Chapters 1, 3, and 6 of Zainab Bahrani’s book Rituals of War underscore the importance of divine messages and omens in Mesopotamian society. Mesopotamians saw omens in all aspects of life, from everyday terrestrial occurrences to astronomy to necromancy (Bahrani, 91). Of particular significance were omens associated with the human body, including dreams and the actual body (physiognomantics). Though I appreciated Bahrani’s comprehensive overview of rituals and the specific examples she gave, I nevertheless was unsure about how the ritual system worked in practice. I felt as though the reader would have benefitted from clarification of some of the intricacies of the ritual system.
One of my biggest questions was whether Mesopotamians viewed omens in the strict sense of determining their fate in an unalterable manner. For example, if an extispicy ritual recommended a foolish military maneuver, could an Assyrian general disregard it in favor of his better judgment? I would be interested in knowing the degree to which omens controlled the lives of Mesopotamians, and whether people always followed the advice of omens.
Another question I had was about body omens. Given the collection of body omens “to the point of apparent absurdity” (Bahrani, 95), it seems probable that contradictory omens could have existed. In these cases, was there an ordering of importance to the various omens? For example, would an omen from a person’s hair be favored over an omen from a person’s fingernail if the two presented opposing messages?
My final question pertained to the abduction of cult statues during warfare. The examples Bahrani presented made it seem like the cult statues were left untouched after being captured, which I felt was a strategically unwise decision. Rather than giving the enemy ample opportunity to recapture the unharmed statues, wouldn’t it be more efficient to simply destroy the statues and wipe out the enemy’s last hope?
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