INTRODUCTION
Physiognomy — the art of reading the face and general appearance as well as the idea that specific body characteristics are indicative of personality traits and man’s future and fate — is deeply rooted in ancient cultures and still persistent in our day within the discipline of psychology, albeit in a marginal position.
Not only the idea to judge other people’s destiny and personality by visual inspection is a recurrent element in societies, but also the contexts in which physiognomic information has an effect are remarkably consistent. Ancient Mesopotamia has produced an ample amount of physiognomic omens. Although they are not as large in extent as extispicy, astronomical omens, or predictions drawn from occurrences in the human environment — such as the observations of the Summa alu corpus — the portents of human face and appearance are comparable in size to the teratological omens compiled in the Summa izbu treatise. Despite the amount of physiognomic omens, there is hardly any evidence on how physiognomy was put into practice in ancient Mesopotamia. Neither the nature of the cuneiform sources nor the quality of information permits us to safely draw conclusions about reasons, circumstances, and individuals involved in performing the art of physiognomy. The present article suggests plausible situations for carrying out physiognomic evaluation in ancient Mesopotamia in the light of ancient and early Chinese and Sanskrit literature on body divination. Another aspect I treat is related to the authoritative character of divination. I also include some reflections on cuneiform handbooks as representational objects.
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