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Bird omens from Ephesus (1)

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Topics (move over topic to see place in topic list) Bird Omens 05 Scientific knowledge and scholarly lore 05.02 Omen interpretation 05.02.02 Terrestrial omens (Šumma ālu) 05.02.02.04 Bird Omens Birds 02 Religious and ideological symbols and iconographic motifs 02.05 Animal/theriomorphic symbols and iconographic motifs 02.05.02 Birds	Keywords birds omens
Period 6th century BCE Greek Archaic Age	Channel Greek inscriptions

Text
A Greek inscription from Ephesus lists the bird omens in Mesopotamian style. SIG 3 1167:
Line of flight from right to left. If the bird diappeared from sight, the omen is favourable; but if it raised its left wing and then soared and disappeared, the omen is inauspicious. Line of flight from left to right. If it disappeared on a straight course, it is an ill omen, but if it raised its right wing and then soared and disappeared, the omen is good.

Source (list of abbreviations)
SIG 3 1167

Bibliography

Dalley and Reyes 1998, 100	Dalley, S. and A. T. Reyes. “Mesopotamian Contact and Influence in the Greek World.” In: S. Dalley (ed.). The Legacy of Mesopotamia. Oxford: Oxford University Press 1998, 85-124.
Lonsdale 1979, 153	Lonsdale, Steven H. “Attitudes towards Animals in Ancient Greece.” Greece and Rome 26 (1979) 146-159. [JSTOR (requires subscription)]

Amar Annus

URL for this entry: http://www.aakkl.helsinki.fi/melammu/database/gen_html/a0000218.php

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