Fortune-Telling in MesopotamiaAuthor(s): Erica ReinerReviewed work(s):Source: Journal of Near Eastern Studies, Vol. 19, No. 1 (Jan., 1960), pp. 23-35Published by: The University of Chicago PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/543689 .Accessed: 23/05/2012 20:39

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FORTUNE-TELLING IN MESOPOTAMIA1

ERICA REINER

VEN before the first volume of texts excavated at Sultantepe came off the press, the preliminary reports

and the edition and translation of such primeurs as a tablet of the Gilgame' epic, the Cuthean Legend, new and important fragments of the Creation epic, the Epic of Era, Ludlul bul nameqi, by O. R. Gurney and W. G. Lambert (see STT, I, 1 ff., Contents), foretold of the extraordinary riches that this site will provide for the knowledge of Babylonian literature. My favorite, the same, I assume, as that of most of my colleagues, is the delightful Tale of the Poor Man of Nippur. But this sampling could hardly comprise all the literary genres, many of them new, un- usual, and by the same token unsuspected, that this publication of the cuneiform texts from Sultantepe reveals.

The major texts, that is, epics and legends, as well as wisdom texts, as indicated above, have found a quick re- sponse on the part of the scholars re- sponsible for the publication. The poor cousins, this time, are the magic and re- ligious texts, of which we seem to have a surfeit at the present. However, the latter, as well as some of the medical texts published in this volume, not only supplement our previous knowledge of these text types, but offer samples of new content and style contrasting with the mass of dreary and stereotyped prayers, rituals, and magic medicine known from other sites.

The first impression then, after perusing the 111 texts of STT, I-of which only a few are unidentified fragments-was that of surprise. How is it possible that, acquainted as we are with the library of Nineveh and the huge private collec- tions of Assur, a new site, certainly minor in comparison to the above mentioned and moreover little more than an out- post of the Assyro-Babylonian civiliza- tion, can provide us with so many sam- ples of literary genres, and through these, of Mesopotamian thought and practice, that we could not suspect? The "library" at Sultantepe being no doubt another school where scribes learned their craft by first copying vocabularies, then stand- ard works of the literary tradition, it could be expected that lexical texts and important literary and divination texts would be found in number, but hardly that entirely new genres would there make their first appearance.

Two explanations of this strange fact present themselves at first: one is the recognition of the accidental nature of our extant text material, which, in spite of its wealth and diversity, can by no means be considered an accurate sampling of what was recorded in writing; second, we might assume that in Sultantepe, re- mote from the main centers of culture and learning, either certain genres that were not accepted in other cities were allowed to be propagated, or that its distance from the main centers of tradi- tion enabled freer literary creation, and thus it was this "provincial" innovation, or preservation of a non-canonical, per-

1 Article based on O. R. Gurney and J. J. Finkel- stein, The Sultantepe Tablets I ( =Occasional Publica- tions of the British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara No. 3), London 1957. vi +13 pp., cxlii plates; abbreviated in the following as ST T.

23

24 JOURNAL OF NEAR EASTERN STUDIES

haps oral, tradition, that is responsible for the difference between this sampling and the great tablet collections at Nineveh or Assur.

I feel inclined to reject both these ex- planations. Two examples will have to suffice here to show that, to our regret, Sultantepe did not and could not bring us information that could not be had from the other major collections. Rather, the collection is a representative sampling of Mesopotamian literature, and the nov- elties it offers are due to the fortunate but accidental circumstance of their pres- ervation. Texts that have come down to us in such fragmentary state that they had to remain unidentified in their extant copies from Nineveh and Assur can now be assigned, owing to their better pre- served duplicates from Sultantepe.

The first example is the "unique" tale of the Poor Man of Nippur referred to above. The Sultantepe version permitted W. G. Lambert to identify a fragment of this story in the Kouyundjik collection, copied long ago by the late Dr. Geers but not recognized for what it was (see Gurney, An. St., VI, 148).

The other example is offered by perhaps one of the most curious texts of the vol- ume, which I shall discuss at some length here.

This text, STT No. 73, seems at first sight to be a religious text containing the usual sequence of addresses to various deities by a person in distress, accom- panied each time by rituals involving the preparation of an altar, libations, and the like. As the description of the contents of the individual tablets that precedes the copies (STT, I, 6) points out, however, one of the sections contains "omens de- termined by the movements of an ox." This section (11. 122-38), likewise preceded by a prayer (11. 110-17) and a ritual (11. 118-21), is actually only the last of a

series of queries for omens, and all the prayers and rituals of this text are just preparatory actions to obtain omens from the gods. It is by reason of these omens that the text STT 73 deserves a particular interest, and its importance and informa- tiveness can be evaluated as follows: first, the omens expected are impetrated omens, a rather rare type of Mesopotamian divi- nation; second, we find in it the text of the prayers and the directions for the rituals designed to dispose the deity favor- ably for giving an answer through a stipu- lated signal; and third, we obtain evidence of private divination techniques not found in the canonical omen literature.

More types of impetrated omens were current in the Old Babylonian period than later on. Libanomancy, i.e., prognostics derived from the configurations of the smoke from a censer, and lecanomancy, i.e., divination from the shape taken by drops of oil in a basin of water, are not attested after this period, with the excep- tion of a late copy of an Old Babylonian lecanomantic text (KAR, 151 r., 31 ff.) and the mention of "'observing the oil in the water" as one of the accomplish- ments of the barU1 in the compendium of the diviner's craft (Zimmern, BBR, 85, n. 6). Extispicy alone persisted in vogue, while dream-incubation, practiced by the Sumerians, is attested in a single instance only,2 and augury by birds is

2 The only incubation dream preserved in Baby- lonian literature is that of Nabonidus (see Oppenheim, Dream-book, p. 205), which was induced under circum- stances similar to those described in the Sultantepe text (see below, p. 27). After an introduction that is not preserved in the text (VAB, IV, 278, vii = M VA G, I, 77 f.) the king scatters incense to the stars (read [sur]-qin-nu ra-ab-bu-tim ds.-tak-kan-Su-nu-ti-ma, vii, 4 ff.), prays to them, and is rewarded by a dream apparition of the goddess Ninugga ( = Gula); after the dream, in the morning (read ur-ri im-mi-ra-am-ma, "day broke for me," vii, 22) he then goes to the Nabfi- temple where he beholds the chapel of Gula. It is perhaps no accident that the only two sources for dream incubation come from Harran: the Sultantepe text and the stela of Nabonidus. It may well be that the goddess variously named Nin (til)ugga, Gula, and Ninlil is the (mother) goddess of an Anatolian culture.

FORTUNE-TELLING IN MESOPOTAMIA 25

known to exist only through the name of the profession ddgil

iss.tre (see CAD,

III, D, sub voce, and add Iraq, XV, 153, ND 3476, r. 2'), "augur," in the Assyria of the Sargonid period. The question, summarized here in the briefest way, is discussed by Oppenheim, Dream-book, pp. 224, 238, and 205.

To these types of impetrated omens we can add now, on the evidence of our text, dream incubation and the sprinkling of an ox with water to observe its reac- tion,3 and another hitherto unattested type from the recently published Assur text LKA 137 which attests the practice of psephomancy (discussed by Nougayrol, OLZ, LI [1956], 41) by means of two dice called, respectively, aban ereAi, "the desirable die," and aban la erAsi, "the undesirable die." 4

Beside such impetrated omens, STT No. 73 attests to divination by observing the flight of birds and the course of shoot- ing stars, references to which are found scattered in the series Summa alu and in the astrological series, but which are ob- served here to obtain a yes or no answer, determined by a stipulated convention. Parenthetically it might be mentioned here that even the major omen collections, which usually give a wide range of specific prognoses to ominous occurrences, in scat- tered instances restrict the prognostica- tion to "favorable" and "unfavorable," or confine its implication to a particular case such as the prognostic for a sick man, or concerning the success or the failure of a campaign or a business trip, and even with respect to a contemplated

mxiarriage (ana as'atim aljazim, "CT," III, 2:14).

The text under discussion is, in contra- distinction to the omen collections, sys- tematic throughout in this respect. The technical term applied, which refers only to the chances of recovery of a sick man or to the success or failure of a plan, is either purussd amaru, or purussd parasu, used both in the subscripts to each individual prayer (i n i m .i n i m . ma e. bar igi.tul or inim. inim.ma ka.as. bar bar. re) and in the ritual, which usually ends with the words, "if you do such-and-such, ES.BAR IGI.TUIJ (purussd tammar)."5

To facilitate reference to the individual sections of this text, transliterated on pp. 31 ff., I shall number each new opera- tion from I to VIII, referring within each by A to the prayer, by B to the accom- panying ritual, and by C to the section which defines the ominous occurrence as favorable or unfavorable where such a section appears in a more amplified form. Each prayer and ritual is separated from the foregoing by a horizontal line on the tablet, although in three instances only- between sections II and III, III and IV, and VII and VIII-the divination meth- ods are separated by a double line. In order to spare the reader the boredom of reading through endless repetitions, I am giving, in the following, only trans- lations of passages essential for the under- standing of the typology.

The first section contains two prayers- I A1 and I A2-to a goddess who is not named (addressed as iltu rimnitu, "merci- ful goddess") but who no doubt is Gula or another manifestation of the goddess

3 Bouch6-Leclercq, in his Histoire de la divination dans l'antiquitU (Paris, 1879), I, 150, reports that "P Delphes, on essayait les ch6vres P immoler en leur jetant quelques gouttes d'eau dans l'oreille ou sur le pelage, pour voir si l'animal resterait morne ou r6agirait sous cette excitation."

4 For the Urim and the Thummim of the Old Testament, which were most probably two stones and gave a yes or no answer, see, more recently, Rowley, The Faith of Israel (London, 1956), pp. 28 f.

5 Cf. also the subscript of the psephomantic text LKA 137:29, [in]im . inim . ma e . bar na4.gig.nux.gal na4.kur -nu.[dib.ba t a r. re ]e, "conjuration to foretell the future by means of a white stone (lit. alabaster) and a black stone (lit. haematite).

26 JOURNAL OF NEAR EASTERN STUDIES

of healing.6 The prayers run parallel for twelve lines. The last eight-in I A2 nine-- lines are slightly divergent, although in both prayers the priest appeals to the god- dess on behalf of the petitioner for recovery. In I A1 (11. 13-20) this is styled as follows: "You have been kind enough to let me know your divine will (on previous oc- casions) as to whether he (the sick man) will get well. On behalf of NN, son of

NN, who is suffering from this disease, you can let him rise from this disease, you can intercede for him with the gods your fathers. The gods your fathers listen to your sublime words, and thus they will have mercy on him, they will let him

again, in good health, walk the streets of his city. Since you have been so kind as to let me know your divine will (pre- viously), so send me your divine word (again) and let my mouth pronounce it!"

In A2 this prayer is addressed on behalf of a man who is mortally ill (11. 33-41): "You have been kind enough to let me know your divine will concerning a death- ly sick man. (Do it again) on behalf of NN, son of NN, who suffers from this disease and is prematurely being sent to the netherworld. The Anunnaki who have fixed the boundaries (of the life) of NN, now are leading him on the road to the netherworld; his personal god and goddess have disregarded the day of his natural death; he is (now) engaged on a direct road and a road of no return, he will yearn for but never again tread the streets of his city. Since you have been so kind as to let me know your divine will (pre- viously), so send me (again) your divine word and let my mouth pronounce it!"

I B (11. 42-43) starts out with a sub- script to the preceding: "Incantation for seeing a sign." The two lines of the ritual are fragmentary and difficult; besides pre-

scribing a libation, it directs the priest to "draw up two tablets, place them(?) in the morning in front of the [...]-star, and you will see a sign."

II A (11. 44-47) is addressed by the petitioner himself to the "gods of the night," i. e., the stars, to the Night, addressed with the usual epitheton ornans, "veiled bride," to Ea and the celestial gods, to 'qet me, your worshiper, speak with my god and goddess, so that, until I carry out my plan (adi kalddku) they may give me a favorable decision, or, (until) I get up (in the morning? =

tebdku), they may give me a favorable sign."

II B (11. 48-51) has the same subscript as the preceding; the ritual consists of reciting the foregoing prayer three times over a tamarisk branch, drawing a magic sign-which is given in a diagram-at the head of the bed with flour-paste, and then "you go to sleep and will see a sign."

III A (11. 52-55) is the same prayer as II A, except that it is recited by the conjuration priest, as is shown by the in- troductory words, "I am the pure (priest) of Ea, the messenger of Marduk," the usual formula recited by the priest at the outset of a ritual, the so-called Legiti- mationsformel. Consequently, the final words also omit the alternative, "or, (un- til) I get up."

The subscript appears this time in a separate section (1. 56): "Incantation to speak with one's personal god and goddess and thus to learn one's future."' The ritual prescribes (11. 57-60): "You cleanse yourself, ... you draw the figures of Ea and Marduk8 (two crude anthropomor-

6 Note that the subscript of the tablet describes it as copied from an original in the Gula-temple.

7 Arkat ramdnizu pardsu can only have this mean- ing here. For (w)arkatam pardsu in this nuance see Goetze, JCS, XI, 96, n. 41, also, in reference to an Esarhaddon passage, Borger, AfO, XVIII, 117.

8 The words preceding "the figures of Ea and Marduk" are unintelligible to me. The text, collated by Professor Gurney, reads: PA SAG eb-bi u eb-bi-ti.

FORTUNE-TELLING IN MESOPOTAMIA 27 phic drawings are provided as models), then you will see your personal god and goddess face to face and they will reveal your future. Make this drawing that I have drawn for you (as a model)."

IV A, a new section separated by a double line from the preceding, since it deals no more with direct nocturnal ap- paritions of the god and goddess, but with incubation for a dream whose symbolic gestures will provide the divine answer, in- vokes the constellation Ursa Major (MUL. MAR.GID.DA, "Constellation Wagon") in terms that deserve to be set down here (11. 61-64): "Divine Wagon, heavenly Wagon, whose yoke is Ninurta, whose pole is Marduk, whose axles are (the two) heavenly daughters of Anu! It rises toward Assur, it is bent toward Babylon. In order that NN, son of NN may live(?), entrust him with [...], so that he may see a dream."

IV B (11. 65-68) has the usual subscript. After the pertinent preparations--having a virgin, boy grind grain, sweeping and sprinkling the roof with clean water, draw- ing a circle, offering incense and flour-- "you recite the incantation three times, and, without speaking to anybody (after- wards), you go to sleep and will see a dream." The following two lines (11. 69-70) should actually be designated as IV C, although they are not separated by a horizontal line. They are the ones that give the interpretation of the dream styled as in an omen text: "If they give him something (in his dream), the sick man will get well; if they do not give him anything, the sick man will die; if you perform this to foretell the success of an enterprise, if they give him something, he will have success, if they do not give him (anything), he will fail."

V A1 (11. 71-75) is identical with IV A, except that Ursa Major is addressed in the second person. The petition is a

little different and more explicit in tenor: "Without your permission, even a mortal- ly ill man cannot die, and a well man cannot start on a journey. If I am to succeed in this journey on which I am about to start, let them give me something (in my dream); if I am to fail in this jour- ney on which I am about to start, let them receive something from me (in my dream)." The subscript (1. 76) designates this section: "Incantation for seeing a sign when starting [on a journey]."

V A2 (11. 77-80)-without a ritual inter- vening, since IV B provides the necessary instructions and dream interpretation-is another prayer addressed to Ursa Major. This rather fragmentary prayer leaves us in doubt about its purpose. Preserved are only: "If... favorable, let me have gain (lit. let them give me a share), if... unfavorable, let me have a loss." The subscript (1. 81) (supply a dividing line, collated) is somewhat obscure: "Incanta- tion for seeing a sign [...] you spend the night awake, you will find out your fu- ture."

V B (11. 82-84) contains the pertinent ritual only. The person who performs it should stay on the roof in the still of night alone while everybody is asleep, sprinkle water three times to Ursa Major, three times to the constellation Erua,9 scatter flour, and then, when he goes to sleep, he will see a sign. It is uncertain whether this is a sign given by direct communication with the deity or in a dream under the stipulated conditions of Sections IV and V A1.

VI A (11. 85-87) introduces yet another divination technique. This prayer is ad- dressed to Ninlil, with the petition: "If NN, son of NN, is to have success, let

9 For the constellation Erua (part of virgo plus Coma Berenices) see Gtssmann, SL, IV/2, No. 126. In a description of constellations from Assur (Weidner. AfO, IV, 73 ff., see esp. p. 83), the pole of the Wagon is directed at the back of Erua.

28 JOURNAL OF NEAR EASTERN STUDIES

a (shooting) star pass from my right and towards my left."

The ritual, VI B (11. 88-91), is very sim- ilar to that of IV B and is introduced by the same subscript but expressed by k a . a. bar bar.re, i.e., purussd pard- si, instead of e . bar igi.tub. These preparations again lead to "seeing a sign."

Section VII deals with the same divina- tion technique. VII A (11. 92-99) is a prayer addressed to the stars of each of the three paths of heaven. "I, NN, . . . watch for your liumdsu-stars, give me a definite 'yes' answer! From among the innumerable bright, [...], twinkling stars of heaven, your.. ., let one star shoot from my right and pass toward my left; if [... ], let it pass from behind me toward in front of me!"

VII B (11. 100-02) is again fragmentary, but seems to contain preparations similar to those of IV B and VI B. Section VII C (11. 103-09) is not separated from the pre- ceding and is again in omen style: "You recite the incantation three times, turned towards the Wagon-star, if a (shooting) star passes from your right to your left: favorable, if the star passes from your left to your right: unfavorable, if the star passes from in front of you toward your back: unfavorable, if the star passes from behind your back to in front of you: favorable, if the star passes [through/ by] the Wagon: favorable, if [.. .] it enters into the constellation Wagon: favorable."

The last section introduces-after a double line--the most unusual divination technique of all. The omen predicting success or failure depends on what an ox will do when he is sprinkled with water. VIII A (11. 110-17), the prayer that intro- duces it, this time invokes the "divine judges," that is, most likely, Sama' and Adad. Five lines of praise are followed by the description of the petitioner's divi- nation technique: "In this midnight watch

I shiall pour pure spring water on the forehead of an ox; let me see your true judgment and your divine decision, so that I (the priest) may make a pronounce- ment. Let the ox provide a sign whether NN, son of NN, will have success."

VIII B (11. 118-21) deals with the ritual of drawing water from the river, offering incense and flour to the gods of the night, and libating beer. "You hold up this water, recite the incantation three times, pour (the water) three times on the forehead of a recumbent ox, and you will see a sign."

The following section-VIII C (11. 122- 38)-provides (in omen style) for seven- teen ominous actions of the ox that predict success or failure, depending on whether he gets up or not, turns to the right or the left, the direction he takes getting up, bellowing, and stirring up dust with his horns or pawing up dust, and, in lines 133-34, raising or lowering his hu- ruppu.

The colophon gives the name of the scribe and, most interesting, describes the text as copied from an original in Esabad, i.e., the temple of Gula.

To this strange text there exists only one partial duplicate. This is, as already recognized by Gurney, LKA 138. LKA 138:6-8 parallels lines 85-87, LKA 138: 2-4, lines 88-91 of our text, that is, the divination technique based on the ob- servation of shooting stars. The rest of the obverse of LKA 138, lines 9 ff., con- tains directions for a ritual and a prayer to Ursa Major which has no exact parallel in STT 73. The reverse of LKA 138, however, contains another means of divi- nation that is not recorded in the Sul- tantepe text. This is the observation of the flight of birds. Only the prayer is preserved, and, although it is in frag- mentary condition, it can be restored with the help of a prayer inserted at the end

FORTUNE-TELLING IN MESOPOTAMIA 29

of Tablet 66 of the series lsumma diu. This prayer is addressed to Sama' and Adad, and the end, which is duplicated by "CT," XXXIX, 24:28 ff. (see Ebeling, LKA, p. xiii, and Nougayrol, OLZ, LI [1956], 41), asks that, "in order that NN, son of NN, may carry out his undertaking with success, let either a kudurrdnu-bird, or a kappu-raps'u-bird, or an arabdanu-bird fly by from my right side and [pass] toward my left." The prayer is followed in LKA 138 by a conjuration of the abracadabra type but in gumma dlu by a ritual which ends with the words: Sipta 3-Sku tamannima issfiru illakamma tam- mar, "you recite the incantation three times, and then a bird will come and you will see (the sign)."

The last two divination techniques which occur outside the Sultantepe text, i.e., divination from shooting stars and the flight of birds, are not, strictly speak- ing, impetrated omens, since it seems likely that they rely on observations of only accidental occurrences on occasions when a divine answer was requested. Also, these are the two techniques that are also known from Summa alu, the astrological collec- tions, and other omen collections. Divina- tion from stars twinkling (sardru) in vari- ous relations to the observer (right side, left side, etc.) are preserved on two frag- mentary tablets partly published by Virol- leaud in Bab., IV, 125 f.; they are designed to provide a yes or no answer (styled: damiq, "favorable"; ahi, "'unfavorable") to the question of success or failure: the first line indicates this, saying:summa amnlu ana qibiitiWu tebima, "if somebody starts out on an undertaking." Apart from vari- ous tablets of Summa dlu (Tablets 66 and 67), bird omens are recorded on the fragmentary tablet 83-1-18, 213 pub- lished in Boissier, DA, P1. 34. It is uncer- tain to what category this text-and the similar K. 10364 in Holma, Omen Texts,

P1. XVI-should be assigned; the sub- script only states, using again the tech- nical term puruss': ES.BAR MUSEN.MES

kalas'unu, "signs observed from any biud," and the first preserved line refers to a situation which is unfortunately not speci- fied: summa KI.MIN-ma issru igtu sumeli

amBli ana imitti ameli Ttiq la [kas-dd sibati], "if ditto, and a bird passes from the left of a man toward his right, failure."

In the second tablet of the diagnostic omen series (Labat, TDP, p. 12), lines 63 ff., again omens are derived from stars, for a collation of the tablet A 3439 in the Oriental Institute Museum shows that we have to read in line 63: summa UL TA [imitti ameli isru ], "if a star twinkles from the right side of a man," this section being placed after omens derived from various birds, reptiles, and insects, and before omens derived from strange lights and lightning. These omens again give only a yes or no answer, since this tablet is designed to foretell to the exorcist whether the patient will live or die. Aside from prognostications for the patient, the section just mentioned, as well as lines 7-12 and lines 72 ff., also prognosticate success or failure (kas'ad / la kas'dd sibati), owing to the fact that the first two tablets of the diagnostic series were compiled from other omen collections, mostly from Summa ailu (see Labat, ibid., p. xvi).

The above-mentioned parallels only re- fer to two of the divination techniques of our text and go to show that shooting stars and the flight of birds were consid- ered ominous in certain circumstances. To the third technique, divination.by means of sprinkling an ox with water, I know of no actual parallel, but its ex- istence can be proved by indirect evidence. Among the various branches of magical and ritual activities that the masmascu- priest had to master according to the famous vade mecum KAR 44, one is des-

30 JOURNAL OF NEAR EASTERN STUDIES

ignated as puruss kakkabe is~ire u alpE bil Sgri, "oracles by means of stars, birds, and oxen (and?) wild animals," (rev. 2). This reference has hitherto been obscure, although Zimmern, ZA, XXX, 223, rec- ognized that they concern divination. The juxtaposition here of oracles from oxen and those from stars and birds makes it likely that the reference is made to the divination technique described in the Sultantepe text.

The inclusion of these divination tech- niques in the curriculum of the masmndsu just mentioned shows that the person acting for the petitioner in the Sultantepe text, but not named there, must have been the priest called mas'mdsru who could assume the functions of a diviner in such divination techniques as were not reserved for the bad.r.

This also shows that, however simpli- fied the operations described in our text may be, they were not carried on outside the sanctioned magico-religious frame- work and were not "primitive" or "popu- lar" in the sense of our "popular super- stitions." Rather, their difference lies in the circumstance we find only rarely in the late and canonical omen collections, that they were performed for a private individual, in answer to such simple ques- tions as the recovery of the sick or the success of a particular enterprise.

If we consider the impetrated omens preserved from the Old Babylonian peri- od, we find, there too, evidence that the consultation was made on behalf of a private person. This evidence is in the predictions of Old Babylonian smoke and oil omens (cf. above p. 24) which are con- cerned with the private person, and in cer- tain reports on extispicy--both Old Baby- lonian and Kassite-(see Goetze, JCS, XI, 89 ff.). Of these reports, several are on extispicies performed to inquire about the well-being of a person (ana dulmim,

see Goetze, ibid., 94 f.), and three are to inquire into the outcome of a business venture. One of these specifies (ibid., No. 8): ana sahirti s'a isdmu ina szqi gimdti ana nameli innaddin [x (x)] epus", "(the extispicy) was performed for (finding out whether) the merchandise which he has bought can be sold on the market for a profit." For the other, performed to find out whether a merchant's boat would arrive safely in port, see Goetze, ibid., p. 95, n. 37. The third (Bab., III, 141) states its purpose simply as "for under- taking a certain enterprise" (ana epgs sibitim).

It was only later that the only form of impetrated omens which remained in use, extispicy, became, as did also as- trology, concerned exclusively with public life and the welfare of the state. This rise in status was accompanied by a refine- ment and particularization both in the features and occurrences observed and in the prognoses, as a scholarly achievement on the part of the high-ranking class of diviners. This seems rather removed from the everyday practice, and a far cry from the simple yes or no answer that alone is sought by the petitioner of our text.

The difference is most revealing in the dream omens of the Sultantepe text, if we compare them with the Assyrian dream- book, which is typical of the preoccupa- tions and the style of Mesopotamian omen literature as we know it from late texts. The stipulated conventions of the dream content, that is, that the dreamer should be given something or that he should not or, alternately, that he should be given or he himself should give something, are the salient contents of the expected dream to which the Assyrian dream-book devotes a whole tablet, Tablet B (Oppen- heim, Dream-book, pp. 322 ff.). In the Dream-book roughly 340 lines specify the

FORTUNE-TELLING IN MESOPOTAMIA 31

object given to the dreamer in his dream, with pertinent specific prognoses in each case, followed by a shorter section in which only imhur, "he receives," is preserved. This should correspond to the prayer mimma liddinani ... mimma limhurunin- ni of STT 73:74 f.

The Sultantepe text gives us for the first time a record of an actual oracular consultation, the term oracle taken here in its sense of "requested answer" ("rd- ponse implor6e," see Bouch&-Leclercq, op. cit., I, 228), starting with the description of the occasion--the plight of the petition- er mentioned in the prayer-the prepara- tions for receiving the oracle, and the legum dictio or stipulation specifying the expected sign (ibid., IV, 184 and 198). Since the signs are stipulated in advance,

even the interpreter can be dispensed with (for similar conditions in Greek and Ro- man divination, see again Bouch&-Leclercq, ibid., I, 289, IV, 161, etc.).

The above-discussed parallels with Mesopotamian divination texts, but main- ly the parallelism of the Sultantepe text with the Assur text LKA 138, and through it the direct link with Summa dlu (cf. above pp. 28 f.), should prevent us from attributing the uniqueness of this text to the fact that it comes from Harran and represents practices evolved under the influence of an alien background. We must consider the practices it attests as part of the Mesopotamian divination tradition and be grateful to the fortunate accident that has preserved for us such a complete document of it.

TRANSLITERATION OF STT 7310

1) [PN il-tum] rim-ni-tum mu-bal-li-ta-at LU.UGx [?d nap-lu -us-sa] ba-la-tu u na-ds-6ur-?d id-la-mu [ap-kal-lat] DINGIR.MES ga-me-rat ab-ra-a-[ti] [?a-bi-t]a-dt mar-kas kip-pat AN-e U KI-tim

5) [mu-kil-l]at mar-ka-si GAIL-i a E-9dr-ra ina AN-e u-tur KI.GUB-ki ina dEv4.DAR.MEA vd-qa-a re-gd-a-ki dA-nu dBE U d.-a DINGIR.MEA AD(!)" .MEv-ki

[ina ba-l]i-ki ul i-?d-ka-nu ur-ta [x x x] ?d e-la ?d-?d la Db-a ab-ra-a-ti

10) [U ES.BAR] AN-e U KI-ti NU TAR-SU

[ana-ku al]-si-ki du-us'-mu-ui pa-lib-ki [ana NfG.GIG i]m-bur-an-ni-ma ina sap-li-ki ak-mi.-su

[t.-em DINGIR]-ti-ki GAL-ti ds-su lib-lut

[ta-ri-man]-ni-ma ta-tf-man-ni 15) [ki-i NENNI] A NENNI GIG an-na-a ?d mar-su

[ina GIG(?) an-n]i-i tu-lat-bi ina mahar'2 DINGIR.ME' AD(!)l1.ME'-ki a-bu-su ta-sab-ba-ti-ma

10 The transliteration is appended here to facilitate the following of the Akkadian text, since a number of emendations were necessary to gain a meaning, and the autograph copy is not easy to read. The unusually high number of emendations I had to use prompted me to ask Professor Gurney to collate the doubtful passages, and I gratefully acknowledge here his kind- ness. My suggestions were not always confirmed by his examination of the original. I adopted here the method of leaving unmarked the signs that are clear

on the original, even if they look different on the auto- graph; I marked with exclamation or question marks those signs which were doubtful on the original, and I added a note indicating the signs that actually ap- pear on the tablet wherever there was an obvious scribal mistake or where I had to suggest a reading to fit the context.

11 Text GAL, but see line 27. 12 Text AD; the construction requires ina mah ar,

ina pdn, or ana.

32 JOURNAL OF NEAR EASTERN STUDIES

Lana qi-bi-ti-k]i sir-ti DINGIR.MES AD(!)"1.MERS-ki i-qul-lu-ma [DINGIR.ME

-S-]U i-gam-me-lu-sau u SILA URU-s' ina SILIM-me i'-s*ak-ba-[su]

[ki-i sd] ta-ri-man-ni-ma t.-em

DINGIR-ti-ki GAL-ti

ta-t.-m[an-ni] 20) t.-em'

DINGIR-ti-ki GAL-ti sap-rim-ma KA.MU lu-se-si

EN il-tum rim-ni-tum mu-bal-li-ta-at LIU.UGx

s• nap-lu-us-sa bc-la-tu u na-ds-bur-sd sd-la-mu ap-kal-lat DINGIR.MES ga-me-rat ab-ra-a-ti sa-bi-ta-dt mar-kas kip-pat [AN]-e u KI-tim

25) mu-kil-lat mar-ka-si [GAL]-i a E-cdr-ra ina AN-e s-tur KI.GUB-ki ina dES4.DAR.MEA d-qa-a re-~i-a-ki dA-nu d[BE U] dE-a DINGIR.MES AD.MES-ki

ina ba-[li-ki] ul i-id-ka-nu Fur-tal [x] x x [Md] e-la s"d-s'd la Db-a ab-ra-a-t[i]

30) 'i ES.BAR AN-e KI-ti NU TAR-FSU1

ana-kau al-si-ki du-us-mau- pa-lih-ki ana NiG.GIG im-hur-an-ni-ma ina sap-li-ki ak-mi13-su

t.-em DINGIR-ti-ki GAL-ti d- u mi-i14-ti

ta-ri-man-ni-ma ta-t.-man-ni

[//] ki-i NENNI A NENNI GIG sd mar-Su GIG an-nam <mar > -sU-it5

35) t-ru-uh-su ana KUR.NU.GI4.A su-uh-mu-ta-at d600 su-ut ku-dutr-ra sd LiL16 NENNI ik-di-ru i-ru-ua KUR.NU.GI4.A na-su-_su DINGIR-Si• U dXV-SU u4-Um-Sia 'i sim-td-su t-ma-sti-ru-su-ma ur-ha SaU-te-su-ra // 'i har-ra-an la ta-ri te-bu-ui

SILA URU-Sit zu-mu-ma a-na du-ur da-ri la i-kab-ba-su

40) ki-i "d ta-ri-man-ni-ma t.-em

DINGIR-ti-ki GAL-ti ta-t.-man-ni

t.-em DINGIR-ti-ki GAL-ti sup-rim-ma KA-ia lu-se-si

ii) INIM.INIM.MA E[S.BAR IGI.TUHI DU.DU.BI] a(?)1-na IGI [........ GAR-a]n KAS

BAL-qi 2 t-il-ti te-D-i[l] ina IGI MUL [X ina] se-rim ana F X X1 AN X [x x x x t]a-sJak-kan-ma ES.BAR IGI.TUHI

EN at-[tit]-nu MUL.MES sd mu-sei-ti dEN.BI.LUH dNIN.[BI.LUH d]EN.BI.LUH.HA17 45) [u] mu-Mi-tum kal-la-tum kut-[tum-t]um // dE-a [MAN] Z[U?AB] tuik-lat Eri4-dulo

dIMINBI d VII a-sib sd-ma-[mi DINGIR].MES KU.MES ia-[a]-t[i] iR-ku-nu [K]I DINGIR.MU dXV.MU Su-ud-[bi-ba]-nin-ni-ma // lu-t EN KUR-kU di-ni

[Ii-di-nu] lu-it te(?)-ba(?)-a(?)-ku ES.BAR-a-a lip-ru-su18

[INIM].INIM.MA ES.BAR IG[I.TUH] DU.Db.BI ina MI ana IGI MUL.MES

MI-tim x x x [.... ?]N an-ni-tum 3-su ana UGU GIS bi-ni AID-nu-ma

13 Text mu, but see line 12. 14 Text like tu. 15 Text has a sign that looks more like NIN after

nam; my emendation does not quite satisfy me. 16 LiL collated; the combination Sd LiL is ununder-

standable to me, perhaps LiL is to be omitted. 17 These three deities are, to my knowledge, not

attested elsewhere. Their names may be learned or cryptic names for, perhaps, Sin, I tar, and

gamag, such as the similarly formed names of Anu, Enlil, and Ea: dEn-zai Mab-za dKi-za-za (Ebeling, TuL, p. 111:30).

18 Text lu-ti kal na/ba DI ku (rest of the line col- lated as transliterated).

FORTUNE-TELLING IN MESOPOTAMIA 33

50) [ ] GAR-an ina SAG GIS.NX-ka ra-ma-na1'J [ ] sd ZID.MAD.G0 te-sir NA-ma ES.BAR IGI.TUH

[EN ram]-ku sd dE-a DUMU sip-ri sad dAsal-li-hi ana-ku DINGIR.MES MI-tim ina [...

[dEN.BI.LUHI dNIN.BI.LUH DINGIR.MES EN.MES MI-tim MU-,i-tum

kal(!)-la-tum k[ut-tum-tum]

d[E-a] MAN ZU?AB tuk-lat Eri4-du 1o IMIN.BI 'VII 6-i-b ,Ad-ma-mi

DINGIR.MES

[KUT.MEs] 55) ia-[ti] IR-ku-nu KI DINGIR.MU dXV.MU ,u-ud-bi-ba-nin-ni-ma lu-u EN KUR-kU

di-ni li-di-nu ES.BAR-[a-a lip-ru-su]

INIM.INIM.MA KI DINGIR-Sit U dES4.DAR-8?

da-ba-bi-im-ma EGIR Nif-~i pa-? a-si

DU.DUb.BI1 Ni-ka UD.UD PA SAG eb bi u eb bi ti GIS.HUR.MES

sa dE-a u dAsal-li-hi te-sir-ma KI DINGIR-ka a dXv-ka

ta-n[am-m]ar-ma EGIR Ni-ka i-pa~ -ra-su-ka 60) GIs.HUR [an-ni-t]u sd e-si-ru(!)-[k]a te-sir

EN MUL.MAR.GID.DA [GIS:MA]R.GiD.DA [sd-ma]-mi sd ni-Firl-sd dNin-urta ma-sad-da-id dAMAR.[UD bu]-ba-tu-?d D[UMU.SAL] dA-nim sd AN-e KU.MES

ana IGI As-surki nap-ha-[at] ana IGI K[A.DINGIR.R]Aki IGI-Sad 8ak-nu ki-i NENNI A NENNI i-ba[l(?)-lu(?)]-rtu(?)l i-x-x-x-si(?) lip-qid-ma MAS.GE6 IGI

65) INIM.INIM.MA ES.BAR I[GI.TUIH] DU.DU.BI r'e(?)-em(?)1 ,a 1 hAar-bi TI-qi 1.TA.XM

te-bi-ir SE.BI MI tu-su/na-x LfU.[TUR] sd SAL NU ZU-U IHAR-en ana IGI MUL.MAR.GID.DA

UR SAR A.MES KU.MES SUD su-ur-ta tu-sa-ar NIG.NA SIM.LI U ZID.MAD.GA GAR-an

EN 3-Sit rSIDl-nU KI LU.N[U].ME NU KA.KA-vb NA-ma MAS.GE6 IGI

sum-ma mim-ma SUM-9gt GI[G T]I s•m-ma

mim-ma NU SUM-s~ GIG UGx

70) sum-ma ana Db-e8 XA.A DU-U4s] mim-ma SUM-sit AS-s KUR-dd NU SUM-SUi- NU

KUR-dd

EN at20-ti MUL.MAR.GID.DA sd AN-e KJ'--ti ni-ir-ki dNin-urta ma-s'ad-da-ki dAMAR.UD

b[u]-ba-t-lci DUMU.SAL dA-ni[m] d AN-e KU.MES ina KUR A s-ulki nap-&a-ti

ina KA.DINGIR.RAki IGI-ki GAR-nu ina ba-li-ki LU".UGx NU UGx U

TI har-ra-an NU DIB-bat

i-na KASKAL te-ba-ku si-[bu-t]i KUR-dd mim-ma lid-di-nu-ni 75) [i-na KASKAL] te-ba-ku gi-[bu-ti] NU KUR-dd mim-ma lim-hu-ru-nin-ni

[INIM.I]NIM.MA ana [KASKAL(?)] te-bi ES.BAR IGI.TUH

19 These three signs are inclosed within a geo- metric figure, for which consult the autograph copy in STT.

20 Text mar. 21 Text KI.

34 JOURNAL OF NEAR EASTERN STUDIES

IN MUL.MAR.GID.DA DUMU.S[AL 'A-n]im GAL-tUm kal-lat E-kur kul(?)-[x] tu [x]

mu-gim-tum Md NAM.[MES X-i]t-tU Ad SE.PAD.MES at-ti gum-ma mim-ma ki-a-[am(?) ana (?)] SIG5.MES iHA.LA lid-di-nu-ni

80) gum-ma mim-ma ki-a-a[m(?) ana] BAR-tim si-i-ti li-si

INIM.INIM.MA ES.BAR IGI.TUHI [DU.DJ].BI MI tu- am-'a(!) ar(!)-kat(!)-ka TAR-aS22

iii) e-nu-ma UN.MES sal-la-ma qu-[lu] GAR-nu e-di'- i-ka ina UR GUB-az-ma A.MES KU.MES ana IGI MUL.MAR.Gi[D.D]A 3-Si ana IGI dE-ru--[a] S-si til-lih

ZfD.MAD.GA

SUB-uk e-nu-ma SUB-ku an-nam DUG4.GA NA-ma ES.BAR IGI.TUH

85) dNin-lil be-lit AN-e r[1 KI-tim AMA DINGIR.MES GAL.MES

s'i ina ba-li-gd dEn-lil be-e[l NAM.MES] NAM.MES la NAM.MES ki-i NENNI A NENNI

AS-su i-ka,'-'d-du

MUL [T]A ZAG.MU lil-su-ma-am-ma ana GPB-ia DIB-iq

INIM.INIM.MA KA.AS.BAR BAR.RE DU.DU.BI SE GAL TI-qi LU.TUR id SAL NU ZU

ina UD SE.GA x-ta-lal i1-te-en-ma ina MI ina PR ana IGI MUL.MAR.GID.DA

90) NfG.NA SIM. <LI> U ZfD.MAD.GA an-nil-t1U LI.TUR P-nam-mar-ma BAR.BAR

GUB.BA

EN an-ni-tu 3-sz ana IGI MUL.MAR.GID.DA SID-nU A.MES KU.MES BAL-qi-ma ES.BAR IGI.TUH

EN DINGIR.[MES] GAL.MES SUU-ut dA-nim DINGIR.MES GAL.MES 'US-ut d50 DINGIR.

MES GAL.MES 'u-ut d -a

Su-ut dA-nim al-si-ku-n[u-?]i u-ut d50 na-as-hu-ra-ni lu-ut dE-a gi-mi-irl-ku-nu qu-la-ni

95) ana-ku NENNI Ad a UD a-[na(?)] lu-ma-'i'-ku-nu git-ku-nu pa-nu-uz-a an-na ki(!)-na(!) ap(!)23-li-nin-ni-ma ina i\ MUL.MES AN-e NU SID.MEs

nam-ru(!)-[ti x]-x-ti sar-ru-ti mi-ih-rat GAB.MES-kU-nu MUL [TA ZAG.MU lil]-su-ma-am-ma ana 150.MU DIB-iq sum-ma [x X TA] EGIR.MU a-na IGI.MU DIB-iq

100) INIM.[INIM.MA KA.AS.BAR BAR.R]E(!) DU.DP.BI e-am ga 1 har-bi TI-qi x [.....................] x-x-ir LU .TUR 9d SAL NU ZU IJAR-en ana IG[I MUL ... NIG.N]A SIM.LI GAR-an ar(!)-kat(!)24-ka TAR-as

x [.................] ]N 83-87 ana IGI MUL.MAR.GfD.DA SID-ma

sum-[ma MUL TA ZAG-k]a ana 150-ka DIB-iq KAL

105) vum-m[a MUL TA 150-k]a ana ZAG-ka DIB-iq NU KAL

sum-m[a MUL TA IGI-k]a ana EGIR-ka DIB-iq NU KAL

sum-m[a MUL TA EGIR-k]a ana IGI-ka DIB-iq KAL

~um-[ma x x x ] x MUL MAR.GfD.DA DIB-iq KAL

sum-[ma x] GAR-ma ana SX MUL.MAR.GiD.DA TU KAL

22 Text tu-Aam-NI r+ I aGR MAN-ka TAR-as; reading based on context.

23 Text an-na di ud la i.

24 Text CiR MAN-ka.

FORTUNE-TELLING IN MESOPOTAMIA 35

110) AN [al]-si-ku-nu-si DINGIR.MES DI.KUD.MES ina AN-e KU25.MES rina su(?)-pi(?)'-e su26-ke-ni ak-ta-nar-rab-ku -nu-'i [di-p]a-ru na-mir-tu dci qi-rib gd-ma-me // ana nu-ri-ku-nu su-mu-rat mit-har-tti [ana d]a-a-nu-ti-ku-nu UN.M[ES] qul-lu // ana ES.BAR-ku-nU i-kan-nu-ug en-'u

DINGIR.MES da-a-a-nu ~c la BAL-UI qi-bit-su-un 115) ina ~at mu-si an-ni-e A.MES BAD KU.MES uw'-te-"e-ra ana pu-ut GUD

DI-ku-nu ki-na u ES.BAR DINGIR-ti-ku-nu GAL-ti lu-mur-ma qa-ba-a lu-u g-kun sum-ma NENNI A NENNI AS-SU i-kas'-d-du GUD ES.BAR lid-di-n.a TU6s N

DZ.DU.BI ina UD.SE.GA tal-ta-ad-da-ad DUG.LA.IJA.AN 8i

'u [k]ud mu TI-qi LU.TUR ai SAL NU ZU-u ina fD A.MES i-sab-ba NiG.NA SIM.LI u ZID.MAD.GA

iv 120) ana IGI DINGIR.MES MI-tim DUB-aq KAS.SAG BAL-qi A.MES su-nu-te fL-ma AN 3-Ui ID-nu ana pu-ut GUD rab-si 3- q BAL-qi-ma ES.BAR IGI.TUH

Sum4-ma GUD is-su-us-ma it-bi KUR-ad A Sum4-ma GUD is-su-us-ma NU it-bi NU KUR-ad i~ sum4-ma GUD ZI-ma TE-su ana 15-U

VSUB NU KUR-ad A•

125) gum4-ma GUD zI-ma TE-su ana 150-SU VUB KUR-ad AS

Sum4-ma GUD Zt.MES-oSi

im-ruq-ma it-bi KUR-ad AS

'um4-ma GUD Zi.MES-S'2

im-ruq-ma NU it-bi NU KUR-ad Xi

Sum4-ma GUD zI-ma ana IGI-si DU KUR-ad Ai

Sum4-ma GUD zI-ma ana EGIR-•2 DU NU KUR-ad AS

130) gum4-ma GUD zI-ma ana ZAG-SU2 DU NU KUR-ad iS 'um4-ma GUD zI-ma ana 150-&i DU KUR-ad A~

Srum4-ma GUD zIl-ma is-si KUR-ad AS

[Vum4-ma GUD ZI-m]a u-ru-up-pa-si LA-qi KUR-ad A~

[Vum4-ma GUD ZI-m]a hu-ru-up-pa-si us'-ta-pil su-us-su-qu KUR-ad AS

135) [ium4-ma GUD ZI-m]a SAIJAR.IJI.A ana UGU-sv is-lu NU KUR-ad AS [~um4-ma] GUD rzIl-[m]a ina sI ZAG- i SAIAR.II.A is-1u KUR-ad AX 'um4-ma GUD zI-ma ina sI 150-~i SAIJAR.IJI.A is-lu NU KUR-ad AS

sum4-ma GUD zI-ma ina GIRa-sCt mah-ra-a-ti SAIJAR.II.A ana

EGIR-8i is-lu NU KUR-ad i~

GABA.RI E-sa-bad h-tar x-x-sab-si LU'.SAMAN.LA TUR

DUMU mdNab -SU Li.A.BA ORIENTAL INSTITUTE

UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO

25 Text oGAL. 2 Text has a broken sign, like su or qi.