Averting the Portended Evil (Namburbi)
An omen was a warning, not a sentence — and the right ritual could 'untie' the doom before it arrived.
If divination warned that some evil was coming, Mesopotamians did not regard the future as simply fixed. A class of rituals called namburbi — literally 'the undoing of it' — existed precisely to dissolve a portended misfortune. Through prescribed prayers, offerings, and symbolic acts (often involving water, which carried the evil away), the practitioner could 'untie' the threatened fate so that the bad omen would not be fulfilled. This reveals the deep logic of Mesopotamian divination: an omen was a warning, not an unbreakable sentence, and the gods who wrote it could also be petitioned to revoke it. Fate was negotiable.
Key passages(20)
Namburbû - ritual against the evil of a snake which... [... ] in a man's house. So that its evil does not [... ] on the man and his house. Its ritual: at the river bank, you sweep the ground; you keep
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In the 1st year, the 7th month,.... Excerpting 7 months from the year. For Tašritu (Month VII) 7 days.... Excerpting 7 days from Tašritu. On the 1st day: he should not drive against a dust storm in th
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[... ] x [... ], may it not return. By your exalted command, [... ]... [... ], and your reliable consent, [... ] cannot be revoked, let me live and be healthy, and let me make your great achievements
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Apotropaic ritual for the evil of a snake that [... ] in Nisannu (Month I). Apotropaic ritual for the evil of a snake that [... ] in a man's house. For the evil of spat saliva not to approach a man. (
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If you presented an offering and in the slaughtering of the sheep blood did not come out, [... ] you opened the innards of the sheep and if the vertebrae were sunken or the gall bladder was missing fr
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For the evil of a field (and) the shoot of a date palm not to approach a man, the apotropaic ritual: You make 4 standards. You sprinkle them with bitumen, gypsum and cedar oil. [... ] the morning you
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(If) a strange bird appears in the house of a man: that house's full storage vessels will be empty. The same (a strange bird appears in the house of a man): that estate will be squandered. Apotropaic
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[... ]... you pulverize [... ] water. You recite [... ] 3 times towards the centre. You draw entwined [... ] on the outer door and the breast of the foe and the enemy will be turned away. [... ], the
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[... ] rock-partridges appear [... ] top of a man [... ] that [... ] will be squandered. (If) rock-partridges settle on top of a man [... ]. Apotropaic ritual for the evil of rock-partridges that sett
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Incantation: " Who diverted the river, caused my small canal to flow out? (Who) let the waters of my river meadows dry up? ... of the Apsu, creation of the sea, diverted the river, caused my small can
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[... ] they take away; for the man's and woman's desolation... [... ] clay (from) the Tigris meadows [... ] [... ] you place a pursītu - vessel... in her hand; you place it [... ]; you throttle a lamb
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If a prince mounts a chariot and on his going on campaign either the yoke or shaft or lance or any little bit of that chariot breaks, and the man, the owner of the chariot, sees (this), discontent wil
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[... ] his evil, the evil of this place, his house,.... Its ritual: [... ]. You sprinkle pure water. [... ] for Ea, Šamaš and Asalluhi. You strew dates (and) fine flour. You put down a cake (made) of
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$ 5 lines traces [... ]... 2 figures on the right and the left [... ] its front... [... ] you bury [... ] of the outer door.... [... ]...:... [... ]... [... ]... [... ] they bear 2 figures of... [...
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[... ] withdraw or reassign the evil of a sleeping place -- whether a man's or a woman's, whether during the night or late in the [... ] during the siesta-time -- from their sleeping place, [... ] he
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[... ]... [... ]; [... ] misfortune [ to ] good fortune; [... ] good fortune [ to ] misfortune; [... ]..., who caused dishonesty to be spoken; Who caused the judge to learn [... ]...; Who stands [...
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The curse [..., ditto (Asalluhi, incantation priest of the gods, will undo) ]; The curse of bed [..., ditto (Asalluhi, incantation priest of the gods, will undo) ]; The curse of cup [..., ditto (Asall
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To release the evil of ominous conditions (and) bad signs that [... ] in [... ]: [... ] glasswort, gypsum and myrrh. In the middle of that house you sprinkle the ṭurru - feature of the man's house. Yo
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... [... ]... ankinūtu - plant [... ]... of date palm, root of libāru - tree, root of ēru - tree, root of oak: you mix together these 7 plants. You pour cypress oil on the middle; you speak as follows
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In Ayyaru (Month II), the 10th day is the fixed date for the hand removing. The Furrow (then stands in) the Bristle. You put ebony (and) the life-giving - plant in a (bag of) ox skin; you wrap it up i
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