The stars and the liver (1)

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The astral connections with the parts of the liver were made part of the diviner’s corpus in a unique text from pre-Seleucid Uruk. The small tablet lists the parts of the liver, in order that they are normally examined, and equates each with a god, a month, and a planet or constellation. For example: “the path is Šamaš; month Ajaru; Taurus; the gall bladder is Anu; month Tashritu; Libra.” That this text, though the sole surviving exemplar, represents a definite tradition in the development of extispicy and is not some oddity, is suggested by the fact that each of its equations is followed by a commentary - unfortunately often opaque. This branch of hepatoscopy so far has no exact parallel within Mesopotamia or even outside it. In Hellenistic Egypt, however, there is evidence for the association between stars and planets and parts of the exta. Such evidence is found in the Apotelesmatica of Hephaistion (3.6.14-17).

Bibliography

Amar Annus

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