The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria Part 32

[531] As a protection, just as Jahwe appears in a pillar of cloud to protect his people.

[532] IVR. 2d Ed. 61, col. vi. 47-52.

[533] See I Kings, xxii. 23.

[534] Strong, _Beitrage zur a.s.syriologie_, ii. 628, 629.

[535] Published and translated by S. A. Strong, _Transactions of the Ninth International Oriental Congress_ (1893), ii. 199-208.

[536] Supplied from the context, through comparison with similar compositions.

[537] Lit., 'my soul cannot overcome.'

[538] The composition continues in this strain, Ashurbanabal and Nabu speaking alternately.

[539] See Tiele, _Babyl.-a.s.syr. Geschichte_, pp. 371 _seq_.

[540] George Smith, _Annals of Ashurbanabal_, p. 121.

[541] Ra.s.sam Cylinder, VR. col. v. ll. 95-103.

[542] George Smith, _Annals of Ashurbanabal_, pp. 119-121.

[543] With maternal kindness.

[544] Lit., 'look up.'

[545] Ra.s.sam Cylinder, col ii. ll. 98 _seq._

[546] _Ib._ col. iii. ll. 122-124.

[547] _E.g._, IVR. 59, no. 2, 21b.

CHAPTER XX.

VARIOUS CLa.s.sES OF OMENS.

There is a close connection between the various branches of the religious literature of Babylonia and a.s.syria that we have hitherto been considering. The magic incantations are, as we have seen, a form of prayer. On the other hand, prayers, whether hymns or confessions of sin with an appeal for relief from suffering or distress, or embodying the pet.i.tion for a divine response to some question or questions, are never entirely dissociated from incantations, and are invariably based upon the same beliefs that give to the element of magic such a prominent place in the religion. The omens form part of this same order of beliefs. The connecting link between incantations and omens is the sense of mystery impressed upon man by two orders of phenomena--the phenomena of his own life and the phenomena of the things about him. In his own life, nothing was more mysterious to him than the power of speech. It is doubtful whether he recognized that the animals communicated with one another by means of the sounds that they emitted; but even if he did, the great gap separating such means of communication from the power residing in the combination of sounds, of which he could avail himself, must have been all the more impressive. In view of this, it is not difficult to understand that a magic force was attributed to words as such. Of course, a somewhat advanced degree of culture must have been reached before such a belief would be given a definite form of expression; but even in the simplest form of social organization the notion of _authority_ necessarily exists, and authority is inseparable from words. The chief commands, and the conclusion is naturally drawn that the words he utters are imbued with the power to force obedience.

These two factors--the mystery of speech and the practical demonstration of the power residing in words--are sufficient to account for the part played by incantations among all nations at a certain stage of their religious development; and once introduced, the conservatism attaching to religious rites would ensure their continuance even after the popular religious beliefs had pa.s.sed far beyond the stage in question. The modifications introduced into the incantations would be nigh endless.

There would develop a tendency to greater complications in the combination of words. At the same time their literary form would be improved. Prayers and hymns reflecting advanced religious sentiments would be produced, but the magic element connected with the words as such would not for that reason be lost sight of. The efficacy of such prayers would still depend upon their being uttered in the right manner and--what is equally to the point--by the right person. Corresponding to the chief in secular affairs--who alone can p.r.o.nounce words that give evidence of their power by the results produced--is the priest in religious affairs to whom, as the mediator between the G.o.ds and men, the secret is entrusted of uttering the right words in the right way, so as to produce the desired results, to force, as it were, obedience from the G.o.ds, as a chief forces obedience from his subjects. In a more advanced stage of religious culture, the position of the priest is no less powerful and important. When incantations yield to prayers in the proper sense, or are combined with prayers, it is only the priests who can make the prayers effective by their interceding in some way with the G.o.ds, whether by adding their appeal to that of the supplicant, or by the performance of the rites accompanying prayer, or by their aid in leading the wors.h.i.+pper into the presence of the deity and standing with him before the throne of grace.

When man turns from a contemplation of self to the things around him, there is added to the sense of the mysterious which is aroused in him, the feeling of his own weakness which is borne in upon him with overpowering force. He cannot fail to realize how dependent he is upon the sun, the moon, the rain, and the storm. At every step he takes dangers beset his path. The animal world is at times hostile, at times friendly; but whether the one or the other, it is essential for him to carefully _note_ all that is going on around him. Every happening or sight of an unusual character arouses now his sense of fear, and again his hope. He learns to attach special importance to deviations from the normal course of things. There must be a reason for the exception from the rule. It betokens something, and, concerned as man primarily is for his own welfare, he naturally comes to connect both the regular phenomena of nature as well as the deviations, the normal traits and habits of the animal world as well as peculiar features occasionally occurring, with his own fate. To forestall the future was his only safeguard against the dangers in store for him. It was of the utmost importance to him to know what was coming or, at all events, to be on the lookout for _something_, in order to be in a proper frame to receive either the benefits or to meet the difficulties of the situation.

His powers of observation--upon which man in a primitive state depended almost entirely for his sustenance--were thus further strengthened by the necessity of protecting himself, so far as possible, against the uncertainties of the future. Nothing would escape him. The movement of the stars and planets, their position at different seasons and periods, the appearance of the clouds, an eclipse, the conditions of the streams, an earthquake, the direction of the winds, storms, the flight of birds, the barking of dogs, the movements of snakes and serpents, peculiar marks on the bodies of children, of adults and animals, monstrosities among mankind or the brute creation, the meeting with certain persons or animals, the rustling of leaves, the change of seasons, the l.u.s.tre of precious stones, all attracted man's attention. Whatever he saw might portend something to him, in fact _did_ portend something; hence the one great aim and ideal of his life was to _see_ everything. Seeing meant foreseeing, and the man who could see everything--the _seer par excellence_, who could also understand what he saw--held in his hands the key that would unlock the secrets of the future. He possessed the means of forecasting events.

Apart, then, from the interpretation of omens in connection with sacrifices and incantations, the individual had to be on the outlook at all times for signs and portents. To neglect them would entail serious consequences.

This wider aspect of omens accounts for the extensive omen literature that arose in Babylonia and a.s.syria. Fully one-fourth of the portion of Ashurbanabal's library that has been discovered consists of omens,[548]

tablets of various size in which explanations are afforded of all physical peculiarities to be observed in animals and men, of natural phenomena, of the position and movements of the planets and stars, of the incidents and accidents of public and private life,--in short, of all possible occurrences and situations.

As yet but a small proportion of this literature has been published, and a thorough understanding of it is impossible until systematic publications shall have been issued. Meanwhile it is safe to a.s.sert that, as in the case of incantations and prayers, the omens were generally combined into series by the Babylonian and a.s.syrian scribes.

Omens From Planets and Stars.

Ihering observes[549] that the stars were observed by the Babylonians in the interest of navigation. While this is true, yet the chief motive in the development of astronomy in the Euphrates Valley was the belief that the movements of the heavenly bodies portended something that was important for man to know. That the stars served as guides to the mariner was only an additional reason for attaching great importance to the heavenly phenomena. Scientific observations were but means to an end; and the end was invariably the derivation of omens from the movements and position of the planets and stars. When, therefore, we find the astronomers sending reports to their royal masters apparently of a purely scientific character, we may be certain that although no omens are mentioned, both parties had omens in mind. The astronomical reports, of which quite a number have already been published,[550] may therefore be reckoned as part of the omen literature. The vernal equinox was a period of much significance. The astronomer royal accordingly reports:[551]

On the sixth day of Nisan,[552]

Day and night were balanced.

There were six double hours of day, Six double hours of night.

May Nabu and Marduk Be gracious to the king, my lord.

On another occasion the equinox took place on the 15th of Nisan,[553]

and accordingly this is reported. Again, the appearance of the new moon was anxiously looked for each month, and the king is informed whether or not it was seen on the 29th or 30th day of the month.[554]

A watch we kept On the twenty-ninth day, The moon we saw.

May Nabu and Marduk Be gracious to the king, my lord.

From Nabua of the city of Ashur.

An extraordinary event, such as an eclipse, is made the subject of a more elaborate report. The Babylonian astronomers had developed their scientific attainments to the point of calculating the time when an eclipse of the sun or the moon would take place. As this period approached, they watched for the eclipse. We have an interesting specimen of a report in which the astronomer announces that an expected eclipse for which a watch was kept for three days did not appear.[555]

Another addressed to an official reads:[556]

To the Agriculturist,[557] my lord, Thy servant Nabushumiddin, An officer of Nineveh, May Nabu and Marduk be gracious To the Agriculturist, my lord.

The fourteenth day we kept a watch for the moon.

The moon suffered an eclipse.

The reports pa.s.s over into indications of omens with an ease which shows that the observations of the astronomers were made with this ulterior motive in view. A report which forms a supplement to one above translated furnishes the interpretation given to the vernal equinox:[558]

The moon and sun are balanced, The subjects will be faithful,[559]

The king of the land will reign for a long time.

The complement, then, to the purely scientific observations is furnished by these official communications to the kings and others, setting forth in response, no doubt, to commands or inquiries, the meaning of any particular phenomenon, or of the position of the planets, or of any of the stars at any time, or of their movements. Of such communications we have a large number. They ill.u.s.trate the great attention that was paid to details in the observation of the heavenly bodies. The moon as the basis of the calendrical system occupies the first place in these reports. Its movements were more varied than those of the sun. Through its phases, its appearance and disappearance at stated intervals, a safe point of departure was obtained for time calculations. While the sun through its daily course regulated the divisions of the day, the moon by its phases fixed the division of weeks and months. The moon never appeared quite the same on two successive nights nor in the same part of the heavens. The more variety, the more significance--was a principle of general application in the interpretation of omens. Whether the Babylonians also recognized an influence of the moon on the tides, we have no certain means of determining, but it is eminently likely that trained as their astronomers were in careful observation, this was the case. But apart from this, there were many events in public and private affairs that appeared to them to stand in close connection with the movements of the orb of night. Nothing that occurred being regarded as accidental, the conclusion was forced upon the Babylonians that the time when something was undertaken was of significance. The fact that certain undertakings succeeded, while others failed, was most easily explained upon the theory that there were periods favorable for the action involved and periods unfavorable. The gathering of past experience thus becomes a guiding principle in the interpretation of the movements of the moon; and what applies to the moon applies, of course, to the other planets and to the stars. No doubt other factors are involved, such as a.s.sociation of ideas; but it is evident from a careful study of the omen literature that conclusions drawn from what appears to us as the accidental relation of past occurrences to the phenomena presented by the planets and stars const.i.tuted fully three-fourths of the wisdom of the Euphratean augurs. The same report, of which a portion has already been quoted,[560] continues after interpreting the meaning of the equinox with a diagnosis of other concurrent conditions:[561]

Sun and moon are seen apart,[562]

The king of the country will manifest wisdom.[563]

On the fourteenth day sun and moon are seen together, There will be loyalty in the land, The G.o.ds of Babylonia are favorably inclined, The soldiery will be in accord with the king's desire, The cattle of Babylonia will pasture in safety.[564]

From Ishtar-shumeresh.

The same conditions appearing on another day may portend precisely the reverse. So another report informs the king:[565]

On the fifteenth day the sun and moon are seen together, A powerful enemy raises his weapons against the land, The enemy will smash the great gate of the city, The star Anu appears bright, The enemy will devastate.

It is quite evident that such reports must have been sent in response to royal orders asking for the meaning of existing conditions or of conditions that may be observed on certain days. At times the prognostications a.s.sume a remarkable degree of definiteness which forms a striking contrast to the general vagueness of the oracles. An official, Balasi, reports[566] on one occasion regarding the significance of the moon appearing unexpectedly:

The moon is seen out of season, Crops will be small.