The Religion of Babylonia and Assyria Part 38

If a white dog defiles[666] a man, destruction will seize him.

If a black dog defiles a man, sickness will seize him.

If a brown dog defiles a man, that man will perish.

If a dog defiles a man's couch, a severe sickness will seize that man.

If a dog defiles a man's chair, the man will not survive the year.

If a dog defiles a man's bowl,[667] a deity will show anger towards the man.

On the other hand, dogs were not to be driven out of the streets. Their presence in the roads was essential to the welfare of the place. Hence an omen reads:

If dogs do not enter the highway,[668] destruction from an enemy will visit the city.

Through Diodorus, Jamblichus, and other ancient writers we know that the Babylonians and a.s.syrians attached importance to the movements of other animals, notably serpents, birds, and certain insects. The symbols on the boundary stones which have been referred to[669] are based on this belief. The serpent figures prominently among these symbols. In the Babylonian deluge story, the dove, raven, and swallow are introduced. Of these, the swallow appears to be the bird whose flight was most carefully observed. The sign which represents this bird in the cuneiform syllabary also signifies 'fate.'[670] The mischief wrought by swarms of insects, as gra.s.shoppers and locusts, the danger lurking in the bites of scorpions sufficiently explain the importance attached to the actions of these animals. The mysterious appearance and disappearance of serpents and their strange twistings added an element in their case that increased the awe they inspired, while if Ihering be correct,[671] the omens derived from the flight of birds are a survival of the migratory period in the history of a nation, when birds served as a natural guide in choosing the easiest course to pa.s.s from one place to another. A large number of tablets in Ashurbanabal's library treat of the significance attached to the action of these various animals, and it is likely that these tablets form part of a large series, of which the ill.u.s.trations above adduced regarding the movements of dogs form a part.

In this series, the application of the omens to individuals is more strongly emphasized than in the series of birth portents. Naturally so, for it was the individual as a general thing who encountered the signs.

In the case of the appearance of a serpent or snake, for example, the omen consisted in the fact that a certain person beheld it, and that person was involved in the consequences. Fine distinctions are again introduced that ill.u.s.trate the intricacies of the system of interpretation perfected in Babylonia. If a snake pa.s.ses from the right to the left side of a man, it means one thing; if from the left to the right, another; if the man who sees a snake does not tread upon it, the omen is different than in the case when he attempts to crush it. Again the omen varies according to the occupation of the man who encountered a snake. If he be a gardener, the appearance of the snake means something different than in the case of his being a sailor.

The place where the animal appears is also of import, whether in the street, the house, or the temple, and again, the time of its appearance, in what month or on what day. In the same way, an endless variety of omens are derived from the appearance of certain birds, the direction of their flight, their fluttering around the head of a man or entering a man's house. So, _e.g._,

If a raven[672] enters a man's house, that man will secure whatever he desires.

And again:

If a bird throws a bit of meat or anything into a man's house, that man will secure a large fortune.

The omens from the appearance of flocks of birds in a town bore, as appears natural, upon public affairs rather than upon the fate of individuals, and similarly the appearance of birds in a temple was an omen for the whole country.

The public or private character of the omens was thus dependent in large measure upon the question whether the phenomena appeared to an individual directly or to the population of a place in general. Meeting a snake or scorpion in the course of a walk through the fields was an individual omen, and similarly the actions of sheep in a man's stall, whereas, a mad bull rushing through the city was a general omen. So we are told that

If sheep in the stalls do not bleat (?), that stall will be destroyed.

Whereas[673]

A bull crouching at the gate of a city is an omen that the enemy will capture that gate.

A bull goring an ox in the city is an unfavorable omen for the city, but if the bull enters the precincts of an individual, it is favorable for the individual.

A series of omens derived from the appearance of locusts again ill.u.s.trates this principle. When the insects enter private precincts, the individual and his immediate surroundings are affected.[674]

If black and speckled locusts appear in a man's house, the master of the house will die.

If black and yellow locusts appear in a man's house, the supports of that house will fall.

If large white locusts appear in a man's house, that house will be destroyed and the owner will be in distress.

If white and brown locusts appear in a man's house, that house will be destroyed.

If small white and brown locusts appear in a man's house, the house will be destroyed and the owner will be in distress.

If yellow locusts appear in a man's house, the supports of that house will fall and the owner of the house will be unlucky.

If yellow-winged locusts appear in a man's house, the master of the house will die and that house will be overthrown.

Omens From Dreams.

It made little difference whether one encountered something while awake or saw it in one's dream. In fact, what one saw while asleep had as a general thing more importance. A special G.o.d of dreams, Makhir, is often referred to in the religious texts, and this is but another way of expressing the belief that the dreams were sent to a man as omens. An unusually wide scope was afforded to the compilers of omen series in their interpretations of dreams, for what might not a man see in visions of the night? If a lion[675] appears to a man, it means that the man will carry out his purpose; if a jackal, it signifies that he will secure favor in the eyes of the G.o.ds; a dog portends sorrow; a mountain goat, that the man's son will die of some disease; a stag, that his daughter will die; and so through a long list.

Again we are told[676] that

If (in a dream) a date appears on a man's head,[677] it means that that man will be in distress.

If a fish appears on a man's head, that man will be powerful.

If a mountain appears on a man's head, that man will be without a rival.

If salt appears on a man's head, his house will be well protected (?).

Similarly, interpretations are offered for the apparition of the dead or of demons, in dreams. The book of Daniel affords an ill.u.s.tration of the importance attached to dreams in Babylonia, and of the science developed out of the interpretations. The sarcastic touch introduced by the compiler of the book,[678] who represents Nebuchadnezzar as demanding of his priests not merely to interpret his dream, but to tell him what he dreamed, is intended to ill.u.s.trate the limitations of the far-famed 'Chaldean wisdom.' It is also interesting to note in connection with the ill.u.s.trations adduced, that the dreams of Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar[679] in the book of Daniel are so largely concerned with apparitions of animals.

The omens taken from dreams, together with the accidents that occurred to an individual, or the phenomena occurring in a man's house, afford us an insight into the purely popular phases of the science of augury.

While eclipses and the movements of planets bear chiefly and almost exclusively on public affairs, and even birth portents frequently portend something to the ruler or to the country, it was through such omens as partook of a purely personal character that the intentions of the G.o.ds towards the individual were made manifest. By means of omens, the bond between the individual and the G.o.ds was not, indeed, established, but in large measure maintained. Here was a phase of the religion that touched each individual closely. What a person saw, what he dreamed, what happened to him, what appeared in his house or among the members of his household was of significance to him. To know what every phenomenon portended was essential to his welfare; and we may feel certain that the relations of the individual to the priests, so far as these existed, consisted largely in obtaining from the latter the interpretation of the omens that he encountered. On the other hand, the power of the priests over the populace was due to the popular belief in portents, and the attention given by the theologians to the collection of exhaustive omen series is a proof that the priests knew how to use their power.

These "Dream Books" must have been very numerous. The success of the priests here depended even more than in other branches of the omen literature upon exhausting, so far as possible, all contingencies. No doubt they were guided here also by two factors: a.s.sociation of ideas, and past experience through making of a single coincidence between a dream and some occurrence, a principle of general application. Some of the omens from dreams, however, appear to have themselves formed part of a larger series dealing in general with

Omens From Individual Experiences.

If one may judge from the specimens furnished by Dr. Bezold in his catalogue, this series was unusually extensive, embracing a large number of subjects connected with human activity,--a man's work in the field, his actions in commercial affairs, incidents of travel on sea or land, his relations to his kindred--the dead as well as the living--disease and death, down to such apparent trifles as the conditions of the walls of his house. Cracks in the wall were an omen; meeting a snake in the highway was an omen. A fall was an omen; dropping an instrument was an omen; in short, it is difficult to say what was not an omen. The character of the omens in this series does not differ in any essential particulars from those of other series. The important feature of the series is that it affords another and perhaps the most striking ill.u.s.tration of that phase of the omen literature which concerns the individual directly, and, it seems safe to add, exclusively.

Take, for example, omens connected with symptoms occurring in certain diseases. We are told that

If the right breast is brown, it is a fatal (?) sign.

If both b.r.e.a.s.t.s are brown, there will be no recovery.

If the left breast is green, the sickness will be severe.

The symptoms affect the individual alone. Through this series we are thus enabled to determine more definitely the boundary line between omens involving the affairs of the country and king, and those involving the individual. A phenomenon affecting an individual, or appearing to him alone, or brought about through some action of his of a purely private character, carries in its train an omen of significance for himself or his immediate surroundings; but the moment that these rather narrow limits are transcended, the fate of the individual becomes more or less closely bound up with the fortunes of the population and of the ruler of the country in general. The series also ill.u.s.trates, perhaps better than any other, the control exercised by popular beliefs over the acts of the individual. For we may conclude, that if work on certain days or traveling at certain periods or the appearance of certain animals indicated something unfavorable to a man, he would studiously avoid bringing misfortune upon himself and observe the precautions involved in the interpretation of the vast ma.s.s of the accidents and incidents of existence. The task was a difficult one, indeed, impossible of being carried out to perfection, but this would not hinder him from making the attempt. He was satisfied if he warded off at least a fair number of unfavorable omens. Correspondingly, he would endeavor to so regulate his course as to encounter as large a number as possible of omens that were favorable to him. In this way his life would be spent with a constant thought of the G.o.ds and spirits, who controlled all things in this world. The popular belief in omens made it inc.u.mbent upon the individual not to lose sight at any time of his dependence upon powers over which he had but a limited control.

A certain phase of his religion thus entered largely into his life. That phase would occupy him by day and by night. It was a part of his religion which literally engaged him "upon lying down at night, and upon rising up, while sitting in the house, and while walking on the way."

If, despite all his efforts, misfortune came,--and misfortunes, of course, came constantly,--there was no other recourse but to throw himself upon the mercy of some G.o.d or G.o.ds. The G.o.ds, especially Marduk, Ishtar, Shamash, and Ramman, by putting 'grace' into the omens, could at any time change them into favorable indications.

FOOTNOTES:

[548] Ill.u.s.trated by the four volumes of Bezold's _Catalogue of the Koujunjik_, Collection of the British Museum (London, 1889-96).