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.



CHAPTER XXI.

THE COSMOLOGY OF THE BABYLONIANS.

Various traditions were current in Babylonia regarding the manner in which the universe came into existence. The labors of the theologians to systematize these traditions did not succeed in bringing about their unification. Somewhat like in the Book of Genesis, where two versions of the creation story have been combined by some editor,[680] so portions of what were clearly two independent versions have been found among the remains of Babylonian literature. But whereas in the Old Testament the two versions are presented in combination so as to form a harmonic whole, the two Babylonian versions continued to exist side by side. There is no reason to suppose that the versions were limited to two. In fact, a variant to an important episode in the creation story has been discovered which points to a third version.[681]

The suggestion has been thrown out that these various versions arose in the various religious centers of the Euphrates Valley. So far as the editing of the versions is concerned, the suggestion is worthy of consideration, for it is hardly reasonable to suppose that the theological schools of one and the same place should have developed more than one cosmological system. The traditions themselves, however, apart from the literary form which they eventually assumed, need not have been limited to certain districts nor have been peculiar to the place where the systematization took place. Nothing is more common than the interchange of myths and popular traditions. They travel from one place to the other, and contradictory accounts of one and the same event may be circulated, and find credence in one and the same place.

The two distinct Babylonian versions of the creation of the world that have up to the present time been found, have come to us in a fragmentary form. Of the one, indeed, only some forty lines exist, and these are introduced incidentally in an incantation text;[682] of the other version, portions of six tablets[683] have been recovered; while of two fragments it is doubtful[684] whether they belong to this same version or represent a third version, as does certainly a fragment containing a variant account of the episode described in the fourth tablet of the larger group. The fragments of the longer version—in all 23—enable us to form a tolerably complete picture of the Babylonian cosmology, and with the help of numerous allusions in historical, religious and astronomical texts and in classical writers, we can furthermore fill out some of the gaps.

Taking up the longer version, which must for the present serve as our chief source for the cosmology of the Babylonians, it is important to note at the outset that the series constitutes, in reality, a grand hymn in honor of Marduk. The account of the beginning of things and of the order of creation is but incidental to an episode which is intended to illustrate the greatness of Marduk, the head of the Babylonian pantheon. This episode is the conquest of a great monster known as Tiamat,—a personification, as we shall see, of primaeval chaos. What follows upon this episode, likewise turns upon the overshadowing personality of Marduk. This prominence given to Marduk points of course to Babylon as the place where the early traditions received their literary form. Instead of designating the series as a 'Creation Epic' it would be quite as appropriate to call it 'The Epic of Marduk.'

The god of Babylon is the hero of the story. To him the creation of the heavenly bodies is ascribed. It is he who brings order and light into the world. He supplants the roles originally belonging to other gods. Bel and Ea give way to him. Anu and the other great gods cheerfully acknowledge Marduk's power. The early traditions have all been colored by the endeavor to glorify Marduk; and since Marduk is one of the latest of the gods to come into prominence, we must descend some centuries below Hammurabi before reaching a period when Marduk's position was so generally recognized as to lead to a transformation of popular traditions at the hands of the theologians.

The evident purpose of the 'epic' to glorify Marduk also accounts for the imperfect manner in which the creation of the universe is recounted. Only the general points are touched upon. Many details are omitted which in a cosmological epic, composed for the specific purpose of setting forth the order of creation, would hardly have been wanting. In this respect, the Babylonian version again resembles the Biblical account of creation, which is similarly marked by its brevity, and is as significant for its omissions as for what it contains.

It but remains before passing on to an analysis of the 'epic' to note the great care bestowed upon its literary form. This is evidenced not only by the poetic diction, but by its metrical form,—a point to which Budge was the first to direct attention[685] and which Zimmern[686] clearly established. Each line consists of two divisions, and as a general thing four or eight lines constitute a stanza. The principle of parallelism, so characteristic of Biblical poetry, is also introduced, though not consistently carried out.

The epic was known from its opening words as the series 'when above.' Through this name we are certain of possessing a portion of the first tablet—but alas! only a portion. A fragment of fifteen lines and these imperfectly preserved is all that has as yet been found. So far as decipherable, it reads:

There was a time when above the heaven was not named.[687] Below, the earth bore no name. Apsu was there, the original, their begettor,[2] Mummu [and] Tiamat, the mother of them all.[688] But their waters[689] were gathered together in a mass. No field was marked off, no marsh[690] was seen. When none of the gods was as yet produced, No name mentioned, no fate determined, Then were created the gods in their totality. Lakhmu and Lakhamu, were created. Days went by[5] ... Anshar and Kishar were created. Many days elapsed[691] ... Anu [Bel and Ea were created].[692] Anshar, Anu (?) ...

At this point the fragment breaks off.

Brief as it is, it affords a clear view of the manner in which the Babylonians regarded the beginning of things. Water was the primaeval element. 'Apsu' is the personified great 'ocean'—the 'Deep' that covers everything. With Apsu there is associated Tiamat. Tiamat is the equivalent of the Hebrew T'hom,[693] which occurs in the second verse of the opening chapter of Genesis, and which is, like Apsu, the personification of the 'watery deep.' Apsu and Tiamat are, accordingly, synonymous. The combination of the two may be regarded as due to the introduction of the theological doctrine which we have seen plays so prominent a part in the systematized pantheon, namely, the association of the male and female principle in everything connected with activity or with the life of the universe. Apsu represents the male and Tiamat the female principle of the primaeval universe. It does not follow from this that the two conceptions are wholly dissociated from popular traditions. Theological systems, it will be found, are always attached at some point to popular and often to primitive beliefs.

Tiamat was popularly pictured as a huge monster of a forbidding aspect. Traces of a similar conception connected with T'hom are to be met with in the poetry of the Old and New Testament.[694] The 'Rahab' and 'Leviathan' and the 'Dragon' of the apocalypse belong to the same order of ideas that produced Tiamat. All these monsters represent a popular attempt to picture the chaotic condition that prevailed before the great gods obtained control and established the order of heavenly and terrestrial phenomena. The belief that water was the original element existing in the universe and the 'source' of everything, may also have had its rise in the popular mind. It was suggested in the Euphrates Valley, in part, by the long-continued rainy season, as a result of which the entire region was annually flooded. The dry land and vegetation appeared, only after the waters had receded. The yearly phenomenon brought home to the minds of the Babylonians, a picture of primaeval chaos.

In the schools of theology that arose with the advance of culture, these two notions—water as the first element and a general conception of chaos—were worked out with the result that Apsu and Tiamat became mythical beings whose dominion preceded that of the gods. Further than this the questionings of the schoolmen did not go. They conceived of a time when neither the upper firmament nor the dry land existed and when the gods were not yet placed in control, but they could not conceive of a time when there was 'nothing' at all. This cosmological theory which we may deduce from the fragment of the first tablet of the creation series is confirmed by the accounts that have come down to us—chiefly through Damascius—of the treatment of the subject by Berosus.[695] Damascius explicitly places the Babylonians among those nations who fail to carry back the universe to an ultimate single source. There is nothing earlier than the two beings—Apsu and Tiamat.[696]

The massing together of the primaeval waters completes the picture of chaos in the cuneiform account. From the popular side, the commingling corresponds to the Tohu wa Bohu of the Book of Genesis, but for the Babylonian theologians, this embrace of Apsu and Tiamat becomes a symbol of 'sexual' union.[697] As the outcome of this union, the gods are produced. This dependence of the gods upon Apsu and Tiamat is but vaguely indicated. Another theory appears to have existed according to which the gods were contemporaneous with primaeval chaos. The vagueness may therefore be the result of a compromise between conflicting schools of thought. However this may be, the moment that the gods appear, a conflict ensues between them and Apsu-Tiamat. This conflict represents the evolution from chaos to order. But before taking up this phase of the epic, a few words must be said as to the names of the gods mentioned, and as to the order in which they occur.

There are three classes of deities enumerated. The first two classes consist, each, of a pair of deities while the third is the well-known triad of the old Babylonian theology. Between the creation of each class a long period elapses—a circumstance that may be regarded as an evidence of the originally independent character of each class. Now it has recently been shown[698] that Lakhamu is the feminine of Lakhmu. The first class of deities is, therefore, an illustration again of the conventional male and female principles introduced into the current theology. While there are references to Lakhmu and Lakhamu in the religious texts,[699] particularly in incantations, these two deities play no part whatsoever in the active pantheon, as revealed by the historical texts. In popular tradition,[700] Lakhmu survived as a name of a mythical monster.

Alexander Polyhistor[701] quotes Berosus as saying in his book on Babylonia that the first result of the mixture of water and chaos—i.e., of Apsu and Tiamat—was the production of monsters partly human, partly bestial. The winged bulls and lions that guarded the approaches to temples and palaces are illustrations of this old notion, and it is to this class of mythical beings that Lakhmu belongs. The schools of theology, seizing hold of this popular tradition, add again to Lakhmu a female mate and convert the tradition into a symbol of the first step in the evolution of order out of the original chaos. Lakhmu and Lakhamu are made to stand for an entire class of beings that are the offspring of Apsu and Tiamat. This class does not differ essentially from Apsu and Tiamat, nor from the 'Leviathan,' the 'Dragon,' the winged serpents, and the winged bulls that are all emanations of the same order of ideas. Accordingly, we find Lakhmu and Lakhamu associated with Tiamat when the conflict with the gods begins. They are products of chaos and yet at the same time contemporary with chaos,—monsters not so fierce as Tiamat, but withal monsters who had to be subdued before the planets and the stars, vegetation and man could appear.

The introduction of Anshar and Kishar as intermediate between the monsters and the triad of gods appears to be due entirely to the attempt at theological systematization that clearly stamps the creation epic as the conscious work of schoolmen, though shaped, as must always be borne in mind, out of the material furnished by popular tradition. In connection with the etymology and original form of the chief of the Assyrian pantheon,[702] the suggestion was made that the introduction of Anshar into the creation epic is a concession made to the prominence that Ashur acquired in the north. We are now able to put this suggestion in a more definite form. The pantheon of the north, as we have seen, was derived from the south. Not that all the gods of the south are worshipped in the north, but those that are worshipped in the north are also found in the south, and originate there. The distinctive features of Ashur are due to the political conditions that were developed in Assyria, but the unfolding of the conceptions connected with this god which make him the characteristic deity of Assyria, indeed, the only distinctive Assyrian figure in the Assyrian pantheon, does not preclude the possibility, of the southern origin of Ashur.

If, as has been made plausible by Hommel, Nineveh, the later capital of the Assyrian empire, represents a settlement made by inhabitants of a Nineveh situated in the south, there is no reason why a southern deity bearing the name Anshar should not have been transferred from the south to the north. The attempt has been made[703] to explain the change from Anshar to Ashur. The later name Ashur, because of its ominous character, effectually effaced the earlier one in popular thought. The introduction of the older form Anshar, not merely in the first tablet of the creation series, but, as we shall presently see, elsewhere, confirms the view of a southern origin for Ashur, and also points to the great antiquity of the Anshar-Ashur cult. It is not uncommon to find colonies more conservative in matters of religious thought and custom than the motherland, and there is nothing improbable in the interesting conclusion thus reached that Ashur, the head of an empire, so much later in point of time than Babylonia, should turn out to be an older deity than the chief personage in the Babylonian pantheon after the days of Hammurabi.

But while Anshar-Ashur under this view is a figure surviving from an ancient period, he is transformed by association with a complementary deity Kishar into a symbol, just as we have found to be the case with Lakhmu. By a play upon his name, resting upon an arbitrary division of Anshar into An and Shar, the deity becomes the 'one that embraces all that is above.' The element An is the same that we have in Anu, and is the 'ideographic'[704] form for 'high' and 'heaven.' Shar signifies 'totality' and has some connection with a well-known Babylonian word for 'king.' The natural consort to an all-embracing upper power is a power that 'embraces all that is below'; and since Ki is the ideographic form for 'earth,' it is evident that Ki-Shar is a creation of the theologians, introduced in order to supply Anshar with an appropriate associate. The two in combination represent a pair like Lakhmu and Lakhamu. As the latter pair embrace the world of monsters, so Anshar and Kishar stand in the theological system for the older order of gods, a class of deities antecedent to the series of which Anu, Bel, and Ea are the representatives. Besides the antiquity of Anshar and the factor involved in the play upon the name, the prominence of the Ashur cult in the north also entered into play (as already suggested) in securing for Anshar-Ashur, a place in the systematized cosmology. The Babylonian priests, while always emphasizing the predominance of Marduk, could not entirely resist the influences that came to them from the north. Ashur was not accorded a place in the Babylonian cult, but he could not be ignored altogether. Moreover, Assyria had her priests and schools, and we are permitted to see in the introduction of Anshar in the creation epic, a concession that reflects the influence, no doubt indirect, and in part perhaps unconscious, but for all that, the decided influence of the north over the south. The part played by Anshar in the most important episode of the creation epic will be found to further strengthen this view.[705]

Kishar, at all events, forms no part of either the Babylonian or of the active Assyrian pantheon. She does not occur in historical or religious texts. Her existence is purely theoretical—a creation of the schools without any warrant in popular tradition, so far as we can see. A tablet is fortunately preserved[706] (though only in part) which enables us to come a step nearer towards determining the character of the series of powers regarded as antecedent to the well-known deities. In this tablet, no less than ten pairs of deities are enumerated that are expressly noted as 'Father-mother of Anu,' that is, as antecedent to Anu.[707] Among these we find Anshar and Kishar, and by their side, such pairs as Anshar-gal, i.e., 'great totality of what is on high,' and Kishar-gal, i.e., 'great totality of what is below,' Enshar and Ninshar, i.e., 'lord' and 'mistress,' respectively, of 'all there is,' Du'ar and Da'ur, forms of a stem which may signify 'perpetuity,' Alala, i.e., 'strength,' and a consort Belili. Lakhmu and Lakhamu are also found in the list. While some of the names are quite obscure, and the composition of the list is due to the scholastic spirit emanating from the schools of theology, the fact that some of the deities, as Alala, Belili, Lakhmu and Lakhamu, occur in incantations shows that the theologians were guided in part by dimmed traditions of some deities that were worshipped prior to the ones whose cult became prominent in historic times. Anshar, Alala, Belili, Lakhmu, and Du'ar were such deities. To each of these an associate was given, in accord with the established doctrine of 'duality' that characterizes the more advanced of the ancient Semitic cults in general. Others, like Anshar-gal and Enshar, seem to be pure abstractions—perhaps only 'variants' of Anshar, and the number ten may have some mystical significance that escapes us. So much, at all events, seems certain that even the old Babylonian pantheon, as revealed by the oldest historical texts, represents a comparatively advanced stage of the religion when some still older gods had already yielded to others and a system was already in part produced which left out of consideration these older deities. This is indicated by the occurrence of the triad Anu, Bel, and Ea as early as the days of Gudea,[708] and it is this triad which in the creation epic follows upon the older series symbolized by Anshar and Kishar. The later 'theology' found a solution of the problem by assuming four series of deities represented by Apsu and Tiamat, by Lakhmu and Lakhamu, by Anshar and Kishar, and by the triad Anu, Bel, and Ea.

In a vague way, as we have seen, Apsu and Tiamat are the progenitors of Lakhmu and Lakhamu. The priority, again, of Lakhmu and Lakhamu, as well as of Anshar and Kishar, is expressed by making them 'ancestors' of Anu, Bel and Ea. While in the list above referred to, Lakhmu and Lakhamu are put in a class with Anshar and Kishar, in the creation epic they form a separate class, and Delitzsch has justly recognized,[709] in this separation, the intention of the compilers to emphasize an advance in the evolution of chaos to order, which is the keynote of the Babylonian cosmology. Lakhmu and Lakhamu represent the 'monster' world where creatures are produced in strange confusion, whereas Anshar and Kishar indicate a division of the universe into two distinct and sharply defined parts. The splitting of 'chaos' is the first step towards its final disappearance.

The creation of Anshar and Kishar marks indeed the beginning of a severe conquest which ends in the overthrow of Tiamat, and while in the present form of the epic, the contest is not decided before Anu, Bel, and Ea and the chief deities of the historic pantheon are created, one can see traces of an earlier form of the tradition in which Anshar—perhaps with some associates—is the chief figure in the strife.

Of the first tablet, we have two further fragments supplementing one another, in which the beginnings of this terrible conflict are described. With Apsu and Tiamat there are associated a variety of monsters who prepare themselves for the fray. The existence of these associates shows that the 'epic' does not aim to account for the real origin of things, but only for the origin of the order of the universe. At the beginning there was chaos, but 'chaos,' so far from representing emptiness (as came to be the case under a monotheistic conception of the universe) was on the contrary marked by a superabundant fullness.

Through Alexander Polyhistor,[710] as already mentioned, we obtain a satisfactory description of this period of chaos as furnished by Berosus. At the time when all was darkness and water, there flourished strange monsters, human beings with wings, beings with two heads, male and female, hybrid formations, half-man, half-animal, with horns of rams and horses' hoofs, bulls with human faces, dogs with fourfold bodies ending in fish tails, horses with heads of dogs, and various other monstrosities.

This account of Berosus is now confirmed by the cuneiform records. The associates of Tiamat are described in a manner that leaves no doubt as to their being the monsters referred to. We are told that

Ummu-Khubur,[711] the creator of everything, added Strong warriors, creating great serpents, Sharp of tooth, merciless in attack. With poison in place of blood, she filled their bodies. Furious vipers she clothed with terror, Fitted them out with awful splendor, made them high of stature(?) That their countenance might inspire terror and arouse horror, Their bodies inflated, their attack irresistible. She set up basilisks (?) great serpents and monsters[712] A great monster, a mad dog, a scorpion-man A raging monster, a fish-man, a great bull, Carrying merciless weapons, not dreading battle.