666 JASTROW— HEPATOSCOPY AND ASTROLOGY [December 4, 



the liver into " day " and " night."^^ Professor Korte, in a study 

 of this remarkable object, summing up the results of many years of 

 research, explains this by showing that the liver was regarded as a 

 microcosm reflecting the macrocosm,^'^ or, in other words, the liver 

 of the sacrificial animal from being originally a reflection of the 

 soul or mind of the god to whom the animal was offered, was 

 brought into connection with the observation of the heavenly bodies 

 revealing the intention of the gods acting in concert. This combina- 

 tion of hepatoscopy with astrology likewise points to the latter sys- 

 tem of divination as the later one, dependent in some measure upon 

 the earlier method of divining through the liver. 



This leads us to the last two points to be considered here, the 

 relationship of Babylonian-Assyrian astrology to astronomy and the 

 spread of astrology from the Euphrates Valley to other peoples. 

 While astrology even in its most primitive phases assumes some 

 knowledge of astronomy, it stands to reason that since the sole pur- 

 pose for which the planets and stars were observed was as a means 

 of securing omens, there could be no genuine interest in astronomical 

 lore, pure and simple. As the scope of astrology increased, more 

 stars were added to the field of observation, with each succeeding 

 ages further details of the movements of the planets were noted, and 

 groups of stars were combined into constellations of a more or less 

 fanciful character. It became necessary for purposes of instruction 

 in astrology to systematize and synthesize the knowledge thus ac- 

 quired from empirical observation. In the course of time a con- 

 siderable body of " school " literature thus took shape in the form of 

 lists of stars, with attempts to locate them and to set forth some of 

 the phenomena connected with them.^^ For the practical purpose of 

 regulating the calendar further pedagogical aids were devised, and 



'"' Korte (p. 362) expresses himself as follows "Die Leber, der Sitz des 

 Lebens nach antiker Auffassung, erscheint als ein Abbild des Weltganzen im 

 kleinen. Wie dieses ist sie in eine rechte und in cine linke Halfte, eine 

 Tages — und Nachtseite geteilt. Die Trennungslinie entspricht der Ost- 

 Westlinie des Weltalls. Wie das Himmelsgewolbe ist ihr Rand in 16 

 Regionen geteilt, in denen Gotter walten und Zeichen geben konnen." 



"As examples of such lists see II. Rawlinson, PI. 49, Nos. i, 3, 4; III. 

 Rawlinson, PI. 57, No. 6, and the texts entered in the Index to Bezold's 

 "Catalogue of the Cuneiform Tablets of the Kou3'unjik Collection," p. 2096. 

 These lists in the roj'al library of Nineveh revert to older Babylonian originals. 



