Article

Gendering Snakes: Threats to Hegemonic Masculinity in the Snake Omens of the Divinatory Series Šumma ālu

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Abstract

This article investigates the construction of masculinities in the snake omens of the Standard Babylonian divinatory series Šumma ālu ina mēlê šakin “If a city is set on a height,” a first-millennium BCE composition comprising approximately 120 Tablets (chapters) and over 13,000 omens formulated as conditional clauses. Our analysis focuses on the snake omens, where imagined scenarios of snake behavior or human-snake encounters (protases) are systematically paired with outcomes concerning humans, and particularly the amēlu “man” (apodoses). Building on recent work on analogical reasoning in Šumma ālu, we examine how snake behavior is mobilized by diviner-scribes to reflect upon, negotiate, and discipline normative male roles. We show that these omens encode anxieties about potency, progeny, and authority, thereby constructing models of hegemonic masculinity in relation to domestic order and social stability

Keywords: Divination, omens, Babylonian, analogical reasoning, animals, snakes, masculinities, hegemonic masculinity, gender

How to Cite:

Rinderer, M. & Zisa, G., (2026) “Gendering Snakes: Threats to Hegemonic Masculinity in the Snake Omens of the Divinatory Series Šumma ālu”, Akkadica 147(1): 3, 21-54. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/akkadica.99824