Alectryomancy and the sacred rooster
Since antiquity, the rooster has been, and still is, a sacred animal in some cultures and deeply embedded within various religious belief systems and religious worship. In ancient Babylon the rooster was considered the bird form of the True Shepherd of Anu and was considered the ordained herald of the gods. Nergal, a deity whose name meant "dunghill cock" or fighting cock, was worshipped by the Assyrians, Babylonians, Phoenicians, and Persians. The term "Persian bird" was given to the cock by the Greeks after Persian contact "because of his great importance and his religious use among the Persians." This stems from the sacred nature of the cock, attested to in the texts of Zoroastrianism, during the legendary Kayanian Period from about 2000 BCE to about 700 BCE. Perhaps because of their ancient association as a divine messenger, roosters played an important role in both Etruscan and Roman religion. Observing a rooster's willingness to eat grain ker...