Mirror, Mirror - Some Remarks on Structuring Devices in the Babylonian Fürstenspiegel

Schmidl, Martina

Abstract

The Babylonian Fürstenspiegel, also known as the Advice to a Prince, has attracted scholarly interest because it provides guidelines for royal behaviour and describes the consequences if these guidelines are not followed. While the content of this text has been amply discussed, the literary quality of the Fürstenspiegel has received decidedly less attention. In this paper, I examine some structural devices in the Babylonian Fürstenspiegel and analyse their potential for enriching our understanding of the text. I first discuss the literary nature of this text and its relationship with divinatory texts, particularly the terrestrial omen series Šumma ālu. I then analyse some structural devices employed in the text through two case studies. In the first case study, I argue that structural devices are used to make the text cohere as a literary whole, with implications for its wider meaning. In the second case study, I argue that the text’s micro-structure, especially in relation to the text’s overall structure, can be used to add emphasis, providing another layer of meaning to this text.

Projects the publication originates from