapes us. It is hard to believe that any
strict uniformity existed in this respect in the cults attached to the
various Babylonian temples. Preference would be shown in each center to
the chief god worshipped there, while to others would be assigned a
position corresponding to some theological system devised by the
priests. Uniformity and consistency are two elements that must not be
looked for in the omen literature of any people. The very fact that
omens have some rational basis, namely, observation and experience, is
the very reason why the omen lists and omen calendars of one place
should differ from those of another, and precisely to the same degree
that observation and experience differ.
The intercalated months, by virtue of their extraordinary character, had
perhaps a special significance, but every day of the year had an
importance of some kind. This is shown by a Babylonian calendar,
fortunately preserved in great part,[620] in which every day of the year
is included, and either its character noted or some precautions
prescribed. The indications in this calendar are marked by their
brevity, and impress one as memoranda, intended as a guide to the
priests.
The calendar consists of twelve columns. At the head of each column
stands the name of one of the months. One or, at the most, two lines are
devoted to each day of the month, the days being ranged in succession
from one to thirty. For a series of days in the 2d month the indications
are:
21st day, hostility.
22d day, judgment favorable, invoking of curses.
23d day, heart not good.
24th day, gladness of heart.
25th day, wife not to be approached, heart not good.
26th day, secret.
Such indications it is evident are intelligible only to the initiated.
With the help of the more complete calendars, such as the one above
explained, we can in most cases determine what is meant by these
memoranda. A note like 'hostility' is an omen that the gods are
unfavorably inclined on that day. The 'judgment' referred to on the 22d
day is the oracle. The day in question is suitable for obtaining a
response to a question put to the deity, and a favorable occasion for
invoking curses upon the enemy. It will be recalled that the 7th day of
the second intercalated Elul is put down as one when it is not advisable
to secure the ill will of the god against the enemy. An expression like
'heart not good' is explained by the contrast 'heart glad.' The 23d day
of the month is a day of sorrow, the 24th one on which one may be
cheerful without arousing the jealousy of the gods or demons. The 25th
is again an unfavorable day in which, as a precaution, sexual
intercourse is prohibited. Lastly, the word rendered 'secret'[621] is
the same one that we came across in the precautions prescribed for the
7th day of the second Elul, where we are told that the priest is not to
enter the 'secret' place. This term appears to describe the 'holy of
holies' in the Babylonian temples where the oracles were obtained. The
single word 'secret' was a sufficient indication for the priest that on
the day in question he might enter the mysterious chamber of the temple
without trepidation.
Many of the days of the year are simply set down as 'favorable' or
'unfavorable,' while others were noted as days portending 'distress,'
'trouble,' 'tears,' 'injury,' 'everything favorable,' 'darkness,' 'moon
obscured,' and the like. Of special interest are the prohibitions
regarding food on certain days. On the 9th day of the 2d month "fish is
not to be eaten or sickness will ensue." Swine's meat is forbidden on
the 30th day of the 5th month, and in this case the particular kind of
sickness--disease of the joints--is specified that will ensue in case of
disobedience. On another day, the 25th of the 7th month, beef as well as
pork is forbidden, while on the 10th day of the 8th month and the 27th
day of the 6th month, dates are forbidden as a precaution against eye
disease. One is not to cross a stream[622] on the 20th day of the 5th
month; on certain days one is not to sell grain; other days are again
noted as specially favorable for military movements.
Some of the precautions prescribed in this calendar may have been meant
for the populace in general, such as the order not to cross a stream or
to strike a bargain. The belief in lucky and unlucky days has a distinct
popular flavor, but it is doubtful whether the ordinary public consulted
the priests, as a general thing, in order to find out what days were
lucky and what not. It is more plausible to assume that the priests
embodied in their official calendars some of the notions that arose
among the people, and gave to them an official sanction.
There are a considerable number of references to the king in the
complete calendar under consideration, and we are permitted to assume,
therefore, that the calendar served as a further guide for the priests
in their instructions to the king. The allusion to oracles, curses, and
weapons points in this same direction, and when, as in a number of
instances, a day is described as one on which Shamash or some other god
is 'angry,' it is in all probabilities against the ruler rather than
against private individuals that the god's displeasure has been
manifested. A similar official and public character is borne by another
calendar, where months alone are indicated and their significance
interpreted.[623] The twelve months are arranged in as many columns.
Under each column the indications 'favorable' or 'not' are entered,
while at the right end of the tablet the specifications are added for
what undertakings the month is, or is not, favorable. One of these
specifications is "the soldiery to make an attack upon a hostile city,"
and upon referring to the list of months, we learn that the 2d, 6th,
7th, 8th, and 12th months are favorable for such an undertaking, but the
others are 'not.' Again, the 1st, 3d, 4th, 6th, 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th
are 'favorable' for "the entrance of any army upon foreign soil," but
the remainder 'not.' The other specifications refer likewise to the
movements of the armies. Such a calendar was evidently drawn up on the
basis of omens, for a specific purpose, and, we may add, for some
specific expedition to serve as a guide to the military commander. In
the same way, calendars were drawn up devoted to indications regarding
crops and for other purposes of public interest. To a more limited
extent, private affairs are also touched upon.
To enter upon a further discussion of details is unnecessary at this
point, and would carry us too far from the main purpose of this chapter,
which is to point out the diverse ways in which the belief in omens is
illustrated by the religious literature of the Babylonians.
It is sufficient to have made clear that the oracles and dreams, the
lists of omens derived from eclipses, the works on the planets and stars
and the calendars, all have the same origin due to observation of
coincidences, to past experience, and to a variety of combinations, some
logical and some fanciful, of supposed relationships between cause and
effect; and not only the same origin, but the lists and calendars served
also the same main purpose of guides for the priests in replying to the
questions put to them by their royal masters and in forwarding
instructions to the ruler for the regulation of his own conduct so that
he and his people might enjoy the protection and good will of the gods.
But the observation of the phenomena of the heavens, while playing
perhaps the most prominent part in the derivation of omens, was not the
only resource at the command of the priests for prognosticating the
future. Almost daily, strange signs might be observed among men and
animals, and whatever was strange was of necessity fraught with some
meaning. It was the business of the priest to discover that meaning.
Omens From Terrestrial Phenomena.
Monstrosities, human and animal, and all species of malformations
aroused attention. The rarer their occurrence, the greater the
significance attached to them. In addition to this, the movements of
animals, the flight of birds, the appearance of snakes at certain
places, of locusts, lions, the actions of dogs, the direction of the
winds, the state of rivers, and all possible accidents and experiences
that men may encounter in their house, in the street, in crossing
streams, and in sleep were observed. Everything in any way unusual was
important, and even common occurrences were of some significance. The
extensive omen literature that was produced in Babylonia is an
indication of the extent to which men's lives were hedged in by the
belief in portents. Several thousand tablets in the portion of
Ashurbanabal's library that has been rescued from oblivion through
modern excavations, deal with omens of this general class. Several
distinct series, some embracing over one hundred tablets, have already
been distinguished. One of these series deals with all kinds of
peculiarities that occur in human infants and in the young of animals;
another with the things that may happen to a man; a third with the
movements of various animals, and more the like. As yet but a small
portion of these tablets have been published,[624] but thanks to the
indications given by Dr. Bezold in his great catalogue of the Kouyunjik
Collection, a fair idea of the general character of the Babylonian omen
literature may be formed. On what principle the omens were derived, it
is again difficult to determine in detail, but that some logical
principles controlled the interpretations cannot be doubted.
Jevons has shown[625] that in "sympathetic magic,"--of which the
interpretation of omens is an offshoot,--the same logical methods are
followed as in modern science. The famous 'Chaldean wisdom,' which is to
be looked for in this widespread omen literature, would not have created
so deep an impression on the ancient world, if the theologians of the
Euphrates Valley, in incorporating primitive magic in the official
religion, had not been successful in giving to their interpretations of
occurrences in nature and in the animal world, the appearance, at least,
of a consistent science.
Taking up as our first illustration the series devoted to birth
portents, it is interesting to observe the system followed in presenting
the various phases of the general subject. A broad distinction is drawn
between significant phenomena in the case of human infants and in the
case of the young of animals.
About a dozen tablets are taken up with an enumeration of omens
connected with new-born children, and one gains the impression from the
vast number of portents included in the lists that originally every
birth portended something. The fact that births were of daily occurrence
did not remove the sense of mystery aroused by this sudden appearance of
a new life. Every part of the body was embraced in the omens: the ears,
eyes, mouth, nose, lips, arms, hands, feet, fingers, toes, breast,
generatory organs. Attention was directed to the shapes of these various
members and organs. The ears of a child might suggest the ears of a dog
or of a lion or of a swine, and similarly the nose, mouth, lips, hands,
or feet might present a peculiar appearance. A single member or the
features in general might be small or abnormally large. All these
peculiarities meant something; and since few if any children are born
without presenting some peculiarities in some part of the body, it would
seem as though the intention of the compilers of the series was to
provide a complete handbook for the interpretation of signs connected
with the birth of children. Naturally the total absence of some member
of the body in case of the new-born or any malformation was a sign of
especial significance. Hence we are told what was portended by a child
born without hands or feet or ears or lips, or with only one of these
members, or with only one eye, or with no mouth or no tongue, or with
six fingers on one or on both hands, or six toes on one or on both feet,
or without generatory organs.[626]
The rarer the phenomenon, the greater the significance is, as we have
seen, a general principle in the science of augury. The birth of twins
accordingly plays an important role in the series. In fact, the opening
tablet is devoted in part to this phase of the subject. We are told, for
example, that[627]
If a woman gives birth to twins, one male and one female, it is
an unfavorable omen. The land is in favor[628], but that house
(wherein the child was born) will be reduced.
And again,
If a woman gives birth to twins, and both are brought out
alive(?),[629] but the right hand of one is lacking, the ruler
(?) will be killed by force, the land will be diminished....
If a woman gives birth to twins, and both are brought out alive
(?), but neither of them have right hands, the produce of the
country will be consumed by the enemy.
If a woman gives birth to twins, and both are brought out alive
(?), but the right foot of one is missing, an enemy will for one
year disturb the fixed order of the country.[630]
It will be observed that these omens bear on public as well as private
affairs. The part played by public matters in them varies, but that the
king and the country are so frequently introduced is an indication again
of the official character given to these omen tablets. Only priests
whose chief concern was with the court and the general welfare would
have been impelled to mingle in this curious way the fate of the
individual with that of the country at large. The birth of twins in
itself is an omen for the house where the event occurs; but twins that
are monstrosities, with a foot or a hand lacking, portend something of
import to the general welfare.
The tablet proceeds, after finishing one phase of the subject, with
omens to be derived from infants whose features resemble those of
certain animals. In this case again we will see that the mind of the
compiler is now directed towards the fate of the individual and again
toward the ruler or the country. In the 2d tablet of the series we read
that
If a woman gives birth to a child with a lion's head,[631] a
strong king will rule in the land.
If a woman gives birth to a child with a dog's head, the city in
his district[632] will be in distress, and evil will be in the
country.
...
If a woman gives birth to a child with a swine's head, offspring
and possession (?) will increase in that house.
...
If a woman gives birth to a child with a bird's head, that land
will be destroyed.
If a woman gives birth to a child with a serpent's head, for
thirty days (?) Nin-Gishzida[633] will bring a famine in the
land, and Gilgamesh[634] will rule as king in the land.
In the same tablet[635] such monstrosities are taken up as children born
with two heads, with a double pair of eyes, or with the eyes misplaced,
with two mouths or more than two lips. The two heads, strange enough,
generally portend good fortune, though not invariably. Thus an infant
with two heads is an omen of strength for the country; and again
If a woman gives birth to a child with two heads, two mouths,
but the regular number of eyes, hands, and feet[636], it is an
omen of vigorous life [for the country, but the son] will seize
the king his father and kill him.
But
If a woman gives birth to a child with two heads and two mouths,
and the two hands and two feet are between them[637], disease
will settle upon that city (where the monstrosity was born).
If the deformity consists in the misplacement of certain organs, the
omen is invariably bad.
If a woman gives birth to a child with two eyes on the left
side, it is a sign that the gods are angry against the land, and
the land will be destroyed.
And again,
If a woman gives birth to a child with three eyes on the left
side and one on the right, the gods will fill the land with
corpses.
The third tablet proceeds with other parts of the body. It begins with a
list of peculiarities observed in regard to the ears. The resemblance of
certain features in children to the corresponding features of animals is
an observation made by many nations. In modern times Lavater, it will be
recalled, based his study of human physiognomy in part upon the
resemblance of the nose, eyes, mouth, and ears, and general shape of the
head to the features of such animals as the lion, jackass, dog, and
swine. We may well believe, therefore, that when the Babylonians refer
to a child with a lion's or a dog's ear, they had in mind merely a
resemblance, but did not mean that the child actually had the ear of a
lion or dog or the like.
At times the connection between the omen and its interpretation is quite
obvious. In a portion of this same series we are told that[638]
If a woman gives birth to a child with a lion-like ear, a mighty
king will arise in the land.
It will be recalled that a 'lion head' portends the same, and it is
evident that in both cases the lion suggests strength. We are in the
presence of the same order of ideas that controls the belief in
'sympathetic magic.' The corollary to 'like produces like' is 'like
means like.' In other cases, the logic underlying the interpretation of
the omen must be sought for in views connected with some accompanying
feature.
If a woman gives birth to a child with the right ear missing,
the days of the ruler will be long.
If a woman gives birth to a child with the left ear missing,
distress will enter the land and weaken it.
While in general the absence of any part of the body is a sign of
distress for the country and individual by a perfectly natural
association of ideas, yet this general principle is modified by the
further consideration that 'right' is a good omen and 'left' a bad one.
But this consideration which makes the absence of the 'right' ear a good
omen may again be offset by the entrance of a third factor. So we are
told that
If a woman gives birth to a child with a small[639] right ear,
the house of the man[640] will be destroyed.
The omen of misfortune in this case is the deformity in the organ, and
the fact that the more important right ear is deformed, so far from
mitigating the force of the omen, accentuates its consequences.
If a deformed right ear is disastrous, we are prepared to learn that
If a woman gives birth to a child with both ears short, the
house of the man will be utterly rooted out.
No less than eleven varieties of deformed ears are enumerated. It must
not be supposed, however, that the factors involved in this omen science
are always or even generally so simple. In most cases the connection
between the sign and the conclusion drawn, is not clear to us because of
the multiplicity of factors involved. Further publication and study of
omen texts will no doubt make some points clear which are now obscure,
but we cannot expect ever to find out all the factors that were taken
into account by the populace and the schoolmen, in proposing and
accepting certain interpretations of certain omens, any more than we can
fathom the reasons for the similar superstition found among other
nations[641] of antiquity and modern times. Recognizing certain
principles in some of the omens, we are justified in concluding that
whatever else determined the interpretation of omens, caprice did not
enter into consideration, but rather an association of ideas that
escapes us, simply because our logic differs from the logic of primitive
peoples in certain important particulars.
The list of peculiarities occurring in the case of babes continues as
follows:
If a woman gives birth to a child whose mouth is shaped like a
bird's, the country will be stirred up.
If a woman gives birth to a child without any mouth, the
mistress of the house will die.
If a woman gives birth to a child with the right nostril
lacking, misfortune is portending.
If a woman gives birth to a child with both nostrils lacking,
the land will witness distress, and disease will destroy the
house of the man.
If a woman gives birth to a child whose jaw is lacking, the days
of the ruler will be long, but the house of the man will be
destroyed.
If a woman gives birth to a child whose lower jaw is lacking,
the ground will not bear fruit during the year.
It will be observed that, while most of the portents are evil, the ruler
of the land is here generally vouchsafed immunity. The priests had to be
somewhat on their guard lest by the very terror that they aroused, the
hold of the rulers over the people might be loosened. Moreover, the
rulers were sufficiently hedged in by their positions, as we have seen,
and were in no danger of regarding themselves as safe from the anger of
the gods.
Still quite frequently even the king is involved in the evil prophecy.
The portion of the series dealing with portents derived from deformed
hands and feet contains instances of this kind.
If a woman gives birth to a child with the right hand lacking,
the land advances to destruction.
If a woman gives birth to a child with both hands lacking, the
city will witness no more births, and the land will be utterly
destroyed.
If a woman gives birth to a child with the fingers of the right
hand lacking, the ruler will be captured by his enemy.
If a woman gives birth to a child with six toes on the right
foot, through distress (?), the house of the man will perish.
If a woman gives birth to a child with six very small toes on
the left foot, distress (?) will come to pass.
If a woman gives birth to a child with six toes on the right
foot, some disaster is portending.
Altogether no less than ninety kinds of human deformities in the various
parts of the body are enumerated and interpreted.
The significance of the portents is naturally increased if the woman who
gives birth to a monstrosity happens to belong to the royal house. In
such a case, the omen has direct bearings on national affairs. The good
or evil sign affects the country exclusively. From a tablet of this
nature,[642] belonging to a different series than the one we have been
considering, we learn that six toes on the right foot or six on the left
foot mean defeat, whereas six toes on both feet mean victory. Royal
twins were a good omen, and so also a royal child born with teeth or
with hair on its face or with unusually developed features.
The same desire to find some meaning in deviations from normal types led
to the careful observation of deformities or peculiarities in the case
of the young of domestic animals. In the fifth tablet of the series that
we have chosen as an illustration, the compiler passes from babes to the
offspring of domestic animals. From the opening line, which is all that
has been published as yet,[643] and which reads:
If in the flock[644] a dog is born, weapons will destroy life
and the king will not be triumphant
it would appear that the first subject taken up was the anomalous unions
among animals, which naturally aroused attention when they occurred.
A number of tablets--at least seven--follow in which monstrosities
occurring among the young of sheep are noted.
The series passes on to signs to be observed among colts. From this
point on, the series is too defective (so far as published) to warrant
any further deductions; but it is safe to suppose that, as the young of
ewes and mares were considered in special sections, so the young of
swine and of cows were taken up in succession. The whole series would
thus aim to cover that section of the animal kingdom that concerned man
most,--his own offspring, and the young of those animals by which he was
surrounded.
In these omens derived from the young of domestic animals, we are again
overwhelmed at the mass of contingencies included by the priests in
their compilations. Just as in the case of omens derived from infants,
so here the parts of the body are taken up one after the other. All
possible, and one is inclined to add various impossible, variations from
the normal types are noted. The omen varies as the female throws off
one, two, three, or whatever number of young ones up to ten. For
example:[645]
If among the sheep, five young ones are born, it is a sign of
devastation in the land. The owner of the sheep dies, and his
house is destroyed.
This is the omen in the case that the litter consists of five young
ones, all normal. But if anomalies occur, as, _e.g._,
If five young ones are born, one with a bull's head, one with a
lion's head, one with a dog's head, and one with a sheep's head,
there will be a series of devastations in the land.
Again,
If seven young are thrown off, three male and four female, that
man[646] will perish.
And so if eight are born, it is a bad sign for the king who, we are
told, "will be driven out of the country through sedition." The
variations are nigh endless.
If in the flock, young ones are thrown off with five legs, it is
a sign of distress in the land. The house of the man will perish
and his stalls will be swept away.
If the young ones have six legs, the population will decrease
and devastation will settle over the country.
Having finished with litters, the series proceeds to peculiar marks
found on single specimens; lambs that have a head and tail shaped like a
lion or that have a lion's head and a mane like that of an ass, or a
head like a bird's, or like a swine, and so through a long and rather
tiresome list.
Malformations in the shape or position of members of the animal,
particularly the mouth, ears, tongue, tail, and eyes, or the absence of
any one or of several of these parts were fraught with an importance
corresponding to these symptoms among new-born babes.
If a young one has its ears on one side, and its head is twisted
(?), and it has no mouth, the ruler will cut off the supply of
water from his enemy.
In this instance the 'twisting' and the absence of the mouth appear to
suggest the act of turning a canal into a different direction, so as to
isolate a besieged city. When the text goes on to declare that
If the young one has its ears at its neck,[647] the ruler will
be without judgment,
it is the association of ideas between 'ears' and 'judgment,'[648] that
supplies the link. A misplaced ear is equivalent to misdirected
judgment.
Consistent with this interpretation, the next line informs us that
If the young one has its ears below the neck,[649] the union of
the country is weakened.
Such glimpses into the peculiar thought controlling these omens are
perhaps all that we will be able to obtain at least for a long time to
come. For the rest, comparative studies with the omens of the other
nations will alone serve to determine the multitudinous factors involved
in the interpretations of the signs.
Before leaving the subject, however, a few more illustrations may be
offered. Another portion of the same tablet--the eleventh--continues the
omens derived from peculiarities in the ears of lambkins:
If the young one has no right ear, the rule of the king will
come to an end, his palace will be uprooted, and the population
of the city will be swept away, the king will lose judgment, ...
the produce of the country will be small, the enemy will cut off
the supply of water.
If the left ear of the young one is missing, the deity will hear
the prayer of the king, the king will capture his enemy's land,
and the palace of the enemy will be destroyed, the enemy will
lack judgment, the produce of the enemy's land will be taken
away and everything will be plundered (?).
If the right ear of the young one falls off, the stall[650] will
be destroyed.
If the left ear of the young one falls off, the stall will be
increased, the stall[651] of the enemy will be destroyed.
If the right ear of the young one is split (?), that stall will
be destroyed, the enemy (?) will advance against the city.
If the left ear of the young one is split (?), that stall will
be increased, the king[652] will advance against the enemy's
land.
In all these cases it will be observed that a defect in the right ear or
an accident happening to it is an evil omen, whereas the same thing
occurring in the case of the left is a favorable indication. The greater
importance of the right side of anything evidently suggests in this case
the interpretation offered, and yet this principle, as we have seen, is
far from being of universal application. It depends upon _what_ happens
to the right ear. Above, we have seen that an unusually large ear
betokens some good fortune, and in the tablet under consideration,
illustrations are afforded of accidents to the right ear which furnish a
good omen, while the same accident in the case of the left ear is
regarded as a bad omen.
Our text continues:
If the right ear of the young one is shrunk (?), the house of
the owner will prosper.
If the left ear is shrunk, the house of the owner will perish.
If the right ear is torn off, the house of the owner will
prosper.
If the left ear is torn off, the house of the owner will perish.
But immediately following this we have again an evil omen for the right
ear and a favorable one for the left. Three more tablets are taken up
with omens associated with all manner of peculiarities in the formation
of the ears, head, lips, mouth, and feet of lambkins, and it is not
until the fifteenth tablet of the series is reached that another
subject, the young of mares, is introduced.
The prognostications in the case of colts have about the same character
as those in the case of lambkins. The same signs are singled out for
mention, and the omens are not only, just as in the illustrations
adduced, evenly divided between the fate of the country and its ruler,
and of the owner of the colt or mare, but we can also observe a
consistent application of the same principles, so far as these
principles may be detected. A few illustrations will make this
clear:[653]
If a colt has no right legs, the house[654] will be destroyed.
If a colt has no left legs, the days of the ruler will be long.
If a colt has no legs, the country will be destroyed.
If a colt has the right leg shortened,[655] ... his stall[4]
will be destroyed.
If a colt has the left leg shortened, the stall[656] will be
destroyed
...
If a colt has no hoof on the right foreleg, the wife will cause
trouble to her husband.
If a colt has no hoofs at all, there will be dissensions (?)
within the country, and the enemy will enter the ruler's land.
In this way, twenty-one omens derived from as many varieties of strange
formations in the legs of colts are enumerated. As in the case of
lambkins, so for colts, the appearance of twins is endowed with a
special significance.
If a mare gives birth to twins, male and female, and each has
only one eye, the enemy triumphs and devastates Babylonia.
If the male or female colt has a mane like a lion, the country
will be reduced.
If the male or female colt has a dog's hoof, the country will be
reduced.
If the male or female colt has a lion's claw, the country will
be enlarged.
If the male or female colt has a dog's head, the woman's[657]
life will be bad. The country will be reduced.
If the male or female colt has a lion's head, the ruler will be
strong.
If both colts, the male and female, resemble lions, the ruler
over his enemies prevails (?).
If both colts, male and female, resemble dogs, the ruler over
his enemy's country prevails (?).
If either a male or female colt is born resembling a lion, the
king will be strong.
If either a male or female colt resembles a dog, herds of cattle
will die, and there will be famine.
If a colt is born without a head, its master will be strong.
If a colt is born without eyes, the god Bel will bring about a
change of dynasty.
If a colt is born without feet, the king increases his army and
a slaughter will ensue.
If a colt is born without ears, for three years the gods will
reduce the land.
If a colt is born without a tail, the ruler will die.
In conclusion it may be observed that, apart from the unusual character
of these freaks which would suffice to attribute a special import to
them, the notions current among the Babylonians, as among so many people
of a period when creatures existed, the various parts of which were
compounded of different animals, may be regarded as an additional factor
that served to add force to the class of omens we are considering. The
monsters guarding the approaches to temples and palaces[658] were but
one form which this popular belief assumed, and when a colt was observed
to have a lion's or a dog's claw, an ocular demonstration was afforded
which at once strengthened and served to maintain a belief that at
bottom is naught but a crude and primitive form of a theory of
evolution. In a dim way man always felt the unity of the animal world.
Animals resembled one another, and man had some features in common with
animals. What more natural than to conclude that at some period, the
animals were composite creatures, and that even mankind and the animal
world were once blended together.
The prevailing religious and semi-mythological ideas, accordingly, enter
as factors in the significance that was attached to infants or to the
young of animals, serving as illustrations of 'hybrid' formations.
Omens from the Actions of Animals.
The same order of ideas, only still further extended, may be detected in
the sacredness attached to certain animals by so many nations of
antiquity. It is now generally admitted that this 'sacredness' has two
sides. A sacred animal may be 'taboo,' that is, so sacred that it must
not be touched, much less killed or eaten; and, on the other hand, its
original sanctity may lead people to regard it as "unclean," something
again to be avoided, because of the power to do evil involved in the
primitive conception of 'sacredness.'[659]
The swine and the dog are illustrations of this double nature of
sanctity among the Semites. The former was sacred to some of the
inhabitants of "Syria."[660] The Babylonians, as we have seen, abstained
from eating it on certain days of the year, while the Hebrews and Arabs
regarded it as an absolute 'taboo.'
The dog to this day is in the Orient an "unclean" animal, and yet it is
forbidden to do dogs any injury. If, then, we find the Babylonians
attaching significance to the movements of this animal, it is obvious
that by them, too, the dog was regarded as, in some way, sacred. It was
an 'animal of omen,' sometimes good, at other times bad. A tablet
informs us[661] that:
If a yellow dog enters a palace, it is a sign of a distressful
fate for the palace.
If a speckled dog enters a palace, the palace[662] will give
peace to the enemy.
If a dog enters a palace and some one kills him, the peace of
the palace will be disturbed.
If a dog enters a palace and crouches on the couch, no one will
enjoy that palace in peace.
If a dog enters a palace and crouches on the throne, that palace
will suffer a distressful fate.
If a dog enters a palace and lies on a large bowl, the palace
will secure peace from the enemy.
There follow omens in case dogs enter a sacred edifice:
If a dog enters a temple, the gods will not enlarge the land.
If a white dog enters a temple, the foundation of that temple
will be firm.
If a black dog enters a temple, the foundation of that temple
will not be firm.
If a brown[663] dog enters a temple, that temple will witness
justice.
If a yellow dog enters a temple, that temple will[664] witness
justice.
If a speckled dog enters a temple, the gods will show favor to
that temple.
If dogs gather together and enter a temple, the city's peace
will be disturbed.
The juxtaposition of palace and temple is an indication that a large
measure of sanctity was attached to the former as the dwelling-place of
one who stood near to the gods. The omens, accordingly, in the case of
both palace and temple are again concerned with public affairs. But from
the same tablet we learn that an equal degree of significance was
attached to the actions of dogs when they entered private dwellings.
Precautions must have been taken against the presence of dogs in that
part of the house which was reserved for a man's family, for we are
told:[665]
A dog entering a man's house was an omen that the ultimate fate
of that house would be destruction by fire.
Care had to be taken lest dogs defiled a person or any part of the
house. The omens varied again according to the color of the dog.
If a white dog defiles[666] a man, destruction will seize him.
If a black dog defiles a man, sickness will seize him.
If a brown dog defiles a man, that man will perish.
If a dog defiles a man's couch, a severe sickness will seize
that man.
If a dog defiles a man's chair, the man will not survive the
year.
If a dog defiles a man's bowl,[667] a deity will show anger
towards the man.
On the other hand, dogs were not to be driven out of the streets. Their
presence in the roads was essential to the welfare of the place. Hence
an omen reads:
If dogs do not enter the highway,[668] destruction from an enemy
will visit the city.
Through Diodorus, Jamblichus, and other ancient writers we know that the
Babylonians and Assyrians attached importance to the movements of other
animals, notably serpents, birds, and certain insects. The symbols on
the boundary stones which have been referred to[669] are based on this
belief. The serpent figures prominently among these symbols. In the
Babylonian deluge story, the dove, raven, and swallow are introduced. Of
these, the swallow appears to be the bird whose flight was most
carefully observed. The sign which represents this bird in the cuneiform
syllabary also signifies 'fate.'[670] The mischief wrought by swarms of
insects, as grasshoppers and locusts, the danger lurking in the bites of
scorpions sufficiently explain the importance attached to the actions of
these animals. The mysterious appearance and disappearance of serpents
and their strange twistings added an element in their case that
increased the awe they inspired, while if Ihering be correct,[671] the
omens derived from the flight of birds are a survival of the migratory
period in the history of a nation, when birds served as a natural guide
in choosing the easiest course to pass from one place to another. A
large number of tablets in Ashurbanabal's library treat of the
significance attached to the action of these various animals, and it is
likely that these tablets form part of a large series, of which the
illustrations above adduced regarding the movements of dogs form a part.
In this series, the application of the omens to individuals is more
strongly emphasized than in the series of birth portents. Naturally so,
for it was the individual as a general thing who encountered the signs.
In the case of the appearance of a serpent or snake, for example, the
omen consisted in the fact that a certain person beheld it, and that
person was involved in the consequences. Fine distinctions are again
introduced that illustrate the intricacies of the system of
interpretation perfected in Babylonia. If a snake passes from the right
to the left side of a man, it means one thing; if from the left to the
right, another; if the man who sees a snake does not tread upon it, the
omen is different than in the case when he attempts to crush it. Again
the omen varies according to the occupation of the man who encountered a
snake. If he be a gardener, the appearance of the snake means something
different than in the case of his being a sailor.
The place where the animal appears is also of import, whether in the
street, the house, or the temple, and again, the time of its appearance,
in what month or on what day. In the same way, an endless variety of
omens are derived from the appearance of certain birds, the direction of
their flight, their fluttering around the head of a man or entering a
man's house. So, _e.g._,
If a raven[672] enters a man's house, that man will secure
whatever he desires.
And again:
If a bird throws a bit of meat or anything into a man's house,
that man will secure a large fortune.
The omens from the appearance of flocks of birds in a town bore, as
appears natural, upon public affairs rather than upon the fate of
individuals, and similarly the appearance of birds in a temple was an
omen for the whole country.
The public or private character of the omens was thus dependent in large
measure upon the question whether the phenomena appeared to an
individual directly or to the population of a place in general. Meeting
a snake or scorpion in the course of a walk through the fields was an
individual omen, and similarly the actions of sheep in a man's stall,
whereas, a mad bull rushing through the city was a general omen. So we
are told that
If sheep in the stalls do not bleat (?), that stall will be
destroyed.
Whereas[673]
A bull crouching at the gate of a city is an omen that the enemy
will capture that gate.
A bull goring an ox in the city is an unfavorable omen for the
city, but if the bull enters the precincts of an individual, it
is favorable for the individual.
A series of omens derived from the appearance of locusts again
illustrates this principle. When the insects enter private precincts,
the individual and his immediate surroundings are affected.[674]
If black and speckled locusts appear in a man's house, the
master of the house will die.
If black and yellow locusts appear in a man's house, the
supports of that house will fall.
If large white locusts appear in a man's house, that house will
be destroyed and the owner will be in distress.
If white and brown locusts appear in a man's house, that house
will be destroyed.
If small white and brown locusts appear in a man's house, the
house will be destroyed and the owner will be in distress.
If yellow locusts appear in a man's house, the supports of that
house will fall and the owner of the house will be unlucky.
If yellow-winged locusts appear in a man's house, the master of
the house will die and that house will be overthrown.
Omens From Dreams.
It made little difference whether one encountered something while awake
or saw it in one's dream. In fact, what one saw while asleep had as a
general thing more importance. A special god of dreams, Makhir, is often
referred to in the religious texts, and this is but another way of
expressing the belief that the dreams were sent to a man as omens. An
unusually wide scope was afforded to the compilers of omen series in
their interpretations of dreams, for what might not a man see in visions
of the night? If a lion[675] appears to a man, it means that the man
will carry out his purpose; if a jackal, it signifies that he will
secure favor in the eyes of the gods; a dog portends sorrow; a mountain
goat, that the man's son will die of some disease; a stag, that his
daughter will die; and so through a long list.
Again we are told[676] that
If (in a dream) a date appears on a man's head,[677] it means
that that man will be in distress.
If a fish appears on a man's head, that man will be powerful.
If a mountain appears on a man's head, that man will be without
a rival.
If salt appears on a man's head, his house will be well
protected (?).
Similarly, interpretations are offered for the apparition of the dead or
of demons, in dreams. The book of Daniel affords an illustration of the
importance attached to dreams in Babylonia, and of the science developed
out of the interpretations. The sarcastic touch introduced by the
compiler of the book,[678] who represents Nebuchadnezzar as demanding of
his priests not merely to interpret his dream, but to tell him what he
dreamed, is intended to illustrate the limitations of the far-famed
'Chaldean wisdom.' It is also interesting to note in connection with the
illustrations adduced, that the dreams of Nebuchadnezzar and
Belshazzar[679] in the book of Daniel are so largely concerned with
apparitions of animals.
The omens taken from dreams, together with the accidents that occurred
to an individual, or the phenomena occurring in a man's house, afford us
an insight into the purely popular phases of the science of augury.
While eclipses and the movements of planets bear chiefly and almost
exclusively on public affairs, and even birth portents frequently
portend something to the ruler or to the country, it was through such
omens as partook of a purely personal character that the intentions of
the gods towards the individual were made manifest. By means of omens,
the bond between the individual and the gods was not, indeed,
established, but in large measure maintained. Here was a phase of the
religion that touched each individual closely. What a person saw, what
he dreamed, what happened to him, what appeared in his house or among
the members of his household was of significance to him. To know what
every phenomenon portended was essential to his welfare; and we may feel
certain that the relations of the individual to the priests, so far as
these existed, consisted largely in obtaining from the latter the
interpretation of the omens that he encountered. On the other hand, the
power of the priests over the populace was due to the popular belief in
portents, and the attention given by the theologians to the collection
of exhaustive omen series is a proof that the priests knew how to use
their power.
These "Dream Books" must have been very numerous. The success of the
priests here depended even more than in other branches of the omen
literature upon exhausting, so far as possible, all contingencies. No
doubt they were guided here also by two factors: association of ideas,
and past experience through making of a single coincidence between a
dream and some occurrence, a principle of general application. Some of
the omens from dreams, however, appear to have themselves formed part of
a larger series dealing in general with
Omens From Individual Experiences.
If one may judge from the specimens furnished by Dr. Bezold in his
catalogue, this series was unusually extensive, embracing a large number
of subjects connected with human activity,--a man's work in the field,
his actions in commercial affairs, incidents of travel on sea or land,
his relations to his kindred--the dead as well as the living--disease
and death, down to such apparent trifles as the conditions of the walls
of his house. Cracks in the wall were an omen; meeting a snake in the
highway was an omen. A fall was an omen; dropping an instrument was an
omen; in short, it is difficult to say what was not an omen. The
character of the omens in this series does not differ in any essential
particulars from those of other series. The important feature of the
series is that it affords another and perhaps the most striking
illustration of that phase of the omen literature which concerns the
individual directly, and, it seems safe to add, exclusively.
Take, for example, omens connected with symptoms occurring in certain
diseases. We are told that
If the right breast is brown, it is a fatal (?) sign.
If both breasts are brown, there will be no recovery.
If the left breast is green, the sickness will be severe.
The symptoms affect the individual alone. Through this series we are
thus enabled to determine more definitely the boundary line between
omens involving the affairs of the country and king, and those involving
the individual. A phenomenon affecting an individual, or appearing to
him alone, or brought about through some action of his of a purely
private character, carries in its train an omen of significance for
himself or his immediate surroundings; but the moment that these rather
narrow limits are transcended, the fate of the individual becomes more
or less closely bound up with the fortunes of the population and of the
ruler of the country in general. The series also illustrates, perhaps
better than any other, the control exercised by popular beliefs over the
acts of the individual. For we may conclude, that if work on certain
days or traveling at certain periods or the appearance of certain
animals indicated something unfavorable to a man, he would studiously
avoid bringing misfortune upon himself and observe the precautions
involved in the interpretation of the vast mass of the accidents and
incidents of existence. The task was a difficult one, indeed, impossible
of being carried out to perfection, but this would not hinder him from
making the attempt. He was satisfied if he warded off at least a fair
number of unfavorable omens. Correspondingly, he would endeavor to so
regulate his course as to encounter as large a number as possible of
omens that were favorable to him. In this way his life would be spent
with a constant thought of the gods and spirits, who controlled all
things in this world. The popular belief in omens made it incumbent upon
the individual not to lose sight at any time of his dependence upon
powers over which he had but a limited control.
A certain phase of his religion thus entered largely into his life. That
phase would occupy him by day and by night. It was a part of his
religion which literally engaged him "upon lying down at night, and upon
rising up, while sitting in the house, and while walking on the way."
If, despite all his efforts, misfortune came,--and misfortunes, of
course, came constantly,--there was no other recourse but to throw
himself upon the mercy of some god or gods. The gods, especially Marduk,
Ishtar, Shamash, and Ramman, by putting 'grace' into the omens, could at
any time change them into favorable indications.
FOOTNOTES:
[548] Illustrated by the four volumes of Bezold's _Catalogue of the
Koujunjik_, Collection of the British Museum (London, 1889-96).
[549] _Vorgeschichte der Indo-Europaer_, pp. 221 _seq_.
[550] _E.g._, IIIR. 51.
[551] _Ib._ no. 1.
[552] The 1st month of the year.
[553] IIIR. 51. no. 2.
[554] _Ib._ no. 3.
[555] IIIR. 51, no. 9.
[556] _Ib._ no. 7.
[557] What the station of this official was we are not told.
[558] IIIR. 58, no. 7.
[559] Lit., 'true speech in the mouth of the people,' _i.e._, there will
be no sedition.
[560] IIIR. 58, no. 7.
[561] _Ib._ no. 6.
[562] Are not seen at the same time.
[563] His decision will be wise.
[564] Safe from attacks.
[565] IIIR. 58, no. 13.
[566] _Ib._ no. 12.
[567] This appears to be the unusual occurrence involved.
[568] See above, pp. 281, 332.
[569] IIIR. 58, no. 14.
[570] _I.e._, contrary to calculation.
[571] The shadow.
[572] Favorable to Elam (so Oppert translates).
[573] 9th month.
[574] IIIR. 51, no. 5.
[575] 11th month.
[576] IIIR. 59, no. 13.
[577] Some palace official is mentioned.
[578] _E.g._, IIIR. 52, no. 2; 60 and 61. Professor Craig of the
University of Michigan is now preparing for publication all the
fragments of this series. (See his _Assyrian and Babylonian Religious
Texts_, ii. 7.)
[579] IIIR. 60. The first eleven lines are broken off.
[580] _I.e._, of the night. The night, it will be recalled, was divided
into three watches of four hours each.
[581] Lit., a 'divine decision (or oracle) is given.'
[582] An island near the head of the Persian Gulf, often referred to in
the historical texts. See Tiele, _Babyl.-Assyr. Gesch._ p. 88, etc.
[583] Under the same circumstances.
[584] Lit., 'cattle'; but cattle appears to be used for 'property' in
general, just as our English word 'chattel.'
[585] 5th month.
[586] Under the same circumstances.
[587] Lit., Nergal--the personification of pestilence and death.
[588] Repeated in the text by an error of the scribe.
[589] III R. 60, col. ii. 90 to col. iii. 24.
[590] _I.e._, there will be war. One is reminded of the modern
superstition which associates war with the 'northern light' in the
heavens.
[591] _I.e._, there will be sedition.
[592] So a variant text.
[593] _I.e._, will play havoc with the Inhabitants of the deep.
[594] _I.e._, there will be peace.
[595] See the chapter on "The Temples of Babylonia and Assyria."
[596] See Jensen, _Kosmologie der Babylonier_, pp. 134-139.
[597] IIIR. 63.
[598] Lit., "delayed in the heavens."
[599] Tablet defective.
[600] _I.e._, there is war.
[601] Intercalated month.
[602] _I.e._, it is a good sign.
[603] Tablet defective.
[604] Text erroneously 'one month.'
[605] See above, p. 183.
[606] See Ihering, _Vorgeschichte der Indo-Europaer_, pp. 182 _seq._
[607] See _The Golden Bough_, passim.
[608] IV Rawlinson, pls. 32, 33.
[609] _I.e._, the Intercalated Elul. After the 6th month (Elul) and
after the 12th (Adar), a month was intercalated at certain intervals in
order to bring the solar and lunar years into conjunction.
[610] Lit., 'raising of his hand to a god'--the attitude in prayer.
[611] Text erroneously 'mistress.'
[612] Here and elsewhere Ishtar is used in a generic sense for 'chief
goddess'; in the present case Sarpanitum. See above, pp. 82, 151, 206.
[613] 'Belit,' as 'mistress' in general.
[614] Lit., 'place of secrecy,' the reference being to that portion of
the temple where the god sat enthroned.
[615] _I.e._, of the palace.
[616] _I.e._, upon one's enemies.
[617] Isaiah, lviii. 13.
[618] Meat, just as wine, was considered at all times a symbol of joy in
the Orient.
[619] Perhaps also the 24th.
[620] V Rawlinson, pls. 48, 49.
[621] The plural is used, but in a collective sense.
[622] The Euphrates or Tigris is no doubt meant.
[623] IIIR. 52, no. 3, reverse.
[624] The most extensive publication of omens is Boissier's _Documents
Assyriens Relatifs aux Presages_, of which two volumes have appeared.
Boissier's method of publication is not altogether satisfactory.
[625] _Introduction to the History of Religions_, pp. 28-35.
[626] A particularly bad omen. See IIIR. 65, 22, obverse.
[627] Boissler, _Documents Assyriens Relatifs aux Presages_, pp. 110
_seq._ Boissier has published portions of some twenty tablets of the
series, _ib._ pp. 110-181.
[628] _I.e._, will not suffer.
[629] The phrase used is obscure. My translation is offered as a
conjecture.
[630] _I.e._, an enemy will keep the land in turmoil.
[631] _I.e._, like a lion. Elsewhere the preposition 'like' is used.
[632] Where the child is born.
[633] A solar deity; see above, p. 99. Reference to minor deities are
frequent in these omen texts.
[634] The reference appears to be to some misfortune that will be
brought about through the solar deity Gilgamesh.
[635] Boissier, _Documents, etc._, pp. 118-120.
[636] _I.e._, only two.
[637] Between the two heads, _I.e._, the hands and feet are misplaced.
[638] IIIR. 65, no. 1.
[639] Abnormally small.
[640] _I.e._, the father or master.
[641] The Egyptians carried the observation and interpretation of omens
to quite as high a degree as the Babylonians and Assyrians. See, _e.g._,
Chabas, _Melanges Egyptologiques_, 3^e serie, tome ii.; Wiedemann's
_Religion of Ancient Egypt_, p. 263.
[642] Lenormant, _Choix des Textes Cuneiformes_, no. 87.
[643] Occurring at the end of the fourth tablet, as an aid for the
correct arrangement of the series. IIIR 65, no. 1, reverse, l. 28.
[644] Lit., 'stall,' which includes sheep, oxen, and swine.
[645] Boissier, _Documents, etc._, pp. 132, 133.
[646] _I.e._, the owner of the stall. A variant reads 'king' instead of
'man.'
[647] _I.e._, misplaced.
[648] In Babylonian, 'ear' is a synonym of 'understanding.'
[649] Still further misplaced.
[650] Where the young one was born.
[651] _I.e._, the flocks.
[652] Boissler's text has 'man,'--probably in error for 'king.'
[653] IIIR. 65, no. 2, obverse.
[654] Of the master.
[655] Lit., 'cut off.'
[656] Of the owner.
[657] The wife of the owner of the mare appears to be meant.
[658] See above, p. 138.
[659] See Jevons, _Introduction to the History of Religion_, chapters
vi.-ix.
[660] Robertson Smith; _Religion of the Semites_, pp. 143, 273.
[661] Lenormant, _Choix des Textes Cuneiformes,_ no. 89; Boissier,
_Documents, etc._, p. 104.
[662] _I.e._, the ruler of the palace.
[663] Lit., 'dark colored.'
[664] 'Not,' perhaps omitted.
[665] Boissier, p. 103.
[666] By vomiting on him.
[667] Out of which one eats.
[668] _I.e._, keep away from it.
[669] See p. 182.
[670] According to Hilprecht (_Old Babylonian Inscriptions_, I. part 2,
p. 35), 'a goose or similar water-bird' was originally pictured by the
sign, though he admits that the picture was 'later' used for swallow.
[671] _Vorgeschichte der Indo-Europaer,_ pp. 451-55.
[672] The term used is _Unagga_, Bezold's _Catalogue of the Koujunjik
Collection_, p. 1841. See Jensen, _Kosmologie_, p. 153.
[673] Bezold, _Catalogue_, p. 1710.
[674] Boissier, _Documents, etc_., pp. 3, 4.
[675] Bezold, _Catalogue_, pp. 1437, 1438.
[676] Bezold, _ib._ p. 918.
[677] _I.e._, over him.
[678] Chapter ii. 4-6.
[679] Chapter ii. 31-35, and vii. 2-12.