"Extispicy".
Extispicy (from Latin extispicium) is the practice of using anomalies in animals' entrails to divine future events. Organs inspected can include the liver, intestines, lungs, or other major organs. The animal used for extispicy must often be ritually pure and slaughtered in a special ceremony.
Soothsayers from Ancient Roman times used the entrails of a bull to determine the advisability of a particular endeavour. The process was also a common practice in ancient Mesopotamia and Canaan temples. The process was believed to be inspired by the Etruscan idea of haruspicy, but involving ungulate animals rather than avian ones.
Organ models and extispicy manuals in cuneiform script are widely found in archaeological excavations in the regions, showing the prevalence and significance of extispicy.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the "Extispicy".
Home Page • arts • business • computers • games • health • hospitals • home • kids & teens • news • physicians • recreation• reference • regional • science • shopping • society • sports • world