Annus Amar (ed.). Divination and Interpretation of Signs in the Ancient World. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press,2010. � viii, 352 p.. 2010

This book makes available the revised versions of the papers read at the fifth annual University of Chicago Oriental Institute Seminar Science and Superstition: Interpretation of Signs in the Ancient World, which took place at March 6-7, 2009. The printed volume has a slightly different title, and it includes two papers from scholars who were invited to the seminar, but could not come � from Barbara Bock and Niek Veldhuis, while two participants, Clifford Ando and Ann Guinan, have decided to publish their papers elsewhere. I remain thankful to all the contributors for a very smooth and efficient collaboration that gave birth to this sizable volume.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE

1 ON THE BEGINNINGS AND CONTINUITIES OF OMEN SCIENCES IN THE ANCIENT WORLD

AMAR ANNUS, UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO

INTRODUCTION

THE FORM AND USE OF AN OMEN

PARABLES AND LOGIA

IS THERE A BABYLONIAN THEORY OF SIGNS?

DIFFUSION OF BABYLONIAN OMENS IN EAST AND WEST

Prophecy and Divination

PROBLEMS OF DEFINITIONS

2 �IF P, THEN Q�: FORM AND REASONING IN BABYLONIAN DIVINATION

FRANCESCA ROCHBERG, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY

3 GREEK PHILOSOPHY AND SIGNS

4 THREE STRIKES AND YOU�RE OUT! A VIEW ON COGNITIVE THEORY AND THE FIRST-MILLENNIUM EXTISPICY RITUAL

5 AROUSING IMAGES: THE POETRY OF DIVINATION AND THE DIVINATION OF POETR

6 THE THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE AND THE PRACTICE OF CELESTIAL DIVINATION

NIEK VELDHUIS, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY

The letters and reports by Assyrian and Babylonian scholars to the Neo-Assyrian king provide a unique window to the relationship between a body of scholarly texts and the practice of actual scholarship.

THE THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE

SCHOLARLY PRACTICE: QUOTATION AND INTERPRETATION

7 READING THE TABLET, THE EXTA, AND THE BODY: THE HERMENEUTICS OF CUNEIFORM SIGNS IN BABYLONIAN AND ASSYRIAN TEXT COMMENTARIES AND DIVINATORY TEXTS

ECKART FRAHM, YALE UNIVERSITY

INTRODUCTION

COMMENTARIES

DIVINATION AND WRITING

EXTISPICY

PHYSIOGNOMY

INSCRIBED BODIES IN EVERYDAY LIFE

CONCLUSION

8 �SIGN, SIGN, EVERYWHERE A SIGN�: SCRIPT, POWER, AND INTERPRETATION IN THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST[77] SCOTT B. NOEGEL, UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON

As the title of this study indicates, my primary aim is to shed light on ancient Near Eastern conceptions of the divine sign by bringing into relief the intricate relationship between script, power, and interpretation.

COSMOLOGY AND THE POWER OF WORDS

INTERPRETATION OF DIVINE SIGNS AS AN ACT OF POWER