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In the religion of ancient Rome, a haruspex (plural haruspices; also called aruspex) was a person trained to practise a form of
divination Divination (from Latin ''divinare'', 'to foresee, to foretell, to predict, to prophesy') is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic, standardized process or ritual. Used in various forms throughout history ...
called haruspicy (''haruspicina''), the inspection of the entrails ('' exta''—hence also extispicy (''extispicium'')) of sacrificed animals, especially the
liver The liver is a major organ only found in vertebrates which performs many essential biological functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the synthesis of proteins and biochemicals necessary for digestion and growth. In humans, it i ...
s of sacrificed
sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticate ...
and
poultry Poultry () are domesticated birds kept by humans for their eggs, their meat or their feathers. These birds are most typically members of the superorder Galloanserae (fowl), especially the order Galliformes (which includes chickens, qu ...
. The reading of omens specifically from the liver is also known by the Greek term hepatoscopy (also hepatomancy). The Roman concept is directly derived from
Etruscan religion Etruscan religion comprises a set of stories, beliefs, and religious practices of the Etruscan civilization, heavily influenced by the mythology of ancient Greece, and sharing similarities with concurrent Roman mythology and religion. As the E ...
, as one of the three branches of the ''
disciplina Etrusca Etruscan religion comprises a set of stories, beliefs, and religious practices of the Etruscan civilization, heavily influenced by the mythology of ancient Greece, and sharing similarities with concurrent Roman mythology and religion. As the Et ...
''. Such methods continued to be used well into the
Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
, especially among Christian apostates and pagans. The Latin terms ''
haruspex In the religion of ancient Rome, a haruspex (plural haruspices; also called aruspex) was a person trained to practise a form of divination called haruspicy (''haruspicina''), the inspection of the entrails ('' exta''—hence also extispicy ...
'' and ''haruspicina'' are from an archaic word, ''haru'' = "entrails, intestines" (cognate with ''hernia'' = "protruding viscera" and ''hira'' = "empty gut"; PIE '' *ǵʰer-'') and from the root '' spec-'' = "to watch, observe". The Greek ἡπατοσκοπία ''hēpatoskōpia'' is from '' hēpar'' = "liver" and '' skop- = "to examine".


Ancient Near East

The Babylonians were famous for hepatoscopy. This practice is mentioned in the
Book of Ezekiel The Book of Ezekiel is the third of the Latter Prophets in the Tanakh and one of the major prophetic books, following Isaiah and Jeremiah. According to the book itself, it records six visions of the prophet Ezekiel, exiled in Babylon, during ...
21:21: One Babylonian clay model of a sheep's liver, dated between 1900 and 1600 BC, is conserved in the
British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
. The Assyro-Babylonian tradition was also adopted in
Hittite religion Hittite mythology and Hittite religion were the religious beliefs and practices of the Hittites, who created an empire centered in what is now Turkey from . Most of the narratives embodying Hittite mythology are lost, and the elements that wo ...
. At least thirty-six liver-models have been excavated at
Hattusa Hattusa (also Ḫattuša or Hattusas ; Hittite: URU''Ḫa-at-tu-ša'', Turkish: Hattuşaş , Hattic: Hattush) was the capital of the Hittite Empire in the late Bronze Age. Its ruins lie near modern Boğazkale, Turkey, within the great loop of ...
. Of these, the majority are inscribed in Akkadian, but a few examples also have inscriptions in the native
Hittite language Hittite (natively / "the language of Neša", or ''nešumnili'' / "the language of the people of Neša"), also known as Nesite (''Nešite'' / Neshite, Nessite), is an extinct Indo-European language that was spoken by the Hittites, a peopl ...
, indicating the adoption of haruspicy as part of the native, vernacular cult.


Haruspicy in Ancient Italy

Roman haruspicy was a form of communication with the gods. Rather than strictly predicting future events, this form of Roman divination allowed humans to discern the attitudes of the gods and react in a way that would maintain harmony between the human and divine worlds ( pax deorum).Johnston, Sarah Iles. "Divination: Greek and Roman Divination". In ''Encyclopedia of Religion'', 2nd ed., edited by Lindsay Jones, 2375–2378. Vol. 4. Detroit, Michigan: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005. Gale eBooks. Before taking important actions, especially in battle, Romans conducted animal sacrifices to discover the will of the gods according to the information gathered through reading the animals' entrails. The entrails (most importantly the liver, but also the lungs and heart) contained a large number of signs that indicated the gods' approval or disapproval. These signs could be interpreted according to the appearance of the organs, for example, if the liver was "smooth, shiny and full" or "rough and shrunken".Driediger-Murphy, Lindsay G, and Eidinow, Esther. ''Ancient Divination and Experience''. Oxford: Oxford University Press USA - OSO, 2019. The Etruscans looked for the ''caput iocineris'', or "head of the liver". It was considered a bad omen if this part was missing from the animal's liver. The haruspex would then study the flat visceral side of the liver after examining the ''caput iocineris''.Stevens, Natalie L. C. “A New Reconstruction of the Etruscan Heaven.” American Journal of Archaeology, vol. 113, no. 2, Archaeological Institute of America, 2009 Haruspicy in Ancient Italy originated with the Etruscans. Textual evidence for Etruscan divination comes from an Etruscan inscription: the priest Laris Pulenas' (250–200 BCE) epitaph mentions a book he wrote on haruspicy. A collection of sacred texts called the ''Etrusca disciplina'', written in Etruscan, were essentially guides on different forms of divination, including haruspicy and
augury Augury is the practice from ancient Roman religion of interpreting omens from the observed behavior of birds. When the individual, known as the augur, interpreted these signs, it is referred to as "taking the auspices". "Auspices" (Latin ''aus ...
.MacIntosh Turfa, Jean, and Tambe, Ashwini, eds. ''The Etruscan World''. London: Taylor & Francis Group, 2013. ProQuest Ebook Central. In addition, a number of archeological artifacts depict Etruscan haruspicy. These include a bronze mirror with an image of a haruspex dressed in Etruscan priest's clothing, holding a liver while a crowd gathers near him. Another significant artifact relating to haruspicy in Ancient Italy is the
Piacenza Liver The Liver of Piacenza is an Etruscan artifact found in a field on September 26, 1877, near Gossolengo, in the province of Piacenza, Italy, now kept in the Municipal Museum of Piacenza, in the Palazzo Farnese. It is a life-sized bronze model o ...
. This bronze model of a sheep's liver was found by chance by a farmer in 1877. Names of gods are etched into the surface and organized into different sections. Artifacts depicting haruspicy exist from the ancient Roman world as well, such as stone relief carvings located in
Trajan's Forum Trajan's Forum ( la, Forum Traiani; it, Foro di Traiano) was the last of the Imperial fora to be constructed in ancient Rome. The architect Apollodorus of Damascus oversaw its construction. History This forum was built on the order of the em ...
.


See also

* Anthropomancy *
Augur An augur was a priest and official in the classical Roman world. His main role was the practice of augury, the interpretation of the will of the gods by studying the flight of birds. Determinations were based upon whether they were flying ...
*
Auspice Augury is the practice from ancient Roman religion of interpreting omens from the observed behavior of birds. When the individual, known as the augur, interpreted these signs, it is referred to as "taking the auspices". "Auspices" ( Latin ''aus ...


References


Bibliography

*
Walter Burkert Walter Burkert (; 2 February 1931 – 11 March 2015) was a German scholar of Greek mythology and cult. A professor of classics at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, he taught in the UK and the US. He has influenced generations of studen ...
, 1992. ''The Orientalizing Revolution: Near Eastern Influence on Greek Culture in the Early Archaic Age'' (Thames and Hudson), pp 46–51. * Derek Collins, "Mapping the Entrails: The Practice of Greek Hepatoscopy" ''American Journal of Philology'' 129 008 319-345 * Marie-Laurence Haack, ''Les haruspices dans le monde romain'' (Bordeaux : Ausonius, 2003). *Hans Gustav Güterbock, 'Hittite liver models' in: ''Language, Literature and History (FS Reiner)'' (1987), 147–153, reprinted in Hoffner (ed.) ''Selected Writings'', Assyriological Studies no. 26 (1997


External links

* This source suggests that Greek and Roman haruspices used the entrails of human corpses; the victim should be "without spot or blemish".
Haruspices
article in Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities

Vatican Museums Online, Gregorian Etruscan Museum, Room III * {{Etruscans Ancient Roman augury Divination Etruscan religion Middle Eastern mythology Ancient Roman occupations