‘If the moon appears covered with a headband,{ the king will be supreme. If the moon is seen on the first day, the day being, in accordance with calculation, long, it portends a long rule. The month will have 80 days in full. If the moon appears on the first day, it is favourable to Akkad (i.e. Babylonia), un- favourable for Elam or Amurru. If this happens in the month of Ab, then for Akkad it portends something favourable to the king, my lord.’
Coming to reports that furnish omens according to the day on which the moon and sun are seen to- gether, the following may serve as a specimen :**—
‘Tf the moon appears out of season, }{ traffic will be small; on the 12th day the moon was seen with the sun, If, contrary to calculation, the moon and sun are seen together, a powerful enemy will come to the land. The king of Akkad will defeat his enemy. On the 12th day the moon with the sun was seen. If the moon is seen on the 12th day, it portends evil for Akkad, good ac Elam and Amurru, but is an unfavourable omen for Akkad.’
Comparing these two classes of reports, the guiding principle in both is apparent. A full month of 30 days suggests by association of ideas —fulness, plenty, and general success, while a
remature conjunction of the sun with the moon, indicative of a curtailment of the moon’s course, as against the calculated lunar month, portends shortness of crops, diminution of traffic, and loss of dominion. In accordance with this, the appear- ance of the moon and sun together on the 13th and on the 16th day of the month portends unfavour- able events, while on the 14th and 15th days the indications, varying somewhat according to the months, are, on the whole, favourable. That the various reports do not always agree, and that even in one and the same report alternatives are offered, or an intentional ambiguity appears, are features that point to differences in the methods adopted by the astrologers, or to the natural differences in experience which enter so largely into the judg- ment of the foretellers of events. An evidence of the high antiquity of the custom of deriving
* A large collection of these reports has been published and interpreted by R. C. Thompson in The Reports of the Magicians and Astrologers of Nineveh and Babylon (2 vols., London, 1900).
+ Thompson, No. 1,
+ Lit. ‘closing of month’—#.e. silence, as Thompson renders the phrase ; but it is to be understood in the sense of absence of disturbances, external or internal.
§ asharidutu illak, ‘will proceed to supremacy »_apparently an idiomatic expression, to indicate that he will be successful in his endeavours. See Thompson, No. 9.
|| Thompson, No. 17.
4 Agu—also used to indicate the full moon, but here intended to designate some shadow on the moon.
** Thompson, No. 119. : +t At an unexpected time, or contrary to calculations.
560 RELIGION OF BABYLONIA
RELIGION OF BABYLONIA
omens from lunar pospomens is to be seen in the persistent use of the geographical terms so con- stantly recurring in the texts. Akkad is retained as the old designation of Babylonia; Amurru, later the designation of Northern Syria, is used, as in very ancient historical texts, for the West in general; while Elam, in a similar manner, is applied to the East in general. These same geo- graphical designations occur in connexion with those most significant of all heavenly pheno- mena—the eclipses of the moon and sun; and it may be regarded as a noteworthy indication of the advance made in the interpretation of such phenomena, that under certain circumstances an eclipse which must have been startling to primi- tive nations, as a necessary omen of evil, might portend peace and prosperity. In a report from an astrologer,* the various sections of the moon are made to correspond to the chief districts—the right side being Akkad or Babylonia, the left Elam, the top Amurru, and the bottom Subartu ; and according to the direction in which the shadow passes off from the moon is the eclipse to be inter- preted. The moon drawing off from the shadow in a south-westerly direction portends evil for Elam and Amurru, while, if the eastern and northern parts are not affected by the eclipse but remain bright—the eclipse being therefore a partial one—it is a good sign for Subartu+ and Akkad. In another report we encounter the following more specific indications :—
‘When an eclipse happens during the morning watch § and is complete (?), it portends corpses,|] and the ruler will also die. When an eclipse takes place in the morning watch and lasts through that watch, and a north wind comes, the sick in Akkad will recover. When an eclipse begins in the first section and remains in the second (i.e. is partial), it portends disaster for Elam. Guti will not approach Akkad. If the eclipse begins at the first section and the second remains bright (i.e. even more partial), it portends that disaster will overtake Elam but not reach Akkad. If the eclipse takes place and stands on the second side, it portends mercy to the country. If the moon is obscured in the month of Siwan,** Adad will inundate (the land) at the end of the year ; if there is an eclipse in the month of Siwan, there will be a flood, and the product of the waters will be carried to the land.j+ If an eclipse happens at the morning watch during the month of Siwan, it portends disaster to the temples of the land, and Shamash will be hostile.ff Ifan eclipse’ takes place in Siwan on the 14th day, the king will com- plete the year and then die, and his son will strive for the rulership and seize the throne, and there will be hostility and corpses. If an eclipse happens in Siwan at any time from the 1st to the 30th day, it is an eclipse that portends something to the king of Akkad. There will be a general flood, and Adad will inundate the product of the land, and disaster will over- take a large army. . . . If an eclipse happens in Siwan out of the calculated time, the king of legions will die, and Adad will inundate ; a fiood will come, Adad will diminish the pro- queues the land, and the leader of the army will encounter disaster.’