Bird in the Sky: Babylonian Bird Omen Collections, Astral Observations and the Manzāzu

The purpose of this paper is to discuss Babylonian bird omen collections in order to demonstrate how the sacrificial bird’s outer physical organs could have been interpreted by the diviner as signs of potential celestial events. This will lead us to argue that the well-known term manzāzu refers to the concrete appearance of a deity as an astral body during the course of the extispicy ritual. After the discussion comes a complete edition of a bird omen compendium (YOS 10 51, YOS 10 52 and Nougayrol 1967).