CUNEIFORM TEXTS FROM

BABYLONIAN TABLETS, &C., IN THE

BRITISH MUSEUM.

P A R T X X V I I .

(50 Plates.)

PRINTED BY ORDER O F THE TRUSTEES.

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HARRISON AND SONS,

PRIN'I'ERS [N ORDINARY T O HIS LATE MAJESTY

Part XXVII of " Cuneiform Texts from Babylonian Tablets, etc." contains texts from fifty-nine tablets and fragments from the Kouyunjil\: Collections. The texts are augural in character, and are copied from tablets made by order of Ashur-bani-pal, King of Assyria from B.C. 668 to B.C. 626, for the Royal Library at Nineveh.

Augury plays an important part in Babylonian and Assyrian religion, and a large and organized body of the priesthood concerned itself with the interpretation of signs and portents, as foretellers of the course of future events. Almost every event of daily life had its significance to the trained expert, and it is natural that special importance should have been attached to any unusual phenomena attending both human and animal births. The texts published in this Part are portions of a large series of tablets on which the forecasts or onlens connected with birth have been collected and classified by the Babylonian and Assyrian priests.

In early days an augur, when consulted as to a portent that had taken place, had, doubtless, to decide its meaning without reference to precedent ; but, in course

of time, all extraordinary occurrences, and the results said to have followed them, were written down. Thus, the successful practitioner was obliged to undergo a prolonged study of the augural literature before he was in a position to pronounce on the significance of any particular event. T h e principal remains of this class of Babylonian literature that have come down to us occur on a large number of tablets from the Royal Library a t Nineveh, of which several of the finest and best written texts are here published. I t may be noted that while many of the birth portents enumerate abnormalities, which are of not infrequent occurrence in nature, others are of such a monstrous and impossible character that they may reasonably be regarded as referring to events in dreams, rather than to occurrences which might

be expected to take place in everyday life.

The copies have been made by Mr. P. S. P. Handcock, B.A., and revised and 'corrected by Mr. L. W. King, M.A., F.S.A., Assistants in the Department.

E. A. W A L L I S BUDGE.

D E S C R I P T I O N P L A T E S .

Many of the tablets belonging to this series can be arranged in order of sequence, either by means of their catch-lines, or by the scribe's notification of the number in the series to which the tablet in question belongs ; in the case of others, which are without number or catch-line, it is sometimes possible to determine their position in the series by comparison with those whose place is already fixed. Many of the texts belonging to this series, while admitting of a general classification, are found to contain only extracts from one or more tablets. Often a note is appended stating the number of lines taken from the composition. In two or three cases the tablet is of the small oblong type, characteristic of those containing astrological reports. There are yet other tablets, and fragments of tablets, the contents of which, while apparently dealing with the same class of portents, do not present a sufficient degree of similarity with any already classified to justify our assigning them to any particular place in the series. I t should be noted that, in the following plates, some of these tablets are, for the purpose of comparison, classified with the numbered tablets of the series and their duplicates. I t is clear, from the extraordinary character of some of the births which form the subject of portents, that they are to be understood as relating to dreams rather than to actual occurrences.

PLATE.

TABLETS I AND 11, Extracts from, etc.-KK. 258, 3672, 3688, 3939, 4005 : K. 3939, Obv., 11. 2-16, are duplicate of K. 258, Obv., 11. 22-37 ; with K. 3939, Rev., 11. 4-24, cf. K. 2945 + IC. 12553, Obv., 11. 2-26 ; with K. 3688, Obv., 11.6 K, cf. K. 3672, 11. I ff. ; K. 4005, 11. 6 K, are duplicate of K. 3688, Rev., 11. I E ; K. 3793, Obv., 11. I ff., are duplicate of K. 3939, Obv., 11. 14 ff. KK. 2945 + 12553, 3947, 7093, 8294, 11860, Sm. 1023, 7 9 - 7 4 109: The catch-lines of K. 7093 and K. 258 correspond to K. 131, Obv., 1. I ; with K. 3947, cf. Sm. I023 ; with K. 2945, Obv., 11. 28 K, cf; 7 9 - 7 4 109, Obv., 11. 14 K Omens derived from births of children with the heads of a lion, dog, pig, serpent, etc., and

... ... a.. ... from the births of twins, etc .... ... ... ... 1-15 TABLETS I11 AND IV, (i) Extracts from.-K. 2007, Obv., 11. I K, are duplicate of

K. 131, Obv., 11. I ff, ; with the catch-lines of K. zoo7 and K. 8806, c$ K. 8265, Obv., K. 8266, Obv., I

PLATE

TABLET VII1.-Sm. I532 and Sm. 1900 possibly give part of the text of the eighth ... tablet. Omens derived from births of children with two heads, etc. ... 30, 31

TABLET, X, ETC. KK. 3865,8763,95 17.-The colophon-line of K. 95 17 corresponds to K. 3998, Obv., 1. I. Omens derived from births of children with one eye; from various peculiarities respecting their heads, nails, feet, etc. ; also from the birth of a foal with the tail of a dog, etc. ... ... ... ... . . , ... ... 31,32

TABLET XI, ETC. KK. 216, 3998, 4048, 6658.-I

*TT read *+ {*TT ; 1. 18, the traces at the beginning are to be restored ET (TG 1 E+ ~777 '4 ; 1. 23, for -:TrlT read *:TyyT ; 1. 25, for 7 A? TT TT *+ read 7 {TT 7: -+, seventy-two lines. P1. I I, for " Obverse " read " Reverse," and for " Reverse " read " Obverse " ; Obv., 1. g, for E$ g&$ < +?;l? .-=A\ read E$ &G *g:, i.e., *[

I N D E X T O R E G I S T R A T I O N N U M B E R S .

Registration Number .

... K . 53 ... S.. S..

... . K 131 ... ... ...

... K.209 ... ... ...

... . K 216 ... ... ...

... K . 258 ... ... ...

... K . 749 ... S.. S..

... K . 2007 ... ... ... ... K . 2945 + K . 52553 ...

... K . 3166 ... ... ...

... K . 3171 ... ... ...

... . K 3669 ... ... ...

... K . 3672 ... ... ...

Plate . 46 I 6

251 26

33, 34

14, I5

4 5

I71 18

9. 10

44

47. 48

50 8

Registration Number .

K . 4071 ... ... K . 4108 ... ... K . 4115 ... ... K . 4126 ... ... K . 4129 + K . 7046 K . 4132 ... ... K . 6658 + Rm . 236 K . 7093 ... ...

... . K 7229 ... K . 8265 ... ... K . 8266 ... ... K . 8294 ... ...

Plate . a.. ... 45 ... ...a 43 ... ... 43 ... ... 39 ... ... 45 S.. . S . 19 a.. ... 35 ... ... 8 S.. ... ... ... 43x 23 ... ... 2 0 S . . S.. 7

The inscription on the edge at 8.

(ln this copy the outline , e t c . . could not be correctly represerrted .)

Reuerse.

Bu. 71 - 5 - q , 846. Bu. ql-S- q , l q 0 .

0 % ~ . Y &T q+ Go' obv.n& w p4 - 4 ~ E- aw $7'- WP-W~FI

OMENS FROM BIRTHS.

K. 3939,

OBVERSE,

PLATE 2.

OBV. (CONT.).

OMENS FROM BIRTHS,

K. 3939.

REVERSE.

PLATE 3.

OMENS FROM BIRTHS.

K. 3939,

REVERSE (CONT.).

PLATE 4.

OMENS FROM' BIRTHS.

PLATE 5.

OMENS FROM BIRTHS.

K. 3688,

OBVERSE.

PLATE 6.

OMENS FROM BIRTHS. K. 3688,

REVERSE.

PLATE 7.

OMENS FROM BIRTHS.

K. 11860.

K. E793, OBVERSE.

K. 8294, OBVERSE.

PLATE 8.

OMENS FROM BIRTHS.

1. The insertion on the left edge probubGy ufterwards deleted by the scribe.

PLATE Q.

OMENS FROM BIRTHS.

K. 2946, OBVERSE. 0 d'

- F z 8 .d

>' m 0

3- Q, CV

Y

PLATE 10.

OMENS FROM BIRTHS.

K. 2945, REVERSE.

P-- ml%---<

Wn'tten wer an erasure.

PLATE 11.

OMENS FROM BIRTHS.

' V )

PLATE 12.

OMENS FROM BIRTHS.

K. 3947, OBVERSE.

K. 3947, REVERSE.

PLATE 13.

OMENS FROM BIRTHS.

79, 7-8, 108, OBVERSE.

PLATE 14.

OMENS FROM BIRTHS.

K. 258, OBVERSE.

1. Lipre erased by the scri6c,

PLATE 16.

OMENS FROM BIRTHS.

K. 258, REVERSE.

PLATE 16.

OMENS FROM BIRTHS.

K. 131, OBVERSE.

@ E * Mq4q'WRFM m *H* ?B.N-T F+-

K. 181, REVERSE.

PLATE 17,

OMENS FROM BIRTHS.

K. 2007, OBVERSE.

3 erased dy the scribe.

OMENS FROM BIRTHS.

K. 2007.

REVERSE.

2

PLATE 18.

PLATE 19.

OMENS FROM BIRTHS.

K. 4132, OBVERSE.

10 0 L n F

PLATE 20.

OMENS FROM BIRTHS.

REVERSE.

K. 8266.

OBVERSE.

PLATE 21.

OMENS FROM BIRTHS.

PLATE 22.

OMENS FROM BIRTHS.

PLATE 23.

OMENS FROM BIRTHS.

K. 8265.

PLATE 24.

OMENS FROM BIRTHS.

PLATE 25.

OMENS FROM BIRTHS.

K. 209, OBVERSE.

PLATE 26.

OMENS FROM BIRTHS.

K. 209. REVERSE.

PLATE 27.

OMENS FROM BIRTHS.

K. 8977, OBVERSE.

OMENS FROM BIRTHS.

K. 3977, REVERSE.

83, 1-18, 234, OBVERSE. . .

. . . . . ' .

PLATE 29.

OMENS FROM BIRTHS.

K. 3734 + K. 4002.

OBVERSE.

PLATE 30.

OMENS FROM BIRTHS.

K. 3734 + K. 4002. REVERSE.

Sm. 1632.

*, .:...... . ..:.: : ;. . .'.'..'. ' ' .... . .. ':' ..,/.. [BROKEN SURFACE.] .... _..

PLATE 31.

OMENS FROM BIRTHS.

K. 9517, REVERSE.

PLATE 32.

OMENS FROM BIRTHS.

PLATE 88,

OMENS FROM BIRTHS.

PLATE 34.

OMENS FROM BIRTHS.

PLATE

OMENS FROM BIRTHS.

K. 6668 + Rm. 288,

[BROKEN SURFACE.]

PLATE 36.

OMENS FRQM BIRTHS.

K. 4048, OBVERSE.

-. .-. . .. .. .:.. . .::.:. [BROKEN SURFACE.] . ..C.:.:.. .... 4-

.:?&v. v+. . .

PLATE 37.

OMENS FROM BIRTHS.

K. 3098, OBVERSE.

OMENS FROM BIRTHS.

K. 3098, REVERSE.

eq* +T6Phq&; [BROKEN SURFACE.] Pfq* m+:;;>.,

PLATE 89.

.OMENS FROM BIRTHS.

PLATE 40.

OMENS FROM BIRTHS.

K. 3607 + K. 4l24. OBVERSE, K. 10244.

K. 3607 + K. 4124. REVERSE.

PLATE 41.

OMENS FROM BIRTHS.

K. 3867 += K. 4065.

OBVERSE.

PLATE

OMENS FROM BIRTHS.

K. 8867 + K. 4065. REVERSE.

PLATE

OMENS FROM BIRTHS.

K. 4108, REVERSE. K. 4108, OBVERSE.

82, 3-23, 138, REVERSE.

PLATE 44.

OMENS FROM BIRTHS.

PLATE 45.

OMENS FROM BIRTHS.

PLATE 46.

OMENS FROM BIRTHS.

K. 55, OBVERSE.

2*mp-4 m@ -&WRF--- v+

g $wf+- *m+ m@ fl-fi*p 9.-

Wm-6

b -

K. 53, REVERSE.

F-5Jq-T**+ m -23 -4 P--

PLATE 48.

OMENS FROM BIRTHS.

K. 3171, REVERSE.

v - f W ~ B ~ @ ~ F b X v $ - ~ h- ~ ~ b + F 6 w r % W- 'h- *Wrdw@K%fi&FP$@ - H Q* FYImTW~~ %WrTF@ 6i% R

PLATE 49,

OMENS FROM BIRTHS.

K. 12609.

[BROKEN SURFACE.]

P

PLATE 80.

OMENS FROM BIRTHS.

K. 8689.

OBVERSE.

K. 5669.

REVERSE.

Rm. 2.181.

OBVERSE.

Rm. 2.181.

REVERSE.

Electronic publication prepared by

Kelvin Smith LibraryCase Western Reserve University

Cleveland, Ohio

for

ETANA Core Texts http://www.etana.org/coretexts.shtml

http://library.case.edu/http://www.etana.org/coretexts.shtml

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