Offprint From:

Divination in
the Ancient Near East
A Workshop on Divination Conducted during the
54th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, Wrzburg, 2008

Edited by

Jeanette C. Fincke

Winona Lake, Indiana

Eisenbrauns
2014

Contents
Bibliographical Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
Vorwort . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xii
Divination im Alten Orient: Ein berblick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Jeanette C. Fincke
Hethitische Orakelspezialisten als Ritualkundige . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Daliah Bawanypeck
Analyse hethitischer Vogelflugorakel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Yasuhiko Sakuma
The Babylonian ikribs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
W. G. Lambert
Zur altorientalischen Opferschaupraxis: Opferschaudurchfhrungen
ber das Wohlbefinden und ber das Nicht-Wohlbefinden . . . . . . .
An De Vos
Die Beobachtung der Nieren in der altorientalischen Opferschau:
und die Stellung der Nieren-Omina innerhalb
der Opferschau-Serie brtu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Nils P. Heessel
New Readings in YOS 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Ilya Khait
The Halo of the Moon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Lorenzo Verderame
Laws and Omens: Obverse and Inverse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Ann K. Guinan
Indexes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
General Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Akkadian / Hittite / Sumerian / Logograms / Akkadograms . . . . . .
Texts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
A. Museum Numbers 125
B. Publication Numbers 125
C. CTH Numbers 127

1
21
37
53
57

67
77
91
105
123
123
124
125

Offprint from:
Divination in the Ancient Near East: A Workshop on
Divination Conducted During the 54th Rencontre
Assyriologique Internationale, Wrzburg, 2008
edited by Jeanette C. Fincke
Copyright 2014 Eisenbrauns. All rights reserved.

The Halo of the Moon

Lorenzo Verderame
Rome

Nennte wohl ein nchtiger Wanderer

Diesen Mondhof Lufterscheinung
Doch wir Geister sind ganz anderer
Und der einzig richtigen Meinung:
Tauben sind es, die begleiten
Meiner Tochter Muschelfahrt,
Wunderflugs besondrer Art,
Angelernt vor alten Zeiten.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Faust,
83478354 (Nereus to Thales)

The halo belongs to a class of optical phenomena caused by the refraction of

light by ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere (troposphere), which produces
rings, ellipsis, or other light effects around or near the celestial body.1 In the case of
the halo of the moon, the light refracted by hexagonal ice crystals creates a halo of
22 radius or, more rarely, 46 radius.
In modern times,2 the first explanation of the origin of halos is attributed to
Ren Descartes,3 while Bravais (1847)4 published a crucial study on the topic. This
Authors note: General remarks: For dating the Reports published in Hermann Hunger, Astrological Reports to Assyrian Kings (SAA VIII; Helsinki: Helsinki University Press, 1992) and Simo Parpola, Letters
from Assyrian and Babylonian Scholars (SAA X; Helsinki: Helsinki University Press, 1993), see Salvo
DeMeis and Hermann Hunger, Astronomical Dating of Assyrian and Babylonian Reports (Serie Orientale Roma 81; Roma: Istituto Italiano per lAfrica e lOriente, 1998). I am grateful to Eleanor Robson, who
has read earlier versions of this article and offered valuable suggestions and criticisms.
1. See Marcel G. J. Minnaert, The Nature of Light and Colour in the Open Air (New York: Dover
Publications, 1948) chapter 10; Ronald A. R. Tricker, Introduction to Meteorological Optics (New York:
American Elsevier, 1970) 70145; David K. Lynch, Atmospheric Haloes, Scientific American 238 (1978)
144521; Robert Greenler, Rainbows, Halos, and Glories (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1980); David K. Lynch and William Livingston, Color and Light in Nature (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995) chapter 5.
2. The history of theories on the optical metheorological phenomena is close related to that of optics; for an overview of Western theories from the Greeks to the Middle Ages, see Carl B. Boyer, Robert
Grosseteste on the Rainbow, Osiris 11 (1954) 24758, and, Refraction and the Rainbow in Antiquity,
Isis 47 (1956) 38386; for the revolutionary treaty on optics by Ibn al-Haitham (latinized Alhacen or
Alhazen, 9651039 c.e.), at the end of which was appended a chapter on the Halo of the moon and on
the rainbow, see Karl Kohl, ber das Licht des Mondes: Eine Untersuchung von Ibn al Haitham, in
Sitzungsberichte der physikalisch-medizinischen Sozietat zu Erlangen, 5859 (Erlangen: PhysicalischMedicinische Societt, 19261927) 30598.
3. Carl B. Boyer, Descartes and the Radius of the Rainbow, Isis 43 (1952) 9598; and, Osiris 11
(1954) 24758.
4. Auguste Bravais, Mmoire sur les halos et les phnomnes optiques qui les accompagnent,
Journal de lcole Royale Polytechnique 31 (18) (1847) 1280.

91

92

Lorenzo Verderame

phenomenon, however, was already known by the Greeks.5 Aristotle explains it in

his Meteorologica as the reflection of light by a vaporous medium,6 a theory taken
up again around the year 1000 c.e. in China and described by the Persian scholar
Qub al-Dn al-rzi.7
Despite the scientific and prosaic explanation of the halo and other light phenomena, such as the rainbow, they have never ceased to exert fascination over the
human imagination.8 Just to quote the most important examples from literature, the
halo and other light phenomena were one of the main topics of Tang period Chinese
poetry,9 Romantic literature,10 and later esthetic research, and Dante Alighieri also
discussed the symbolic value of the halo and rainbow in the Divina Commedia,11 in
the passage from Purgatorio to Paradise: l sopra rimanea distinto di sette liste,
tutte in quei colori onde fa larco il Sole e Delia il cinto (Purg. XXIX, 7678).
In some cultures, the importance of the halo was so great12 and so central that
it was identified with a god. The best example is found among the Maori:13 the lunar
halo (kura hau po) is identified with Hine-koorako, one of the three Moon Maidens,
represented as a pale woman, who guides and protects the people.14 She is the one
who, together with Kahukura, the rainbow-god, and Ruamano, the sea monster,
guided the Maori in the migration from eastern Polynesia to New Zealand.15 In her
close relation with the Moon, she is associated with protection during childbirth.16
In ancient Mesopotamia, the halo17 was called cattle-pen (Sum. tr; Akk.
5. C. B. Boyer, Osiris 11 (1954) 24758.
6. Aydin M. Sayili, The Aristotelian Explanation of the Rainbow, Isis 30 (1939) 6583; Boyer,
Osiris 11 (1954) 24758, and, Isis 47 (1956) 38386; Paul Lettinck, Aristotles Meteorology and its Reception in the Arab World : With an Edition and Translation of Ibn Suwars Treatise on Meteorological
Phenomena and Ibn Bajjas Commentary on the Meteorology (Leiden: Brill, 1999) chapter 5.
7. Joseph Needham, Science and Civilisation in China, 3/II: Mathematics and the Sciences of the
Heavens and the Earth (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1959) 474.
8. For the Near East see Maurits van Loon, The Rainbow in Ancient West Asian Iconography,
in Natural Phenomena: Their Meaning, Depiction and Description in the Ancient Near East (edited by
D. J. W. Meijer; Amsterdam: North-Holland, 1992) 14968; Anne-Caroline Rendu Loisel and Lorenzo
Verderame, Rejoindre le ciel et la terre : larc-en-ciel en Msopotamie ancienne, in the proceedings of
the meeting Arcs-en-ciel et couleurs. Regards comparatifs, Paris, 2013 (forthcoming).
9. Edward H. Schafer, Hallucinations and Epiphanies in Tang Poetry, JAOS 104 (1984) 75760.
10.C. J. Wright, The Spectre of Science. The Study of Optical Phenomena and the Romantic
Imagination, Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 43 (1980) 186200.
11.Herbert D. Austin, Dante Notes, XI. The Rainbow Colors, Modern Language Notes 44(5)
(1929) 31518.
12. For the complex system of the Ten Haloes (Shih Yn) in China, see J. Needham, Science and
Civilisation in China, 47576.
13. Elsdon Best, The Astronomical Knowledge of the Maori, Genuine and Empirical (Dominion Museum Monograph 3; Wellington: Dominion Museum, 1922).
14. Anonymous, Honorific Terms, Sacerdotal Expressions, Personifications, etc., Met with in Maori
Narrative, The Journal of the Polynesian Society 36(144) (1927) 37678.
15. E. Best, Polynesian Navigators: Their Exploration and Settlement of the Pacific, Geographical
Review 5 (1918) 16982.
16.Anonymous, The Journal of the Polynesian Society 36(144) (1927) 37678.
17.I refer strictly to the halo; for other light phenomena of the moon, see Lorenzo Verderame,
Enma Anu Enlil Tablets 113, in Under One Sky: Astronomy and Mathematics in the Ancient Near
East (edited by J. M. Steele and A. Imhausen; AOAT 297; Mnster: Ugarit-Verlag, 2002) 450 n.26, and,
Le Tavole IVI della serie astrologica Enma Anu Enlil (NISABA 2; Messina: Di.Sc.A.M., 2002) 3, 18, 123
n.441. For the moon in Mesopotamian civilizations, see in general Knut Tallqvist, Mnen i myt och dikt,
folktro och kult (Studia Orientalia 12; Helsinki: Societas Orientalis Fennica, 1947); Maurice Lambert,
La lune chez les Sumriens, in La Lune, mythes et rites (edited by P. Derchain; Sources orientales 5;

The Halo of the Moon

93

tarbau),18 which not only gives the idea of a closed circle, as in most cultures,19 but
it is also closely related to the moon-gods association with the pastoral and bovine
world. On the one hand, in fact, the moon is a shepherd, the planet and the stars
being his flock of sheep grazing in the sky;20 on the other hand, the bovine element
is directly reflected in most lunar features, such as the horns, the white brightness
recalling the milk,21 and the periodicity of fertility cycle.22
The literary and religious texts are not particularly clarifying about the difference between lunar halo and cattle-pen. The combination of cattle-pen and sheepfold (Sum. ama; Akk. supru)23 is used to express the totality of the domestic
animals, often referring to the increasing of cattle and flock thanks to the benevolence of a god or the favor of a king. Even when it is applied to the moon-god, the
metaphorical language makes it impossible to determine whether tr is used to
refer to lunar halo or cattle-pen.24
Paris: du Seuil, 1962) 6991; Marcel Leibovici, La lune en Babylonie, in La Lune, mythes et rites (edited
by P. Derchain; Sources orientales 5; Paris: du Seuil, 1962) 93116; Marten Stol, The Moon as Seen by
the Babylonians, in Natural Phenomena: Their Meaning, Depiction and Description in the Ancient Near
East (edited by D. J. W Meijer; Amsterdam: North-Holland, 1992) 24576.
18. AHw 132728; CAD T 21722 (for the halo of the sun, the moon, and the planets, see meaning
2 on pp.22122); Felix X. Kugler, Sternkunde und Sterndienst in Babel: assyriologische, astronomische
und astralmythologische Untersuchungen. Ergnzungen zum I. und II. Buch. I (Mnster in Westf.:
Aschendorff, 1913) 1035, 12425; see also Wilhelm Eilers, Sinn und Herkunft der Planetennamen (Sitzungsberichte der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften 1975/5; Munich: Bayerische Akademie der
Wissenschaften, 1976) 30 n.67; F. Rochberg, Sheep and Cattle, Cows and Calves: The Sumero-Akkadian
Astral Gods As Livestock, in Opening the Tablet Box: Near Eastern Studies in Honor of Benjamin R.
Foster (edited by S. Melville and A. Slotsky; Culture and History of the Ancient Near East 42; Leiden:
Brill, 2010), 34759. For the stars mul.tr and mul..tr see Gennadij E. Kurtik,
[The Star Heaven of Ancient Mesopotamia] (St. Petersburg: Aletheia, 2007) 12627 sub
e06, 514 sub t10. For the use of supru, see below, n.32.
19. This is similar to the greek , which is a circular area for threshing. This root is at the base
of the term halo in most modern European languages, and it has enlarged its semantic field, embracing
a moral value (compare the use of the term glory to indicate a peculiar light phenomenon), bordering
on the divine. This is not surprising, because the association of light phenomena with the experience of
the extra-human (epiphany) is spread world-wide; compare to Sum. melam (Elena Cassin, La splendeur
divine: Introduction ltude de la mentalit msopotamienne [Civilisations et Socits 8; Paris La
Haye: Mouton, 1968]). The phenomenon has a parallel in the iconographythe aureolaand both are
the product of the general re-elaboration of astrological theories and iconography in early Christianity
and the early Middle Ages (Fritz Saxl, La fede negli astri: dallantichit al Rinascimento [Turin: Bollati
Boringhieri, 1985]).
20.Lorenzo Verderame, Riferimenti astrali nella mitologia sumero-accadica, in Cosmology
Through Time: Ancient and Modern Cosmologies in the Mediterranean Area Conference Proceedings (edited by S. Colafrancesco and G. Giobbi; Milan: Mimesis, 2003) 2532, and, Le calendrier et le compte
du temps dans la pense mythique sumro-akkadienne, De Kmi Birit Nari: Revue International de
lOrient Ancien 3 (20062008) 12134; F. Rochberg, Sheep and Cattle, Cows and Calves: The SumeroAkkadian Astral Gods As Livestock.
21. Wolfgang Heimpel, The Babylonian Background of the Term Milky Way, in DUMU-E2-DUBBA-A: Studies in Honor of ke Sjberg (edited by H. Behrens, D. Loding, and M. T. Roth; Occasional
Publications of the Samuel Noah Kramer Fund 11; Philadelphia: The University Museum, 1987) 24952.
22.Marten Stol, Birth in Babylonia and the Bible: Its Mediterranean Setting (Cuneiform Monographs 14; Groningen: Styx, 2000); Erica Couto-Ferreira, The Anatomy of Birth in Mesopotamian Incantations and Literary Texts; Paper presented at the meeting Approaches to Ancient Medicine 2009.
New Castle, 2009.
23. AHw 1061; CAD S 39697; see also below, n. 32.
24. ke Sjberg, Der Mondgott Nanna-Suen in der sumerischen berlieferung, I. Teil: Texte (Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell, 1960); Mark G. Hall, A Study of the Sumerian Moon-God, Nanna-Suen (Ph.D.

94

Lorenzo Verderame

Notwithstanding this, the importance of the halo of the moon in Mesopotamian

astrology is clearly proved by the place it occupies in the canonical series (Enma
Anu Enlil) as well as by the numerous omens quoted and discussed in the astrological reports of the Neo-Assyrian period.25
The canonical series Enma Anu Enlil is the main source of astrological omens.26
Here, the halo is generically said to encircle (lam, ngin) the moon,27 and a series
of variables (number, time, color, etc.) determine the features of the apodosis. The
halo phenomena are organized and treated in two complete tablets or chapters (IX
and X) and part of Tablet VIII.28
Tablet VIII is in two parts. The first, dedicated to various phenomena that happen from the sixth to the twelfth month, continues the sequence of the months from
the end of Tablet VII. The second part deals with the presence of a planet or star in
the halo of the moon: few of the apodoses are preserved, but it is possible to reconstruct most of its contents from the Neo-Assyrian Reports (see below).
Tablet IX is impossible to reconstruct. Only two fragments have been identified29 thanks to its incipit in ancient catalogues and the Late Babylonian commentary from Uruk, TU 17:30 di 30 ina igi.l- tr ngin-ma ka-bar u u-par-ru-ur If
the Moon, at its appearance, is surrounded by a halo and (the halo) is large and
extended.31 Only the first lines and a few omens from the beginning of the tablet
are preserved. They refer to various aspects of the halo, but it is only a hypothesis
that the rest of the Tablet treated the same topic.
Tablet X is mostly complete and entirely dedicated to the halo. Four particular
features are treated.
The number of the halos: one or two, corresponding to a small and a great
halo, determined by the angle of incidence of the light through the ice crystals, respectively 22 and 46. The terms used in Akkadian are first (1) and
second (2-) or inner (libbnu) and outer (kd) halo. The latter might
be also indicated by the term supru (ama) sheepfold,32 according to the
Neo-Assyrian Report SAA VIII 494, which describes it as a great halo (tr
dissertation, University of Pennsylvania, 1985); L. Verderame, Riferimenti astrali nella mitologia
sumero-accadica.
25. I use here the term astrology and its cognates for convention; for a discussion on the topic,
see Francesca Rochberg, The Heavenly Writing. Divination, Horoscopy, and Astronomy in Mesopotamian
Culture (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004).
26. For an outline, see most recently Francesca Rochberg, The Heavenly Writing.
27. In the Late-Babylonian Diaries (Abraham J. Sachs and Hermann Hunger, Astronomical Diaries
and Related Texts from Babylonia, volume I: Diaries from 652 b.c. to 262 b.c. [Vienna: Osterreichische
Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1988]), the halo is described as billowing (iqtur); for a comment on the
halos in the Diaries, see Manuel Gerber, A Common Source for the Late Babylonian Chronicles Dealing
with the Eighth and Seventh Centuries, JAOS 120 (2000) 560.
28. Ernst F. Weidner, Die Astrologische Serie Enma Anu Enlil, AfO 14 (194144) 17295, 308
18; Lorenzo Verderame, Le Tavole IXIV dellEnuma Anu Enlil (Ph.D. dissertation, Universit degli
Studi di Roma La Sapienza, Roma, 1998), and, Enma Anu Enlil Tablets 113.
29. L. Verderame, Le Tavole IXIV dellEnuma Anu Enlil, IXab, tavola 1.
30. Hermann Hunger, Ein Kommentar zu Mond-Omina, in Vom Alten Orient zum Alten Testament: Festschrift fr Wolfram Freiherrn von Soden zum 85. Geburtstag am 19. Juni 1993 (edited by
M. Dietrich and O. Loretz; AOAT 240; Kevelaer: Butzon & Bercker, 1995) 10518; L. Verderame, Le
Tavole IXIV dellEnuma Anu Enlil, VIIIh.
31. L. Verderame, Enma Anu Enlil Tablets 113, 457.
32.For supru with the meaning lunar halo, see the passages quoted in CAD S 398 meaning 2;
see L. Verderame, Enma Anu Enlil Tablets 113, 450 n. 25.

The Halo of the Moon

95

ra-bu-, SAA VIII 494 obv. 1, 7). A third halo is indicated by the expression
third (3-): whether this might be identified with a 90 halo or was only
the creation of the learned association of the scribes it is hard to say.
The color of the halo: this might be black (gi6), red (sa5), or yellow-green
(sig7), and, in the case of two halos, they might have different colors.33
The presence of an interruption in the halo: the expression used in Akkadian is that a door (ka2) is open (bad) or cut (kud) facing one of the
cardinal points (ana im . . .).34
The presence of a celestial body next or within the halo of the moon, a
topic that was also treated in Tablet VIII; a complete independent and homogeneous section is that referring to the presence of a red cloud in the
halo of the moon.

The Babylonian Diviners Manual35 refers in line 31 to a series of eleven Tablets,36

whose seventh Tablet has the incipit If the moon is surrounded by a halo from the
first to the fifth (variant: thirtieth) day (di ta ud.1.kam en ud.5.kam d30 tr nigin.
me).
However, our major source for the knowledge and understanding of how the
astrological system worked are the Reports sent by Assyrian and Babylonian
ummns to the Neo-Assyrian kings.37 These Reports are of first importance not
only because they quote the Series38 and thus have made it possible to reassemble
it but also because they give us a fresh glimpse on how omens were interpreted in
practice. In fact, although the Series registers a fossilized and canonized correspondence between protases and apodoses, the Reports document personal interpretations of the omens, including the explanations and commentaries by the authors
who sometimes even disagree amongst themselves.
1. This night, the moon was surrounded by a halo, [and] Jupiter (dsag.me.gar)
and Scorpius (mulgr.tab) [stood] in it.
If the moon is surrounded by a halo, and Jupiter (dsag.me.gar) stands in it:
the king of Agade will be shut up.
If the moon is surrounded by a halo, and Jupiter (dn-bi-ru) stands in it:
fall of cattle and wild animals.
The star of Marduk at its appearance is (called) ulpae (dul.pa.); when it
rises 1 double-hour it is (called) Sagmegar (dsag.me.gar); when it stands in
the middle of the sky, it is (called) Nberu (dn-bi-ru).
If the moon is surrounded by a halo, and Scorpius (mulgr.tab) stands in it:
entu-priestesses will be made pregnant; men, variant: lions, will rage and
33. The color of the halo is assumed to be white. The four colorswhite, black, red, yellow-green
represent the basic color terms in Mesopotamia; see Lorenzo Verderame, I colori nellastrologia mesopotamica, in Von Sumer nach Ebla und zurck: Festschrift Giovanni Pettinato zum 27 September 1999 gewidmet von Freunden, Kollegen und Schlern (edited by H. Waetzoldt; Heidelberger Studien zum Alten
Orient 9; Heidelberg: Heidelberger Orientverlag, 2004) 32732; see also Brent Berlin and Paul Kay, Basic Color Terms: Their Universality and Evolution (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1969).
34. The exact difference between the two expressions I am not able to explain at the moment.
35. A. Leo Oppenheim, A Babylonian Diviners Manual, JNES 33 (1974) 197220.
36. The eleven tablets with signs occurring in the sky according to (the series) (if) a star is seen
that has a crest in front and a tail behind and the sky turns light (lines 3637).
37.H. Hunger, Astrological Reports to Assyrian Kings; L. Verderame, Il ruolo degli esperti (ummnu) nel periodo neo-assiro.
38.Furthermore, these scholars often quote not only the Series but also other sources partly or
totally lost, such as the parallel (ah) tradition or oral instructions.

96

Lorenzo Verderame
block the traffic of the land.
These (omens) are from the series ( .qar).
If the moon is surrounded by a halo, and Jupiter (dul.pa.) stands in it:
the king of the Westland will exercise supreme power and bring about the
defeat of his enemys land.
This (omen) is extraneous (a-hi-).
From Nab-mui. (SAA VIII 147)

As for the interpretation of these phenomena, some of the apodoses are the simple
or direct reflex of the elements of the protases. Thus, for the halo, here called a cattle-pen, the correspondence with the cattle appears obviousthat is, the livestock
will increase or not according to the presence of a good or bad planet within the halo:
2. If the moon is surrounded by a halo and Mars (mulal-bat-a-nu) stands in it:
destruction of cattle and wild animals; the kurru-measure will decrease;
date plantations will not prosper; the Westland will become small. (SAA
VIII 82 rev. 35; passim)
3. [If the moon] is surrounded by a halo, and Pegasus (mula.gn), behind
which are the Pleiades, stands in it: the cattle of the land will prosper.
(SAA VIII 412 obv. 78)39

Similarly, the omen could affect the entire population, an association probably based
on the original meaning of tarbau, a nominal form of the verb rabu to rest,40 or
simply because the main topics of celestial omens concerned the well-being of the
state and the country:
4. If ditto (the moon is surrounded by a halo), and Perseus (mulu.gi) stands in
it: in that year, fall of people; it will not affect cattle and sheep.(SAA VIII
5 rev. 46)41
5. If the moon [is surrounded] by a halo, and Pleiades (mul.mul) [stand in it]:
in this year [women] will give birth to male children;42 variant: the kings
land will rebel against him; dimi[nution of barley]. (SAA VIII 273 rev.
35)
6. If the sun (d-ma) stands in the halo of the moon: in all lands (people)
will speak the truth; the son will speak the truth with his father; universal
peace. (SAA VIII 40 obv. 24; passim)
7. [If] the moon is surrounded by a halo, and a planet stands in it: robbers
will rage. (SAA VIII 49 obv. 67)
8. If the moon is surrounded by a halo and the Bo[w star (mulban; part of
Canis Maior) stands in it]: men will rage, and robberies will [become frequent] in the land. (SAA VIII 155 obv. 57; passim)43
9. If the moon is surrounded by a halo, [and Mars] stands in it: in all lands
the cultivated field will not prosper. (SAA VIII 317 rev. 14)
39. See below, the commentary to 25.
40. The Akkadian tarbau is a tapras-construction (nomina loci, GAG 56k.25a Lagerplatz) from
the root rb; compare with the equivalent tar-ba-utr = bi-i-t house in a umma Izbu commentary (Erle
Leichty, The Omen Series umma Izbu [Texts from Cuneiform Sources 4; Locust Valley, N.Y.: J. J. Augustin, 1970] 218 line 210).
41. See, however, SAA VIII 112 rev. 67, quoted below (18). See also the commentary K.2346 line
43 (Erica Reiner and David Pingree, Babylonian Planetary Omens III [Cuneiform Monographs 11; Groningen: Styx, 1989] 26667).
42. See below, the commentaries to 1012.
43. For the comment on this omen by the author of SAA VIII 378 (Nab-uma-ikun), see below 31.

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97

However, apodoses might not always be explained in a logical way, seeing the correspondence between the protases and the apodoses, as in the case of the following
two omens describing the presence of Pleiades or Regulus in the halo:
10. If the moon is surrounded by a halo and the Pleiades (mul.mul) stand in it:
in that year, women will give birth to male children. (SAA VIII 5 rev. 2)44
11. If ditto Regulus (mullugal) stands in it: women will give birth to male children. (SAA VIII 41 rev. 13; passim)45
12. If the moon is surrounded by a halo, and Scorpius (mulgr.tab) stands in it:
entu-priestesses will be made pregnant; men, variant: lions will rage and
cut off traffic. (SAA VIII 307 obv. 15; passim)46

Actually, it is hard to say whether the common element of these apodoses (the birth
of male children), should be explained as the relation of the halo or these three
stars/constellations with the sphere of birth47 or to some other learned association.
Among the learned associations, the best-documented one is the identification
between the sun and Saturn,48 and the correspondence of the latter with the Libra
constellation49 as well as the color black.50
13. On the 14th day the moon and sun were seen together. This night, the
moon was surrounded by a halo, and Saturn (muludu.idim.sag.u) stood
inside the halo with the moon.
... (various omens referring to the sun and the moon)
It means that on the 14th day one god is seen with the other, or that Saturn stands with the moon on the 14th day.
[If] the sun stands in a halo of the moon: they will speak the [truth] in all
lands; the son [will speak] the truth with his father. [Saturn] stands in
the halo of the moon.
[If the sun] stands [in the position of] the moon: [the king of the land]
will sit firmly on the throne. [Saturn] stands [with] the moon. (SAA
VIII 110 obv. 13, 910, rev. 16)
14. If the sun (d-ma) stands in the halo of the moon: in all lands (people)
will speak the truth; the son will speak the truth with his father; universal
peace.
Saturn (muludu.idim.sag.u) stands in the halo of the moon; the sign is
equivalent to the sign of the 13th day. Because the moon was seen on the
13th day, because of that Saturn stood in the halo of the moon.
If the moon is surrounded by a black halo: the month holds rain, variant:
clouds will be gathered. (SAA VIII 40 obv. 28)

The latter omen is quoted in another Report from the same sender (Nab-ahherba), which adds the commentary:
44. See below, n. 57.
45. See SAA VIII 273 rev. 35, quoted above (5).
46. The author, Zkir, concludes without explanation: The sign does not affect (us) (line 6).
47. This is a well-known association for the scorpion and Scorpius.
48. David Brown, Mesopotamian Planetary Astronomy-Astrology (Cuneiform Monographs 18; Groningen: Styx, 2000) 69.
49. Saturn (=) [the Scal]es ([muludu.idi]m.sag.u [mulzi-ba-ni]-tum). [If the Sc]ales station is stable:
there will be [recon]ciliation and peace in the land SAA VIII 547 obv. 5 rev. 12 (D. Brown, Mesopotamian Planetary Astronomy-Astrology, 68).
50. L. Verderame, I colori nellastrologia mesopotamica.

98

Lorenzo Verderame
15. If the moon is surrounded by a black (gi6) halo: the month holds rain, variant: clouds will be gathered. Saturn (muludu.idim.sag.u) stands in the
halo of the moon. (SAA VIII 41 obv. 14)

The explanation of the black halo is based on the equation gi = tarku to be dark
and gi(.na) = knu to be stable,51 the former being a homophone of gi6 black and
the latter relating to the name of the planet Saturn (kajamnu the steady one).
The phenomena of the halo of the moon were very important and they often
seriously affected the state and his chief, the king:
16. If the moon is surrounded by a halo, and Cancer (mulal.lul) stands in it:
the king of Agade will extend his life. (SAA VIII 6 obv. 46; passim; SAA X
113 obv. 67)52
17. If the moon is surrounded by a halo and two stars stand in it: a reign of
long days. (SAA VIII 20 obv. 13; passim)
18. If the moon is surrounded by a halo and Perseus (mulu.gi) stands in it: a
reign of long duration. (SAA VIII 112 rev. 67)53
19. If the moon is surrounded by a halo and the star (called) Crown of Anu
(mula-nuaga) stands in it: the king is well; there will be truth and justice
in the land. (SAA VIII 68 obv. 13;54 passim)

In some cases, the prediction could be worse:55

20. If the moon is surrounded by a halo, and Jupiter (dsag.me.gar) stands in it:
the king of Agade will be shut up.(SAA VIII 6 obv. 13; passim)
21. If the moon is surrounded by a halo, and Jupiter (mulul.pa.) [stands] in it:
attack of the troops of the Westland; variant: there will be barley so that
there will be no famine; variant: the king of Agade will experience confinement. (SAA VIII 93 obv. 14)
22. If Regulus (mullugal) is dark: the king will become furious and will lead
his notables out for killing, but he will return [...] and not kill (them) and
will get [...]. (SAA VIII 40 rev. 35)56
23. If a star stands in the halo of the moon: the king and [his] troops will be
shut up.Mars (mulal-bat-a-nu) is the star [...]. (SAA VIII 376 obv. 45)57

The task of the ummns was to detect if the predictions of these omens related
to the Assyrian kings, and, whenever possible, to avert them through learned and
practical interpretation, before taking further countermeasures, as the namburbi.58

51. ACh Sin 3 lines 6871 (gi ka-a-nu lu ta-ra-ku gi a-la-mu); STT 339 lines 24; SAA VIII 304
rev. 13. See also mul.gi6 = an a-lam dl = dsag.u (MSL 11 page 40 lines 3941). Note how continues SAA
VIII 40: If Regulus is dark: ... [If Sat]urn in front of Regulus [...].
52. For the rest of this important letter of Bl-uzib see L. Verderame, Il ruolo degli esperti (ummnu) nel periodo neo-assiro, 108.
53. See, however, SAA VIII 5 rev. 46, quoted above (4).
54. The author continues Taurus stands in the halo of the moon. For two days after each other it
stood in the halo of the moon (lines 47).
55. Compare with SAA VIII 273 rev. 35, quoted above (5).
56. The omen could be explained by the presence of Saturn in Regulus; see above, n. 51.
57. The author continues with the omen If the moon is surrounded by a halo and Pleiades stand
in it ... (10), commenting Pleiades (are equivalent to) Mars [...] of Mars [... ...] Pleiades [... ...].
(lines 910).
58. L. Verderame, Il ruolo degli esperti (ummnu) nel periodo neo-assiro, III.3.

The Halo of the Moon

99

24. We will look it up [...], and I shall send the king, my lord, a ta[blet] dealing with the halo of the moon. (SAA X 71 obv. 15)59

Ril,60 commenting on omens related to the presence of Mars, a planet, and Pegasus in the halo of the moon (3), explains:
25. Mars (mulal-bat-a-nu) is a star of the Westland; Pegasus (mula.gn) behind
which are the Pleiades (mul.mul) is Aries (mull.hun.g); Aries is a star of
the Westland. (SAA VIII 412 rev. 24)

For the conjunction of Mars and Saturn next to the lunar halo, the same author
gives a positive interpretation of the omen for Assyria:61
26. If the moon (is surrounded) by a halo, and Bootes (muludun) stands in it:
the king will die, and his land will diminish; the king of Elam will die.
Bootes means Mars.
Mars (mulal-bat-a-nu) is the star of the Westland; evil for the Westland
and Elam. Saturn (muludu.idim.sag.u) is the star of Agade. It is good for the
king my lord. (SAA VIII 383 rev. 18)

piku,62 the Babylonian scribe of Borsippa, also gives a positive interpretation of

this omen, which is, however, based on a reversed equation (Mars = Subartu; Saturn
= Westland):
27. Mars (dal-bat-a-nu), [the star] of Subartu, is bright and carries radiance;
this is good for Subartu. And Saturn (muludu.idim.sag.u), the star of the
Westland, is faint, and its radiance is fallen; this is bad for the Westland;
an attack of an enemy will occur against the Westland. (SAA VIII 491 rev.
712)63

In the case of the presence of Jupiter (d/mulsag.me.gar)64 in the halo, the apodoses
forecast the shutting up of the king (SAA VIII 6 obv. 13; passim). Nab-umaikun,65 however, explains how the omen is neutralized by the incompleteness of the
halo, so that the phenomenon does not portend evil.
28. If the moon is surrounded by a halo, and Jupiter (dsag.me.gar) stands in
it: the king will be shut up.(But) its halo was not closed; (so) it does not
portend evil. (SAA VIII 370 obv. 14)

However, before the same phenomenon, Nab-ahh-erba, one of the two preceptors
of the young Assurbanipal together with Balas,66 cautiously suggests performing a
namburbi ritual:
59. S. Parpola, Letters from Assyrian Scholars to the Kings Esarhaddon and Assurbanipal, II (AOAT
5/2; Neukirchen-Kevelaer: Butzon & Bercker, 1983) 67.
60. L. Verderame, Il ruolo degli esperti (ummnu) nel periodo neo-assiro, IV.85.
61. Most of the Reports describing the conjunction of Mars and Saturn and their presence in the
lunar halo date to XII-670 and I-669 b.c. and refer to a specific episode, the visit of an unidentified prince
(L. Verderame, Il ruolo degli esperti (ummnu) nel periodo neo-assiro, V.17).
62. Ibid., IV.91.
63. See above, n. 61.
64.The three names (dul.pa., dsag.me.gar, dn-bi-ru) of the planet of Marduk (Jupiter) are explained by Nab-mui (L. Verderame, Il ruolo degli esperti (ummnu) nel periodo neo-assiro, IV.66) in
the report SAA VIII 147 (see above 1).
65. L. Verderame, Il ruolo degli esperti (ummnu) nel periodo neo-assiro, IV.72.
66. Ibid., IV.58.

100

Lorenzo Verderame
29. The night of the 2nd day, Jupiter (mulsag.me.gar) stood in the halo of the
moon. Let them perform a namburbi ritual; the halo was not a closed one.
(SAA VIII 71 obv. 16)

Less clear is the situation described in two other Reports by Nab-uma-ikun,

where it is difficult to say if the rest of the document refers to a ritual related to the
halo omen or deals with a different matter:
30. If Scorpius (mulgr.tab) stands in the halo of the moon, it is (a sign) for rain
and flood. The king has seen its sign; Adad will devastate.
In Iyyar (II) on the 15th day let him pray to Ea in supplication; let him
release a prisoner; his possessions will become (an object) of praise. (SAA
VIII 377 obv. 7 rev. 6)
31. If the Bow star (mulban; part of Canis Maior) stands in the halo of the
moon: men will rage, and there will be robbery in the land.
It does not portend evil; a halo (in the area) of Virgo (mulab.sn) portends
rain and flood in winter.
On the 13th of Nisan (I) let him place his food offerings before Sn and
ama; Sn and ama will speak to him.
From Nab-uma-ikun. (SAA VIII 378)

As in the previous cases, the interpretation neutralizes the omen, but, at the same
time, it highlights the main role of the halo in Mesopotamian astrology, namely
weather forecasting.67 In fact, the most common omen related to the halo is the
following:
32. If the moon is surrounded by a black halo: the month holds rain, variant:
clouds will be gathered. (SAA VIII 40 rev. 1; passim)

It is interesting that, despite the learned explanation of the above-mentioned omen

which recalls the presence of Saturn (1315)the halo alone is interpreted in
practical astrology as weather forecasting, as also in omens whose apodoses do not
mention the weather, as the authors of different reports explain:
33. A halo (in the area) of Virgo (mulab.sn) portends rain and flood in winter.
(SAA VIII 378 obv. 56)68
34. [If at the appearance of the moon] the sting [of Scorpius (zi-qit mulgr.tab)]
surrounds it [like a halo]: the flood will [come].
This [night], a halo surr[ounded the moon, al]l of Scorpius [stood] inside
it. (SAA VIII 66 rev. 14)

This latter omen is commented by the Chief Scribe, Issar-umu-re:69

35. This night the moon was surrounded by a halo in Scorpius (mulgr.tab),
(that is a sign) for rain [and] flood. (SAA VIII 2 obv. 12)

In SAA VIII 428, Nab-iqbi70 expands the classical omen by describing Cancer in
the lunar halo (16), with the addition a cloudburst will rain down.
67. For the parapegmata, see most recently Daryn Lehoux, Astronomy, Weather, and Calendars in
the Ancient World: Parapegmata and Related Texts in Classical and Near-Eastern Societies (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2007); see also Liba Taub, Ancient Meteorology (London: Routledge, 2003)
34760.
68. See SAA VIII 82 rev. 68.
69. L. Verderame, Il ruolo degli esperti (ummnu) nel periodo neo-assiro, IV.44.
70. Ibid., IV.63.

The Halo of the Moon

101

Nonetheless, the halo alone is closely related to the weather, regardless of

whether it belongs to the sun or to the moon, as the solar halo omens also show:
36. If the sun is surrounded by a halo: it will rain; change of weather. (SAA
VIII 302 rev. 3; passim)
37. If the sun is surrounded by a halo and its gate opens to the south: the
south wind will blow [...] (SAA VIII 44 obv. 13)
38. If in Adar (XII) the sun is surrounded by a halo in the morning: in this
month the flood will come; variant: it will rain. (SAA VIII 69 obv. 35)

This reveals a feature common to most world cultures: that is, before meteorology
was developed scientifically, such light phenomena were used for weather forecasting.71 Actually, these light phenomena are caused by the presence of water drops
or ice crystals in the troposphere and therefore are a reliable indicator of humidity,
which ancient cultures have learned to interpret from the direct observation of the
sky and have transmitted through their oral tradition.72 In fact, most cultures have
proverbs that link the halo, in particular the bigger halo, to rain forecasting, as the
following passages from the Western proverbs lore prove The bigger the ring (variant: the bow), the nearer the wet (variant: the breeze).73
71. David Brunt, Meteorology and Weather Lore, Folklore 57 (1946) 6674; D. Lehoux, Astronomy,
Weather, and Calendars in the Ancient World (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007).
72. Archer Taylor, The Proverb and an Index to The Proverb (Sprichwrterforschung, 6; Bern
Frankfurt am Main New York: Peter Lang, 1985) 10921 and 109 footnote 1.
73.W. Gregor, Weather Folk-Lore of the Sea, Folklore 2 (1891) 473; M. G. Wurtele, Some
Thoughts on Weather Lore, Folklore 82(4) (1971) 294.

Abbreviations
K.

Museum siglum of The British Museum, London (Koujunyik).

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