The 'Increment' and the 'Yoke' (ṣibtu and nīru)

The identification of the 'increment' (ṣibtu, logogram MÁŠ) and the 'yoke' (ni-ri)[[159]] with the papillary process and the omasal impression, respectively, is now practically certain. They are clearly marked on the "orientation" liver and are the last in the canonical order of parts of the liver to be examined.[[160]]

In OB and MB reports, as well as in those of the Sargonid period, the 'increment' is commonly said to be normal (šalmu), with both masculine and feminine stative forms attested,[[161]] whereas in the OB and MB reports we also find the description (w)aṣbat "enlarged."[[162]] In extispicy reports from Mari we find the protasis "the 'increment' is a magšaru-ax,''[[163]] with a favorable apodosis, which is explained as follows in the late commentary series ariktu = kāšittu:

"Magšaru predicts strength. If there is a 'weapon' on the right side of the gall bladder and it points downward, it is a weapon of power (magšaru), a weapon of Šamaš" (CT 20 39:20).

The Mari protasis seem to correspond in the Sargonid reports and queries to the protasis "(there is) a 'weapon '-mark of the 'increment' (which) rises (from right) to left," likewise with a favorable apodosis.[[164]]

It should be noted that while the identification of the 'yoke' with the omasal impression appears to be certain, the former may have covered an area larger than the latter does in modern anatomy; see Biggs, RA 63 (1969) 166. For the part,of the 'yoke' known as its "narrow part" (qutun nīri), possibly an area to the right of the lesser omentum, see ibid. pp. 163 and 166.[[165]]

With the 'increment' and the 'yoke,' the inspection of the liver comes to an end. However, before it proceeds to the lungs and their parts, an obscure pair known as the "upper and lower parts,'' not yet identified anatomically, is commonly noted. The most common omens associated with this pair, attested from the MB period on,[[166]] are elītum/saplītum illik "the upper/lower part is elevated," the former of which was interpreted as favorable, the latter as unfavorable.[[167]] Some other protases concerning this pair are also worthy of note:

"The upper part is elevated: the lower part is bent toward the upper part," JCS 37 149:30;
"the upper part and the lower part are in equilibrium," no. 296:9f;
"the upper part and the lower part are intermixed," JCS 37 146 no.16:6, cf. no. 41 r.11 of the present corpus.

Note also the protasis "the upper part crosses the surface of the right lung," attested in several omen texts[[168]] and in nos. 51:8, 301:5, 310:6 and 317:11 of the present corpus.



159 The 'yoke' is always written syllabically (ni-ri) in the queries and reports, and usually even in omen texts of the first millennium at large, where logographic writing is common practice. The attested logograms are DUN4 and AL.TE/TI. For the Identification of these logograms with nīru see Denner WZKM 41 (1934) 188 n. 3. According to Nougayrol (RA 44 [1950] 13 n.3) AL.TE evolved from DUN4, but see Biggs RA 63 (1969) 163 n. 4. DUN4 should not be confused with DÙN = takāltu "pouch," another part of the liver occurring in nos. 5:2, 281:4 and 285:7 of the present corpus.

160 For a discussion of the two, see Starr Rituals, p. 91.

161 E.g. ṣibtum šalim JCS 21 220 A:18, and nos. 73:7, 139 r.18, 317:9, 323:6, etc., of the present corpus; ṣibtum šalmat JCS 11 100 no. 11:16, 31 and 101 no. 12:5, 16, 28.

162 E.g. JCS 21 231 N:16, 27'; JCS 37 133:20; JCS 11 no. 3:8.

163 ṣibtu magšar/magšarat, e.g, JCS 21 227f M:17, 28.

164 See no. 43 r.13, 282:5, 288:2, 296:8, and cf. KAR 423 iii 1 and Starr Rituals p. 129, appendix B. OB texts dealing with the 'increment' are YOS 10 35 and its duplicates AO 7029 (R A 40 81f) and AO 7033 (ibid. 85).

165 For OB omens derived from the nīru see RA 44 12f and YOS 10 42 iii 50-iv 52.

166 See JCS 37 p. 183. It may, however, have occured already in an OB report, cf. YOS 10 10:1, eliātum rapašma.

167 For a discussion of this pair, see Starr, EANE (1977), p. 205 and Rituals, p. 111f.

168 CT 20 15:38 and 30 46:15; TCL 6 5:40; KAR 423 r.ii 39ff; VAB 4 268:31 and 288:33 (= Starr Rituals p. 127ff, appendix B).

Ivan Starr

Ivan Starr, 'The 'Increment' and the 'Yoke' (ṣibtu and nīru)', 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/theliveranditsparts/theincrementandtheyoke/]

 
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