Martian Portents of Evil

“No. 195.

When Jupiter stands in front of Mars, there will be corn and men will be slain, (or) a great army will be slain.

When Jupiter and Mars . . . the god will devour (or) rains will be given upon the land. (Ustaddanu šutadunu resolved?)

When Mars approaches Jupiter, there will be a great devastation in the land.

When Jupiter and a planet, their stars face, evil will befall the land.

When Mars (Lubad-dir) and Jupiter (Rabú) approach, there will be a slaughter of cattle. (Lubad-dir is Mars, Rabú is Jupiter.)

Mars has approached Jupiter. When Mars (Šanamma) approaches Jupiter, in that year the king of Akkad will die and the crops of that land will be prosperous.

This omen is evil for the lands; let the king, my lord, make a Nambulbi-ceremony to avert the evil.

From Nabû-ikiša of Borsippa.”

Reginald Campbell Thompson, The Reports of the Magicians and Astrologers of Nineveh and Babylon, Vol. II, London, 1900, pp. lxvii-lxviii.