Conclusions and further considerations
IV. I NTER - OMEN ASSOCIATIONS : THE CLASSIFICATION OF META- META-PHORIC CORRELATIONS
āmiru immaršēmû išme Those who can see, will see Those who can hear, will hear The simplest thematic principles and patterns of arranging omen entries one behind the other based on the protases (which actually can be seen with half an eye, such as the direction from head to toe, succession of colours, binary oppositions, etc.) are, as we have already said, well known and several researchers have dealt with the expansion of the variations of the different phenomena (multiplication of various limbs, of number of births, etc.)often into the realm of the evidently impossibleas a systematic editing technique.440 Therefore the latter type of metaphoric relationship, based largely on the simple code, although played an essential role in omen generation or invention, will not be treated here in detailone should rather consult the brilliant and detailed mono-graphs of David Brown (on EAE) and of Abraham Winitzer (on Old-Babylonian liver omens),441 respectively. At the same time, however, little attention has been paid to the fact that many of the above sketched associative methods, especially those largely de-pendent on the written code, may involve, as we have already seen in the case of the Assyrian insertions in Tablet V, the sequential order of the entries in smaller or larger structural units as well. In fact, upon briefly touching this topic both Abraham Winitzer and Nicla de Zorzi stated that this specific phenomenon, although it can be detected at times, is rare, as compared to the “(more) standard procedures,”442 and at best it can be traced in case of nuclear units, consisting of two or three entries.443 Thus far these schol-ars had only been detected one longer, and as such exceptional textual unit which was evidently generated on written (paronomastic) groundsthis passage, labelled as an
“emblematic example,”444 which, however, can and should be complemented in many respects, will be discussed below in detail.
440 See already Jastrow 1914 mainly: 7–8, 13–28; and Leichty 1970: 24–25; and recently de Zorzi 2011:
46‒52 (all on Šumma izbu omens).
441 Winitzer 2006 and recently Winitzer 2017.
442 Winitzer 2006: 607, and Winitzer 2017: 439. Of course, one should not forget that this conclusion was drawn from the Old Babylonian material.
443 Cf. the examples cited in de Zorzi 2011: 69; and de Zorzi 2014: 194‒196; as well as in Winitzer 2006: 605‒620, and recently Winitzer 2017:438‒449..
444 de Zorzi 2011: 71.
At the same time, we could already see that beyond the simple, that is, simple code-based omen pairs or triplets observed thus far, all of the metaphoric or vertical correla-tions detected at the section borders in Tablet V were, on the one hand, “based on a written text, and (were) distinct from traditional or common associations, and those based on generally accepted theology,”445 that is, most of them belonged to the ṣâtu-type. On the other hand, vertical correlations based on homophony (paronomasia) also played some role, so one might say that by now we have revealed such vertical correla-tions which can be heard by anyone when reading the Akkadian text aloud, beyond the ones which could only been seen by the experts of the discipline and by those who were familiar with the related lexical materialthat is, who were “blind” upon entering to the edubba, but “left it seeing.”446
It is not at all incidental that we are talking about “seeing” and “hearing.” Although at this point it may regrettably seem a bit subjective, I have always had a strong impression that the initial lines of SAG ITI NU TIL.LA can in fact allude to these ideas. This initial section, consisting of four entries (which will be analyzed in detail below), is not engaged in anything which can be born from women, but rather, it involves fetuses in utero cry-ing in various ways. Of course, at first sight this mere impossible phenomenon (although see Excursus 1 on the question of its actuality) may seem absurd both to specialists and laymen, a revealable telesticon may explain the very existence of these opening lines‒
which may have contained a specific introductory message. The latter becomes even more detectable if we take a closer look on the version of a Neo-Assyrian extract (nishu).
All at once, we should note that this initial unit was preserved only in Babylonian man-uscripts, and we have but one extract tablet (nishu) from Nineveh:447
Manuscripts related to Tablet I 1–4:
A = W 23272 (SpTU 3, 91), from Uruk, see Fig. 19.
C = BM 54038 (TCS 4, 31‒44 e), from Borsippa D = MS 1808 (CUSAS 18, 35), Babylonian
Ex.1 = K 258 (CT 27, 14‒15) + K 3793 (CT 27, 7) + K 19305 (edited in TCS 4, 31‒45), Nineveh,
see Fig. 18.
445 That is how D. Brown defined his “learned” associations, see Brown 2000: 77.
446 According to the already quoted Sumerian riddle, see Civil 1987: 19‒20, with note XXX of the pre-sent study.
447 Here again, for the shake of clarity we use the sigla of the recent edition, see de Zorzi 2014: 338.
On the last tablet, which omits the second and the third omens, lines 1 and 4 appear directly behind each other. If we too place them likewise, dimidiating them to protases and apodoses, the text will read as follows:
1.
A.1 BE SAL a-rat-ma šà ŠÀ-šà ÉR (A.IGI) KUR NÍG.GIG IGI-[mar]
C.1 BE SAL a-rat-ma šá ŠÀ-šá i-bak-ki KUR NÍG.GIG IGI-mar
D.1 BE SAL a-rat-ma ša ŠÀ-ša i-bak-ki KUR NÍG.GIG [IGI-mar]
Ex.1.1 BE SAL a-rat-ma šà ŠÀ-[šà i-bak / A.IGI-k]i KUR.BI NIG.GIG IGI-mar
šumma sinništu arâtma ša libbīša ibakki mātu marušta immar If a woman is pregnant with child, and her foetus (lit.: interior) cries, The land will experience “taboo”.448
4.449
A.4 BE SAL a-rat-ma šà ŠÀ-šà is-si-ma še-mu-ú iš-mi KÚR dan-nu ZI-ma KUR ú-šal-pat
C.4 BE SAL a-rat-ma šá ŠÀ-šá is-si-ma še-mu-ú iš-mi KÚR KALAG.GA ZI-ma KUR ú-šal-pat
D.4 BE SAL a-rat-ma ša ŠÀ-ša is-si-ma še-mu-ú iš-mi KÚR KALAG.GA ZI-ma KUR ú-šal-pat
Ex.1.2 BE SAL a-rat-ma šà ŠÀ-šà is-si-ma še-mu-ú iš-mi KÚR KALAG.GA ZI-ma KUR ú-šal-pat
šumma sinništu arâtma ša libbiša issima šēmû išme nakru dannu itebbima māta ušalpat If a woman is pregnant with child, and her foetus (lit.: interior) cries out and who can hear, hears it, a strong enemy will rise and destroy the land.
448 The translation as “catastrophe” proposed by E. Leichty (Leichty 1970: 32) and followed by N. de Zorzi (“sventura”, see de Zorzi 2014: 343), is not exactly precise here. The apodosis refers to the conse-quences, that is, the punishment of the transgression of a taboo, thus instead of paraphrasing, the trans-lation remains literal for the sake of simplicity. On the general concept of taboo see (among others): Doug-las 1969; and for a brief summary: Buckser 1997. As for the Mesopotamian taboo concept (and on the expression NÍG.GIG / ikkibu, “taboo”) see van der Toorn 1983: esp. 43; Hallo 1985: esp. 29–33; Geller 1990; Cohen 2002: 25‒27; Geller 2012; and most recently Böck 2012 (esp. pp. 305‒311).
449 Since the associative reference in the case of the fourth omen, discussed further below, involves only the protasis, the lengthy enumeration of the apodosis will not be requoted in here.
Fig 18. Obverse of the Neo-Assyrian excerpt tablet Ex.1 = K 258 (CT 27, 14‒15) + K 3793 (CT 27, 7) + K 19305
Let us start at the end, that is, with the key expression of the second protasis! This figura etymologica formed from the verb šemû (“hear”) is a relatively rare expression, which is limited to the corpus of the Neo-Assyrian oracular queries and omen collec-tions, respectively, so it seems to belong to the professional terminology of divination.
Although it was supposed that the formula “those who can hear will hear” would be a reference to certain phenomena which can only be revealed by expert observers,450 the opposite interpretation can also be true, which is supported by the variant of this ex-pression which contains mātu išme (“the land hears”).451 Be there as it may, it is clear that the general meaning of the phrase “those who can hear, (will) hear” involves under-standing. In the oracular queries this is supplemented with a parallel phrase, as follows:
450 Schott 1938: esp. 293.
451 Biggs 1967: 120:2, see note 104.
āmiru immaršēmû išme (those/he who (can) see, those/he who (can) hear). This expression, though not belonging to the obligatory formula of such texts,452 can be read at several places (mostly in the following form: IGI(-ru/ri) IGI(-mar) še-mu-ú iš-me), and typically as a question: “Will he who can see, see it, (and) he who can hear, hear it?”453
In the light of the above it seems anything but a coincidence that the text variant orig-inating from Uruk use the compound logogram ÉR, consisting of the signs A.IGI for the visualization of bakû. It is rather unfortunate that the Neo-Assyrian excerpt tablet is broken at this very part (see Fig 18), only the end of the sign KI can be traced at the end of the protasis. However, one should seriously consider that the latter could have been a phonetic complement to a logographic form, especially in light that the Uruk manu-script contains the same, and rather unique sequence šà ŠÀ-šà as the Assyrian text, so it seemingly follows the latter’s tradition.
To sum up, considering the logographic forms and the specific Akkadian expression the following correlation takes shape in a telostic form:
1. IGI
2. IGI-mar
4. šēmû išme
Assuming that we are dealing with the conscious use of signs and words for such pur-poses, a newer intertextual reference can be registered, since this phrase clearly recalls the wording of the oracle queriesthe only question which remains is how to interpret it in this very context and what should be regarded as its subject, that is, what should or could be seen and heard? At this early stage of the underlying analysis we can only spec-ulate, but in any case it may not be incidental that, as we will see, the word NÍG.GIG (ikkibu), i.e. “taboo” is another key expression of the first entry. As for “taboo” in Neo-Assyrian scholarly context, it is well-known that several texts are known which are de-fined by the colophon as the „taboo of gods.” These texts kept the secrets of “privileged”
knowledge only approachable by the experts, the insidersthat is, such secrets which could only be seen and understood by certain, worthy persons.454 Thus, it cannot be excluded that the allusion hidden behind the opening lines conveys a message similar to that of the mentioned colophonsthe correlations of this text will only be seen and
452 For more on the terminology see: Starr 1990: 14–28, and on the expression in question, which may appear among the closing formulas of the actual request (but with optional use), see: cited work: 20.
453 For example: SAA 4 3 (Obv. 9), 5 (Obv. 9), 7 (Obv. 7), 14 (Obv. 13), 18 (Obv. 13).
454 For more on such layers of meaning for ikkibu see: Lenzi 2008: mainly 157–160.
heard by those who master the art of divination. Well, at first this may seem rather disquieting for us who have just entered to the “advanced level,” however, as the follow-ing analysis will reveal, the structure of our textual unit indeed based on associations which involve “seeing” and “hearing,” and once they will be detected, they will reveal a coherent, and thus well explainable system, so the end will try all.