Terminology of hepatoscopy (1)

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There is a remarkable correspondence between the Babylonian and the western terminology of hepatoscopy. The Etruscan material is lost and the terminology can be reconstructed only piecemeal from Latin and Greek texts. The systems are not exactly identical. There is a strict order of examination of ten parts of the liver in the Assyrian school: the “place” (manzāzu), the “path” (padānu), the “strength” (danānu), the “gate of the palace” (bāb ekalli), the šulmu (unclear), the “gall” (martu), the “left path of the gall” (padān šumēl marti), the “finger” (ubānu), the “yoke” (nīru), and the “appendix” (ṣibtu). This has no parallel in the West. However, a whole string of Greek terms looks like a translation from the Akkadian. The liver has a “gate”, a “head”, a “path”, and a “river”, of which “river” (potamos) and “path” (akeleutha) are found in the dictionary of Hesychius (5th century CE). The comparable Akkadian terms are “head of the liver” (rēš amūtim), “head of the finger” (rēš ubānim), “river of the liver” (nār amūtim). The binary logic of auspicious (right) and hostile (left) sections of the liver exists both in the Akkadian as well as in the Greek system, and above all in the Etruscan-Latin branch of the science - what is normal is good in the auspicious section and dangerous in the hostile section; malformation in the hostile section is good, and vice versa. Some imaginative associations are also common, such as missing “head,” indicating catastrophe of a leader, king, or country; or two “heads” indicating two rival powers. This parallel connects the factual Mesopotamian reports to fantastic scenes elaborated by the Roman poets.

Bibliography

Amar Annus

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