Physiognomic Knowledge in Qumran and Babylonia: Form, Interdisciplinarity, and Secrecy

This article is limited to a comparison of some aspects of two texts from the Dead Sea Scrolls (4Q186 and 4Q561) with some features of the Babylonian physiognomic tradition. The primary goal is not to establish a generic relationship of dependence, such as has been done, for example, for the DSS calendar texts or the Astronomical Book of 1 Enoch. A comparative approach helps to appreciate certain features of the Qumran texts better, but due to constraints of space, must here be limited to the Babylonian texts. I discuss three issues: (1) the form and structure of the texts, (2) the combination of and relationship between physiognomics and astrology, and (3) the status of physiognomic learning and inverted and mixed writing.