Chapter XX: Various Classes of Omens (2)

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.