Aside from the parts whose locations were considered "fixed," the exta was filled with numerous fortuitous markings, such as holes, fissures, abrasions and sundry configurations bearing descriptive names such as 'weapon'-marks, 'foot'-marks, 'request'-marks, cross-shaped marks, etc., whose names, as noted above, were often derived from their distinctive appearance. Because of their ominous import, the presence and appearance of these markings was noted with great care. In fact, a not inconsiderable part of the extispicy literature is devoted to the presence of such markings either within the "fixed" parts of the exta, or within other markings.
Some of the latter are enumerated as follows in the explanatory text multābiltu, chapter 10 of the extispicy corpus:
This list does not exhaust the number of such markings known to us. It is a convenient starting point, however, for a discussion of the fortuitous markings on the exta. We will consider them, with the exception of the rare kaksû and the difficult niphu, in the order in which they appear in this list.
This is one of the most ubiquitous markings on the exta. It can appear anywhere on the latter, either alone, or quite often in conjunction with other fortuitous markings. For the presence of 'weapon'-marks in various parts of the liver see, for example, CT 31 19:13ff, where it is said to be present in the top/middle/base of the left side of the 'station'; above the right/middle/[left] of the 'path' (ibid. 2 5ff); and in the top/middle/base of the right surface of the 'finger' (rev. 11ff).[[204]] Of particular importance was the so-called "weapon- mark on the right" (kak imitti), to which numerous omen texts and fragments of the first and second millennium are devoted.[[205]] It may have derived its name from its location to the right of the gall bladder.[[206]]
For a kak imitti in the gall bladder and cystic duct, see YOS 10 46 i 1ff.; in other parts of the liver, ibid. ii 3Off and iii. Its normal shape appears to have been that of an arrow-head,[[207]] and it is quite often said to lie parallel to or in succession with one or more other 'weapon'-marks (usually two or three).[[208]] Thus we find the kak imitti side by side with the less common "weapon-mark on the left," in a similar context, in CT 30 38 (K 7269):2ff, "the 'weapon' marks on the right/left are two, and they are placed parallel to/in succession with each other."[[209]] No drawings are preserved in the extant part of this tablet.
Certain combinations of 'weapon'-marks bear special names, such as perniqqu, which is described as "two embracing 'weapon'-marks."[[210]] They are occasionally attested in the queries (7 r.9 and 64 r.14). Another type of 'weapon'-mark is kakku āridu, although the meaning of āridu is uncertain.[[211]] The 'weapon'-mark is also known by other names, favorable and unfavorable, e.g., "weapon of assistance" (kak rīṣi),[[212]] "weapon of sorrow" (kak lumun libbi),[[213]] "weapon of well-being" (kak šulmi), etc.
The 'foot'-mark (logogram GÌR)[[214]] clearly got its name from its shape; see KBo 7 7 for a drawing of a 'foot'-mark on a liver model. In the OB and MB omen texts and extispicy reports, the 'foot'-mark is attested both in the liver and the lungs.[[215]] The omens in the reports describing the presence of 'foot' marks in the liver commonly, if not exclusively, pertain to the gall bladder.[[216]]
The 'hole' or 'perforation' (šīlu, logogram BÙR) is another of the most ubiquitous of all fortuitous marks on the exta. On its ominous significance, see in detail Starr Rituals pp. 86f, 99f. In general, the presence of a 'hole' in the exta was an unfavorable omen, the severity of the prediction depending on whether a 'hole' merely was present (nadi, šakin) or went all the way through (ipluš) the organ examined. The latter case, not attested in the present corpus, invariably portended death.
Both omen texts and extispicy reports from all periods ab ound in examples for the presence of fissures (piṭru, logo gram DU8) in the exta. See, for example, YOS 10 10:8f (OB extispicy report), "it (i.e. the liver) has a hole and a fissure in the left side." The absence of a fissure from the liver is noted in YOS 10 31 xiii 6ff, "if the liver rolls over, and has neither a fissure nor a 'gate,"' and in the late text TCL 6 1:21, "the liver has no 'increment' or left fissure." It is said to be absent from the trachea in YOS 10 36 iv 20, "the trachea has no fissure." For omens derived from fissures in the lungs, see YOS 10 36 iii 1ff. From the OB period on, a distinction was made between a right fissure and a left fissure, piṭir imitti/šumēli.[[217]] Of the two, the latter is the better attested one, especially in omen texts of the first millennium.[[218]]
Like all other fortuitous markings, a 'request'-mark (logogram KAM/KÁM, usually with the complement -tum)[[219]] can be found anywhere on the exta, but it is most commonly attested in the liver.[[220]]
Unlike some of the other fortuitous marks, we do not know the configuration of an erištu-mark (although one is depicted in KUB 4 72), nor does its name provide us with a clue to its appearance. Its name, "request, desire," does however, provide a paronomastic link or association with the verb erēšu and its derivatives in the apodoses.[[221]]
This marking was distinguished, apparently, by its cross-shaped appearance.[[222]] It seems to have occurred on the liver only. For attestations in first millennium omen texts, see for example K 3868 (unpub.) r.5, "the liver is filled with cross-shaped marks ([p]a-lu-ra-a-ti)," and TCL 6 1 r. 52f, "the right/left sides of the liver are filled with cross-shaped marks (BAR.MEŠ)." CT 44 37:1-9 deals with the presence of this marking in the 'palace of the finger,' either by itself or together with other marks, e.g.:
Occurrences in the 'path' are listed in the OB text YOS 10 18:4-8, mostly in a broken context, but see ibid. line 7, "in the right side of the 'path' there is a cross-shaped mark."
This marking (logogram KAR-tum) is associated with and derived from the verb ekēmu "to take away, absorb" so that its meaning depends, of course, on that of the latter.[[223]] The following examples illustrate the relationship between ekēmu and nēkemtu:
We learn something about the appearance of a nēkemtu from the following description:
"The front of the atrophied part," noted in nos. 288:3 and 330:5 of the present corpus, is also known from the MB reports, cf. "the right side of the 'finger' is atrophied, and the front of the atrophied part (IGI KAR-tim) is split," JCS 37 146:5.
This marking, usually written syllabically di-hu or zi-hu,[[225]] is mostly translated "blister" or "pustule," indicating some kind of abscess or growth on the exta, but CAD S 178f describes it as a "surface scarification ... normally depressed." We follow Biggs[[226]] in taking dihhu for a cyst.
A common characteristic of the dihhu is the presence of fluid in it, e.g. YOS 10 16:2, "in the top of the 'station' there is a cyst and its fluid is black"; CT 28 44 r.7, "there is a cyst in the top of the gall bladder and the fluid of the gall bladder intermingles with that of the cyst, and the fluid of the cyst with that of the gall bladder"; RA 27 149:21, "there is a cyst in the cystic duct which does not release fluid"; KAR 153 r.11, "[in the ... of the] middle 'finger' of the lung a very small cyst whose fluid is very moist is buried in the flesh." In the reverse case, i.e. whenever fluid is absent from the cyst, it is said to be empty, as in YOS 10 18 r.47, "in the ... 'path' there is a cyst, but it is empty."
The presence of fluid in the cyst is reflected in the apodoses, which speak of rains, floods, and the devastation resulting therefrom. This is the case even where fluid is not mentioned in the protases. Cf., for example, YOS 10 16:1, "if the 'station' has many cysts hanging, early rains [ ... ]," and KAR 1 53 r.13, "if in the area of the middle 'finger' of the lung there is a cyst, water will detain my army."
Another characteristic of the cyst, resulting from its predilection to hold fluid, is moistness or softness, cf. KAR 153 r.10, "[if in ... ] the middle 'finger' of the lung there is a moist cyst, there will be rain at the beginning of the month; on the fifteenth day it will rain abundantly."[[227]] The opposite condition is attested e.g. in TCL 6 2 r.8 1, "in the right/left side of the gall bladder there is a cyst and it is dry (ruššuk)."[[228]]
Cysts can display a variety of colors, see e.g. TCL 6 1 r.7-9, "the liver is filled with white/red/green cysts (di-hi)."[[229]]
204 For an OB example see YOS 10 15:1-22, where one and two 'weapon'-marks, respectively, are said to be in the 'station' (IGI.BAR). See also YOS 10 17:31ff, "in the top/middle/base of the 'station' two 'weapon'-marks face each other."
205 See YOS 10 43 and 46 (OB), further CT 30 33; CT 31 115; K 7073 + CT 30 37 (and its duplicate K 8297); K 9872; K 9910+; Rm 2,102; K 7222 (fragment), etc.
206 See Jeyes, JCS 30 (1978) 215.
207 See CT 31 15, CT 30 34 (79-7-8,110), etc. For drawings of this marking see also CT 31 9f, 14f, etc.
208 The terms used are erâ "parallel" (usually written i-ri-a) and redîš "in succession." For drawings of such groups of 'weapon'-marks, see CT 3 15 K 2092 (three redîš, two erâ), CT 31 9, CT 30 34 (79-7-8,110), etc. For drawings depicting deviations of these marks from their normal configurations, see CT 31 10, 12 and 14.
209 The two also occur together, in a different context, in Boissier DA 45:2ff, "the 'weapon'-marks on the right/left, as many as there are, either of the pān takālti or of the lungs ..." For kak šumēli in an OB omen text, see Starr Rituals 32:52.
210 2 kakkē nandurūti... perniqqē šumšunu, see Starr Rituals 129:14 and the parallels ibid. 132:12f and KAR 423 r.33f.
211 See the examples cited in the CAD s.v. āridu 267a.
212 See YOS 10 46 ii 33-44 (cf. CT 20 15:23) and queries no. 5 r.9 and 164 r.13.
213 See Starr Rituals 35:105 and Boissier DA 218 r.2ff.
214 In the OB period possibly also AŠ (YOS 10 44, passim), see Goetze YOS 10, p. 10 n. 69.
215 For OB omen texts where 'foot'-marks in the liver are extensively attested, see YOS 10 20:14ff and 26 iii 43ff. For 'foot'-marks in the lungs and their parts, see YOS 10 36 ii and iii and cf. Starr Rituals, p. 73.
216 E.g., a 'foot'-mark at the left of the gall bladder, JCS 11 91 8:10 and 92 6:7; 21 225 J:9 (OB); JCS 37 148:10, 14; 149:28 (MB). For similar protases in NA omen texts, see e.g. CT 30 2f, BE ina 150 ZÉ GÌR, etc. For 'foot'-marks in other parts of the liver (the 'finger' and the 'pouch'), see JCS 11 100 no. 11:29, "in the left of the 'pouch' (there is) a 'foot'-mark within a 'foot-mark"; cf. also ibid. 11 (a 'foot'-mark in the 'finger'). For 'foot'-marks in (the rear of) the lungs, see JCS 21 220 B:6 and cf. JCS 11 93 no. 9:12.
217 E.g., "the 'middle fınger' of the lung leaves its place and stands in the right/left fıssure (pi-ṭi-ir ⸢i-mi⸣-[it-ti]/šu-me-lim)," YOS 10 39 r.6ff; "there is a 'weapon'-mark in the left fissure and it faces the 'finger'," RA 27 142:21 (both OB); "there is a 'foot'-mark in the left side of the gall bladder and the right fissure and left fissure (DU8 15 u DUg 150) are present," CT 30 3:35; "there is a 'foot'-mark in the left side of the gall bladder, and the right fissure is present," ibid. 32 (NA).
217 E.g., "the 'middle finger' of the lung leaves its place and stands in the right/left fissure (pi-ṭi-ir ⸢i-mi⸣-[it-ti]/šu-me-lim)," YOS 10 39 r.6ff; "there is a 'weapon'-mark in the left fissure and it faces the 'finger'," RA 27 142:21 (both OB); "there is a 'foot'-mark in the left side of the gall bladder and the right fissure and left fissure (DU8 15 u DU8 150) are present," CT 30 3:35; "there is a 'foot'-mark in the left side of the gall bladder, and the right fissure is present," ibid. 32 (NA).
218 E.g. CT 20 43f 1-45 (where it is listed among the pitrustus). See also YOS 10 26 iii 15 (OB) šumma [i-na si]-pi i-mi-it-ti KA.É.GAL pi-iṭ-rum pa-ṭe4-er, "in the right 'doorjamb' of the umbilical fissure a fissure is split." (cf. also ibid. 17); see also KAR 150:2ff, all protases beginning BE-ma i-na šu-me-el ZÉ pi-iṭ-rum "there is a fissure in the left side of the gall bladder."
219 Occasionally NIN, as in Rm 2,103 i 9-12; TCL 6 2:7; 4:7; K 3868 r.1 (unpublished), BE a-mu-tum NIN.MEŠ DIRI-at, "the liver is filled with "request'-marks." For the identification of KAM with erištu, see Denner, WZKM 41 (1934) 215ff.
220 E.g., "there is a 'request'-mark (e-ri-iš-tum) within the 'gate of the palace,"' YOS 10 23 r.1ff; "there is a 'request'-mark [in] the...'path,'" ibid. 18:9-14; "in the top/middle/neck of the gall bladder there is a 'request'-mark," TCL 6 4; "(in) the top of the 'yoke' there is a 'request'-mark like a sprout," KAR 423 iii 7. Note further Ass. 4530 (= AfO 22 60ff, 'finger') and CT 20 41 vi 8-11.
221 See Starr Rituals, p. 10 and n. 50, for OB and other examples.
222 For išpallurtu "cross" (logogram BAR) and the variants pillurtu, pallurtu, see CAD I 253.
223 For the reading of the logogram see Nougayrol, RA 44 (1950) 9; for a discussion of the verb ekēmu, idem, JCS 21 (1969) 222 n. 26.
224 Cf. also "if the right/left side of the lung is atrophied ... and the inside of the atrophied part is dark," YOS 10 36 ii 10ff; "if the 'path' is atrophied (KAR) on the right and the atrophied part (KAR-tum) descends to the right and to the left," CT 20 29 r.11; "if in the top of the 'fınger' there is an atrophied part within an atrophied part," YOS 10 6:4.
225 The former is the fırst millennium spelling, the latter, the Old Babylonian. A semi-logographic spelling DI (derived from di-hu and not to be confused with DI = šulmu) is also attested, e.g. Ass 4530 (AfO 22 60ff), see Nougayrol, RA 63 (1969) 150ff. Note also the peculiar writing MI.IB.HI in RA 65 70ff, if Nougayrol's Identification with the dihhu is correct. For the various syllabic spellings, see Nougayrol, RA 44 (1950) 31.
226 RA 63 (1969) 163 n. 1.
227 See also RA 65 72:57f, 74 and CT 20 2 r.9.
228 Note also the OB omen YOS 10 18:52, "[in the ... of] the 'path' there is a dry (ru-šu-uk) cyst."
229 Cf. RA 65 72:59f, "there is a red/black cyst (MI.IB.HI) in the top of the intestines."
Ivan Starr
Ivan Starr, 'The Fortuitous Markings on the Exta', Queries to the Sungod: Divination and Politics in Sargonid Assyria, SAA 4. Original publication: Helsinki, Helsinki University Press, 1990; online contents: SAAo/SAA04 Project, a sub-project of MOCCI, 2020 [http://oracc.org/saao/saa04/otherpartsandfeaturesoftheexta/fortuitousmarkingsontheexta/]