February 4, 2012
The Origin Of Divination – Part 1
One of the abnormally interesting questions is the origin of Mesopotamian divination. By this I don’t mean its anthropological or historical origin but rather what did the ancient Mesopotamians think of its origin?
Like many such things, the ancient sources are not quite as clear or complete as we might like. Two documents appear to address this question. I will take up one of them in this post. K.2486 +K.3646 + K.4364 and duplicates is in every way an abnormally interesting text. In Lambert’s, 132, translation it begins,
3. Šamaš in Ebabbarra [appointed]
1. Enmeduranki [king of Sippar].
2. The beloved of Anu, Enlil [and Ea].
4. Šamaš and Adad [brought him in] to their assembly,
5. Šamaš and Adad [honored him],
6. Šamaš and Adad [set him] on a large throne of gold,
7. They showed him how to observe oil on water, a mystery of Anu, [Enlil and Ea],
8. They gave him the tablet of the gods (tuppi ilāni), the liver (takālta, lit. stomach), a secret of heaven and [underworld].
9. They put in his hand the cedar-(rod), beloved of the great gods.
For the sake of understandability, the first three lines are out of order in the translation. I added the Akkadian glosses and the English gloss (“lit. stomach”).
Enmeduranki, aka Enmendurana, an antediluvian King of Sippar, learned lecanomancy (oil on water) and extispicy, or perhaps more specifically hepatoscopy, from the gods Šamaš and Adad. While cuneiform texts (and inscribed models) concerning extispicy are extremely numerous, lecanomancy is but poorly witnessed in Akkadian texts.
Enmeduranki may have received the technology of extispicy in written form (tuppi ilāni). Lambert, 133, worries about this.
But the problem of just what tuppi ilāni takālta [in line 8] means remains. Most probably tuppi is singular, but since both tuppāni and tuppāti are attested as plurals, a plural tuppī is possible. As a singular it cannot refer to tablets of liver omens, due to the large number of these in all periods. Perhaps an inscribed liver model is meant, and when the author lived there was one 'canonical’ type believed to have come ultimately from the gods.
On takālta meaning “liver” rather than “stomach (bag)” Lambert, 133, cites Ḫargud (B IV 66), uz ukin.gi4.a = ta-kal-tu = ḫa-šu-u. But ḫa-šu-u generally means “lung.” One might also want to cite the Izbu commentary which reads, “ta-kal-tú = lib-bi, ga-bi-du, “takaltu = heart (or, more generally ‘entrails’), liver.” See CAD T, 61. I would point out that a real as opposed to a model liver might well be intended by “tablet of the gods.” Note the Shuilla prayer to Shamash (Shamash 1:15), ina libbi immeri tašaṭṭar šīra “on the entrails of a sheep you inscribe the omen.” In any case, it is quite clear that the knowledge of extispicy came from the gods.
In part 2, I’ll take a look at the origins of Mesopotamian astrology and a few related things.
Reference:
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Posted by Duane on Saturday, February 4, 2012 at 11:04 AM (UTC-08:00)
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February 3, 2012
Quotation Of The Day
On Planned Parenthood and the Komen Foundation:
A multi-year concerted effort to shut down a nonprofit for ideological reasons, one even pursued in the halls of Congress: not just fine, but applauded. A pushback against said partisan efforts? Tyranny! Villainy! Oppression! – Daily Kos
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Posted by Duane on Friday, February 3, 2012 at 4:38 PM (UTC-08:00)
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The New Brill Typeface
Targuman Christian Brady tells us of a new Unicode typeface from Brill. It is really quite lovely and has great support for diacritical marks and Greek. Two things stopped me from adopting it as Abnormal Interest's official typeface. First it has no support for Hebrew or Arabic. Second, and more vexing, the more I considered using it, the more I thought I should charge my read(s) $2.00 or $3.00 per post or perhaps $1000.00 for access to the site!
And there is another problem with Brill’s font. It doesn’t seem to support Unicode 💩. Not sure what that is? Check it out at Boing Boing.
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Posted by Duane on Friday, February 3, 2012 at 10:25 AM (UTC-08:00)
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February 2, 2012
Now The President
Stop it. Just Stop it. Stop citing the Bible and/or Jesus in favor of (or against) anything. It says exactly nothing that might directly inform our modern world about anything and that includes tax policy. Truthfully, it says very little that might inform us on Iron Age or Hellenistic Age government funding. But that doesn’t stop politicians including President Obama from citing it as if it does. I favor most of the President’s tax proposals, not because the Bible somehow might or might not support them. I favor them because they are, for the most part, fair and address real issues. But I sure wish he would remember that he is not Preacher in Chief. And that goes for all those other people who would be lead our secular state. May it ever be so. But I do worry.
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Posted by Duane on Thursday, February 2, 2012 at 5:46 PM (UTC-08:00)
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Columbia University Tablets Online
Just the other day I posted news of the online availability of digitized images of the tablets and inscriptions from the Musées d’Art et d’Histoire of Geneva. Now comes news that images of the Columbia University Libraries cuneiform collection are online. Several of the tablet presentations also have transliterations.
Both image libraries were facilitated by Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative.
Via Jack Sasson’s Agade List
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Posted by Duane on Thursday, February 2, 2012 at 7:19 AM (UTC-08:00)
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February 1, 2012
A Biblical Principle, You Say
"It's a Biblical principle. If you double a teacher's pay scale, you'll attract people who aren't called to teach,” so said Alabama State Sen. Shadrack McGill. But as far as I can tell he didn’t vouchsafe to us exactly what part of the Bible he was referring to. He does babel on some more about a teacher’s “calling.” In general, I’m at a loss to know what anyone means when they attempt to apply something they read or think they read in the Bible to something that’s going on today. But at least most people making such claims mention want part of the Bible they are thinking of.
I try my best to avoid argumentum ad hominem, so rather than saying that Sen. McGill is crazy, I’ll make a more modest claim. The “logic” behind his thoughts on teacher pay is crazy.
It may be the Year of the Bible in Pennsylvanian but it doesn’t sound like it will be the year of the teacher in Alabama.
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Posted by Duane on Wednesday, February 1, 2012 at 2:33 PM (UTC-08:00)
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February Biblical Studies Carnival Is Up
Amanda at Cheese-Wearing Theology has posted this mouth’s Biblical Studies Carnival. Go for the graphics – Stay for the links.
It is my turn next month so start gathering your inputs now. I will need help!
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Posted by Duane on Wednesday, February 1, 2012 at 7:27 AM (UTC-08:00)
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January 31, 2012
Claremont McKenna College Caught
Claremont McKenna College, a liberal arts school near Los Angeles, said a college official had reported inaccurate SAT entrance exam statistics since 2005.The SAT scores for critical reading and/or math were generally inflated by an average of 10 to 20 points each year, according to a letter to the college community by Claremont McKenna President Pamela B. Gann. The school belongs to the group of seven schools known as the Claremont Colleges. – SF Gate
I’ve had a nearly lifelong relationship with the Claremont Colleges: first as a student at what was at the time called the Claremont Graduate School; then as a proud parent of two Pomona College graduates, and finally as library patron and free concert goer. I’m at the library at least once a week and walk through some part of the various college campuses campus often.
Other than attending an occasional performance of one kind or another, I’ve never really had much contact with Claremont McKenna College but this deception both saddens me and angers me.
It may well be true that this was indeed the work of a single person. But, if so, it is no more than a convenient truth. Without doubt, there was and likely still is an administrative culture that prompted this single person to act the way he or she acted.
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Posted by Duane on Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 7:14 PM (UTC-08:00)
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January 29, 2012
New Images of Cuneiform Tablets
One of the most welcome trends of the last decade or two has been the acceleration in the availability of good quality photographs of tablets and inscriptions. With an increasing number of orthographically useful photographs online those of us with abnormal interests have access to resources of which we could only dream but a few years ago.
Today, Charles Jones of Ancient World Online posted the announcement of the online availability of digitized images of tablets and inscriptions from the Musées d’Art et d’Histoire of Geneva. You can read about the collection at the AWOL site and view the tablets at Collection des Tablettes Cunéiformes des Musées d’Art et d’Histoire, Genèva site.
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Posted by Duane on Sunday, January 29, 2012 at 8:10 PM (UTC-08:00)
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January 28, 2012
Who? Me?
I need to return Koch-Westenholz’ Babylonian Liver Omens to the library on Monday, so I thought I’d take another quick look at a couple of things that interested me in passing but to which I hadn’t paid careful attention. Well, here’s one; the apodosis of several omens are in the first person. For example Pān tākalti, tablet 1:21b,
. . . KÚR ana KI.TUŠ.MU SI-sá-ma GAZ-an-ni
. . . nakru ana šubtiya iššir-ma idukkanni
. . . (then) the enemy will charge my camp and defeat me.
Or omen 23b:
. . . ina ŠÀ KUR KÚR NAM.RA È-a
. . . ina libbi māt nakri šallata ušeṣṣa
. . . (then) I will remove booty from the land of the enemy.
Who is the “me” - this “I”? I assume it is the king but is the text itself speaking for the king or is it the bārû speaking as surrogate for the king or is this somehow the king himself?
Another day, another literature search! I’ll let you know if I find something abnormally interesting.
Reference:
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Posted by Duane on Saturday, January 28, 2012 at 4:03 PM (UTC-08:00)
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