volume 2

INTRODUCTION. xxix
the portion to the right was Akkad, that to the left
was Elam, the upper part was Aharru, and the lower
part Subartu. A total eclipse of the Moon was called
utal mdtdti, i.e., a "darkness of the countries."
The greatest possible care was taken by the
astrologers to observe and to record the duration and
-extent of partial eclipses.
Some of the portents from births recorded in the
Reports are remarkable, and among these may be
mentioned one in which we are told that the writer
augured an increase of power to the king, because a
sow brought forth a pig which had eight legs and two
tails {see p. xci). This curious object was, we are
told, afterwards preserved in brine.
A perusal of the Astrological Reports will
convince the reader that the style and language in
which they are written are not only somewhat obscure
and difficult grammatically, but that their writers took
pains to mak e their forecasts and p ortents as unintelligible
to the uninitiated as possible. Whenever
l_they were able they added an alternative portent.
It is possible, indeed probable, that many of the
difficulties which encompass the study of Babylonian
magic, astrology and sorcery, will be removed by the
publication of abundant material, and that at length
we may obtain to a knowledge of the general
principles which guided the astrologer in formulating
the decisions as to the future, which exercised such a
g-reat and lasting
dwellers in Mesopotamia.
influence over the minds of the