THE LANGUAGE OF PHYSIOGNOMIC OMENS AND THE ISSUE OF STANDARDIZATION

The sayings and statements of the physiognomic handbook were, in all likelihood, rather familiar to the members of ancient Mesopotamian society. One should add that this is a fea­ture that can be found in other divinatory treatises, too.

physiognomy is corroborated by the terminology used for the different terms of face and body, which do not require any specific anatomical knowledge.⁵¹ Rather, as I have already put for­ward by comparing physiognomic terminology with the list on human anatomy, Ugu.mu — a lexical text that was part of the basic learning in schools — physiognomy-related words form part of “everyday language.”⁵²

As for the complete omen sentences, they are certainly not the everyday language of the period to which most written testimonies of physiognomy and the physiognomic handbook itself date, that is, around the time of Assurbanipal. This is best attested by the various com­mentaries to physiognomic omens dating roughly from the time of Assurbanipal to the fourth century B.C. In these commentaries, the Assyrian and Babylonian scholars explained the lost meaning of some obscure, difficult, or obsolete expressions and phenomena.⁵³ Note, for ex­ample, a commentary of the Urukaen exorcist Anu-iksur, where the typically Old Babylonian writing wa-su-u, which was not any more understood, is explained by spelling it out a-su-u.⁵⁴ It is, however, not beyond doubt that spellings such as this actually point to an Old Babylonian precursor of the text. It is also likely that scribes used old-fashioned writings intentionally in order to demonstrate their learnedness or to make the text appear older and antiquated.

Apodoses found in the physiognomic handbook are characterized by standard formulations which are also found in other omen treatises such as Summa alu and Summa izbu.

Yet the standardized written form of expressions did not only facilitate the association between the divinatory literature and formal prayers such as the Suila type, but it also helped foster traditional texts. The importance of preserving these “ancient beliefs,” entailing thus the need for scholarship, becomes more evident if we consider the language or dialect in which the texts are written. Divinatory texts were like Akkadian first-millennium literature composed in the Standard Babylonian dialect, which differed formally, grammatically, and lexically from the Assyrian and Babylonian vernacular dialects. To keep alive a rich written culture in Akkadian (Standard Babylonian) and Sumerian had an impact on the position and authority of specialists and experts in the respective fields of knowledge, as amply testified by the number of scholars attached to the court of the Assyrian kings.

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There are few reflections about the effect and circumstances of the process of fixing texts. A. L. Oppenheim pointed to the “freezing” impact of writing, relevant for certain text genres, keeping “a specific wording and an established arrangement of content,” which he situates into the third quarter of the second millennium B.C. As for the consequences, he further explains, “standardization effectively maintained the original contents against the pressure of changing concepts and attitudes, preserving obsolete text material that otherwise certainly would have disappeared.”⁵⁷ In his study The Logic of Writing and the Organization of Society, J.

I would like to add two more aspects to the discussion, which involve the advantages of standardization and the intention of divination language. Standardizing texts or languages has undoubtedly the advantage that it eases learning. This is an issue that is often overlooked since we do not have any data about how much an expert scribe learned, memorized, or in­ternalized throughout his career. We can certainly reconstruct the school pensum of scribes and we also know from texts, such as the catalog of works belonging to the art of exorcism (asiputu), what an incantation priest was supposed to have studied.⁵⁹ Despite this informa­tion, the picture of how many texts were actually known by expert scholars by heart remains somewhat blurred.

Quite instructive in this regard is the number of text verses W. Bascom gives in his study on casting cowrie divination among the Yoruba in Nigeria. His main source is the Nigerian diviner Salakho who could recite for him more than 12,000 lines of divinatory text.⁶⁰ Just to compare, if the physiognomic handbook were completely preserved, it would include about 2,000 lines of text. Additional information for memorizing comes from the corpus of propi­tious rituals, the so-called namburbi. At least two tablets could have been used as memory prop, as S. M. Maul suggests. Both texts are Sammeltafeln and seem to be concise versions of several rituals containing keywords and incipits of prayers, which in their full form would have occupied the space of ten to twelve tablets.⁶¹ In all likelihood, Alandimmu had to be learned and memorized for quotation.

As we may observe, quite a number of physiognomic predictions display “philological” knowledge, which — as it is generally assumed — was only accessible to the scholarly elite

and enabled them thus to provide interpretations. By philological knowledge, I mean the differ­ent hermeneutical techniques such as association, analogy, and bringing into play language and writing. Unlike the use of writing skills, association, analogy, and wordplay were common de­vices of dialog, interpretation, and understanding that had to be shared by any Mesopotamian. It is precisely this graphic level that allows us to re-assess the nature of Alandimmu. It seems that, in the process of compiling and composing the handbook of physiognomic omens, the Assyrian and Babylonian scribes would have attributed a scholarly rationalization later, with the benefit of hindsight. There are several omens in which the scribe stressed or playfully hid, through the choice of cuneiform signs, an association or interpretation.^[110] Perhaps one could say that the impetus for intellectual endeavors and aspirations of the Assyrian and Babylonian scholars lay not so much in the formation and creation of omens but rather in demonstrating their — writing — skills of reasoning, corroborating thus the prediction.^[111] The following examples demonstrate this assumption.

Example 1: Alandimmu II line 107, text duplicate D^[112]

DIS SIK₂ bi-tam na-da-at ek-lis GAL₂ ina tam-ta-a-ti GEN.MES

“If the hair turns inside: he will be gloomy, he will suffer losses.”

Figure 11.1.

A closer look at the cuneiform writing reveals how the expert scribes played with the signs or rather chose them deliberately, as if to show the evident connection between protasis and apodosis on the written level. In order to demonstrate the visual effect, the words and signs are transliterated regardless of their correct reading.

The verbal form written na-da-at in the protasis is graphically resumed in the apodosis. If we compare the appearance of the signs, what is read ina tam- looks very much like the NA-sign. We would then have, on a graphic level, the sequence NA-DA-A-TI which has to be correctly read ina tam-ta-a-ti. Another graphic play is the writing of ek- in ek-lis in the protasis and GAL2 in the apodosis, both being the same cuneiform sign.

Example 2: Summa umsatu line 3^[113]

DIS SAG.DU-su ma-la-a HUL.GIG uh-tam-mat-su ma-la-a IL2.MES

“If his head is covered (with umsatu flecks): rancor will make him restless, he will wear the hair gear of mourning.”

The verb malu is attested seventy times in the physiognomic handbook; in fifty-eight oc­casions it is written logographically with DIRI and in twelve times it is spelled syllabically. In the Summa umsatu section DIRI is attested twelve times and malu in syllabic writing, three

⁶⁵ See Bock 2000: 82.

⁶⁶ See Bock 2000: 184.

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times. The chapter on the kittabru fleck does not use malu syllabically spelled but nine times uses the logogram. Though in roughly 17 percent of all preserved passages malu is written syllabically, I believe that it is noteworthy that it is spelled out in the line under discussion. It seems that the scribe intended to stress the validity of the interpretation by choosing the same spelling for the homonymous forms of malu “hair dress of mourners” in accusative singular and of malu “to cover” stative G in plural feminine.

Example 3: Summa umsatu lines 6-8 (and lines 1-14)^[114]

DIS ina GU₂.TAL₂ ZAG GAR mu-kil ku-tdl-su UG₇ SA< HUL IGI

DIS ina GU2.HAS KIMIN SAG.HUL.HA.ZA SIGforms of the verb saqu: as logogram NIM in the protasis and syllabically spelled in the apodosis.

Another aspect of the study of physiognomic texts relates to the language of divination and the identity of the “author” of the prediction. Although divination is associated with the divine realm, as discussed below, the gods are not considered the authors of omens but rather supervisors of a divinatory procedure. As for the physiognomic handbook, the god Ea or the great gods are not specific to physiognomy or divination in general. The formulation and style of predictions rather point to anonymity for which no one accounts. There are no personal intentions behind the words; no one appears to be responsible either for the selection of words or for their consequences and no one questions the validity of a prediction. On the contrary, a sign and its prediction could only be canceled out or counterbalanced by another sign and experts could manipulate a meaning by searching for alternative interpretations.^[117] As stated by Ulla Koch-Westenholz concerning the interference of Assyrian and Babylonian experts in astrology, “the individual astrologer’s judgment of what seems relevant plays a decisive role in what omina are selected.”^[118] It seems that what authorizes divination is the absence of hu­man responsibility which is best demonstrated by the reliance on texts full of old-fashioned, learned, and obscure meanings.

THE PHYSIOGNOMIC HANDBOOK AS REPRESENTATIONAL OBJECT

The corpus of physiognomic texts appears as an amalgam of ideas, beliefs, and customs that, having received the sanction of tradition, was systematically established, documented and copied using eventually a sophisticated writing system. Physiognomy became thus the book Alandimmu. The fact that scribes took care in writing and highly regarded the contents of their tablets turned the tablet handbook into a representational object. Although because of their ma­terial cuneiform manuals lack artistic decorations and colorful illustrations, as compared with the masterpieces of Eastern and Western literature written on papyrus, parchment, and paper, which are in the truest sense representational objects, they do actually share some features with the latter. Needless to say, no cuneiform handbook could ever equal a manuscript such as the famous Kennicott Bible, one of the most costly medieval Spanish manuscripts, copied by Moses Ibn Zabara in La Coruna in the province of Galicia in northwest Spain. Cuneiform texts are not as beautifully written as the aforementioned Hebrew Bible manuscript, but at least, as far as the tablet collection of Assurbanipal and his father is concerned, the tablets are distinguished by a stylistic calligraphy that allows even tiny fragments to be easily identified as belonging to one of the Nineveh libraries.⁷² Admitting the somewhat inappropriate com­parison, I believe that the binding of the Kennicott Bible into a splendid morocco goatskin box is certainly rivaled by the skillfully and delicately carved ivory boards sheeted with wax, which Sir Max Mallowan discovered at Nineveh.⁷³

Another characteristic feature of books as representational objects concerns how much their owners valued them. As for cuneiform handbooks, this is evident from colophons stat­ing the name of the owner and copyist of a tablet, stressing that the text was neatly written, collated, and copied from an older Vorlage, describing the purpose and circumstances of writing, and adding expressions of desire and exhortation for the one handling the tablet. Finally, the warning to keep the contents secret and the admonition to pronounce them cor­rectly is undoubtedly a sign of the reverence and high prize that cuneiform manuals meant to their owners.⁷⁴

I include below some examples of colophons from the Alandimmu handbook. The so- called Assurbanipal colophon d) is attested or preserved three times in the handbook, namely, in Alandimmu tablets 2 and 3, and at the end of the liptu fleck chapter. The restored version reads as follows:

Palace of Assurbanipal, king of the universe, king of the land of Assur, whom Nabu and Tasmetu bestowed with understanding and whom they granted bright eyes — the highest level of scribal art which no-one of the kings preceding me had achieved in this discipline. I have laid down on tablets the wisdom of Nabu, the writing of cu­neiform sign as many as there are, I have checked and collated them. In order to read aloud, (this tablet) is deposited in my palace.⁷⁵

We seldom find because of lack of preservation colophons mentioning the scholar who has copied the tablet. Alandimmu tablet 5 has the following colophon:

Not completed. Copy from a wax tablet tablet of Anu-iksur Hand of Anu-...⁷⁶

The reading of cuneiform handbooks as representational objects is supported by a number of texts that delegate their auspices to the divine realm. The claim of divine patrons or super­visors of the divinatory procedure certainly served to express that the tradition of divination was authoritative and sanctioned. And it is probably safe to say that this form of authoriz­ing turned the possession of such a handbook into the intellectual delectation and spiritual

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edification of the owner. Of interest for the present discussion, are those passages that refer to the handbook Alandimmu as well as to other divinatory treatises. The well-known catalog of texts and authors, as termed by W. G. Lambert (1962), is one of the examples. The text opens with all those works that have been revealed by Ea, who, as Lambert formulates “has the place of honor at the head of the list,” and includes the handbook of astrological omens, the series Alandimmu, Summa izbu, Sakikku, Kataduggu, and the mythological narrations Lugale and Angindima. Similarly, Enmeduranki and Related Matters, another text which has been brought to light by Lambert (1967), attributes liver and oil divination, but also astrological omens to the gods Adad and Samas. The divine patronage of physiognomic omens is corroborated by the introduction to the Kataduggu part of the handbook, which opens with a phrase relating to the great gods: “When the great gods prepared the soul of man or human character to exercise the divine power of ruling, they established as guideline for him Kataduggu.”'¹'¹

PHYSIOGNOMIC OMENS IN ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA: WHO, WHY, AND HOW

There are only a few text passages that allude to the setting of the physiognomic omen handbook and besides the two references preserved have more than one possible reading. One is the aforementioned paragraph from the Kataduggu section pointing to the use of speech and behavioral omens, which, if we take the line literally, seems to have been meant as a sort of instructions for ruling and decision-making. The line could be equally interpreted as a refer­ence to the mythological and divine realm in order to provide authority to both the omens and the experts who handled this knowledge. Also, the other textual reference relating to the usage of physiognomic omens has these two readings, which do not exclude each other and intersect in some way.

The reference is included in the already-mentioned catalog of the wise scholar Esagil- kin-apli, which states:

“Let the exorcist, who makes decisions and who watches over people’s lives,

Who comprehensively knows the Sakikku and Alandimmu handbooks, inspect (the patient) and check (the appropriate series),

Let him ponder, and let him put his diagnosis at the disposal of the king.”^{77 * 78 79}

Again, we may take the lines plainly: the king would be the beneficiary of the examination of people and an exorcist trained in the lore of Alandimmu and Sakikku would have to carry out the inspection. The assumption that such experts were needed at the Assyrian royal court is supported by a letter from a certain Marduk-sapik-zeri addressed to king Esarhaddon or Assurbanipal. He describes all the fields in which he is learned including the physiognomic treatises Alandimmu, Kataduggu, and Nigdimdimmu⁷ We could then create the scenario that the king drew upon Kataduggu for guidance in ruling, and upon Alandimmu for examining people. The expert who provided him with all the necessary information was the exorcist. How

the result and consequences of this inspection was put into practice, however, is not certain. Now, we also could interpret Esagil-kin-apli’s statement as an autobiographical reference, which was meant to stress his far-reaching importance for the king, demonstrating that his position at the royal court was essential. At least for the Neo-Assyrian royal court we know that, as for their livelihood, scholars depended heavily on the favor granted by the king. In this regard, it is not surprising that scholars insisted on their expertise and indispensability.⁸⁰

The setting of physiognomic omens was certainly not restricted to the royal court, but it was neither too common; there was surely a physiognomist required to perform the physi­ognomical inspection. If this were certain, the circle of persons who could have had access to and afforded hiring an asipu trained in physiognomic treatises would be reduced to what we might call the elite. Omens concerning women — as it has been long stated by Kraus and further developed by the present author — refer to the marriageability of the potential bride.⁸¹ Predictions concerning fertility, easy birth, fidelity, conjugal care and affection, or ruling a household are all human universals.^{82 *} Information about character or fate of the other could have been furthermore required in occasions such as accepting someone to join certain circles of people, admitting someone for employment, or choosing a bridegroom. Although, to the best of my knowledge, there are no cuneiform texts preserved that would describe any of the above-mentioned circumstances, the use of physiognomy to bring about a decision concerning a person is a feature of “culture, society, (...) behavior, and psyche found in all ethnographi- cally or historically recorded human societies.”⁸³ Because of the lack of sufficient information in cuneiform sources, we included in Die babylonisch-assyrische Morphoskopie a short de­scription on the use of physiognomical literature and inspections in Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac, and Arabic tradition. In the following section we add information about Sanskrit and Chinese sources. It is worth stressing that physiognomical knowledge in the West and East seemed to have been relevant mainly in secular contexts.

PHYSIOGNOMY IN THE FAR EAST

A glance at other cultures throughout the history shows that the different systems of physi­ognomy served to uncover the moral inclination and intelligence of individuals and to gain insight into the way people could act or what would happen to them. Physiognomic inquiries were not restricted to the classical or biblical and Middle Eastern world only: lamblichos and Porphyrios reported about Pythagoras, who screened potential candidates before admitting them in his circle; Plato tells us that Socrates predicted the promotion of Alcibiades from his appearance; and Josephus Flavius describes in one of his accounts how Caesar detected the pretence of spurious Alexander from his rough hands and surface.⁸⁴ Both ancient India and China have produced an equally rich, if not vaster, amount of literature about the art of reading the face and general appearance of men and women and, in addition, provided information for reconstructing a physiognomic setting. I should say in advance that I am ignorant of ancient Chinese and Sanskrit so I cannot speak with authority of the literature of ancient China and

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India. The following glimpse at some of the Far Eastern traditions of physiognomy is what I have gathered from reading secondary literature.

The evidence for commercial relations and political contacts between Mesopotamia and India in the second half of the third millennium B.C. and later, in Hellenistic times, has fos­tered and laid the basis for the interest of researching further cultural interferences. One of the most fervent defenders of Mesopotamian intellectual influence and the transmission of Mesopotamian omen texts in India was D. Pingree. He proposed that several Sanskrit treatises represent translations of recensions of terrestrial omens included in Summa alu and astrologi­cal omens from Enuma Anu Enlil, that were made under Achaemenid rule in Mesopotamia and whose cuneiform originals are not any longer preserved.⁸⁵ Recently, H. Falk (2000) challenged this transfer of ideas, as far as methods to measure time are concerned, and argued for the occurrence of independent internal cultural developments. However, it is not our purpose to compare the contents of Sanskrit and cuneiform material on physiognomy in order to establish possible interconnections or to rule out any direct borrowing.

As it has been stressed, studying a person’s looks in order to determine his character, intelligence, or future is a fundamental desire of human beings. By reading physiognomic lit­erature of different cultures, one gets the impression that the vocabulary to describe the face, body, and outward appearance is rather limited. The limited expressions of language result in terminological resemblances and parallels, though not exact, of other physiognomic treatises to the contents of the protases in cuneiform omens. The different corpora, however, differ from each other in the interpretation of single body features since the translation of an object into a portent underlies distinct theories and worldviews, which are as intrinsic to a culture as its language, and are bound up to different systems of thought.

Evidence for Indian physiognomy can be found in a variety of compositions.^{86 *} One of the oldest sources are the Puranas, a collection of various stories including myths, legends, and genealogies. The Puranas are divided into eighteen major sections, containing each various sub-sections. The dating is somewhat problematic; they were written down roughly between A.D. 300 and 1100. Discussions on the physiognomy of prepubescent girls were included in the forty-eighth chapter of the Gargasamhita, a compilation of a variety of different omens probably written in the first century B.C. or A.D.⁸⁷ Another work is the so-called Jyotihsastra, a compilation of Hindu knowledge on astronomy and astrology which also includes a chapter on physiognomy.⁸⁸ The work is commonly dated into the sixth century A.D. An independent textbook on physiognomy is the Samudrikatilaka, attributed to the legendary Samudra who is regarded as the first author of physiognomy; the work dates from the twelfth century A.D.⁸⁹ Physiognomy also found its way into compilations on Hindu law and custom such as the late medieval work of Brahminic law Smrtinibandha or the Ratisastra on conjugal love. Following Zysk, there are mainly two techniques of physiognomy: one which involves numerology

counting the male’s body parts up to thirty-two, and the other, including the examination of the body of men and women in order to predict their future. The check-up started by the sole of the feet and moved up to the hair of the head, that is to say, following the opposite direction of cuneiform physiognomy. It seems that only the privileged castes of ancient and medieval India made use of physiognomy, which served two purposes:

one focused on the man in the establishment of his right succession and his suitability as a spouse; and the other concentrated on the woman as a partner in arranged mar­riages. It was used to determine a man’s future prosperity and fitness to be a leader and head of the household, and a woman’s fertility and suitability as a wife and moth­er (Zysk 2005: 428).

Ancient China has produced a large number and great variety of schools and manuals on physiognomy.⁹⁰ As L. Kohn remarks (1986), “hardly any of them have been brought to scholarly attention.”⁹¹ Readily available is the work of the anthropologist W. Lessa on Chinese Body Divination or, as he also terms it, “somatomancy.”^{92 *} One of the most complete and widespread Chinese works is the Shenxiang quanbian, dating to the early Ming dynasty (1367-1458) and still in use today. The earliest datable texts come from the tenth century A.D.;⁹³ information about the application of physiognomy is, however, older. In one of her contributions, L. Kohn points to a passage in the Zuo zhuan, Chronicle of Zhuo about the master of physiognomy Shu Fu, which represents one of the earliest-known references to the performance of physiognomic examination. The Zuo zhuan is not dated later than the fourth century B.C. Chinese historical and biographical accounts are full of references to practitio­ners of physiognomy and to physiognomic inspections predicting longevity, intelligence, and prosperity, ascertaining the nomination of heirs and supporting the appointment or demotion of officials and nobles. Suffice it to mention just two narrations in order to get an impression of the style of these sources. The Records of the Grand Historian of China have passed down an anecdote about Madam Wei and her daughter Bo who was to live in the palace of Wei Bao. Madam Wei took her daughter to be physiognomized in order to get to know her future.⁹⁴ In another story, included in the biography of Chu Chien-p’ing, a skillful physiognomist, it is reported that Cao Cao (A.D. 155-220), a regional warlord under the last Han emperor, named later Duke of Wei, summoned him to become a court gentleman and physiognomize the guests at his court. “‘General,’ Chien-p’ing began, ‘your lifespan should be eighty years but at forty you will have a small crisis. Please take care to protect yourself.’ He told Hsia-hou Wei, ‘You will become a provincial governor. At the age of forty-nine, you will face a crisis, but if you manage to survive it, you will live to seventy and rise to the post of ducal attendant.’ He then told Ying Ch’u, ‘Sir, at the age of sixty-two you will become a high attendant official and will face a crisis. A year before that happens, you will see an apparition of a white dog, but it

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will be invisible to the people standing around you.’” The biography goes on describing that Chien-p’ing’s predictions were all fulfilled.⁹⁵