Celestial omen Reports can contain the following elements:
The first of these elements, quotations from Enūma Anu Enlil, is present in almost all Reports. In principle, no other information is required, since the protasis of a celestial omen always implies an observation. There would seem to be no need to explicitly repeat what was observed. It is nevertheless frequently done, and often the actual observation is quite different from the protasis quoted from the omen series. Especially in cases where it is not immediately evident how the event described in the protasis would have appeared in the sky, explanations and a statement about what was actually observed are necessary. This introduction is not the place to discuss thoroughly the methods of interpretation applied by the scholars, especially since such a discussion cannot be based on the Reports alone but would have to include Enūma Anu Enlil itself. Instead, I will limit myself to a few remarks.
For example, in several passages the planet Saturn is considered equivalent with the sun, and also with the constellation of the Scales. This enables the Mesopotamian scholars to replace one by the other in the application of certain omens to a given observation. Examples can be found in nos. 39 and 547.[[14]] But Saturn and the Scales are not the only celestial bodies which can be interchanged. Any planet can theoretically be intended by omens speaking of constellations. Pertinent passages from different sources, including the Reports, were collected by C. Bezold in F. Boll, Antike Beobachtungen farbiger Sterne.[[15]] Boll found the explanation for these substitutions, which occur also in Greek astrological sources, in the colors attributed to planets as well as to fixed stars: if a planet had the same color as a fixed star, it could take the place of the other in the interpretation of omens.
There are many omens which speak of movements of fixed stars relative to each other in their protases. It is unclear what these protases may have originally meant. Similarly, stars are said to assume different colors. While these changes in color can in part be explained as atmospheric phenomena when the stars are observed near the horizon,[[16]] they too are not taken literally in the Reports. The scholars considered the names of constellations in such cases to be substitute names for planets, as explained above. In this way predictions could be derived from otherwise ununderstandable omens. It also increased the number of omens applicable to a given observation. So while the scholars used Enūma Anu Enlil as an authoritative source, they still tried to adapt it to their situation and to find new meanings in it. This endeavor is documented not only in the Reports, but also in annotated exemplars of Enūma Anu Enlil.[[17]]
Another explanation considers the "gaining of radiance" by fixed stars to mean that Venus stands next to these stars (nos. 51, 185, 255). Similarly, Mercury is the explanation for an omen supposing that fixed stars are "black" (no. 146). Many more substitutions are listed in Gössmann Planetarium.
Explanatory sentences of the kind described above are identified by the particle -ma at their end (represented in the translations of this book by a dash — preceding the sentence). Sometimes they are introduced by ša or they include the phrase ša iqbû "what it says" (i.e. in a commentary text).
While Enūma Anu Enlil is the usual source from which the senders of Reports quote celestial omens, sometimes an omen is called "extraneous," i.e. not from the series.[[18]] Once there is a reference to what seems to be an oral tradition among scholars (no. 158 r.4).[[19]]
There are also Reports which contain observations only, without quotations from Enūma Anu Enlil, and therefore without interpretation or announcement of future events. Most of them are by Nabûʾa of Assur, but other senders are attested too.[[20]] Whether these Reports were later complemented with omens by other scholars is not known.
In contrast to the letters coming from the same royal archives, Reports normally do not contain any introductory address to the king. They immediately start with their subject matter by quoting omens pertinent to an observation that has been made. Occasionally, however, the senders add a letter-like passage to their reports which is not related to the observations. They seize the opportunity that they have an important message for the king to approach him with some complaint or request. Examples range from small favors (request for a donkey to ride on, no. 244) to long complaints about dangers to the life of the sender (no. 474). As noted by Oppenheim,[[21]] almost all complaints come from Babylonian scholars who probably had no other way of approaching the king.
On the other hand, the senders sometimes present proposals for action to be taken by the king because of the omens reported. Whether such proposals are made seems to depend on the position of the senders: some (e.g., Issar-šumu- ereš) are indeed counselors who can dare to add their advice to their observations and quotations from Enūma Anu Enlil,[[22]] while others just quote the pertinent omens, from which one can conclude what the observations might have been. This latter procedure is more common with those observers who live far away from the king — more correctly with Babylonian rather than Assyrian writers. It may be due to the fact that they did not have access to the king personally and did not dare to submit their opinions to him.
Among the personal remarks the scholars sometimes refer to their colleagues. In no. 83, Balasî tells the king of a dispute between Issar-šumu- Ereš and Nabû-ahhe-eriba which was resolved by observation. Sometimes the sender anticipates that a colleague might be of a different opinion as to which omen should be quoted as the appropriate interpretation of some observation. and tries to give preventive arguments in his remarks to the king.[[23]]
Apart from such personal information, some Reports contain blessings for the king. The scholars Nabûʾa and Ašaredu (the younger) frequently add such blessings to the omens reported. Nabûʾa prefers the formula ''May Nabû and Marduk bless the king my lord!''; Ašaredu's standard sentence is "May the lord of kings be everlasting." A more elaborate and varied blessing is found in the letters of Nabû-iqbi (e.g., nos. 421, 422, 429), and occasionally with other writers as well (no. 474, from Bel-ušezib).
The majority of Reports are "signed,'' i.e. the name of the sender is given at the end of the text.[[24]] Sometimes a filiation or an epithet is added to the name to make identification certain. Since the observers were evidently keen to offer their services and hoped to benefit from providing the king with favorable omens (or from warning him of dangers), it is surprising to note that quite a number of reports were never signed. It is not clear from the contents of these unsigned Reports whether they had anything in common that could explain this peculiarity. It has to be assumed that the identity of the sender was known to the king by the circumstances of the delivery.[[25]] Exceptionally a Report is sent by two persons (no. 476); there are also duplicating Reports (and letters) sent by Balasî and Nabû-ahhe-eriba.[[26]]
Very few Reports contain a date. It seems that this was not considered important similarly, letters are rarely dated. Probably reports were sent and brought to the attention of the king as quickly as possible. Note however that no. 42 may have been dated because it contains a prediction.
14 Further discussion and references in Parpola. LAS II p. 342f.
15 Abh. der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Philos.-philol. und hist. Klasse, XXX/1. München 1916.
16 Reiner and Pingree, BPO 2, p. 16ff.
17 E.g., ACh Sin 3; cf. Reiner and Pingree, BPO 2 p. 20f.
18 Cf. no. 147 r. 5 and 8.
19 See S. J. Lieberman, Festschrift Moran p. 327.
20 E.g., Nabû-ahhe-eriba, no. 71. Cf. Oppenheim, Centaurus 14 (1969) 105f for a list of these texts; those not included in this edition can be found in LAS.
21 Centaurus 14 (1969) 116.
22 This is obvious from the letters of these men edited in LAS.
23 No. 101; for other references see Oppenheim, Centaurus 14 118, and Parpola, LAS 65f with commentary.
24 Exceptions: no. 463 and 464, which have a kind of postscript after the sender's name.
25 Even nowadays is il possible to identify nos. 3 and 21 as coming from lssar-šumu-ereš on the basis of his handwriting.
26 Cf. LAS II p. 38.
Hermann Hunger
Hermann Hunger, 'Reports Concerning Celestial Omens', Astrological Reports to Assyrian Kings, SAA 8. Original publication: Helsinki, Helsinki University Press, 1992; online contents: SAAo/SAA08 Project, a sub-project of MOCCI, 2020 [http://oracc.org/saao/saa08/reportsonomens/celestialomens/]