Omen 32.A.28
Nicole Lundeen, 2021, "Šumma ālu, Omen 32.A.28", Nicla De Zorzi et al., Bestiarium Mesopotamicum, 2018-2021; accessed 10/08/2026 12:08 a.m. at tieromina.acdh-dev.oeaw.ac.at/omens/Omen-32-A-28/tei
↓ 32.A.28 
VAT 10167   28  DIŠEME.DIRa-naKI.TAgišBANŠURNAKU₄-mair-bi-iṣSUḪUŠ.BI[NUGI.NA]
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  • DIŠEME.DIRa-naKI.TAgišBANŠURNAKU₄-mair-bi-iṣSUḪUŠ.BI[NUGI.NA]
  • šummaṣurāruanašapalpaššūramēliīrubmairbiṣišissu[ulikân]
  • If a lizard crawls under a man's table and lies down- his social standing [will not be stable].
  • If a City2, 179, *32.89'
    If a lizard enters underneath a man's table and lies down, that foundation [will not be firm].
  • KAL 1 16-17, 72 Vs. 28
    Wenn eine Eidechse unter den Tisch eine Mannes kriecht und sich (dort) lagert: [Kein dauerhaftes] Fundament.
PHILOLOGICAL COMMENTARY
  • The above omen's apodosis has been reconstructed from 32.S.25.
  • We translate SUḪUŠ.BI as ‘his social standing’ because the meaning of išdu ‘foundation’ can be extended to mean the ‘foundation of a reign or government’ as well as to ‘social status’. See CAD I/J, 237 s.v. išdu 2 and 238 s.v. išdu 2d, for other examples from omens in Šumma ālu.
  • The omens 32.A.28 and 32.A.29 are thematically linked as both protases involve a lizard lying down on a man’s furniture and the apodoses involve the man’s social standing.