Text
The Jewish Palestinian Aramaic text found in the Cairo Genizah was composed to be recited on the occasion of the sanctification of the new moon of Nisan, an ancient Palestinian custom which continued into the Byzantine period. Almost all the omens in the text have a parallel in the cuneiform texts.
Cairo Genizah MS T-S H 11.51 (Cambridge):
1. (If) when it rises, its horns are equal, the world is in danger.
2. If you saw the moon upright towards the south and its other horn inclined towards the north, let it be a sign for you: be careful of evil; trouble will go out from the north.
3. If you saw the moon pointing towards the north and its other horn inclined toward the south, (there will be) great joy for the entire royal court; cheap prices and plenty will be in the world.
4. (If the moon) is inclined toward the south, the sign is good. The year will be fat, and there will be plenty in the world.
5. (If) its face was yellow/green on the north, high prices and famine will be in the world.
6. When the moon is eclipsed in the middle of Nisan, a great man will go out of the Sanhedrin. This will always be a trustworthy sign, for in it, a clean animal is eaten.
7. If (the moon) was red like blood in Iyyar, a king from the north will defeat his counterpart, a strong fire will fall upon the people, and all human beings will be struck because of (?) sin.
8. If (the moon) was red and eclipsed in Siwan, there will be confusion in the … of the sea: a command to be killed was issued against the donkeys and the non-domesticated animals.
9. If (the moon’s) face was yellow/green in Tammuz, there will be a storm on the high sea, a great outcry among all pregnant women, for death will be theirs from the destroyer.
10. If (the moon) is upright and eclipsed in the month of Ab there will be murder in Egypt and famine in the south. The Nile will be low and will not rise, and all the ravens will want for food.
11. If (the moon) is … like snow in the month of Elul, you should know that it (the land) will be smitten with snow. There will be great dissension in the world between Israel and the government.
12. The moon is never eclipsed in Tišri. But if it is eclipsed, it is a bad sign for the “enemies of the Jews.” Religious persecution will issue from the kingdom and woeful destruction will be upon the Jews.
13. If the wind struck the moon and caused it to be eclipsed in Marheshwan, do not be distressed. A voice from heaven suddenly goes out that the enemy … from the kingdom.
14. (If you) observe it in Kislev red like fire, there will be death among the children. Trembling will be among the yound ones, and pregnant women will fear death.
15. If it is hazy like smoke in Tevet, the king will go into exile from his place. The locusts will come down upon the grain crops. High prices and famine will be in the world.
16. If its light is like spilled blood in the month of Shevat, there will be a plague, and the mice will multiply. A king from the east will be killed in the north, and the locusts will go out, and there will be nothing left.
Source (list of abbreviations)
Cairo Genizah MS T-S H 11.51 (Cambridge)
Bibliography
| Greenfield and Sokoloff 1989, 203-205 | Greenfield, J. C. and M. Sokoloff. “Astrological and Related Omen Texts in Jewish Palestinian Aramaic.” Journal of Near Eastern Studies 48 (1989) 201-214. [JSTOR (requires subscription)] |
Amar Annus
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