ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIAN PHYSIOGNOMY IN RELIGIOUS CONTEXT?
Finally, we again raise the question whether physiognomy could have also been used in selecting candidates for religious positions as priests.96 It is likely that tacit physiognomic knowledge played a certain role in choosing an appropriate aspirant.
However, in light of those cuneiform tablets dealing with the physical appearance required from priests, it seems rather improbable that the result of an inquiry based on the physiognomic omen handbook had an impact on the consecration. The cuneiform texts in question resemble the specific instructions for priests as stated in Leviticus 21, namely, that the candidates must also be free from physical defects.97 The documents refer to the condition for ordaining diviners (baru) and nesakku- and/or pasisu-priests who serve at the temple of Enlil. The latter are excluded from service if they possess a face disfigured by mutilated eyes, and if they have brandings or irregular features.98 There are probably more defects stated but the text is too fragmentarily preserved. The diviner, on the other hand, as far as his physical appearance is concerned, must be perfect as to his body and limbs — as also the nesakku-priest; if he has an eye defect, chipped teeth, bruised fingers, or a damaged scrotum, he is to be excluded.99It is tempting to interrelate these catalogs of physical conditions with the physiognomic omen corpus, but one should presumably distinguish the reasons for examining a priestly candidate from the art of physiognomy. The purpose of the former is to detect a blemish. It is not stated that the check-up of priests is meant to uncover the future or moral qualities of the candidate. The physiognomic omens, on the other hand, do not include descriptions of imperfect body parts, but refer to the natural looks and shapes of the human body. In the case of the diviner, it seems reasonable to assume that he should not suffer from defects of eyes and hands, which could deter him from correctly performing extispicy and other divinatory practices.
As for his teeth, I would like to draw attention to the preparatory ritual of the baru before he undertakes his inquiry: after having cleansed himself with holy water, anointed himself with purifying oil containing the plant “resisted 1,000 (diseases),” then dressed with a pure garment, purified with tamarisk and soap plant, he has to chew on an empty stomach chips of cedar or cypress in his mouth.100 The latter act points to the fact that he was in need of good teeth. Concerning the ruptured testicles, one should consider the mythological text referring to the legendary king Enmeduranki, progenitor of all diviners. As stated, a rightful diviner assuming his ancestors’ office should descend from a family rooted in the prestigious cities of Nippur, Sippar, or Babylon — a condition that implies procreative capacity. However,as Lambert pointed out, in real life a baru without children could have adopted a son to assist and succeed him in his profession.101
In view of the scanty cuneiform evidence and the use of physiognomy in secular settings, such as the choice of a bride and bridegroom in elite circles and royal courts and the appointment of personnel in Western and Eastern cultures of antiquity (and one should add up to the twenty-first century of our days),[CXIX] we would presently consider the usage in religious context less probable.
101 See Lambert 1998: 143.
BARBARA BOCK
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