Būr-Sîn or Amar-Suʾena: Was There a “Historical Omen” of Būr-Sîn of Isin?

Abstract

A new fragment of a Neo-Assyrian extispicy text from the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago contains selected omens from different chapters of the extispicy series bārûtu. One of these omens appears to be a parallel to a so-called historical omen thought to refer to King Būr-Sîn of Isin. The new omen, however, calls this interpretation into question, because it describes events otherwise attributed in the omen literature to King Amar-Suʾena of the Third Dynasty of Ur. This raises serious doubts on the very existence of any Mesopotamian “historical” omens concerning King Būr-Sîn of Isin.