As I did my research for this article I came to realize that it was necessary, before writing about Sumerian divination, to answer what I thought was a simple and straight forward question.
“Who were the ancient Sumerians?”
The Sumerians were, simply, the first people of history.
They were the first to live in farming communities year round. They were the first to build an extensive irrigation system. They were the first to create what we recognize today as a civilization. Most importantly the Sumerians were the first to create a system of writing (called cuneiform) and record their history. The list of Sumerian firsts goes on.
So why is it necessary to explain this? Because of those that came after, especially the Babylonians. Every internet site I look on seems to try to pass Babylonian writing off as Sumerian. I noticed this early on when I came to a site where one of the pages was called “the law of Sumeria – the code of Hammurabi”!? Hammurabi was the first king of the Babylonian empire ca. 1792 BCE[1]. Although his code of laws were certainly influenced by earlier Sumerian laws, it is safe to say that Hammurabi would have changed them to suit his purposes (after all he was king and could do whatever he wanted). In defense of these sites it is difficult to separate what is truly Sumerian from what was added by later peoples (Akkadians and Assyrians in addition to the Babylonians) as these people continued to use the Sumerian language and much of its culture more than a thousand years after the Sumerians had disappeared as an identifiable people. I will, however, do my best to make this distinction.
Please note: I will often refer to the Sumerians as the first to do something; truth is they were the first to write down what they were doing. As the first historical people they are, in my opinion, our best link to the prehistoric belief system.
Astrology, Aeromancy, and Palmistry
Sometime before 700 BCE the Babylonians had formed an astrological system that would be easily recognized by the modern western or Vedic astrologers of today. They had a modern zodiac, originally consisting of 18 signs but later reduced to 12, knew the relation of these signs to the earth, had mapped them (and many other stars), and divined the future of an individual from their position during the individuals birth. This view of astrology would spread throughout the Middle East and eventually to Greece. The Greeks, I am made to understand, would then make some corrections due to the Babylonians mathematical errors (I have found no-one who can tell me what these “errors” were, but I am assured that the Greeks “corrected” them). From Greece, due to the conquests of Alexander the great, this tradition of astrology spread to India and Egypt. Due to this, there appears to be some debate as to whether the Babylonians or the Greeks should be considered the “fathers of modern astrology” (2 of the 3 major modern astrological traditions, western and Vedic, were born of the Babylonian/Greek tradition (the third being far eastern, or Chinese)).
This is all good and well for the Babylonians and Greeks, but what of this knowledge did the Sumerians provide?
As mentioned earlier it is difficult to separate Sumerian knowledge from later Babylonian but we do know this much about Sumerian astrology.
The Sumerians had noticed and mapped the movements of the 5 “wandering stars”, what we now know as the planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. Their names for Mercury and Mars I have been unable to discover, however Venus was known as Innana, Jupiter as Enlil, and Saturn as Ninurta. Considering that the Babylonians called Mars Nergal, it is likely that the Sumerians would have called it Erishkigal.. They also saw a 6th “wandering star” called Niburu for which I have read several explanations, from the asteroid field being its remains to it just being another name for Jupiter[2]. We also know that the Sumerians had only 6 “signs” and that they did not use them in relation to the earth, therefore never creating a true zodiac. Instead the Sumerians used the planets (as well as the sun and moon) and their signs in relation to one another. Therefore you could not, to the Sumerians, be born under the sign of Leo, for example. Rather you would be born, perhaps, with Enlil and Innana in conjunction or attached to Leo. Since Leo is related to leadership, Enlil was leader of the gods and Innana was goddess of both love and war, this could mean that you were to be a great war leader or even king. The Sumerians did not stop there; however, they included the weather (a form of divination known as aeromancy) to the mix. Therefore, if it was also storming at the time of your birth then you would have to fight for your eventual position as leader.
How much more did the Sumerians discover about the “heavens”? How many stars did they map and consider in what was a very complicated and extensive view of astrology? It is difficult to say, the Babylonians took over and continued the Sumerians work, but it’s not like they gave the Sumerians credit, rather they claimed all the credit for themselves.
One final comment on Sumerian astrology deals with palmistry. Palmistry was created (or discovered, if you prefer) by some very observant Hindu. Someone noticed a similarity between the lines on their hands and some constellation. This person, whoever they were, then compared their hand to other peoples and slowly, probably over generations, palmistry took form. If we are to consider the Sumerians as fathers of astrology, as I do, or even as grandfathers or great-grandfathers (if you prefer the Babylonians or Greeks as fathers) then they deserve at least an honorable mention in the history of palmistry as it was their work that this first “palmist” (is that a word?) noticed on his (or her) hand.
Extispicy and Theriomancy
Although astrology is by far the farthest reaching and most influential (to modern diviners) Sumerian tradition it was not their most revered or preferred form of divination. This distinction falls to extispicy.
Extispicy is the practice of divining the future by examining the entrails of sacrificed animals, most commonly, for the Sumerians, goats. My first impression of this practice was that it is both cruel and rather morbid. A trusted friend of mine informed me that some modern practitioners of voodoo still perform this type of divination which to me seemed even worse. In the modern age we should not feel the need to sacrifice a defenseless animal to any deity for our own betterment.
I must refrain from passing judgment on the modern practitioners of voodoo as I am completely ignorant of their practices and history. In the case of the Sumerians, however, further research has given me a greater understanding of both the purpose and value of this practice. First of all the Sumerians would only, or at least primarily, sacrifice sick animals in an attempt to discover why the gods would cause the death of their livestock. This makes the Sumerians the world’s first veterinarians (not one I would take a beloved family pet to, but valuable none the less). The knowledge the Sumerians were able to gather in relation to anatomy and disease, at least in relation to their livestock, was invaluable to their survival. The Sumerians were able to identify and treat a great many forms of illness in their livestock, from common parasites like worms to diseases like pneumonia. I wonder how much knowledge was gained in this way as pertains to human anatomy. I have even read the rather fantastic notion that the Sumerians were aware of, and made notes in regards to, DNA[3]. But I’m getting off topic.
In Sumeria extispicy was performed by the high priest/priestess (called an ensi[4]) of the city. The ensi had four duties in performing the rite. First he would examine the animal for any external blemishes prior to sacrificing it. Second he would examine the entrails of the animal for abnormalities. If there was an excessive amount of blood or the ensi dropped any of the entrails on the ground this was considered a very bad omen of impending disaster. Third the entrails were burned in a sacrificial fire which the ensi would examine for heat and the movement of the flames. Fourth the ensi would examine the meat and drinks offered during the sacrifice.
Ensis were often the rulers of the cities they served as high priest, but even if a city had a separate ruler extispicy gave the ensi a great amount of authority. No ruler would embark on any major task, from war to changes in tax policy, if the sacrifice were to bode ill of the action.
The other form of divination relating to animals is theriomancy, divining the future by observing animal actions. The most well known subset of this uses a rooster, preferable a white one (this is called alectryomancy). There are two different actions of a rooster that can be observed here. One is their pecking habits when eating; an observer would spread seed on the ground either randomly or in piles representing the letters of the alphabet. S/he would then ask a question of the bird and divine the answer by observing the order in which the bird pecked at the seed. The other action which could be observed was the roosters’ crow; again you would ask a question of the bird but then you would recite the alphabet and take note of the letters at which the rooster crowed.
Common sense tells me that the Sumerians would have engaged in some form of theriomancy, perhaps using their most common livestock, the goat, or more likely the wild animals around them (therio is greek for wild animal while mancy is greek for prophesy). In the modern day many people are aware of certain animal’s ability to know when a storm, earthquake, or other natural phenomenon is going to happen. In Japan, one of the world’s most earthquake prone countries, researchers have long studied animal behavior in hopes of discovering what they hear or feel in the moments before a quake occurs in order to use that sense as a prediction tool. American seismologists, however, are skeptical in spite of documented cases of strange animal behavior prior to earthquakes. The Sumerians were far more tied to, and reliant on, the forces of nature than we are today so it only makes sense(at least to me) that any change to animal behavior would have been taken very seriously, whether the change came from their livestock or the wild animals living in close proximity.
Sumerian writing deals exclusively with the actions and events surrounding their leaders, both religious and royal. The actions, trials and tribulations of the common farmer just wasn’t important enough to keep track of and write down, yet it is the common farmer that would have been in a position to notice animal behavior and form an understanding of theriomancy. It is a short step from recognizing how animals react to impending storms, earthquakes and floods (a major problem along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, where they lived) to the belief that animals could foretell the future. Sumerian belief in theriomancy, at least among commoners, appears obvious (again, at least to me).
Other forms of divination
A list of forms of divination known to people today is very long indeed.[5] How many of these were used by the ancient Sumerians? We can’t be positive but some seem likely. Pyromancy (divination by fire), hydromancy (by water), scrying (by gazing, usually into reflective objects), cyclomancy (by a spinning wheel-the Sumerians invented the wheel), and dream interpretation are all examples of divinatory forms likely used by the Sumerians. Some other forms of divination, however, are unlikely to have been used by the Sumerians. Tarot, for example, comes from renaissance era Europe while rune casting originated in Scandinavia and dowsing in Germany.
I encourage people to make their own judgments and research Sumerian culture on their own as I would certainly be interested in other viewpoints. I would like to, however, remind you of my comments at the beginning of this article-Babylonian, and other peoples, writing is often stated to be Sumerian. Remember this: Sumerian civilization began in the Ubaid period (ca. 5300BCE) and lasted until being conquered by Sargon of Akkad ca.2334BCE. There was a Sumerian renaissance (known as the Ur III period) from ca. 2047-1940BCE. Although I agree that the Akkadians, Babylonians & Assyrians would have been heavily influenced by Sumerian culture I feel it is best to be cautious when assigning their writings to Sumerian beliefs.
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[1] BCE stands for Before Common Era and is equivalent to BC. The change was made by several modern historians to make the western dating system more acceptable to non-Christian peoples.
[2] For a truly unique and even bizarre view of Niburu read the works of Zecharia Sitchin.
[3] Once Again, Mr. Sitchin has some rather unique views in this regard
[4] Technically an ensi would be a high priest. Although I have never encountered the word, a high priestess should have been a ninsi(en means lord while nin means lady)
[5] A search on Wikipedia for methods of divination would show just how many ways people have attempted to foretell future events
