The Babylonian Prophecies and the Astrological Traditions of Mesopotamia

Author(s): Robert D. Biggs

Source: Journal of Cuneiform Studies, Vol. 37, No. 1 (Spring, 1985), pp. 86-90
Published by: American Schools of Oriental Research
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1359960
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 THE BABYLONIANPROPHECIES
AND THE ASTROLOGICALTRADITIONS OF MESOPOTAMIA

Robert D. Biggs
Universityof Chicago

Although several literary compositions in Akkadian have been

recognized as prophecy textsfor quite some time, the originsandhistorical
relevance of the genre are uncertain.'
It has long been recognizedthatthe predictionsin the prophecytextsare
couched in the phraseology of omen apodoses. Granted that there are
similarities,it shouldbe of interestto see where the literaryparallelsto the
prophecy predictions lie, but so far no one has attempted to determine
where within the vast Mesopotamianomen corpusthe closestparallelsare
to be found.
The corpus of texts generallyrecognized as propheciesis a rathersmall
one, and most of the texts can be identified by a brief descriptive
designation such as "The Uruk Prophecy,"2"The Dynastic Prophecy,"3
"The Marduk Prophecy," or "The Sulgi Prophecy."4The only other
undisputedprophecy text, KAR421, has been known as ProphecyText A
ever since the edition by A. K. Graysonand W. G. Lambertin 1964.5

1. The substanceof this paper was read at the RencontreAssyriologiquein Leningradin

July 1984.
The designation "prophecytext" as applied to Babylonianliterary works is strictly a
modem one. We have no idea what designation(or designations)the Babylonianscholars
would have given to thesetexts.Amongthe manytexttitlesand designationsfor types of texts
(see S. Parpola,"AssyrianLibraryRecords,"JNES42 [1983]1-29)none seems likelyto have
included the prophecy texts. We know that the Marduk Prophecy preceded the Sulgi
Prophecyin a sequencerecognizedby the scholarsof Assurbanipal's librarysincethe Marduk
Prophecygives anakuSulgias the catchlinefor the next tablet,but thereis no indicationthat
they were considereda subserieswithin a largerseries identifiableas prophecies.
2. Publishedby H. Hunger,SpAitbabylonische Texte aus Uruk,1 (Berlin,1976)no. 3; see
also H. Hungerand StephenA. Kaufman,"ANew AkkadianProphecyText,"JAOS95 (1975)
371-75.
3. Published by A. K. Grayson, Babylonian Historical-LiteraryTexts (Toronto and
Buffalo, 1975),pp. 24-37.
4. Published by R. Borger, "Gott Mardukund Gott-K6nigSulgi als Propheten:Zwei
prophetischeTexte,"BiOr28 (1971)3-24.
5. A. K. Grayson and W. G. Lambert, "AkkadianProphecies,"JCS 18 (1964) 7-30.
Additionalsourcesfor theirText B have astrologicalprotases,suggestingthatit be excluded
from the corpusof prophecies.However, the lengthof the majorlong predictionwhich runs
to some 24 lines is without parallelin any omen text, and furthermoreappearsnot to be
associatedwith any omen protasis.Becauseof its specialcharacter,I prefernot to excludeit
categoricallyfrom considerationwithin the context of Babylonianprophecies.It is, in any

86 JCs37/11985

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 BABYLONIANPROPHECIESAND ASTROLOGICALTRADITIONS 87

In a recent paper that has not yet appeared6 I point out that the
phraseology of the predictions in Prophecy Text A is largely that of
astrologicalomens and not that of liver omens or any otheromen genre.In
a number of instancesa phrase is known only from ProphecyText A and
astrologicalomens;in otherinstancesthe occurrencesare overwhelmingly
to be found in astrologicalomens. Many predictions in the Mardukand
Sulgi prophecies, as well as in the Uruk Prophecy, likewise have exact
parallelsin the astrologicalcorpus.
A few examples should suffice here. In Text A we read (ii 5)
GIS.NIG.BARbilassa?er'ubilassaut[tar],"thedate palm(??)will increase
its yield, the furrow its yield." Predictionsabout the yield of furrowsare
very common in astrologicaltexts althoughthey occur in other omens as
well, but phrases with GIS.N1G.BARare found outside Text A only in
astrology.7The topos of troublesand difficulties (eldtu, dalbatu,line ii 13)
occurringor clearing up is attested a numberof times in astrologicaltexts
but in no other omens. The predictionof canalsfilling with silt (line ii 21),
which also occursin the UrukProphecy,is frequentin astrologicaltextsbut
is not attestedin any othergenre of omens. The topos of good or bad winds
blowing (lineiii 5) is attesteda numberof timesin astrologybut not in other
genres. The phrase with dit kun4i,"winter grass"(line iii 7), which also
occurs (written I.BAR) in the Marduk Prophecy, is attested quite
frequentlyin astrologybut not at all in other omen texts.The phrasein line
iv 17 ummu itti mdrtigakittu itammi, "a mother will speak truthwith her
daughter,"seems unattestedelsewhere, but is apparentlymodeled on the
phrasemrnru itti abitu kittuitammi, "ason will speak truthwith his father,"
which is usuallypreceded by the phrase"therewill be justicein the land."
This phraseis not found in any omens except the astrologicalcorpus.There
are several other phrases from Prophecy Text A which are common in
astrological omens but rare in other genres. If Text A were better
preserved, one would no doubt find a number of other specific parallels
between the prophecypredictionsand the apodoses of astrologicalomens.

case, so richin typical prophecytopoi-such as faminewhen mothersbar theirdoorsto their

own daughters, friends and relatives killing one another, the re-establishmentof regular
offerings that had ceased, etc.-that it aids in restoringbrokenpassagesin the unquestioned
prophecytexts.Graysonand Lambert'sTexts C and D have been incorporatedby R. Borger
into his editions of the Sulgi and Mardukprophecies.
6. R. D. Biggs, "BabylonianProphecies,Astrology,and a New Sourcefor 'ProphecyText
B',"in FrancescaRochberg-Halton(ed.), Language,Literature,and History:Philologicaland
HistoricalStudies Presentedto Erica Reiner (in press).
7. ACh Adad 4 i 11, 21:5 and 7.

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88 ROBERTD. BIGGS

Since many geographicalnames appear in the prophecy texts, it should

also be of interest to examine these names within the context of
geographicalnames occurringin the omen corpus as a whole. Firstof all,
however, it should be mentioned that there are notable differences
between the variousprophecy texts. Text A, the Uruk Prophecy, and the
Dynastic Prophecy all refer to Babyloniaas Akkad;the Mardukand Sulgi
Prophecies, on the other hand, do not mention Akkad at all, and have
insteadnumerousreferencesto Babylon (KA.DINGIR.RA.KI). Babylonis
referred to in the Uruk Prophecy as SU.AN.NA.KIand in the Dynastic
Prophecy as DIN.TIR.KI. Assur occurs in the Marduk and Sulgi
Prophecies and in the Dynastic Prophecy, but not in the others.
WhileI have not examinedevery singlepublishedomen text, I have gone
througha high proportionof them, and severalpatternsemerge. Exceptin
the well-known phrasewith amfitu,such as amfit Ibbi-Sin ..., "omenof
Ibbi-Sin... ,"in which a geographicalname usuallyoccurs,relativelyfew
specific geographical or ethnic names occur in the Old Babylonian
extispicy corpus. The predictions tend to be less specific; thus one finds
tibeit nakrim,"attackby an enemy," instead of a specific enemy being
mentioned.In the Old Babyloniancorpustherearetwo occurrencesof ep
Elamtim, literally "foot of Elam,"8two occurrences of tibit Elamtim,
"attackby Elam,"9one reference to Subaru:tibfit Su-ba-ri-[im],1o four
occurrencesof Umman-ba-da,published in transliterationonly, perhaps
for Umman-manda."1 The huge corpus of StandardBabylonianextispicy
texts likewise yields only a small number of occurrences.I counted nine
examples with Elam, five of them in a single text, three examples of
Amurru,one example of Akkad,one of Subartu,but none at all of Gutior
Umman-manda.In Old BabylonianSumma Izbu the only geographical
name is a reference to the king of Sumer (LUGAL Su-mi-ri-im).12In
StandardBabylonianIzbu there are three occurrencesof Akkad,threeof
Elam, and two of Amurru.Nippuroccursonce in an esotericwritingwhich
is explained in the commentary as Ni-ip-pu-rum.'" There are no
occurrencesin the Izbu text from Susa publishedby R. Labat,but in the

8. YOS 10 20 r. 22 and 50/51:3.

9. YOS 10 20 r. 25, RA 65 (1971)71:10.
10. RA 44 (1950) 12:5.
11. RA 44 (1950) 16:5-8. For discussion of the Ummdn-manda in omen texts, see G.
Komor6czy, Acta Antiqua Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 25 (1977)
"Ummmin-manda,"
43-67, especially pp. 55-59.
12. Leichty Izbu p. 206:42.
13. Tablet IV 38.

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 BABYLONIANPROPHECIESAND ASTROLOGICALTRADITIONS 89

extispicy texts there are three occurrencesof Elam and one of Amurru.
There are no geographical names at all in the oil omens or the smoke
omens.
In some unpublishedOld Babylonianastrologicaltexts-which I know
of through the courtesy of Francesca Rochberg-Halton-there are a
number of mentions of Subaru,Akkad, Amurru,Elam, and Guti,but the
city of Urukalso occurs.In the case of the laterastrologicaltexts-and here
I have considered thatthe seven volumes of texts publishedby Virolleaud
and the volume of reports published by Campbell Thompson form an
adequate sample-the pictureis quite differentthanin otheromen genres.
Particularlybecause of the associationof the quadrantsof the moon with
the cardinal directions, one expects frequent mention of Elam, Akkad,
Amurru,and Subartu(alsoassociatedsometimeswith Guti).Thisis indeed
the case, and they occur in innumerablepredictions throughoutEnfima
Anu Enlil and not merely in the lunaromens, but in the solar omens, the
planetary omens, and the meteorological omens as well. I have made no
attempt to break down the examples by which specific tablets of the
astrologicalseries they belong to. It may be of interest to note, however,
thatin the Venus Tablet of AmmiSaduqathere is a single occurrenceof the
phrase "destructionby the Ummdn-manda"but no geographicalname or
other ethnic designation occurs.
The astrologicaltexts include a large number of specific cities, ethnic
groups, rivers, and sanctuaries, sometimes associated with specific
constellations.'4There is in fact a considerable congruence between the
names attested in both the prophecy texts and in the astrologicalomens;
the overlap would without doubt be still more extensive if the prophecy
texts were better preserved. Nippur, for example, occurs in all the
prophecy texts except the Uruk Prophecy and is found in a number of
astrological texts as well. The Tigris and Euphratesoccur frequently in
astrologicaltexts but also occur in the Sulgi Prophecy. Hatti occursin the
MardukProphecyand in astrologyas well, and Sipparlikewise. Ur occurs
in the SulgiProphecyand also in astrology;in fact, the temple il
in Ur occurs more than once in the MardukProphecy andI-giT-nux-g
is also to be
found in astrological texts. On the other hand, there are several
geographicalnames found in the prophecy texts which apparentlydo not
occur in the astrologicalomens: Tuplia'sin ProphecyText A, Girsu,Lagaws,
and Isin in the Sulgi Prophecy.

14. See especiallyE. Weidner,"AstrologischeGeographieim AltenOrient,"AfO20(1963)

117-21.

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90 ROBERTD. BIGGS

The features shared by the prophecy texts and by astrologicalomen

texts-particularly the predictionsnot found in other omen genresand the
concern with specific cities, rivers, sanctuaries, and ethnic groups-
suggest a literaryrelationshipbetween the two genres. It would be easy to
suggest that the writers of the prophecy texts borrowed from the
astrological corpus, but with the early textual history of the astrological
omens not much more securethanthatof the prophecy texts,thiswould be
difficult to maintain.If that is not the case, there is still the possibilitythat
both derive from some other source that is lost to us.
In any case, the correspondences between the prophecies and the
astrologicalcorpus-especially the topoi and phrasesthatareuniqueto the
two genresand the geographicalconcernsof both genres-suggest thatthe
literaryassociationsof the prophecy predictionsare with the astrological
corpus and not with any other genre of Mesopotamianomens.

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