[599] Tablet defective.
[600] _I.e._, there is war.
[601] Intercalated month.
[602] _I.e._, it is a good sign.
[603] Tablet defective.
[604] Text erroneously "one month."
[605] See above, p. 183.
[606] See Ihering, _Vorgeschichte der Indo-Europaer_, pp. 182 _seq._
[607] See _The Golden Bough_, pa.s.sim.
[608] IV Rawlinson, pls. 32, 33.
[609] _I.e._, the Intercalated Elul. After the 6th month (Elul) and after the 12th (Adar), a month was intercalated at certain intervals in order to bring the solar and lunar years into conjunction.
[610] Lit., "raising of his hand to a G.o.d"--the att.i.tude in prayer.
[611] Text erroneously "mistress."
[612] Here and elsewhere Ishtar is used in a generic sense for "chief G.o.ddess"; in the present case Sarpanitum. See above, pp. 82, 151, 206.
[613] "Belit," as "mistress" in general.
[614] Lit., "place of secrecy," the reference being to that portion of the temple where the G.o.d sat enthroned.
[615] _I.e._, of the palace.
[616] _I.e._, upon one"s enemies.
[617] Isaiah, lviii. 13.
[618] Meat, just as wine, was considered at all times a symbol of joy in the Orient.
[619] Perhaps also the 24th.
[620] V Rawlinson, pls. 48, 49.
[621] The plural is used, but in a collective sense.
[622] The Euphrates or Tigris is no doubt meant.
[623] IIIR. 52, no. 3, reverse.
[624] The most extensive publication of omens is Boissier"s _Doc.u.ments a.s.syriens Relatifs aux Presages_, of which two volumes have appeared.
Boissier"s method of publication is not altogether satisfactory.
[625] _Introduction to the History of Religions_, pp. 28-35.
[626] A particularly bad omen. See IIIR. 65, 22, obverse.
[627] Boissler, _Doc.u.ments a.s.syriens Relatifs aux Presages_, pp. 110 _seq._ Boissier has published portions of some twenty tablets of the series, _ib._ pp. 110-181.
[628] _I.e._, will not suffer.
[629] The phrase used is obscure. My translation is offered as a conjecture.
[630] _I.e._, an enemy will keep the land in turmoil.
[631] _I.e._, like a lion. Elsewhere the preposition "like" is used.
[632] Where the child is born.
[633] A solar deity; see above, p. 99. Reference to minor deities are frequent in these omen texts.
[634] The reference appears to be to some misfortune that will be brought about through the solar deity Gilgamesh.
[635] Boissier, _Doc.u.ments, etc._, pp. 118-120.
[636] _I.e._, only two.
[637] Between the two heads, _I.e._, the hands and feet are misplaced.
[638] IIIR. 65, no. 1.
[639] Abnormally small.
[640] _I.e._, the father or master.
[641] The Egyptians carried the observation and interpretation of omens to quite as high a degree as the Babylonians and a.s.syrians. See, _e.g._, Chabas, _Melanges egyptologiques_, 3^e serie, tome ii.; Wiedemann"s _Religion of Ancient Egypt_, p. 263.
[642] Lenormant, _Choix des Textes Cuneiformes_, no. 87.
[643] Occurring at the end of the fourth tablet, as an aid for the correct arrangement of the series. IIIR 65, no. 1, reverse, l. 28.
[644] Lit., "stall," which includes sheep, oxen, and swine.
[645] Boissier, _Doc.u.ments, etc._, pp. 132, 133.
[646] _I.e._, the owner of the stall. A variant reads "king" instead of "man."
[647] _I.e._, misplaced.
[648] In Babylonian, "ear" is a synonym of "understanding."