SavedAdd your journal

Journals / Archivum Anatolicum-Anadolu Arşivleri / 2026 / Cilt: 20 Sayı: 1

The Tradition of Divination According to Mesopotamian and Eastern Mediterranean Texts

MEZOPOTAMYA VE DOĞU AKDENİZ METİNLERİNE GÖRE KEHANET GELENEĞİ

Burak Taşdüvenci(AĞRI İBRAHİM ÇEÇEN ÜNİVERSİTESİ, FEN-EDEBİYAT FAKÜLTESİ)0000-0003-4155-1434
Mustafa Karageçi(KAFKAS ÜNİVERSİTESİ, FEN-EDEBİYAT FAKÜLTESİ)0000-0002-6419-9325
Pages
84–97
Publication Date
2026-06-24
🏛️Bibliographic metadata and full text access for this article are provided via DergiPark.
DergiPark Record ↗
✨

AI Summary & Key Takeaways

AI Insight
⚡ TL;DR(Too Long; Didn't Read)

This article aims to examine the similarities and differences in divination practices in different regions of Mesopotamia and the Eastern Mediterranean, without establishing a historical continuity.

📌 3 Key Takeaways

🎯
Objective & Hypothesis:Humans have always sought to understand the outcomes of events likely to occur in the future.
📊
Key Findings & Data:In this respect, divination is found in various societies from Ancient Egypt to Rome.
💡
Conclusion & Impact:This article aims to examine the similarities and differences in divination practices in different regions of Mesopotamia and the Eastern Mediterranean, without establishing a historical continuity.
🔬Design:Modeling & Simulation
📍Scope:Comprehensive Sample
⚙️Variables:Kehanet · Ugarit · Tevrat

Abstract

Humans have always sought to understand the outcomes of events likely to occur in the future. In this respect, divination is found in various societies from Ancient Egypt to Rome. While divination has different interpretations, it can generally be considered a form of interpretation regarding the future. Especially in ancient history, divination is closely related to religion, and its Latin name comes from the gods. However, interpretations can vary from society to society. This study aims to examine the phenomenon of divination in Mesopotamian and Eastern Mediterranean cultures of Semitic origin. To this end, Assyrian, Babylonian, and Mari cuneiform texts from Mesopotamia have been evaluated; and within the Eastern Mediterranean context, Ugarit archives and Hebrew texts have been assessed. When cuneiform tablets from Ugarit and Mesopotamia are compared, it is understood that the structure of divination is based on similar techniques. In this regard, it has been observed that divination was made using liver and lung models, deformed human and animal fetuses, the moon, and dreams. In Hebrew culture, divination is based on the Old and Torah. Testaments, which provide information about the Hebrews and their religion. The Old Testament, within its monotheistic belief system, facilitated prophecies by consulting God. The person making the prophecy was either a king or a prophet. This article aims to examine the similarities and differences in divination practices in different regions of Mesopotamia and the Eastern Mediterranean, without establishing a historical continuity.

Özet

İnsanlar, gelecekte gerçekleşmesi muhtemel olayların sonuçlarını öğrenme arayışı içinde olmuştur. Bu bakımdan kehanet Antik Mısır’dan, Roma’ya kadar farklı toplumlarda karşımıza çıkmaktadır. Kehanet’in farklı yorumları bulunmakla birlikte genel olarak geleceğe ilişkin bir yorumlama biçimi olarak değerlendirilebilir. Özellikle eskiçağ tarihinde kehanet, din ile yakından ilgili olan bir konu olup, Latince ismi de tanrılardan gelmektedir. Ancak toplumdan topluma yorumlama da değişiklik gösterebilmektedir. Bu çalışma, Sami kökeni taşıyan Mezopotamya ve Doğu Akdeniz kültürlerinde kehanet olgusunu incelemeyi amaçlamaktadır. Buna yönelik olarak Mezopotamya’da Asur, Babil ve Mari çivi yazılı metinleri değerlendirilmiş; Doğu Akdeniz kapsamında ise Ugarit arşivleri ve İbraniler değerlendirilmiştir. Ugarit ve Mezopotamya’dan elde edilen çivi yazılı tabletler karşılaştırıldığı zaman, kehanet yapısının benzer tekniklere dayandığı anlaşılmıştır. Bu bakımdan karaciğer ve akciğer modelleri, deforme olmuş insan ve hayvan fetüsleri, ay ve rüyalar üzerinden kehanetler yapıldığı görülmüştür. İbrani kültüründe kehanet kapsamında ise Eski Ahit ve Tevrat’tan İbraniler ve dinleri üzerine bilgi vermesinden dolayı yararlanılmıştır. Bu kapsamda Eski Ahit tek tanrılı inanç sistemi çerçevesinde şekillenmiş; kehanetler tanrıya sorularak gerçekleştirilmiştir. Kehaneti yapan ise kral ya da peygamberdir. Makalemiz, genel hatları ile Mezopotamya ve Doğu Akdeniz coğrafyasında tarihsel süreklilik kurmadan farklı bölgelerde kehanet pratiklerini ele alarak, benzer ve farklı yönlerini incelemeyi hedeflemektedir.

🔖

Cite This Article

Taşdüvenci, B., Karageçi, M. (2026). The Tradition of Divination According to Mesopotamian and Eastern Mediterranean Texts. Archivum Anatolicum-Anadolu Arşivleri, Cilt: 20 Sayı: 1, 84–97. https://doi.org/10.46931/aran.1876044

📄 Full Text PDF Viewer

📄

PDF görüntüleyici hazırlanıyor...

References (47)

  1. Allen, Spencer L. The Splintered Divine: A Study of Istar, Baal, and Yahweh Dicine Names and Divine Multiplicity in the Ancient Near East. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2015.
  2. Ay, Şeyma, “Eski Yakındoğu’da İlahi Elçiler ve Onların Kraliyet İdeolojisindeki Önemi”, Tarih Araştırmaları Dergisi 34/57, (2015): 1-22.
  3. Bright, John. A History of Israel. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1952.
  4. British Museum. Cuneiform Texts from Babylonian Tablets & C., in the British Museum Part XXVII. London: Oxford University Press, 1910.
  5. Bordreuil, Pierre ve Pardee, Dennis. A Manual of Ugaritic. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 2009.
  6. Charpin, Dominique. “Patron and Client: Zimri-Lim and Asqudum the Diviner”. Ed. K. Radner ve E. Robson, The Oxford Handbook of Cuneiform Culture. Oxford University Press, 2011.
  7. Cicero. Cicero on Divination. De Divinatione Book I. Translated with Introduction and Historical Commentary by David Wardle. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2006.
  8. Cooley, Jeffrey L. “Celestial Divination in Ugarit and Ancient Israel: A Reassessment”, Journal of Near Eastern Studies 71/1, (2012): 21-30.
  9. Courtois, J. C. Ugaritica VI: XXXe campagne de fouilles à Ras Shamra (1968) sous la direction de Claude F. A. Schaeffer. Paris: Librairie orientaliste Paul Geuthner, 1969.
  10. Erdem, Fatih, Eski Mezopotamya’da Kehanet Geleneği. Pamukkale Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Yayımlanmamış Doktora Tezi.
  11. Faber, Alice, “Sami Dillerinin Genetik Alt Gruplandırması”, çev. Mehmet Sadık Gür. İsrailiyat: İsrail ve Yahudi Çalışmaları Dergisi, 8, (2021): 113-128.
  12. Fleming, D. E. “The Sim’alite Gayum and the Yaminite Li’mum in the Mari Archives”, RAI, 46, (2004): 19921.
  13. Gelb, I. J. “The Early History of the West Semitic Peoples”, Journal of Cuneiform Studies, 15/1, (1961): 2747.
  14. Gelb, Ignace J., Landsberger, Benno, Oppenheim, A. Leo ve Reiner, Erica. The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, 1965.
  15. Glassner, Jean J. Mesopotamian Chronicles. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature. 2004.
  16. Greenstein, Edward I. (1998). “New Readings in the Kirta Epic”. Israel Oriental Studies, 18, 105-123.
  17. Hallo, William W. The Context of Scripture Volume I Canonical Compositions from the Biblical World. Brill: Leiden, 2003.
  18. Harman, Ömer Faruk, “10 Emir”. TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi. TDV İslâm Araştırmaları Merkezi, Erişim Tarihi: 09.04.2026, 2007.
  19. Heimpel, Wolfgang. Letters to the King of Mari. A New Translation, with Historical Introduction, Notes and Commentary. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 2003.
  20. Hetzron, Robert, Kaye, Alan S. and Zuckermann, Ghil’ad, “Semitic Languages”, ed. Bernard Comrie, The World’s Major Languages, 568-576, London: Routledge, 2018.
  21. Hetzron, Robert, Kaye, Alan S. and Garr, W. Randall, “Hebrew”, ed. Bernard Comrie, The World’s Major Languages, 595-610, London: Routledge, 2018.
  22. Huffmon, Herbert B. “Priestly Divination in Israel”, ed. C. L. Meyers ve M. O’Conner, The Word of the Lord Shall Go Forth. 355. Philadelphia: American Schools of Oriental Research, 1983.
  23. Ivantchik, I. Askold. Les Cimmeriens au Proche-Orient. Editions Universitaires Frilbourg Suisse, 1993.
  24. Jastrow, Morris jr. Babylonian-Assyrian Birth-Omens and Their Cultural Significance. Giessen: Verlag von Alfred Töpelmann, 1914.
  25. Jean, C. “Divination and Oracles at the Neo-Assyrian Palace: The Importance of Signs in the Ancient World”, ed. A. Annus Divination and Interpretation of Signs in the Ancient World. 267-275. Chicago: The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, 2010.
  26. Jean, Charles F., ARM II. Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1950.
  27. Jeyes, Ulla, Old Babylonian Extispicy: Omen Texts in the British Museum (Leiden, 1989).
  28. Luukko, Mikko and Buylaere, Greta van, “Languages and Writing Systems in Assyria”, ed. E. Frahm, A Companion to Assyria. 313-335. Wiley: Blackwell, 2017.
  29. Meyer, Jan W. Untersuchungen zu den Tonlebermodellen aus dem Alten Orient AOAT 39. Kevelaer: Butzon & Bercker, 1987.
  30. Mieroop, Marc van de, Philosophy before the Greeks: The Pursuit of Truth in Ancient Babylonia (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2016).
  31. Muthengi, Julius K. “The Art of Divination”, Africa Journal of Evangelical Theology 12/2 (1993): 90-104.
  32. Pardee, Dennis ve Swerdlow, Noel (1993). “Not the Earliest Solar Eclipse”. Nature, 363/6428: 406.
  33. Pardee, Dennis. “Les Textes Para-Mythologiques de la 24e Campagne (1961)”, Ras Shamra-Ougarit IV. Paris: Editions Recherche sur les Civilisations, 1988.
  34. Pardee, Dennis. Ritual and Cult at Ugarit. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2002.
  35. Seth F. C. Richardson, “The Collapse of a Comples State: A Reappraisal of the end of the First Dynasty of Babylon, 1683-1597 BC”, Ph.D Thesis, Columbia University, 2002.
  36. Richardson, Seth F. C. “On Seeing and Believing: Liver Divination and the Era of Warring States (II)”. ed. A. Annus, Divination and Interpretation of Signs in the Ancient World. 225-266. Chicago: The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, 2010.
  37. Rochberg, Francesca. The Heavenly Writing. Divination, Horoscopy, and Astronomy in Mesopotamian Culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004.
  38. Rutten, Maggie “Trente-Deux Modeles de Foies en Argile Inscrits Provenant de Tell-Hariri (MARI)”, Revue d’Assyriologie et d’archeologie Orientale 35/1 (1938): 36-70.
  39. Schniedewind, William M. ve Hunt, Joel H. A Primer on Ugaritic Language, Culture and Literature. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.
  40. Simpson, D. P. Cassel’s Compact Latin-English English-Latin Dictionary. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co, 1963.
  41. Smith, Mark S. The Ugaritic Baal Cycle Volume I Introduction with Text, Translation and Commentary of KTU 1.1-1.2. Leiden: Brill, 1994.
  42. Tedlock, Barbara. “Divination as a Way of Knowing: Embodiment, Visualisation, Narrative, and Interpretation”, Folklore 112/2 (2001): 189-197.
  43. The Holy Bible. Holman Bible Publishers, 2003.
  44. Torah. The Torah The Five Books of Moses. The New JPS Translation of The Holy Scriptures According to the Traditional Hebrew Text. Varda Books, 2001.
  45. Trusteees of the British Museum, Cuneiform Texts from Babylonian Tablets, & c. in the British Museum, Part XXVIII, London: Harrison and Sons, 1910.
  46. Ulanowski, Krzysztof. Neo-Assyrian and Greek Divination in War. Leiden: Brill, 2021.
  47. Yon, Marguerite ve Arnaud Daniel. Études ougaritiques I. Travaux 1985-1995. Paris: ERC, 2001. Winnick, Charles. Dictionary of Anthropology. New Jersey: Littlefield Adams & Co, 1972.