Divination and Interpretation of Signs in the Ancient World

by Annus, Amar; Rochberg, Francesca (CON); Allen, James (CON); Koch, Ulla Susanne (CON); Shaughnessy, Edward L. (CON)

• ISBN13: 9781885923684
• ISBN10: 1885923686
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-02-09
• Publisher: David Brown Book Co

Summary

The concept of sign, a portent observed in the physical world, which indicates future events, is found in all ancient cultures, but was first developed in ancient Mesopotamian texts. This branch of Babylonian scientific knowledge extensively influenced other parts of the world, and similar texts written in Aramaic, Sanscrit, Sogdian, and other languages. The seminar will investigate how much do we know about the Babylonian theory and hermeneutics of omens, and the scope of their possible influences on other cultures and regions.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. vii
Introduction
On the Beginnings and Continuities of Omen Sciences in the Ancient World	p. 1
Theories Of Divination and Signs
"If P, then Q": Form and Reasoning in Babylonian Divination	p. 19
Greek Philosophy and Signs	p. 29
Three Strikes and You're Out! A View on Cognitive Theory and the First-Millennium Extispicy Ritual	p. 43
Arousing Images: The Poetry of Divination and the Divination of Poetry	p. 61
The Theory of Knowledge and the Practice of Celestial Divination	p. 77
Hermeneutics of Sign Interpretation
Reading the Tablet, the Exta, and the Body: The Hermeneutics of Cuneiform Signs in Babylonian and Assyrian Text Commentaries and Divinatory Texts	p. 93
"Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign": Script, Power, and Interpretation in the Ancient Near East	p. 143
The Calculation of the Stipulated Term in Extispicy	p. 163
The Divine Presence and Its Interpretation in Early Mesopotamian Divination	p. 177
Physiognomy in Ancient Mesopotamia and Beyond: From Practice to Handbook	p. 199
History of Sign Interpretation
On Seeing and Believing: Liver Divination and the Era of Warring States (II)	p. 225
Divination and Oracles at the Neo-Assyrian Palace: The Importance of Signs in Royal Ideology	p. 267
Prophecy as a Form of Divination; Divination as a Form of Prophecy	p. 277
Traces of the Omen Series ¿umma izbu in Cicero, De divinatione	p. 317
Response
Prophecy and Omen Divination: Two Sides of the Same Coin	p. 341
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