I. When the Moon Appears on the First Day of the Month.
WHEN the Moon appears on the first day, there will be silence, the land will be satisfied. When the day is long according to its calculation, there will be a long reign. From Bullutu.
When the Moon appears on the first day, there will be silence, the land will be satisfied. This is for Nisan and ishri (?). When the Moon is regularly full, the crops of the land will prosper, the king will go to pre-eminence.
II. Omens From the Horns of the Moon.
When the Moon appears on the first of Kislev, the King of Akkad, wherever he goes, will ravage the land; (or) the King of Akkad, wherever his face is set, will rule the land. (On the fourteenth day the Moon was seen with the Sun.) There will be an overthrowing of fortresses and downfall of garrisons; there will be obedience and good-will in the land. As for the rest, the king (will see?) their good luck.
III. When the Moon Appears on the Twenty-Eighth Day.
When the Moon at its appearance appears on the twenty-eighth day as the first day, it is evil for Aharru. When the Moon appears on the twenty-eighth day, it is lucky for Akkad, unlucky for Aharru. From the Chief Physician. (A blue moon?? --jn)
IV. When the Moon Appears on the Thirtieth Day.
When the Moon appears on the thirtieth of Ab, there will be a devastation of Akkad. Let not the all-powerful king leave me; it is I who daily beg of the king for my hunger; and now to brick-work he has set me, saying, "Make bricks." Let not the king, my lord, leave me and I shall not die. From Tabia.
Last night a halo surrounded the Moon, and Jupiter and Scorpio stood within it. When a halo surrounds the Moon and Jupiter stands within it, the King of Akkad will be besieged. When a halo surrounds the Moon and Jupiter stands within it, there will be a slaughter of cattle and beasts of the field. (Marduk is Umunpauddu at its appearance; when it has risen for two (or four?) hours it becomes Sagmigar; when it stands in the meridian it becomes Nibiru.) When a halo surrounds the Moon and Scorpio stands in it, it will cause men to marry princesses, (or) lions will die, and the traffic of the land will be hindered. (refers to the position of the moon in respect to constellations. --jn)
When a halo surrounds the Moon, and Regulus stands within it, women will bear male children. From Nergal-etir.
When a halo surrounds the Moon and a planet stands within it, robbers will rage. (Saturn stood within the halo of the Moon.) When Jupiter draws near to Taurus, the good fortune of the land passes away, (or) the generation of cattle and sheep is not prosperous. (Jupiter has entered Taurus: let the king, my lord, keep himself from the storm-wind.)
When the Moon occults Jupiter, that year a king will die, (or) an eclipse of the Moon and Sun will take place. A great king will die. When Jupiter enters the midst of the Moon, there will be want in Aharru. The King of Elam will be slain with the sword. When Jupiter goes out from behind the Moon, there will be hostility in the land.
After two hours of the night had passed, a great star shone from north to south. Its omens are propitious for the king's desire. The King of Akkad will accomplish his mission. From Asharidu (the greater), the king's servant.
Mercury is visible with Mars at sunset; it is ascending to Shugi. There will be rains and floods. When Jupiter appears at the beginning of the year, in that year its crops will prosper. From Nadinu.
When it thunders on the day of the Moon's disappearance, the crops will prosper and the market will be steady. When it rains on the day of the Moon's disappearance, it will bring on the crops and the market will be steady.
When it thunders in Shebat, there will be an invasion of locusts. When it thunders in Shebat, heaven will rain with stones.
When the earth quakes in Nisan, the king's land will revolt from him. When the earth quakes during the night, harm will come to the land, or devastation to the land. From Apla.
Last night there was an earthquake. When the earth quakes in Tebet, the king will sit in the city of his foe. When the earth quakes in Tebet, the palace of the prince will be smitten and go to ruins. When the earth quakes in the night, there will be harm to the land (or) devastation to the land. From the Chief Astrologer.
XV. Omens from Eclipses.
On the fourteenth an eclipse will take place. It is evil for Elam and Aharru, lucky for the king, my lord; let the king, my lord, rest happy. It will be seen without Venus; to the king, my lord, I say, "There will be an eclipse." From Irasshi-ilu, the servant of the king (the greater).
To the king of countries, my lord, thy servant, Bel-usur. May Bel, Nabu, and Shamash be gracious to the king, my lord! An eclipse has happened, but it was not visible in Asshur; this eclipse passed the city Asshur, wherein the king is dwelling; now there are clouds everywhere, so that whether it did or did not happen we do not know. Let the lord of kings send to Asshur, to all cities, to Babylon, Nippur, Erech, and Borsippa; whatever has been seen in those cities the king will hear for certain. The omens _____ the omen for an eclipse happened in Adar and Nisan; I send all to the king, my lord, and they shall make a nambulbi-ceremony for the eclipse. Without fail (?) let not the king omit (?) to act rightly. The great gods in the city wherein the king dwells have obscured the heaven and will not show the eclipse; so let the king know that this eclipse is not directed against the king, my lord, or his country. Let the king rejoice!
(When) it thunders in Nisan, grain (?) will be diminished.
Source:
From: R. Campbell Thompson, "The Reports of the Magicians and Astrologers of Nineveh and Babylon," in Assyrian and Babylonian Literature: Selected Transactions, With a Critical Introduction by Robert Francis Harper (New York: D. Appleton & Company, 1904), pp. 451-460.
Scanned by: J. S. Arkenberg, Dept. of History, Cal. State Fullerton. Prof. Arkenberg may have modernized the text.
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© Paul Halsall, March 1999
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