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How to cite: Cohen, Yoram, and Yehonatan Hershkovitz "bāb ekalli and its Left and Right Doorjambs." Tomorrow Never knows. Last modified February 25, 2024. https://sites.google.com/view/tomorrow-never-knows/3d-models/liver-major-features/b%C4%81b-ekalli
Written by: Yoram Cohen and Yehonatan Hershkovitz
Updated: 25 February, 2024.
- The Palace Gate (bāb ekalli)
The bāb ekalli(m), ‘Palace Gate’, is identified with the umbilical fissure (fissura ligamenti teretis) dividing the left lobe from the lobus quadratus; Starr 1991, xliii; Jeyes 1978; Koch 2000, 46. As is well recognized in the literature, the Palace Gate received ample treatment in the Old Babylonian period but later its importance diminished. It extends over several omen compendia – YOS 10 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, and 30 and a few others – dated to the Old Babylonian period; Richter 1993: 127–128; George 2018: 158; Glassner 2009 for editions of YOS 10 24 and 26. Post Old Babylonian sources include one(?) fragment from Boǧazköy (KUB 37.179 (+) KBo 42.1) and a Sealand Dynasty compendium (CUSAS 18, no. 24). Forerunners to the Bārûtu (Heeßel 2012, no. 22) and Bārûtu Ch. 5, pān takālti, Tablet 5 (Koch 2000, no. 62; Koch 2015: 103) treat the Palace Gate.
The Palace Gate represents pars pro toto the king’s palace, i.e., the seat of royal power. To be employed by the palace was idiomatically articulated as ina bāb ekallim izuzzu, ‘to be of service at the palace (gate).’ See AbB 13 10, a letter from Hammurabi to Sin-iddinam, king of Larsa: ‘I have sent you so and so [personnel] together with the notable persons who serve at the palace gate but who have now deserted their posts’ (qādum awīlī wēd[û]t[im] ša ina bāb ekallim izzazzū ša ina māzzaztim paṭrū aṭṭardam…). Even diviners seem to have abandoned their place of employment at the court of Hammurabi. Thus goes AbB 2 17, again a letter from Hammurabi to Sin-iddinam: ‘Have these men brought to you (two workers) and Liṭṭul-ilum, son of Imgur-Sin, belonging to the guild of diviners, in toto three personnel among the personnel of the palace gate who have not come to their posts’ (Liṭṭul-ilum, mār Imgur-Sîn libbi mārī bārî 3 ṣābe libbi ṣāb bāb ekallim ša ana māzzaštišunu la illikūnim šupur awīlē šunūti litrūnikkum). Another Old Babylonian letter, AbB 4 43, speaks about diviners employed by the palace (MÁŠ.ŠU.GÍD.G[ÍD.MEŠ …] ⸢x⸣ ša i-na KÁ É.GAL iz-⸢za⸣-a[z-z]u, ‘the diviner[s…] who serve at the palace gate’), whose property fell into some dispute.
Many of the apodoses of omens pertaining to the bāb ekalli(m) feature the palace, its activities and personnel. Consider this omen entry (YOS 10 23, 3; cited by Starr 1983: 10):
šumma bāb ekallim irtapiš irbum ana ekallim irrub
If the Palace Gate becomes wide, taxes will enter the palace.
Or this one (Koch 2000, no. 62, §71):
šumma ina imitti bāb ekalli kakku šakin-ma pānūšu rapšū-ma ina libbišu kakku ṣehru šakin mār šarri kussê abišu iṣabbat
If a Weapon is placed to the right of the Palace Gate and its tip is wide and a small Weapon lies inside it, the king’s son will seize his father’s throne.
The Palace Gate was obviously the channel, by way of messengers, through which news arrived to the king (Koch 2000, no. 42, §174), and the way through which secrets of the realm could have been divulged (Koch 2000, no. 62, §73):
šumma šanû padānu ana bāb ekalli maqit bussurāt hadê ana rubê iṭehhê
If – another omen – the Path descends to the Palace Gate, good news will reach the prince.
šumma bāb ekalli ana idi nār takālti pališ kabtu šēmû pirišti uṣṣi
If the Palace Gate is perforated by the side of the River of the Pouch, a noble who has heard a secret will depart (the palace).
An official of Zimri-Lim, king of Mari, swore to dutifully serve at the palace gate, never to reveal royal secrets (M 5719, ll. 7’–12’ = Charpin 2010):
[ … a-šar ša-ak-n]a?-ku i-na ⸢KÁ É⸣.G[AL(-lim)]
[ … š]a i-ba-aš-šu-⸢ú⸣
[ … pí-r]i-iš-ti Zi-im-ri-li-[i]m
[LUGAL Ma]-riki ù ma-at Ḫa-⸢na⸣
[o o] ṭà-pu-ul-ti É.GAL-l[i-š]u
[mi-im-m]a la e-pé-šu la ú-še-pé-šu
[… Where I am stat]ioned at the palace gate,
[… which] are present,
[I swear not to divulge the sec]rets of Zimri-Lim,
[King of Ma]ri and the Land of Ḫana,
[… any] disrespect towards [his] palace,
neither shall I ever do nor ever cause to be done.
The palace gate was also the place where official proclamations were made. In Nuzi, edicts (šūdûtu) were proclaimed at the palace gate. Judges sat at the palace gate, as litigations were brought before them and decided, with bailiffs awaiting around the palace gate to bring to trial the accused (YOS 10 25 62: [šumma …] 2 eliš iṭṭulū u šīlum birišunu ina bāb ekallim rābiṣū kayyānū, ‘[If … ] and the two look upwards and there is a hole between them, the bailiffs will constantly be present at the palace gate.’).
Jeyes (1978; 1989: 60) proposed that another term, abullu(m) (KÁ.GAL), the City Gate, is synonymous with the bāb ekalli. However, Starr (1991: 178) rejected the identification, citing the Ritual of the Diviner (Starr 1983: 32, l.47), which differentiates between the two terms:
KÁ É.GAL-li-ša lu šu-šu-ur a-bu-ul-la-ša lu pi-ti-a-at
Let its (i.e., the sacrificial sheep’s) Palace Gate be straight; let its City Gate be open…
Other support for these being different terms are YOS 10 30 (a fragment), which deals with both terms in the (broken) protases, and YOS 10 26, which incorporates into a Palace Gate omen compendium an entry about the City Gate (i 23: MAŠ i-na i-mi-it-ti a-bu-ul-lim; cf. ii. 39: [MAŠ i]-mi-it-ti KÁ É.GAL).
Indeed it should be noted that abullu(m) is mostly written phonetically. The almost consistent phonetic writing may suggest abullu(m) was not identical to bāb ekalli, perhaps aimed to prevent confusion, given the proximity between both writing – KÁ.GAL and KÁ É.GAL; see Richter 1992, 253–254. However, there are some examples of logographic writing of the City Gate. E.g., Heeßel 2012, no. 88 (KAR 426), passim: ina (ŠÀ) KÁ.GAL. In any case, note that this example comes from a Bird omen text, which notably uses different technical terminology than the usual extispicy compendia which relate to the sacrificial sheep.
In spite of what was presented above, a suggestion that these two parts were in fact identical can be brought forward. The fact that in Palace Gate omens the city gate features in the apodoses speaks of a prior use of the City Gate as the anatomical term. It does not make sense to have changed one liver part term for another concrete term in the apodoses; see the examples collected by Jeyes 1989: 61. Only later, perhaps for socio-political reasons, the diviners saw a reason to replace the City Gate with the Palace Gate. In this respect an exercise in textual criticism can be illuminating. Compare both omen entries, YOS 10 26 i 23–24 (Glassner 2009: 68 differently) and YOS 10 46 (Weapon omen compendium), v 37-38:
[MA]Š i-na i-mi-it-ti a-bu-ul-lim ka-ak-ku ṣí-ip-[pi i]-┌mi-it-ti-ma┐(very faint traces)
a-bu-ul-li i-na-ṭa-al wa-ṣi a-bu-ul-li-ia na-ak-ra-am i-da-ak
If on the right of the City Gate the Weapon looks upon the┌Right┐Doorjamb, the forces leaving my city gate will kill the enemy.
DIŠ(šumma) gišTUKUL(kakkum) i-mi-tim i-na i-mi-it-ti KÁ(bāb) É.GAL(ekallim) ša-ki-im-ma
pu-da-a-šu a-na KÁ(bāb) É.GAL(ekallim) pa-nu-šu ṣi-it re-ši-im iṭ-ṭù-lu
wa-ṣi a-bu-ul-li-ia LÚ.KÚR-am(nakram) i-da-a-ak
If the right Weapon lies on the right to the Palace Gate, its front looks towards the Palace Gate, (and) its face looks towards the Right Doorjamb (lit., the Escape of the Slave), the forces leaving my city gate will kill the enemy.
Since the protases of both omens are very similar and the apodoses are exactly alike, it is possible to assume that the original text featured the abullum, City Gate, which was carried through to the apodosis. Otherwise, why the change? The rest of the Palace Gate omen compendium, YOS 10 26, consistently employs Palace Gate, but the city gate appears seven times in the apodoses of the composition.
Why the Right Doorjamb is termed the Escape of the Slave is dealt with below, under the section The Doorjambs.
Whether the same part of the liver was intended, the symbolic value lying behind the abullu in the apodoses and the bāb ekallim/abullum liver parts was probably the same. One can assume shared social realities between the city gate and the palace gate. As much as the palace gate represented the palace administration, so did the city gate represent the city’s. Witnesses were called to the gate and business transactions were carried out there. Tablets were written at the city gate of Nuzi. Prisoners were displayed at the city gate. A prophetic act was performed at the city gate of Saggaratum: a muḫḫum ate a live lamb in order to cry out against the embezzlement of temple property (ARM 26, no. 206 = Nissinen 2003, no. 16; Anbar 1993). In the omen compendia, the city gate suffers from enemy attacks, or sees the betrayal of insiders; e.g. YOS 10 26 (Palace Gate omen compendium) i 30 and YOS 10 45 (rib-cage omen compendium), 16:
šumma bāb ekallim šīram īpiq nakrum abullaka irrub
If the Palace Gate is overgrown with flesh, the enemy will enter through your city gate.
šumma ṣí(lum) … rabi sikkatim abullam ipette-ma belšu … nakra ana libbi ālim ušerreb
If the rib … , the rabi sikkatim official will open the city gate and [betray?] his lord, and he will allow the enemy entry to the city.
For a summary of the administrative aspects of the city gate, see Cancik-Kirschbaum RlA 13, 2011, pp. 86–88; Jeyes 1989: 60–61.
2. Terminology
2. Terminology
3. Writing
3. Writing
The writing of bāb ekalli undergoes changes over time. During the Old Babylonian period, it was written either (partially) phonetic as ba-ab É.GAL-im or logographic as KÁ É.GAL (e.g., YOS 10 31, passim). Apparently somewhat later, the logographic writing remains the same, but a new cryptographic-like writing ME.NI emerges to signify the very same term. In first millennium copies, ME.NI became the standard writing for bāb ekalli. Notably, the writing ME.NI for bāb ekalli only appears in extispicy compositions.
The explicit equation between the two terms is seen, for example, in the Assur Practical Vocabulary (Landsberger and Gurney 1957–58), § 916: uzuME.NI = KÁ É.GAL, where ME.NI is preceded with a determinative (UZU) designating it as a fleshy part.
For a full discussion about the ME.NI and the bāb ekalli see The Major Parts of the Liver in the Silbenvokabular. We argue that ME.NI stands for qibi ili, ‘the command of god’, or têrtum ša ili, ‘the oracular answer of the god,’ and by force of association with the palace gate as a place where legal decisions were taken and proclaimed, it stood as a metonymy for the liver part.
Attestations of the Variant Spellings
Old Babylonian (Partially) Phonetic Spelling
YOS 10 31 (Gall bladder omen compendium), viii 11-17
šum-ma mar-tum in-na-as-ḫa-am-ma i-na ba-ab É.GAL-im ik-tu-un šar-ra-am ú-ka-aš-ša-du-šu-ú-ma i-na pa-ṭi-šu i-da-an-ni-in
If the gallbladder is torn off and rests upon the Palace Gate, the king will be ousted, but he will become strong in his outlying territories.
YOS 10 31 (Gall bladder omen compendium), xiii ll. 6-18; cf. Winitzer (2017: 37)
šum-ma a-mu-tum ig-ru-ur-ma pi-iṭ-ra-am ba-ba-am la i-šu ba-ab É.GAL-im mar-tum ù ú-ba-nu-um la i-ba-aš-ši ma-a-tum ka-lu-ú-ša a-na a-li-im iš-te-en i-pa-ḫu-ur i-na iš-ri iš-ri-ša-a-ma ig-ga-ṣa-aṣ
If the liver turns round, and it has no fissure (and) Gate, (and) either the Palace Gate, the Gallbladder, or the Finger is missing, the entire country will assemble together in a single city, and (the country) will be carved up district by district.
Old Babylonian Logographic Writing
Schileico (1928-29: 214, ll. 1–7); cf. Winitzer 2017: 96.
DIŠ(šumma) wa-ar-ka-at a-mu-tim MIN(šinā) GIŠ.TUKUL(kakkū) ša-ak-nu-ma li-ib-bi KÁ.É.GAL-lim(bāb ekallim) iṭ-ṭu-lu ša-al-gu ŠE-a-am i-ma-ḫa-aṣ šar-ra-am i-na li-ib-bi a-li-šu i-du-ku-ú-šu
If two Weapons are situated behind the liver and they face the Palace Gate, snow will ruin the crops; (or:) the king will be killed inside his city.
Scheil (1930: 149, ll. 39-40) = P430981
DIŠ(šumma) BÀ(martum) ŠU.SI(ubanam) el-wi-ma re-sa i-na KÁ.É.GAL(bāb ekallim) iš-ta-ka-an LÚ.KÚR-rum(nakrum) i-te-bi-am-ma a-lam ù be-el a-lim i-ta-ba-al
If the gallbladder surrounds the Finger and its upper part is placed upon the Palace Gate, the enemy will rise and carry off the city(‘s inhabitants) and its ruler.
Middle Babylonian/Standard Babylonian Logographic Writing (ME.NI)
Heeßel 2012, no. 1 (= KAR 423; Bārûtu Excerpt), ii 45–46
BE ME.NI 4-ma UGU-šú-nu GU ṣa-bit LUGAL LUGAL.MEŠ-ni GABA.RI.MEŠ-šú LAL.MEŠ-ma NÍG.ŠU-šú-nu NÍG.GA-šú-nu DIŠ É.GAL-šú KU4-ib
šumma bāb ekalli 4-ma elišunu qû ṣabit šarru šarrānī māhirūšu kamûti-ma bušîšunu makkūrišunu ana ekallišu ušerreb
If there are four Palace Gates and a filament is attached to their top, the king will have brought into his palace his rival kings, who he imprisoned, their possessions (and) their property.
Koch 2000, no. 62 (pān tākalti Tablet 5), §9
BE ME.NI 2-ma MAN-ú ina šu-bat 15 GAR-in É.GAL NUN KÚR TI-qé
šumma bāb ekalli šinā-ma šanû ina šubat imitti šakin ekal rubê nakru ilteqqe
If there are two Palace Gates and the second is placed at the Right Seat, the enemy will take over the prince’s palace.
4. The Doorjambs of the Palace Gate
4. The Doorjambs of the Palace Gate
Like other liver parts, the Palace Gate is divided into major sections, as Jeyes (1978) explains: top (rēšu), middle (qablu), base (išdu), etc. The unique parts of the Palace Gate are the Doorjambs – left and right.
The writing of doorjambs is sippi imitti/šippi šumel bāb ekallim. The spelling of sippu is consistently phonetic apart from a few attestations of ME, or more likely SIP, as an abbreviated writing; Heeßel 2012, no. 26 (KAR 442; Palace Gate omen compendium), passim: SIP ZAG/GÙB ME.NI, the Right/Left Doorjamb of the Palace Gate. The writing did not catch on, so one can assume, because of a likely misreading that could have arisen in Palace Gate omen compendia which see ME and ME.NI in proximation to one another.
As Jeyes (1989:60) noticed, a metonymic term ṣīt rēšim (logographic ZI.GA SAG), the Escape of the Slave, is sometimes in use for sippi imitti bāb ekallim, the Right Doorjamb of the Palace Gate. Consider the following cases.
YOS 10 25 (Palace Gate omen compendium), obv. 28
[DIŠ i-na KÁ(bāb) É.GAL(ekallim) giš]TUKUL(kakkum) ša-ki-in [a-na] ṣi-it re-ši-im iṭ-ṭù-ul ù pi-iṭ-ru a-na pa-ni-šu pa-ṭi-ir [ma-a]r ši-ip-ri ma-aḫ-ru-ú-um bu-su-ra-at ḫa-de-e-em na-ši-kum
[If upon the Palace Gate] the Weapon is placed and it looks [towards] the Escape of the Slave and a fissure is open in front of it, the next messenger to arrive will bring you good news.
YOS 10 26 (Palace Gate omen compendium; cf. Glassner 2009: 68–69), ii 13–16
MAŠ(šumma) i-na [KÁ(bāb) É.GAL(ekallim) k]a-ak-kum ša-ki-i[n a-na ṣi-it r]e-ši-im iṭ-ṭù-u[l]-
ma ṣ[i-it re-ši-i]m ḫ[a-ri]-ir ma-ar š[i-ip-r]i-ka i-ḫa-[…]
bu-su-ra-[at lu-u]m-ni-im [ma-ar ši-ip-ri-ka ma-aḫ-ru]-ú bu-su-ra-at
ḫa-[de-e n]a-ši-i-kum
If upon [the Palace Gate] the Weapon is placed and it looks [towards the Escape of the S]lave and the Es[cape of the Slav]e is grooved, your messenger will … bad news; [your next messenger] will bring you go[od] news.
YOS 10 46 (omen compendium of the Weapon), v 37-38
DIŠ(šumma) gišTUKUL(kakkum) i-mi-tim i-na i-mi-it-ti KÁ(bāb) É.GAL(ekallim) ša-ki-im-ma
pu-da-a-šu a-na KÁ(bāb) É.GAL(ekallim) pa-nu-šu ṣi-it re-ši-im iṭ-ṭù-lu
wa-ṣi a-bu-ul-li-ia LÚ.KÚR-am(nakram) i-da-a-ak
If the right Weapon lies on the right to the Palace Gate, its front looks towards the Palace Gate, (and) its face looks towards the Escape of the Slave, the forces leaving my city gate will kill the enemy.
A very similar omen is found in a Sealand bāb ekalli and šulmu compendium, although the protasis is reversed.
CUSAS 18, no. 24, §16
DIŠ i-na si-ip-pi ZI KÁ É.GAL giš‹TUKUL› GAR-ma si-ip-pi GÙB I[GI-ul a-ṣi K]Á.GAL-ia LÚ.KÚR-ra KUM-ak
šumma ina sippi imitti bāb ekalli kakku šakin-ma sippi šumēl iṭ[ṭul aṣi ab]ulliya nakra idâk
If the Weapon is located at the Right Doorjamb of the Palace Gate and it lo[oks] at the Left Doorjamb, the forces leaving my city gate will kill the enemy.
The following example shows clearly the change of sippi imitti bāb ekalli with ṣit rēši, because it stands directly below [SIP G]ÙB ME.NI. Note that both translations of the term by Heeßel 2012: 227 (der Kopferhebung) and by Koch 2005: 185+n.279 (‘the Honor’) are to be corrected.
Heeßel 2012, no. 69 (KAR 427 = Koch 2005, no. 12; Forerunner to Multābiltu Tablet 12-13), rev. 3 and 5
3 [BE SIP G]ÙB ME.NI KI.TA KAR (apodosis broken)
[šumma sippi šu]mel bāb ekalli šapliš ekim …[…]
[If the L]eft [Doorjamb] of the Palace Gate is atrophied downwards … […]
5 [BE] ZI.GA SAG KI.TA KAR mim-ma ut-tu-ú […]
[šumma] ṣīt rēši šapliš ekim mimma uttu [iḫalliq]
[If] the Escape of the Slave is atrophied downwards, what he/you will find [will be lost … ].
The following comparison between two almost identical omens completes the argument of the migration of one term to replace the other.
YOS 10 26 (Palace Gate omen compendium; cf. Glassner 2009: 70), iii 9–10
MAŠ(šumma) ṣí-pi i-mi-it-ti KÁ(bāb) É.GAL(ekallim) e-le-e-nu-um ┌ù┐[pi-iṭ-ru (a-na pa-ni-šu)]
pa-ṭi-ir ṣi-it KÙ.BAB[BAR](kaspum)
If the Right Doorjamb of the Palace Gate is upwards and a [fissure (in front of it)] is split, loss of money.
Koch 2000, no. 62 (pān tākalti Tablet 5), §90
BE AN.TA-nu ZI.GA SAG DU8 ZI.GA KÙ.BABBAR
šumma elēnu ṣīt rēši paṭir ṣīt kaspum
If above the Escape of the Slave is split, loss of money.
Thus it is demonstrated how the Escape of the Slave comes to stand in as a metonymy for the Right Doorjamb. The answer as to why the change can be resolved from the following contrasting pair of omens.
Koch 2000, no. 62 (pān tākalti Tablet 5), §74
BE sip-pí 15 ME.NI GAM-iš/DU8 ZI.GA ARAD/SAG
BE sip-pí 150 [ME.NI D]U8 ARAD È-ú GUR-ra
šumma sippi imitti bāb ekalli pališ/paṭir ṣīt ardi/rēši
šumma sippi šumēl [bāb ekalli pa]ṭir arad uṣû iturra
If the Right Doorjamb of the Palace Gate is perforated/split, the escape of the slave.
If the Left Doorjamb of the [Palace Gate is s]pilt, the slave who escaped will return back.
The escape of the slave in the apodosis was the result of something negatively affecting the right side of a liver part, in this case, the Right Doorjamb. A damage to the left side of a liver part, the Left Doorjamb, however, meant good news, in this case the slave returning back to the palace. The symbolic association of economic or other losses and the doorjamb of a domicile is easy to grasp; cf. CAD/Ṣ: 220, sub ṣītu.
To conclude, before us is another fine example of the migration of the apodosis back into the protasis where it serves as a stand-in for a liver part. Met in the apodosis as the escape of the slave (from the palace), it stands instead of the Right Doorjamb of the Palace Gate.
5. Reference List:
5. Reference List:
(For full references see the Bibliography page)
Cancik-Kirschbaum 2011
Charpin 2010
George 2018
Glassner 2009
Heeßel 2012
Heeßel 2021
Jeyes 1978
Jeyes 1989:
Koch 2000
Koch 2012
Koch 2015
Landsberger and Gurney 1957–58
Nissinen 2003
Richter 1992
Richter 1993
Scheil 1930
Schileico 1928-29
Starr 1983
Starr 1991
Winitzer 2017
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