Monday, June 22, 2026 · 天火 · tianmu.org
Omens and Scholarly Texts
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Texts
A Dream Omen TabletA Late Babylonian dream omen tablet from the Ziqīqu tradition — if you see a star, a planet, a temple, a body. The dream reads your future.A Tamitu to Shamash and AdadA divination oracle-query from first-millennium Babylonia, posing yes-or-no questions to the gods of extispicy on behalf of a field guard — whether the enemy will attack during his watch.Prayer to the Gods of the NightAn Old Babylonian ritual prayer addressed to the stars and nocturnal deities before extispicy. The great gods have retired to heaven; the diviner turns to the celestial ones who remain. Translated from Akkadian by the Good Works Library.The Babylonian AlmanacA Neo-Babylonian daily almanac prescribing what is favorable and forbidden on each day of months Ayyaru and Simānu.The Birth OmensTablet 1 of Šumma Izbu — the great Mesopotamian teratological omen series. One hundred and thirty omens reading anomalous births as divine signs, from animals and demons to conjoined twins and the walking, bearded tigrīlu.The Diviner's ManualA Neo-Babylonian professional manual for the diviner — the meta-text describing how to read the signs of heaven and earth. From K.8801, Library of Ashurbanipal, Nineveh.The Exorcist's LibraryThe complete catalogue of incantation series that a Mesopotamian exorcist was required to master, attributed to the legendary sage Esagil-kīn-apli. A Good Works Translation from Akkadian cuneiform.The Journey DreamsTablet 9 of the Ziqiqu — Mesopotamian dream omens about journeying to heaven, the Land of No Return, Egypt, Hatti, and the houses of gardeners, brewers, sailors, and farmers.The Omens of the EyesTablet 7 of the Sakikkû diagnostic series — a systematic Babylonian medical manual examining the eyes of the sick, from the Library of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh.The Prayer of the Arrow StarA complete Neo-Babylonian offertory prayer to Ninurta, the warrior god whose celestial manifestation is Sirius. Recited by a diviner at the heliacal rising of the Arrow Star before performing extispicy. From K.128, Kuyunjik collection.The Prayer to DilbatA Neo-Babylonian astral prayer to Venus — the star Dilbat — as Ishtar, invoking her cosmic radiance from sunrise to sunset, then petitioning her to judge a property dispute. The first text in the archive's astral prayer genre.The River OmensTablet 61 of the great Mesopotamian terrestrial omen series Šumma Ālu — 167 omens read from the river's color, flood timing, surface phenomena, aquatic creatures, and what appears in the city's ditches.The Three Stars EachA Babylonian star catalog from the Library of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh — the three divine paths of the heavens mapped to twelve months. The oldest systematic astronomy.