THE POLITICAL SUPPORT OF DIVINATION
As a matter of principle, a discipline validated psychologically and socially guarantees powerful effects when used in politics. However, in Neo-Assyrian society, kings and magnates validate in the discipline’s efficiency and did not use it only for the public opinion’s manipulation.
A large array of the most important politic matters was decided as a result of scholarly advice and the interpretation of signs seemed to have had a huge influence on domestic and international affairs, religious issues, and triggered the performance of complex rituals.Succession at the Neo-Assyrian court was sometimes a risky business and political choices were more easily accepted by the magnates and the people if backed by the gods’ will. Some queries to the sun-god are questions about the rightful choice of a political heir. Before choosing Assurbanipal, Esarhaddon asked Samas if he should take his son Sin-nadin-apli as the crown prince or not.26 Such an important decision was certainly left in the hands of top-ranking and reliable diviners,27 whose confidence was also required in issues such as the loyalty of officials. During the year 671/670, insurrections occurred at the Neo-Assyrian court and suspicion arose about the loyalty of officials and priests in duty, or of prospective officials and priests. Queries to gods were considered the only reliable way to know the truth about these persons.28
At the international level, questions related to military campaigns are the most recurring themes. Various questions about warfare are settled with divination: what is the right moment to go to war, what are the required forces, which techniques and which itinerary would help,
what is the level of safety, what are the enemies’ intentions, what are the chances of success, and so on. These questions are by far the biggest group in the queries to the sun-god and the tamitu.[131] Some letters of astrologers and exorcists also deal with this matter, probably when the king is looking for additional reassurance.
Akkullanu’s letter about the portent of an Assyrian victory on Cimmerians (SAA 10, 100, dated to 15 Simanu 657) displays the scribe’s ability to explain signs to the king and influence him to go to war. Assurbanipal’s annals describe the Cimmerians as rebellious tribes, but we learn from this letter that they had conquered Syria at this period and that the king was waiting for good omens to grasp control over this region again (Parpola 1983: 308). In a long astrological report, Akkullanu explains to his king that according to several omens, the Westland will perish and the king of Assyria will succeed. Quite remarkable is the alternation of the interpretations of omens, negative for the Cimmerians and positive for Assyria, found in the En„ma Anu Enlil, in reports from famous scholars and other sources:• The heliacal rising of Mars means a rebellion in the Westland, which is positive since the region is in Cimmerians’ hands;
• The “strange star” (i.e., Mars) approaching Enmesarra[132] brings happiness in the country and an increase of population, which means good fortune for Assyria;
• When Mars is visible in the month Iyyar, it portends the destruction of Umman- Manda (glossed by Akkullanu as meaning the Cimmerians);
• The last solar eclipse was not in Subartu’s quadrant and Jupiter was visible, which is propitious: the king will go to war;
• The scanty rains are, according to a report by the ancient scholar Ea-musallim,
a good omen, that the king will conquer everything he wants;
• When the new moon is visible, the Ahlamu (i.e., Arameans = Assyrians) will consume the wealth of Westland, which is auspicious again.
This is why Akkullanu draws the conclusion that “The enemy will fall into the hands of the king, my lord.”
The relationship between Assurbanipal and his brother Samas-sum-ukin may be considered as an international affair. When Samas-sum-ukin rebelled against his brother in 652 B.C., Assurbanipal put a query before Samas about his idea to capture his brother in Babylon, just as he would have asked about an enemy.[133] The query goes on with a question about the Sealand and Elam.
In religious affairs, the interpretation of expected and unexpected signs was of uttermost importance. For example, signs and oracles did play a role in the reintroduction of Marduk’s cult in Babylon. An incident happened during Esarhaddon’s reign, unexpected32 and strange enough to stop the journey of Marduk’s statue.33 On the way to Babylon, a servant suddenly mounted the sacred horse of Marduk and said prophetic words: “Babylon — straight — the loot of Kurigalzu.” An official gives an explanation: on their way to Babylon, robbers are waiting for them in Dur-Kurigalzu (a town on the way). The scribe Issar-sumu-eres, the king’s exorcist Adad-sumu-usur, and the chief exorcist Marduk-sakin-sumi explain the incident to the king about the prophecy and wait for orders. The anxious Esarhaddon most probably made the expedition stop, as the cult was reintroduced after his death by his son Assurbanipal. In 668 B.C., Assurbanipal sought practical advice about the transfer of Marduk to Babylon34 through a series of queries to the sun-god: should Samas-sum-ukin accompany him, should he go by boat, and which priest should we choose?
The substitute king ritual is probably the best evidence of the full political support achieved by the interpretation of signs. This complex ritual aimed to remove the evil omen due to an eclipse if the quadrant of the moon or the sun in the shadow matched the geographical area controlled by the king. It had implications in different fields — royal ideology, wellbeing of the king as an individual and as the human representative of divine power, and, in a sense, theology — and throughout the ritual, its performance involved a deep confidence in the systems of the asiputu, the barutu, the kalutu, and the tupsarrutu to relieve fear, evil, and prospective chaos. No wonder that many letters of the scribes and the exorcists deal with this ritual,35 whose implications were sometimes not fully understood by the participants36 or by the king himself.37
Actually, even if divination and oracles had a triple validation, it seems that the NeoAssyrian society, with its typical skepticism, somehow reached the boundary of the system.
On the one hand, Assyrian scholars sometimes seemed taken aback by some issues and were unable to make sure their interpretation of signs was right or comprehensive. On the other hand, individuals of royal origin or not cast doubt on the interpretation of a prediction.During a ritual of the substitute king, the fake king complained about the relevance of a second enthronement in Akkad.38 Since the lunar eclipse had been total, the evil omen pertained to Assyria and Babylonia. Esarhaddon was the king of both regions and this omen concerned him twice; the substitute king would in this case rule half of his “reign” in Assyria (50 days) and half in Babylonia (50 days) to fulfill the length of the apotropaic ritual. This was infrequent enough — only once in Esarhaddon’s reign — to sound weird to the substitute king. This fake king was supposed to rule unnoticed and take the portents of the signs on him, but this time he rebelled against the performers and asked because of what sign (GISKIM) they wanted to re-enthrone him in Akkad, and then he revealed a conspiracy he had heard about. What is worth mentioning here is that the substitute king did not revolt against his forthcoming death, but against the procedure: lack of obvious signs for the second enthronement and relevance of the choice as a substitute of him, the faithful servant, when traitors are all around.
The technical limitations of Mesopotamian astrologers for predicting some eclipses,39 seeing some heliacal risings,40 and understanding certain disturbances such as sandstorms41
or meteors42 could lead to inaccuracy. In this case, it was best to tell the king, try to explain the origin of the mistake,[134] and apologize (otherwise dear colleagues would be kind enough to emphasize your ignorance). A famous quarrel between three scribes about the visibility of Venus and Mercury came from the king’s misunderstanding of an astrological explanation[135] given by one of them.
In his fear to be fooled, Esarhaddon had the habit to check and re-check the predictions and prescriptions,[136] but since the scholars worked together, this could worsen the situation.Eclipses could be predicted rather accurately, but sometimes scholars could not be sure about the visibility of the phenomenon. In a letter from Babylonia, the writer refers to the king being upset because the scholars are unable to tell him if the solar eclipse will occur or not.46 The second tamitu in Lambert’s edition asks Samas and Adad to confirm the coming of an eclipse with ominous consequences for the petitioner.47
Some situations were new to scholars and no reference was to be found in the tablets and series. The best solution was to find an omen resembling the signs observed. When the scribe Issar-sumu-eres was asked to determine if a mongoose passed under the king’s chariot was the same omen as the well-known “If a mongoose passes between the legs of a man,”48 he took it as the same portent, giving a poor explanation. The interpretation — the hand of the god will seize the king — is inauspicious for the forthcoming campaign of the king against the Nabateans: they will not submit to the king’s chariot! Anyway, in each discipline, the king’s will was to a certain extent superior to any sign or ritual. The priest Adad-ahu-iddina was cautious about a prophecy of the raggintu Mullissu-abu-usri.49 The middle of her utterance is broken, but the end says “Let the throne go! I shall overcome my king’s enemies with it!” The priest wonders if he really has to let the god’s throne go to Babylonia and writes to the king for his command.
ABBREVIATIONS
LAS Parpola 1983
PGM Papyri Graecae Magicae
SAA 2 Parpola and Watanabe 1988
SAA 4 Starr 1990
SAA 8 Hunger 1992
SAA 10 Parpola 1993
SAA 13 Cole and Machinist 1998
42 E.g., SAA 10, 104.
46 SAA 10, 170; cf. Hunger 1992: XIX.
47 Lambert 2007: 42-51.
48 SAA 10, 33.
The omen is probably quoted from a section — now lost — of the thirty-second tablet of Summa dlu regarding mongoose omens; cf. Parpola 1983: 23 (LAS 15).49 SAA 13, 37, rev. 6 (LAS 317); cf. Nissinen 1998: 78-81.
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