ALANDIMMU: FROM PRACTICE TO HANDBOOK
Alandimmu:
Tablet III line 63 “If the curl in his front points downwards: losses, he will become worried.”7
Tablet VIII line 69 “If his right eye is long: he will become rich.”8
Spot omens:
Summa tirku line 8 “If (a black birthmark) is (above his) left (eyebrow): he will be contented.”9
Summa kittabru (said of women) line 9 “If she has a small birthmark on her right ear: she will make mischief.”10
Twitching muscle:
Summa ser°an putisu line 1 “If the muscle of the right side of his forehead twitches: god [will give him happiness].”11
Behavioral omen:
Kataduggu line 63 “If he often acts humbly: god will have mercy with him.”12
Kataduggu line 117 “If he is lavish: he [will suffer] losses.”13
on the nature of Physiognomic omens
If we had to characterize the omens included in the different sub-series and chapters of the physiognomic handbook, we would certainly have the impression that they smack of popular wisdom and appear to be widespread maxims, aphorisms, and common-sense truths.
Instead of folklore, we prefer another term, which has been coined by the classicist scholar Gilbert Murray and applied by E. R. Dodds in his classic study The Greeks and the Irrational, namely, “inherited conglomerate.” The expression refers to the folklore or the mass of experiences and forces, which have worked on a community in the past and left their mark on the minds and habits of thought of individuals. We would then describe the statements included in the physiognomic text corpus as inherited conglomerate of the ancient Mesopotamian insights into human condition and character.Thanks to its visual, even non-literate nature, physiognomy is easily spread and accessible. Indeed, parts of the physiognomic text corpus are characterized by a certain transparency of what we could term the otherwise hidden webs of divination, which is due to a somewhat straightforward surface connection between portents of the human face and body and their respective interpretations.
We are referring to predictions that result from commonplace associations of contents that account for an immediate access to the meaning of a portent. As can be observed, omens describing freckles and flecks of different nature located around theBARBARA BOCK
mouth are often linked with statements involving speech or food references. Some predictions derived from macula omens, which are observed on the feet, play with formulations that contain verba movendi, metaphorical expressions for legs and feet, or refer to motion and immobility. On the other hand, the size of the male member sheds light on virility and accounts for the number of children, while the form of breast and navel of women stands for fertility and the capacity of birthing.
Mouth
“If it (= umsatu fleck) is on the surface of his tongue on the right side: he will
be overwhelmed by blasphemy.”14
“If it (= umsatu fleck) is below his tongue: he will swear and god will not seize him.”15
“If there is a kittabru fleck on his upper lip, be it inside, be it outside: god will provide him with plenty of food.”16
“If there is a kittabru fleck above and below his lips: aphasia will seize him.”17
“If there is a kittabru fleck on his upper gums, be it on the right, be on the left side, he will have plenty of food.”18
Feet
“If they (= umsatu flecks) cover his ankles: he will be confined in bed.”19
“If there is a kittabru fleck on the right or left heel: he will follow the road of success.”20
“If there is a kittabru fleck on the side of his feet, be it up, be it down: wherever he goes it will be propitious for him.”21
“If there is (a dark spot) on his left foot: he will not follow the road of suc-
22
cess. 22
“If there is a kittabru fleck on the right side of the sole of her feet: solid fundaments will be assigned to her.”23
Primary genitalia and breast
“If his penis looks like a fish: he will become powerful and have sons.”24
“If his penis is long and thick: he will beget males.”25
“If it (= liptu fleck) is on the right side of his penis: he will have few sons.”26
“If it (= dark spot) is on the left side of his penis: he [will have] sons.”27
14 See Bock 2000: 188 (line 70).
15 See Bock 2000: 188 (line 73).
16 See Bock 2000: 216 (line 30).
17 See Bock 2000: 216 (line 31).
18 See Bock 2000: 216 (line 32).
19 See Bock 2000: 192 (line 146).
20 See Bock 2000: 227 (line 120). Note that the Akkadian phrase plays with the term tallaktu “way” and the Gtn stem of aläku.
21 See Bock 2000: 227 (line 121).
22 See Bock 2000: 210 (line 96).
23 See Bock 2000: 232 (line 38).
24 See Bock 2000: 122 (line 77).
25 See Bock 2000: 122 (line 84).
26 See Bock 2000: 175 (line 30).
27 See Bock 2000: 209 (line 86).
“If there is a kittabru on the upper side of his penis, be it up or down / be it right or left: he will have sons and daughters, he will make profit.”28
“If a woman’s navel is hard: she is a woman who has difficulties to give birth.”29 *
“If a woman’s navel is soft: she is a woman who brings her pregnancy to term.”30
“If umsatu flecks cover (the nipples) of a woman: she is barren.”31
But it is not only the issue of visibility that demarcates physiognomic omens from other divinatory treatises in which the perceptible world appears only as a small part of reality and whose hidden realms clearly require understanding and unraveling by experts. It is the nature and appearance of the object of physiognomy — namely, a normal physique, a healthy complexion, and an able-bodied person — that stand out against truly disturbing and ominous observations such as “a ewe that gives birth to a lion, and it has the face of an ass,”32 or “an anomaly has three extra ears behind both of its ears and they face its back,”33 or the prospect of “a goat-like catcher demon which is seen in a man’s house,”34 or “a ghost crying out a good deal in a man’s house.”35
Yet one more characteristic of the physiognomic text corpus should be mentioned: all predictions refer exclusively to the person who is object of or subject to visual inspection.
In other words, as compared to predictions referring to king and country compiled in omen handbooks such as Summa izbu, Summa alu, En„ma Anu Enlil, or extispicy, the impact of physiognomic omens was very limited and reduced: whether a man had a black fleck behind or on top of his left ear scarcely concerned anybody else but him, since he would have to cope with the consequences. The question of who might be affected by an omen was a serious matter and it was apparently one of the first issues addressed by the expert. Quite illustrative in this regard is one of the letters of the astrologer Balasi who wrote in early 670 B.C. to king Esarhaddon:As to what the king, m[y lord, wr]ote [to me]: “[In] the city of H[ar]ihumba lightning struck and ravaged the fields of the Assyrians” — why does the king look for (trouble), and why does he look (for it) [in the ho]me of a tiller? There is no evil inside the palace, and when has the king ever visited Harihumba?36
BARBARA BOCK