Babylonian-Assyrian Birth-Omens and Their Cultural Significance

by Morris Jastrow

IV

Passing now to some illustrations of birth-omens from the collections of the bârû-priests, let us first take up some texts dealing with omens from the young of animals. Naturally, the animals to which attention was directed were the domesticated ones—sheep, goats, cows, dogs, horses and pigs. Among these the most prominent is the sheep, corresponding to the significance attached to the sheep in liver divination where it is, in fact, the only animal whose liver is read as a means of forecasting the future[33]. As a result of this particularly prominent position taken by the sheep in birth-omens, the word isbu, designating the normal or abnormal foetus—human or animal—when introduced without further qualification generally indicates the foetus of a sheep[34].

A text[35] dealing with a double foetus, i. e., of a sheep[36], reads in part as follows:

‘If it is a double foetus with slits (?) on the head and tail, the land will be secure.

If it is a double foetus and enclosed[37], confusion in the country, the dynasty [will come to an end].

If it is a double foetus, encompassed like an enclosure, the king will [subdue ?] the land.

If it is a double foetus and encompassed like an enclosure, confusion in the land, hostilities [in the country].

If it is a double foetus, encompassed like an enclosure, with slits on the body, end of the dynasty, confusion and disturbances in the country.

If it is a double foetus, encompassed like an enclosure, with twisted necks and only one head, the land will remain under one head.

***

If it is a double foetus, the heads enclosed, with eight legs and only one spine, the land will be visited by a destructive storm[38].

If it is a double foetus with only one head, the land will be secure, the ruler will prevail against his enemy, peace and prosperity in the country[39].

If it is a double foetus with one head, a double spine, eight feet, two necks and two tails, the king will enlarge his land.

If it is a double foetus with one head, double spine, two tails and one body, then the land that is ruled by two will be ruled by one.

If it is a double foetus with only one head and one spine, eight feet, two necks and two tails, the king will enlarge his land.

If it is a double foetus with only one neck, the ruler will enlarge his land.

If it is a double foetus with only one spine, the ruler will enlarge his land.

If it is a double foetus with only one mouth, the land will remain under the command of the king.

If it is a double foetus with only one breast, the land will be enlarged, rule of a legitimate king.

In order to grasp the principles underlying the interpretation of such omens, we must take as our starting point the conceptions connected with the various parts of the body. Bearing in mind that the omens deal primarily with public affairs and the general welfare and only to a limited extent with private and individual concerns[40], the head of the foetus by a natural association stands for the ruler or occasionally for the owner of the mother lamb. One head to the double foetus, therefore, indicates unity—a single rule—whereas two heads point to disruption of some kind. If the double foetus is so entwined as to be shut in within an enclosure, a similarly natural association of ideas would lead to the country being shut in, in a state of confusion, the land in a condition of subjugation or the like. On the other hand, if merely the heads are enclosed so as to give the impression of unity and the rest of the two bodies is disentangled, the unfavorable sign is converted into a favorable one. A second principle involved in the interpretation results in a more favorable conclusion if the double foetus shows less complications. So, a single neck or a single spine or a single breast or a single mouth point again, like a single head, towards unity and therefore to flourishing conditions in the land. In the case of legs and tails, to be sure, the conditions seem to be reversed—the eight legs and two tails and two necks with one head pointing to enlargement of the land, whereas a double foetus with only six or five feet forebodes some impending misfortune[41].

Let us proceed further with this text.

If it is a double foetus, one well formed and the second issuing from the mouth of the first[42], the king will be killed and his army will [revolt ?], his oil plantation and his dwelling will be destroyed[43].

If it is a double foetus, the second lying at the tail [of the first], with two breasts and two tails, there will be no unity in the land[44].

If it is a double foetus, and the second lies at the tail of the first and enclosed and both are living, ditto.

If it is a double foetus, and one rides over the other, victory, throne will support throne.

If it is a double foetus and one rides over the other and there is only one head, the power of the king will conquer the enemy’s land.

If it is a double foetus, one above and one below, with only one spine and eight feet, four [Variant: ‘two’] ears, and two tails, throne will support throne.

If it is a double foetus with the faces downward, approach of the son of the king, who will take the throne of his father, or a second son of the king will die, or a third son of the king will die.

***

If it is a double foetus with five feet, serious hostility in the country, the house of the man will perish, his stall[45] will be destroyed.

If it is a double foetus with six feet, the population will be diminished, confusion in the land.

If it is a foetus within a foetus, the king will weaken his enemy, his possessions will be brought into the palace[46].

***

If a foetus gives birth to a second foetus[47], the king will assert himself against his opponent.

It will be observed that in quite a number of cases two alternative interpretations are given, one of an official character referring to the public welfare, or to occurrences in the royal household[48], the other of an unofficial character bearing on the welfare of the individual to whom the mother lamb that had produced the monstrosity belonged. One foetus issuing from the other, or one within the other, appears to have been a favorable or an unfavorable sign, according to the position of the second. If the one lay above the other, the association of ideas pointed to a control of the ruler over his enemy. In some cases, the association of ideas leading to the interpretation is not clear; and we must perhaps assume in such instances an entry of an event that actually occurred after the birth of the monstrosity in question. A certain measure of arbitrariness in the interpretations also constitutes a factor to be taken into consideration; and the last thing that we need to expect in any system of divination is a consistent application of any principle whatsoever.

The text passes on to an enumeration of the case of an ewe giving birth to more than two lambs. The ‘official’ interpretations are throughout unfavorable[49], and the priests were quite safe in their entries which were purely arbitrary in these cases, since such multiple births never occurred. It is worth while to quote these interpretations as an illustration of the fanciful factor that, as already indicated, played a not insignificant part in the system unfolded.

If an ewe gives birth to three (lambs), the prosperity of the country will be annulled, but things will go well with the owner of the ewe, his stall will be enlarged.

If an ewe gives birth to three fully developed (lambs), the dynasty will meet with opposition, approach of an usurper, the country will be destroyed.

If an ewe gives birth to four, the land will encounter hostility, the produce of the land will be swept away, approach of an usurper, destruction in the land.

If an ewe gives birth to four fully developed lambs, [locusts (?)] will come and [destroy] the country.

If an ewe gives birth to four, approach of an usurper, the country will be destroyed.

If an ewe gives birth to five, destruction will ravage the country, the owner of the house will die, his stall will be destroyed.

If an ewe gives birth to five, one with the head of a bull[50], one with a lion-head, one with a jackal-head, one with a dog-head and one with the head of a lamb[51], devastation will take place in the country.

If an ewe gives birth to six, confusion among the population.

If an ewe gives birth to seven,—three male and four female—, the king will perish.

If an ewe gives birth to eight, approach of an usurper, the tribute of the king will be withheld.

If an ewe gives birth to nine, end of the dynasty.

If an ewe gives birth to ten, a weakling will acquire universal sovereignty[52].

The general similarity of the interpretations may be taken as a further indication that the bârû-priests were simply giving their fancy free scope in making prognostications for conditions that could never arise; nor is it of serious moment that in the case of triplets the interpretation is favorable to the owner of the ewe, or that in the case of ten lambs, even the official interpretation is not distinctly unfavorable—in view of the purely ‘academic’ character of such entries.

An extract from a long text[53] furnishing omens derived from all kinds of peculiarities and abnormal phenomena noted on the ears of an animal—primarily again the sheep, though no doubt assumed to be applicable to other domesticated animals—will throw further light on the system of divination devised by the bârû-priests, and will also illustrate the extravagant fancy of the priests in their endeavor to make their collections provide for all possible and indeed for many impossible contingencies.

If a foetus[54] lacks the right ear, the rule of the king will come to an end, his palace will be destroyed, overthrow of the elders of the city, the king will be without counsellors, confusion in the land, diminution of the cattle in the land, the enemy will acquire control[55].

If the foetus lacks a left ear, a god will harken to the prayer of the king, the king will take the land of his enemy, the palace of the enemy will be destroyed, the enemy will be without a counsellor, the cattle of the enemy’s country will be diminished, the enemy will lose control.

If the right ear of the foetus is detached, the stall[56] will be destroyed.

If the left ear of the foetus is detached, the enemy’s stall will be destroyed.

If the right ear of the foetus is split, the herd will be destroyed or the leaders of the city will leave (it)[57].

If the left ear of the foetus is split, the herd will be enlarged, the leaders of the enemy’s country will leave (it).

If the right ear of the foetus is split and swollen with clay, the country [will have a rival].

If the left ear of the foetus is split and swollen with clay, the enemy’s country will have a rival.

If the right ear of the foetus is destroyed, the stall will be enlarged, the stall of the enemy will be diminished.

If the outside of the right ear is destroyed, the land will yield to the enemy’s land.

If the right ear of the foetus lies near the cheek[58], the enemy will prevail against the power of the king, the king will be without counsellors, a ruler will not inhabit the land, or the son of the king of universal sway[59] will be king.

If the left ear of the foetus lies near the cheek, an enemy will be installed in the royal palace.

If the right ear of the foetus lies near the jaw, birth of a demon[60] in my land, or in the house of the man[61].

If the left ear of the foetus lies near the jaw, birth of a demon in the enemy’s land, or the land of the enemy will perish.

The guiding principle of the interpretation in these instances is the natural association of the right as your side and the left with the enemy’s side. A defect on the right side is unfavorable to you, i. e., to the king or to the country or to the individual in whose household the birth occurs, while the same defect on the left side is unfavorable to the enemy and, therefore, favorable to you. The principle is quite consistently carried out even to the point that if the sign itself is favorable, it is only when it is found on the right side that it is favorable to you, while its occurrence on the left side is favorable to the enemy.

Defects of any kind appear to be unfavorable, whereas an excess of organs and parts are in many instances favorable, though with a considerable measure of arbitrariness.

If the foetus has two ears on the right side and none on the left, the boundary city of the enemy will become subject to you.

If the foetus has two ears on the left side and none on the right, your boundary city will become subject to the enemy.

If the foetus has two ears on the right side and one on the left, the land will remain under the control of the ruler.

If the foetus has two ears on the left side and one on the right, the land will revolt.

If within the right ear of the foetus a second ear[62] appears, the ruler will have counsellors.

If within the left ear of the foetus there is a second ear, the counsellors of the ruler will advise evilly.

If behind the right ear of the foetus there is a second ear, the ruler will have counsellors.

If behind the left ear of the foetus there is a second ear, confusion in the land, the land will be destroyed[63].

***

If a foetus has [four] ears, a king of universal sway will be in the land.

[If a foetus has four ears], two lying in front (and) two in back, the ruler will acquire possessions in a strange country[64].

***

If behind the right ear, there are two ears, visible on the outside[65], the inhabitants of the boundary city will become subject to the enemy.

If behind the left ear there are two ears visible on the outside, the inhabitants of the boundary city of the enemy will become subject to you.

If a foetus has three ears, one on the left side and two on the right side, the angry gods will return to the country.

If a foetus has three ears, one on the left side and two on the right, the gods will kill within the country.

If within the right ear of a foetus there are three ears with the inner sides well formed, the opponent will conclude peace with the king whom he fears, the army of the ruler will dwell in peace with him.

If within the left ear of a foetus there are three ears with the inner sides well formed, thy ally will become hostile.

If behind each of the two ears there are three ears visible on the outside, confusion in the land, the counsel of the land will be discarded, one land after the other will revolt.

If within each of two ears there are three ears visible on the inner side, things will go well with the ruler’s army.

If within each of the two ears there are three ears, visible on the outside and the inside, the army of the ruler will forsake him and his land will revolt.

If within each of the two ears there are three ears, visible on the outside and the inside, the army of the ruler will forsake him and his land will revolt.

If the ears of a foetus are choked up[66], in place of a large king a small king will be in the land.

In general, therefore, an excess number of ears points to enlargement, increased power, stability of the government and the like; and this is probably due in part to the association of wisdom and understanding with the ear in Babylonian[67], for as a general thing an excess of organs or of parts of the body is an unfavorable sign, because a deviation from the normal.

In the same way as in the case of the ears, we have birth-omen texts dealing with the head, lips, mouth, eyes, feet, joints, tail, genital organs, hair, horns and other parts of the body[68]. In many of these texts dealing with all kinds of peculiar formations and abnormalities in the case of one organ or one part of the body or the other, a comparison is instituted between the features or parts of one animal with those of another and the interpretation is guided by the association of ideas with the animal compared. A moment’s reflection will show the importance of this feature in extending the field of observation almost ad infinitum. A lamb born with a large head might suggest a lion, a small long head that of a dog, or a very broad face might suggest the features of a bull. From comparisons of this kind, the step would be a small one to calling a lamb with lion-like features, a lion, or a lamb with features recalling those of a dog, a dog and so on through the list, the interpretations being chosen through the ideas associated with the animal in question. A text of this kind[69], of which we have many, reads in part as follows.

If an ewe gives birth to a lion, the abandoned weapons will make an attack (again), the king will be without a rival.

If an ewe gives birth to a lion, but with a head of a ‘rain bow’ bird[70], the son will seize the throne of his father.

If an ewe gives birth to a lion, but (some of) the features are (also) human, the power of the king will conquer a powerful country.

If an ewe gives birth to a lion, but (some of) the features are those of a lamb, the young cattle will not prosper.

If an ewe gives birth to a lion, but (some of) the features are those of an ass, severe famine will occur in the country.

If an ewe gives birth to a lion, but (some of) the features are those of a dog, Nergal[71] will cause destruction.

If an ewe gives birth to a lion but (some of) the features are those of a khupipi[72], the ruler will be without a rival and will destroy the land of his enemy.

If an ewe gives birth to a lion, but with the mouth of a wild cow, the rule of the king will not prosper.

If an ewe gives birth to a lion but with the mouth of a bull, famine will ensue.

If an ewe gives birth to a lion with the horny exuberance of an ibex on its face, prices will be lowered[73].

If an ewe gives birth to a lion with the horny exuberance of an ibex on its face and if the eyes are open[74], prices will be high.

If an ewe gives birth to a lion with fatty flesh on the nose, the land will be well nourished.

If an ewe gives birth to a lion, and the right temple is covered with fatty flesh, the land will be richly blessed.

If an ewe gives birth to a lion, and the left temple is covered with fatty flesh,—rivalry.

If an ewe gives birth to a lion, and it is covered all over with fatty flesh, the king will be without a rival.

If an ewe gives birth to a lion but without a head[75], death of the ruler.

If an ewe gives birth to a lion with the gorge torn off[76], destruction of the land, the mistress[77] will die.

If an ewe gives birth to a lion with the gorge torn off and a mutilated tail[78], the land [will be destroyed (?)]

From texts like these it would appear that the phrase of ‘an ewe giving birth to a lion’ had acquired a purely conventional force to describe a lamb whose head or general features suggested those of a lion. It may have come to be used indeed for a newly born lamb of unusually large proportions. Hence one could combine with the description of a lion-lamb such further specifications as that it also suggested human features, or looked like an ass or a dog, or that while it came under the category of a lion-lamb, it yet had some of the features of a normal lamb. At all events we must not credit the Babylonians or Assyrians with so absurd a belief as that an ewe could actually produce a lion. Such a supposition is at once disposed of when we come to other texts where we find entries of an ewe producing a whole series of animals—a jackal, dog, fox, panther, hyena, gazelle, etc. and where we must perforce assume resemblances between a young lamb and the animals in question and not any extravagant views of possible cross-breeding[79]. To clinch the matter, we have quite a number of passages in which the preposition ‘like’ is introduced[80] instead of the direct equation, showing that when the texts speak of an ewe giving birth to a lion, a jackal, a dog, etc., the priests had in mind merely a resemblance as the basis of such statements.

The general idea associated with the lion in divination texts is that of power, success, increase and the like. The sign, therefore, of an ewe producing a lion is a favorable one; it is only through attendant circumstances that the character of the sign is transformed into an unfavorable or partly unfavorable omen. So in case the lion-lamb has a head suggestive of the variegated colors of the rainbow bird, the sign still points to power, but to a power exercised by the crown prince against the father. If some of the features suggest those of an ass or of a dog or of a pig, the ideas associated with these animals convert what would otherwise have been a favorable sign into an unfavorable one. The mouth of a wild cow or of a bull, thus interfering with the complete identification of the young lamb as a lion-lamb, similarly, brings about an unfavorable interpretation. Fatty flesh by a natural association points to increased prosperity, while mutilations of the head, tail or of any other part naturally carry with them unfavorable prognostications.

It is interesting to see from a long list of comparisons of a new-born lamb with all kinds of animals[81] the extent to which the association of ideas connected with the animals in question is carried.

If an ewe gives birth to a dog ... the king’s land will revolt.

If an ewe gives birth to a beaver[82] (?), the king’s land will experience misery.

If an ewe gives birth to a fox, Enlil[83] will maintain the rule of the legitimate king for many years, or[84] the king will strengthen his power.

If an ewe gives birth to a Mukh-Dul[85], the enemy will carry away the inhabitants of the land, the land will despite its strength go to ruin, the dynasty will be opposed, confusion in the land.

If an ewe gives birth to a panther, the kingdom of the ruler will secure universal sway.

If an ewe gives birth to a hyena (?), approach of Elam.

If an ewe gives birth to a gazelle, the days of the ruler through the grace of the gods will be long, or the ruler will have warriors.

If an ewe gives birth to a hind, the son of the king will seize his father’s throne, or the approach of Subartu will overthrow the land.

If an ewe gives birth to a roebuck, the son of the king will seize his father’s throne, or destruction of cattle[86].

If an ewe gives birth to a wild cow, revolt will prevail in the land.

If an ewe gives birth to an ox, the weapons of the ruler will prevail over the weapons of the enemy.

If an ewe gives birth to an ox that has ganni[87], the ruler will weaken the land of his enemy.

If an ewe gives birth to an ox with two tails, omen of Ishbi-Ura[88], who was without a rival.

If an ewe gives birth to a cow, the king will die, another king will draw nigh and divide the country.

One might have supposed that such omens represent a purely imaginative theoretical factor, but the introduction of the historical reference proves conclusively that the Babylonians and Assyrians attached an importance to the fancied resemblance of an animal to an other, and that in the case of such strange statements as that an ewe gives birth to one of a series of all kinds of animals, it is this fancied resemblance that forms the basis and the point of departure for the interpretation.

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