Chapter: 37 - Ants

Chapter 37 of Šumma ālu consists of omens based on the observation of the appearance and behaviour of ants, when they invade man’s sphere. Collation of all the preserved manuscripts has allowed us to significantly improve upon Freedman’s edition in If A City 2, 243-271. Details can be found below and in our philological commentary to this Chapter. In the following, we will first present the sources which were used to reconstruct the ants omens and the most important results of our editorial work on them. We will then move onto the content of the Chapter and the interpretation of the omens. Finally, we will present the very first in-depth discussion of the inner structure of the ants omens and of the patterns of association connecting protasis and apodosis in both individual omens and groups of thematically connected omens. 

 

Sources

The text of Šumma ālu’s Chapter 37 is preserved on six manuscripts. Two Neo-Assyrian manuscripts, A 441+ from Assur and K 00074+ from Nineveh, are well preserved and originally included the entire Chapter. These two manuscripts form the basis of our edition.

Two other less well preserved Neo-Assyrian manuscripts, Rm 82+ from Nineveh and ND 5466+ from Nimrud, parallel A 441+ and K 00074+. Additionally, several omens are documented by a Neo-Assyrian excerpt tablet, K 03726+, which combines ant omens with omens drawn from the behaviour of vermin and household or crop pests (see Chapter 38). A Late Babylonian docket-shaped tablet, BM 038313, excerpts nine ant omens from Chapter 37 on the preserved part of the obverse, while the reverse appears to be uninscribed.

The first edition of Chapter 37 was published in If A City 2, 243-271. In that edition, Chapter 37 has 163 omens, one more than the 162 omens that have been reconstructed in our edition. This difference results from the fact that we interpret the text on A 441+ 15 as one omen (37.15) instead of two omens (37.15 and 37.16 in If A City 2).

A 441+ is the main source for Šumma ālu’s Chapter 37, although its colophon identifies it as ‘Tablet 35’ of Šumma ālu (see the general introduction). It originates from Assur and it is composed of two joined pieces, originally published separately by Ebeling as KAR 376 (lower section of the joined tablet, museum number A 441) and KAR 377 (upper section of the joined tablet, museum number and present location unknown). Ebeling’s hand copies of the two parts of A 441+ are available on CDLI (P369343, P369344). Freedman edited the tablet in If a City 2 following Ebeling’s copies. Recently, Heeßel published a new and improved edition in KAL 1 (Heeßel 2007, 80-89, no. 21). The present edition largely relies on this last edition for the structure of the Chapter. A 441+ contains all omens attested by the other manuscripts with the exception of 37.122.

The second most important source for Šumma ālu’s Chapter 37 is K 00074+. This Neo-Assyrian manuscript from Nineveh contains omens 37.28 to 37.145. On the left-hand margin, the tablet exhibits corner wedges for the number 10 (U) marking groups of ten omens. These ten-counts can often be found on Šumma ālu tablets written by the famous scribe Nabû-zuqup-kēnu (Boddy – Huber Vulliet – Mittermayer 2021, 24), so they might hint at Nabû-zuqup-kēnu as scribe of 00074+, but, unfortunately, without a preserved colophon, we are unable to confirm this suggestion.

The six manuscripts documenting Šumma ālu’s Chapter 37 show overall consistency in the number and ordering of the omens (with the already mentioned exception of 37.122, which is absent on A 441+), but show discrepancies in the formulation of individual omens, either in the protasis or in the apodosis. The two main manuscripts, A 441+ and K 00074+, exhibit different variations of 22 omens. These variants are mostly concentrated in the apodosis (13 omens). The number of variant omens between the two main manuscripts is noteworthy, although it should be remarked that these variants are generally small scale, i.e. they don’t result in significantly different apodoses: e.g. EN É BI ÚŠ ‘the owner of that house will die’ alternates with EN É ÚŠ ‘the owner of the house will die’ (37.53) or IBILA NA B[A.ÚŠ] ‘the man's heir will d[ie]’ alternates with DUMU LÚ ÚŠ ‘the man’s son will die’ (37.62).

 

Improvements over If a City 2

Collation of all the preserved manuscripts has allowed us to significantly improve upon Freedman’s edition. Details can be found in our philological commentary. In particular, we have been able to place all previously unplaced ant omens and to harmonise the manuscripts far more completely than was previously the case. At the same time, by explicitly highlighting variants between the preserved manuscripts, in particular the main manuscripts A 441+ and K 00074+, we are able to offer a more accurate reconstruction of the ants omens, one that reflects inconsistencies and ongoing alternative formulations.

With regard to individual tablets, we have been able to place all previously unplaced lines. The beginning of the first column on K 03726+ (Ex(1) in If a City 2) preserves faint traces of signs at the end of approximately eight lines. They were left unread and unplaced by Freedman. K 03726+ i 4-5 correspond to 37.10-11 (see also If a City 2, 244, n. 1-9, 12-16). Since the upper edge of the tablet is preserved, it is probable that K 03726+ i 1 preserves 37.1, but nothing remains of that line. Only very faint traces of an unidentified sign can be seen at the end of line 2. The broken sign at the end of line 3 is URU, and so the line likely corresponds to 37.2 or 37.4, the latter being more probable. Traces are preserved also in K 03726+ i 6-9, which have now been placed with omens 37.12-15. Two more previously unplaced lines on K 03726+ ii, i.e. ii 17-18, could be placed with 37.141.

Our understanding of the Late Babylonian tablet BM 038313 is also greatly improved. We have been able to place all of its ten lines – the tablet excerpts nine ant omens from Chapter 37 (37.21, 37.24, 37.37, 37.44-45, 37.81-84) – and recognise that it follows the sequence of the ‘standard’ text without deviation.

 

Content

The omens from Šumma ālu Chapter 37 focus on the appearance and behaviour of ants, when they invade man’s sphere.

Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae, which have occupied virtually all major terrestrial habitats, with the exception of Antarctica, Greenland, and a few inhospitable or remote islands. The earliest known fossil ants are found preserved in amber from France and Myanmar, from the middle Cretaceous period, thus being about a hundred million years old (Grzimek 1979, 495). Currently, approximately 14,000 species of ants are described, of which at least 26 are documented in modern Iraq. Their colours range from black, brown, and red to yellow and orange. While ants are important components of the majority of terrestrial ecosystems in terms of biomass and diversity, they can also be significant pests, especially when occurring in human establishments, transporting bacteria (for instance in hospitals), or attacking houses and food facilities (Augun – Al-Shaffar 2018, 94).

In Šumma ālu, ant omens are preceded by mice (Chapters 35-36) and followed by vermin and household or crop pests (Chapter 38). Ants are referred to logographically by KIŠI8.MEŠ; the Akkadian reading is kulbābū (Landsberger 1934, 136). Note that ants only occur in the plural in our omens. They were considered a collective, as ants usually occur en masse. No omen refers to the behaviour, or the appearance, of an individual  ant.

Importantly, in our omens ants very rarely interact directly with a human being, as do other animals in Šumma ālu. Rather, ants intrude into human spaces, i.e. the city and the house. In just two omens, 37.96 and 37.152, is a man explicitly mentioned in the protasis as the one who sees the ants.

The range of activities attributed to ants in our omens is relatively small. Ants are described primarily as being seen (75 omens, e.g. 37.22, 37.23, 37.24, etc.) or present (16 omens, e.g. 37.1, 37.3, 37.11, etc.), often in great numbers (10 omens, e.g. 37.53, 37.88, 37.155, etc.), in human spaces. When they are active, they fight or kill each other (15 omens, e.g. 37.10, 37.28, 37.32, etc.), open their column (e.g. 37.128-37.129), climb up or down walls (e.g. 37.119, 37.120, 37.123-37.125), bring things from and into the house or from and into their nest (e.g. 37.132-37.136). In 52 omen protases, the ants’ colour is explicitly mentioned; other physical characteristics are being small (4 omens: 37.62, 37.69, 37.70, 37.148), being large (4 omens: 37.49, 37.50, 37.67, 37.143), and being winged (13 omens, e.g. 37.11, 37.40, 37.144, etc.).

 

Interpretation

In Mesopotamia, ants were considered inauspicious animals. The majority of ant omens in Chapter 37 have negative apodoses predicting the dispersal of the house(hold) or of the city; impoverishment or abandonment of the house(hold); inaccessibility or non-usability of paths or entrances; decline of offerings; or hardship for the owner of the house or members of his family. The appearance of ants in the house often means death. For instance:

 

 

Why ants were, in most cases, considered a bad omen, is revealed by an apotropaic Namburbi ritual, which was meant to avert the evil portended from the appearance of ants, and especially of red ants: ants were considered messengers of the Netherworld goddess Ereškigal, and, as such, they were an unpleasant connection between the world of the living and the world of the dead. If they appeared in a house or elsewhere, they were thought to bring a message from their mistress: this, of course, had to portend ill (Maul 1994, 349; Scurlock 2002, 368). Several omens in Chapter 37 confirm the association of red ants with death. For instance:

 

 

Four omens (37.12-37.15) describe the appearance of red ants in the city, on a dais, in the street, and in the entrance of a temple and all of them predict that the city will be abandoned. Interestingly, the appearance of winged red ants bears an even more inauspicious character:

 

 

 

In 37.47 and 37.50, red ants in the house are associated not only with the death of the house’s owner but also with the dispersal of his house, the loss of his estate, and the end of his line. In the last omen, the apodosis was probably considered particularly inauspicious because the death of the house’s owner is caused by an act of violence. The association of winged ants with death may have been prompted by the fact that in Akkadian descriptions of the afterlife the inhabitants of the Netherworld are clothed like birds (De Zorzi 2019, 244-245). In any case, the mention of wings in the omen protasis had the power to turn an otherwise positive sign into a negative one. For instance, in the following three omens:

 

 

Black ants were considered a positive sign in Ancient Mesopotamia. The appearance of black ants in 37.60 is connected with a favourable outcome for the house’s owner, who will live a long life, and for the house itself, which will see continuous activity. The mention of winged ants in the protasis of 37.61 prompts a negative prediction about the death of the owner’s son and the abandonment of his house. The third omen is an expansion on the same theme.

The mention of winged ants in the protasis is not associated exclusively with predictions of death. Another strong association is between winged ants and rain. For instance:

 

 

In another omen, 37.11, the sighting of black winged ants in the city predicts rain and a flood. The protasis could be connected to the apodosis here by the idea that winged ants belong to the heavenly sphere from which rain comes (mentioned explicitly in 37.40: za-na-an AN-e; note that ŠÈG, in 37.11, is written A.AN). However, these omens may equally, or additionally, describe actual observation of a natural phenomenon. Winged ants are male ants (drones) and young ant queens, which appear en masse for their so-called nuptial flight. These nuptial flights may be connected with the fall of rain or with other meteorological phenomena. Nuptial flights are often synchronised with meteorological events such as the first rain of the season or an extremely hot day or concentrated at the beginning of summer or early autumn (Levin – Yom-Tov – Barnea 2008).

The colour of ants plays an important role in the hermeneutics of the omens from this Chapter. Ants could be BABBAR ‘white’ (10 omens), GE6 ‘black’ (20 omens), SA5 ‘red’ (30 omens), pe-lu-tu4 ‘reddish’ (1 omen), GÙN or GÙN.GÙN ‘multicoloured’ (7 omens), or SIG7 ‘yellow’ (4 omens). As these numbers show, the most frequently mentioned colour is SA5 ‘red’, followed by GE6 ‘black’, and BABBAR ‘white’. As already mentioned above, red ants are a negative sign, while black ants are a positive one. White, yellow and multicoloured ants are negative signs (37.25-27, 37.66-67, 37.71-72, 37.153-154).

Several omens bring together ants of different colours. For instance:

 

 

 

In these four omens, black ants are connected with red, multicoloured and yellow ants, which are generally seen as negative signs. The sequence reflects the order in which colours are generally attested in first millennium scholarly texts, i.e. white, black, red, multicoloured, and yellow (Hirvonen 2016, 98). All four omens are negative, which implies that black ants, by themselves a positive sign, lead to a negative prediction when they are associated with an inauspicious sign. We have already seen above that winged black ants are interpreted as a sign of death (37.61) because of the Netherworld association of wings. This is confirmed by 37.59 and 37.63, where the sighting of black and red ants in a man’s house is associated with predictions of death. The protasis of 37.63 is connected with a more severe prediction than the apodosis of 37.59, with the death of the man’s wife followed by the dispersal of his household. In this case, it seems that the insertion in the protasis of the attribute ‘winged’ was instrumental in bringing about this amplification of the negative meaning of the apodosis. The association between winged ants and the dispersal of the man’s household is frequently found in this Chapter (see below 37.60-72). It possibly reflects visual imagery: swarms of winged ants appearing from their nest and quickly dispersing themselves all over the place.

Ants of various colours can actively interact: they are often mentioned as fighting with each other or killing each other. Particularly interesting is the interaction between black and red ants. In two omen pairs, 37.32-33 and 37.73-74, black ants kill red ones and vice versa. In both cases, when red ants, a negative sign, are seen killing black ones, a positive sign, the apodosis contains a negative prediction. Conversely, when black ants kill red ones, the prediction is favourable. For example, in the first pair:

 

 

Note that the two apodoses share the same structure. Moreover, the graphic similarity between ḪUL and KI.LAM on the one hand and between GI.NA and GÁL-ši on the other  reinforces the perception of the interconnection between these two omens.

The association of white, red, reddish, and yellow ants almost always leads to a negative prediction (37.58, 37.68, 37.69, 37.70, 37.75, 37.77). An interesting exception is represented by 37.55-56:

 

 

In the first omen, columns of red and white ants on a sick man are associated with a positive prediction of recovery, but when the same columns are seen in a man’s house the prediction is negative. Columns of ants are normally seen as negative in our omens: they are associated with downfall (37.4) or impoverishment (37.5) of a city, sickness, or even death (37.56, 37.58, 37.127-37.130). In 37.55, however, they are interpreted as positive: the sick man will stay alive. In this case, the positive prediction results from the specific context associated with sickness in the protasis: the idea seems to be that red and white ants, by themselves negative signs, are neutralizing, or taking away, the ‘negative’ sickness.

 

Structure

In very general terms, Chapter 37 is structured, on the vertical axis, according to the location in which the ants appear in the protases. The ants come from ‘outside’ of the secure sphere of the city and enter the city, starting at the city gate (37.1-37.3), they take an easterly or westerly path (37.4-37.5), bring something out of or into the city (37.6-37.7), and then climb up or down a wall (37.8-37.9). In omens 37.11-37.24 (in 37.11-37.18 with colours explicitly mentioned), ants are seen in several locations within the city and in a temple. From omen 37.22 to 37.25, the protases describe ants in the street or in the city square.

From 37.26 until 37.153, the protases describe ants appearing in a man’s house. 

Omens 37.154-37.158 describe ants on the street (37.154), in the city (37.155-37.156), and again on the street (37.157-37.158). In the last four omens the location is again the man’s house. Of these, two omens (37.160-161) describe the co-occurrence in the house of ants and a fungus (UZU.DIR). The final omen concerns black ants being seen among ants appearing in a man’s house (37.162).

Ant omens form semantic clusters based on the subject of their protases. A group of ant omens focuses on ant holes (ḪABRUD, 37.81-88), while another is built around the appearance of ant columns (KASKAL) in a man’s house (37.127-131). A long omen sequence lists all the locations within a man’s house where ants are seen (37.92-126) following an outward-inward, bottom-top direction. The sequence starts at the outer gate (37.92) and then moves inside the house, where ants are mentioned in association with types of furniture, in particular food storage containers (37.104-111). The final section of this sequence focuses on ants being seen on the walls (37.116-120), and, finally, on the roof (37.126). Within the cluster, binary oppositions (north-south, up-down) are used as a further organisational tool. For instance:

 

 

In this omen pair, both predictions are negative, because ants in a house are overwhelmingly seen as an inauspicious sign, and both convey the idea of ‘falling down’ (ŠUB-at in 37.120, translated as ‘coming’, literally means ‘falling’).

Colours are also extensively employed as an organisational tool in these omens (e.g. 37.11-37.18, and especially 37.46-37.77). In the following example, 37.73-37.78, ants of various colours are described as killing (i-duk-ku) each other in a man’s house:

37.73.	DIŠ	KIŠI8.MEŠ	GE6.MEŠ	SA5.MEŠ	ina É NA	i-duk-ku
37.74.	DIŠ	KIŠI8.MEŠ	S[A5].MEŠ	GE6.MEŠ	ina É NA	i-duk-ku
37.75.	DIŠ	KIŠI8.MEŠ	[BABBAR].MEŠ	SA5.MEŠ	ina É NA	i-duk-ku
37.76.	DIŠ	KIŠI8.M[EŠ	BABBA]R.MEŠ	GE6.MEŠ	ina É NA	i-duk-ku
37.77.	[DIŠ	KIŠI8].MEŠ	SIG7.MEŠ	SA5.MEŠ	ina É NA	i-duk-ku
37.78.	[DIŠ	KIŠI8].MEŠ	ŠEŠ	ŠEŠ	ina É NA	i-duk-ku

The sequence of colours does not reflect the standardised colour scheme which runs white à black à red à multicoloured à yellow (see above). In this sequence, red and black are clearly the most important colours: they interact with each other and with the other two colours, except that there is no omen in which yellow and black are brought together. As we have seen, red and black are the most frequently attested colours in the ant omens, and they regularly stand in opposition to each other, with black being a positive sign and red a negative one. The final omen, 37.78, does not mention the colour of the ants, but serves as the conclusion to the section of coloured ants killing each other: ‘If ants kill each other in a man’s house’.

Our study of the ant omens has allowed us to recognise that connections between omen clusters are usually created through the introduction of what we can call ‘transfer’ or ‘pivot’ omens. These omens are characterised by the fact that they bring together on the horizontal axis elements taken from the preceding vertical sequence with new elements that are then assimilated into the following vertical sequence. The clearest example is represented by 37.21:

 

 

Omen 37.21 is inserted between an omen cluster describing ants in various parts of a temple (37.15-37.20) and another cluster (37.22ff.) describing ants in the public sphere of the city (streets). The subject of 37.21 does not entirely fit into these sequences, as the omen refers to ants in the house (ina É). Groups of omens describing the activities of ants in a man’s house appear later in the Chapter (37.26ff.). However, the protasis of 37.21 is tightly connected with that of 37.20 through repetition of key words: 37.20 elišunu is connected with 37.21 ītelûni, and ina É appear in both omens. Equally, 37.21 is connected with 37.22 through the repetition of the N Preterite of amāru (37.21: innamrūma, 37.22: IGI.MEŠ/innamrū). In addition, the repetition of the signs É and BI connects 37.21 with both the preceding and the following omens. These exact and variant repetitions allow a smooth transition from one thematic sequence to the other. In this context, 37.21 clearly has the function of a structural pivot uniting two omen sequences. In light of the important function of this omen, it is noteworthy that it is longer than those preceding and following it - in fact it is unusually long - and it is characterised by an unusually high number of syllabic writings both in the protasis and in the apodosis. It is also probably relevant that it is the first of the nine omens excerpted from Chapter 37 by BM 038313.

Another interesting aspect of this section is that it is pervaded by symmetrical patterns. The apodoses of 37.19-22 form two pairs: 37.19 and 37.20 are each composed of a single sentence, while 37.21 and 37.22 consist of two sentences connected by the enclitic particle -ma. Further, the final verbs create an ABBA pattern, with two negated verbs, NU GÁL (37.19) and NU GAR (37.22) enclosing two logograms with phonetic complements, TAR-as (37.20) and DU-ak (37.21).

On the semantic level, 37.21 interrupts a sequence of five identically structured apodoses (37.16-37.20) regarding the presence or absence of flour and bread offerings in the temple. The apodosis of 37.21 predicts that the house’s male provider will abandon his house. Ants gathering together one above the other and then drawing apart are associated with the breakdown of the house’s unity in the form of the desertion of the house’s provider. The repetition of the same verb, alāku ‘to go’, in both the protasis and the apodosis of 37.21, as well as the phonetic similarity between up-taḫ-ḫi-[ru-m]a in the protasis and iš-taḫ-ḫi-iṭ-ma in the apodosis, indicate that there is a close association between the actions of the ants and the predicted outcome.

The thematic shift is anticipated in the preceding omen, 37.20, by the introduction of the Gt Preterite i-te-lu-ni which describes ants leaving the lock of a temple: the verb interrupts the repetitive verbal sequence contained in the protases of 37.15-19 (ittabšû, imteddū, ittabšû, imteddū, īmidū) and introduces the idea of ‘leaving’ which is then explored in 37.21.

The apodosis of 37.22 does not introduce a new topic, nor it is an exact repetition of the same subject, but rather it raises the idea of the breakdown of social unity explored in 37.21 to the level of the entire community, i.e. the city. The close semantic association between 37.21 and 37.22 is reinforced by the structural parallelism of the respective apodoses. The apodosis of 37.22 introduces a new key lexical item, BIR, sapāḫu ‘to scatter’, which is antonymous to paḫāru ‘to gather’ in the protasis of the preceding omen. On the vertical axis, this semantic cluster is organised as a climax, as indicated by the closing sentence of 37.22, predicting that there will be no restoration of the broken unity.

In conclusion, this omen sequence is a good example of how ancient Mesopotamian scholars creatively operated with similarity and contrast between contiguous or near-contiguous textual elements, on both the horizontal and the vertical axis, to create sequences of omens that are carefully interlaced with one another.

So far we have focused chiefly on how ant omens are structured on the level of the protasis. We will now demonstrate that ancient scribes were every bit as creative with the apodoses, using techniques including the variation of single elements, and, particularly, the clever arrangement of relatively standard phrases. The following table offers a schematisation of omens 37.60-72:

37.60.

DIŠ [KIŠI8].MEŠ

GE6.MEŠ

ina É NA

IGI.MEŠ

EN

É BI

u[l-tab-bar]

37.61.

DIŠ [KIŠI8].MEŠ

GE6.MEŠ

šá kap-pi GAR-nu

ina É NA

IGI.MEŠ

É BI

ŠUB-di

37.62.

DIŠ [KIŠI8].MEŠ

GE6.MEŠ

TUR.MEŠ

šá kap-pi GAR-nu

ina É NA

IGI.MEŠ

IBILA

NA

37.63.

DIŠ [KIŠI8].MEŠ

GE6.MEŠ

SA5.MEŠ

šá kap-pi GAR-nu

ina É NA

IGI.MEŠ

DAM

LÚ

BA.ÚŠ

37.64.

DIŠ [KIŠI8].MEŠ

GE6.MEŠ

GÙN.MEŠ

ina É NA

IGI.MEŠ

EN

É BI

37.65.

[DIŠ KI]ŠI8.MEŠ

GE6.MEŠ

SIG7.MEŠ

ina É NA

IGI.MEŠ

tam-ṭa-a-tu4

É BI

ina-qar

37.66.

[DIŠ KI]ŠI8.MEŠ

BABBAR.MEŠ

ina É NA

IGI.MEŠ

É BI

in-na-qar

37.67.

[DIŠ KI]ŠI8.MEŠ

BABBAR.MEŠ

GAL.MEŠ

šá kap-pi GAR-nu

ina É NA

IGI.MEŠ

É BI

37.68.

[DIŠ KI]ŠI8.MEŠ

BABBAR.MEŠ

u

SA5.MEŠ

ina É NA

IGI.MEŠ

É BI

ina-qar

37.69.

[DIŠ KI]ŠI8.MEŠ

BABBAR.MEŠ

u

SA5.MEŠ

TUR.MEŠ

ina É NA

IGI.MEŠ

EGIR

É BI

37.70.

DIŠ KIŠI8.MEŠ

BABBAR.MEŠ

[T]UR.MEŠ

u

S[A5.MEŠ]

ina É NA

IGI.MEŠ

É BI

in-na-qar-ma

37.71.

DIŠ KIŠI8.MEŠ

SIG7.MEŠ

ina É NA

IGI.MEŠ

tam-ṭa-a-tu4

É BI

ina-qar

37.72.

DIŠ KIŠI8.MEŠ

SIG7.MEŠ

šá kap-pi GAR.MEŠ

ina É NA

IGI.MEŠ

EN

É BI

ÚŠ-ma

The sequence focuses on ants of various colours being seen in a man’s house. Some of the omens add further specifications, i.e. that the ants are small (37.62, 37.69-70) or large (37.67) and that they are winged (37.61-63, 37.67, 37.72). As in the sequence 37.73-77 discussed above, the colour scheme starts with black and ends with yellow. Each colour section starts with an omen in which a single colour, respectively black (37.60), white (37.66) and yellow (37.71), is mentioned as the only attribute, followed by an omen in which the attribute ‘winged’ is added (37.61, 37.67, 37.72). In the middle section, 37.67 also adds the attribute ‘large’ mirroring 37.62 which contains both the specifications ‘winged’ and ‘small’. As we would expect, the black ants section is the longest one (6 omens), while the section on yellow ants includes just two omens. Black ants are associated with red, multicoloured and yellow ones (37.63-65). White ants are associated only with red ones (37.68-70), while yellow ants stand alone.

Our schematisation shows how the ancient authors strove to create a highly regular pattern on the both the protasis and apodosis side. In particular, note that the apodoses of 37.70-71 inversely mirror the apodoses of 37.65-66: tam-ṭa-a-tu4 É BI ina-qar (65) – É BI in-na-qar ÚKU-in (66) - É BI in-na-qar-ma ÚKU-in (70) - tam-ṭa-a-tu4 É BI ina-qar (71). A sign play between tam-ṭa-a-tu4 ‘losses’ (37.66, 37.70) and BABBAR ‘white’ (tam = UD, BABBAR = UD) may have been used here to strengthen the interconnection between the protasis and the apodosis sides of the sequence. Finally, note that each colour section includes an omen about winged ants which is associated with an apodosis predicting the dispersal (BIR) of the house (37.63, 37.67, 37.72).

Another excellent example of regular patterning on the level of the apodosis is 37.37-40:

 

 

The connection between protasis and apodosis in the first omen of this sequence is based on the assonance between the roots gnn (protasis) and znn (apodosis). Further, note that on the vertical axis 37.37, 37.39 and 37.40 are connected by sound repetition: ramānšunu (37.37) resonates with nakamtašunu in 37.38-39, and possibly with IGI.MEŠ/innamrū in 37.40. Further, igannanū resonates with izannun (37.37), but also with lapān (37.39) and zanān (37.40). Another symmetrical pattern can be identified within the sequence: the apodoses of the first two omens contain finite verbs, izannun and ippaṭṭar, while 37.39 and 37.40 have infinitives, lapān and zanān, the latter referring back to zunnu izannun in 37.37. Finally, note that the sequence builds an ABAB pattern based on the length of the omens.

 

Patterns of association between protasis and apodosis

As elsewhere in the animal omens, the place where the ants appear plays an important role in the hermeneutics of the respective omens:

 

 

Women are not frequently mentioned in omen apodoses: in this omen, the appearance of the lady of the house in the apodosis is prompted by the mention of the sleeping chamber in the protasis because women in Ancient Mesopotamia are associated with the inner spaces of the house. Similarly, in 37.117:

 

 

Ants on a north-facing wall suggest strife between the husband and wife because the principal living-room in a Babylonian house was normally in the south east of the central courtyard (Baker 2007, 71). A north-facing wall thus witnessed the intimacy of household life. In this omen there might also be a connection between protasis and apodosis on the sign level: DU14 in the apodosis corresponds to LÚ×NE, NE can be also read IZI which is phonetically close to IZ.ZI ‘wall’ in the protasis.

In several omens, there is a close association between the actions described in the protasis and the predicted outcome:

 

 

In these two omens, the future of the city where the ants are seen parallels the actions of the ants: ants taking something from the city outside means that the property of the city will leave the city (37.6), while ants taking something from outside into the city predicts growth (37.7). In omen 37.6, the semantic connection between protasis and apodosis is strengthened by the repetition of the same verb, È, in both parts of the omen. A group of similarly constructed omens is 37.132-136.

Another couple of omens in which the actions of the ants in the protasis are closely associated with the actions described in the apodosis is represented by 37.21 and 37.80:

 

 

 

In these two omens, ants gathering together and then drawing apart are associated with the breakdown of the house’s unity in the form of the desertion of the house’s male provider. Their protases are similarly constructed and both apodoses contain the expression almanūta illak. Note that the second omen is more inauspicious than the first one, since it does not merely predict that the owner of the house will run away, but rather that he will die.

Frequently, protasis and apodosis are connected by the repetition of the same sign:

 

 

The protasis refers to small (TUR) black ants, and the apodosis predicts the death of the owner’s heir (IBILA = TUR.UŠ). Thus, protasis and apodosis are connected by the repetition of the sign TUR. In addition, the mention of wings in the protasis brings about a connection with death (see above). See also in the following omen:

 

 

Protasis and apodosis are again connected by the repeated use of the sign TUR: small (TUR) ants in a man’s house lead to reduction (TUR-er) of the house. In the following omen, the sign connection works on multiple levels:

 

 

In this omen, protasis and apodosis are connected by the repetition of the sign ÉRIN: while the protasis contains the term MÈ (= AK×ÉRIN), the apodosis has ÉRIN. Further, the ants’ aggressive behaviour and the mention of ‘battle’ (MÈ) in the protasis lead to the subject of war in the apodosis. Another connection between protasis and apodosis exists on the sign level: the repetition of the sign ŠEŠ in the protasis is mirrored by the repetition of the sign RI in RI.RI.GA, as well as by the sound repetition GAL GÁL. Similar techniques are used in the omen 37.78, in which the repetition of ŠEŠ in the protasis is again associated with RI.RI.GA in the apodosis:

 

 

For a similar connection based on sound repetition between two omens, see:

 

 

In these two omens, the substantive tu-mu-ur-ta-šú-nu in 37.90 is swapped for the almost same sounding sequence TUR.MEŠ DU.MEŠ-ma in the protasis of the following omen. Further, note the use of repeated logograms both in the apodosis of 37.90, TUK TUK, and in that of 37.91, ŠE ŠE.

Sound and sign repetitions can connect longer omen sequences, such as 37.114-37.116:

 

 

In this sequence, the sign NE is repeated three times, as part of KI.NE (37.114-37.115), and in DU14 (= LÚ×NE) in 37.116.

Finally, for another example of the creative use of repetition in the ant omens, see also 37.78-80:

 

 

As already seen above, the repetition of ŠEŠ in the protasis of the first omen is mirrored by the repetition of RI in RI.RI.GA (miqittu) in the corresponding apodosis. Note that the same root mqt is repeated twice in the apodosis of the following omen (ma-qa-at and ŠUB-ut). Interestingly, the third repetition takes the form of the infinitive with iterative meaning ŠUB-ut ‘repeated downfall (mitaqqut)’ of the man’s wife. Sound repetitions connect 37.78 with the following two omens on the vertical axis. Note the repetition of the CVC cluster /mat/ in ma-at-tu4 (mattu, 37.78) and ÚŠ-ma (imâtma, 37.80), with the variant /mâd/ in i-mi-du-ma (< mâdu), and /wāt/ in ma-qa-at a-wa-ti (maqāt awāti, 37.79), with the Old Babylonian spelling awāti instead of amāti. A second vertical sequence, GÁL/ibbašši (37.78) - MÈ/tāḫāza ip-pu-šu (37.79) - up-taḫ-ḫa-ru-ma u i-bi-iš-šu (37.80), is characterised by three verbs containing a labial consonant (/b/, /p/ and /b/ respectively) and /š/. Note also the repetition of /taḫ/ in the noun tāḫāza (MÈ, 37.79) and in the verb up-taḫ-ḫa-ru-ma (37.80).

 

In conclusion, the ant omens exhibit a high level in systematisation not only on the horizontal level but also on the vertical level. This is especially interesting for the apodoses, which at first glance show less variation than the protases: the scribes used standard, repetitive apodoses. These standard, repetitive apodoses, however, were arranged in a creative way, in an attempt to structure the omens on the apodosis side as well, and to create connections between individual lines. We have also seen that ‘transfer’ or ‘pivot’ omens were inserted to connect omen clusters. Overall, in the protases as well as in the apodoses, ancient scribes strove to interlace individual omens, and sequences of omens, to create a theoretically all-encompassing and fully interconnected system through numerous small-scale connections.