Clay model of sheep’s liver for divination
Place where the object is located
Wellcome collection
Story of the object
Clay model of a sheep's liver used for instruction in liver divination in a Babylonian Temple School, c. 2000 B.C. Liver was used for divination of the cause of the disease and of the method of treatment. We should remember that the character of medicine at that time was purely theocratic, disease and injury was thus sent by gods and demons.
Medicine in ancient cultures started as magic-religious. The cause of the disease was always a god, a demon, a spirit, something supernatural in all cases. Prognosis and treatment thus, were based in equally supernatural foundations, i.e treatment could be achived if the angry god was satisfied by a sacrifice. One of the techniques used for prognosis was divination through various means, with special interest through the entrails of a sacrificed animal. There is common agreement that liver divination originated in Mesopotamia and then moved to ancient Greece. The Babylonians believed that a healthy-looking liver indicated that a divinity was present in it, while an unhealthy liver indicated its absence. Among the features examined were the texture, the color and the symmetry, the presence or absence of the lobe. The use of the liver for prognosticating was somewhat suspended after the appearance of Hippocratic medicine that challenged the supernatural etiology of diseases. Nevertheless, many centuries later, we find the practice of liver divination in the Etruscan and early Roman society. Numerous model livers have been found in Near East, with inscriptions. Some of them have specific omens or instructions, often divided by regions. It is believed that these model livers were used for instruction or as reference guides.
- Collins D. (2008). Mapping the Entrails: The Practice of Greek Hepatoscopy. The American Journal of Philology, 129(3), 319-345.
- Gordon R. (2017). "Straightening the Paths": Inductive Divination, Materiality, and Imagination in the Graeco-Roman Period. Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome. Supplementary Volumes, 13, 119-143.
- Krauskopf Ingrid. (2017) L’Etrusca disciplina au Ve siècle apr. J.-C. La divination dans le monde étrusco-italique. Etruscan Studies, 20(2), 184-188.
Medicine in ancient cultures started as magic-religious. The cause of the disease was always a god, a demon, a spirit, something supernatural in all cases. Prognosis and treatment thus, were based in equally supernatural foundations, i.e treatment could be achived if the angry god was satisfied by a sacrifice. One of the techniques used for prognosis was divination through various means, with special interest through the entrails of a sacrificed animal. There is common agreement that liver divination originated in Mesopotamia and then moved to ancient Greece. The Babylonians believed that a healthy-looking liver indicated that a divinity was present in it, while an unhealthy liver indicated its absence. Among the features examined were the texture, the color and the symmetry, the presence or absence of the lobe. The use of the liver for prognosticating was somewhat suspended after the appearance of Hippocratic medicine that challenged the supernatural etiology of diseases. Nevertheless, many centuries later, we find the practice of liver divination in the Etruscan and early Roman society. Numerous model livers have been found in Near East, with inscriptions. Some of them have specific omens or instructions, often divided by regions. It is believed that these model livers were used for instruction or as reference guides.
- Collins D. (2008). Mapping the Entrails: The Practice of Greek Hepatoscopy. The American Journal of Philology, 129(3), 319-345.
- Gordon R. (2017). "Straightening the Paths": Inductive Divination, Materiality, and Imagination in the Graeco-Roman Period. Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome. Supplementary Volumes, 13, 119-143.
- Krauskopf Ingrid. (2017) L’Etrusca disciplina au Ve siècle apr. J.-C. La divination dans le monde étrusco-italique. Etruscan Studies, 20(2), 184-188.
Unit of the Educational Material connected (2 - 1)
Label
Clay model of a sheep's liver, Babylonian Temple School. Credit: Wellcome Collection. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
