Editing Haruspex (section)

{{Short description|Person trained to practise a form of divination}}
{{for|the genus of beetles|Haruspex (beetle){{!}}''Haruspex'' (beetle)}}
[[File:Piacenza Bronzeleber.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Diagram of the sheep's liver found near [[Piacenza]] with [[Etruscan language|Etruscan]] inscriptions on the bronze sheep's [[Liver of Piacenza]]]]
{{Anthropology of religion|Basic}}

In the [[Ancient Roman religion|religion of ancient Rome]], a '''haruspex'''{{efn|{{IPAc-en|h|ə|ˈ|r|ʌ|.|s|p|ɛ|k|s}} {{Respelling|hə|RUH|spehks}}, plural '''haruspices''' {{IPAc-en|h|ə|ˈ|r|ʌ|.|s|p|ɪ|ˌ|s|i|z}} {{Respelling|hə|RUH|spih|sees}}, also called '''aruspex'''}} was a person trained to practise a form of [[divination]] called '''haruspicy''',{{efn|{{IPAc-en|h|ə|ˈ|r|ʌ|.|s|p|ɪ|ˌ|s|iː}} {{Respelling|hə|RUH|speh|see}} (L. ''[[wikt:haruspicina|haruspicina]]'')}} the inspection of the entrails{{efn|''[[Glossary of ancient Roman religion#exta|exta]]''&mdash;hence also '''extispicy''' (L. ''extispicium'')}} of [[Animal sacrifice|sacrificed animal]]s, especially the [[liver]]s of sacrificed [[domestic sheep|sheep]] and [[poultry]]. 
Various ancient cultures of the Near East, such as the Babylonians, also read omens specifically from the liver, a practice also known by the Greek term  '''hepatoscopy''' (also '''hepatomancy''').

The Roman concept is directly derived from [[Etruscan religion]], as one of the three branches of the ''[[disciplina Etrusca]]''.

The Latin terms ''[[:wikt:haruspex|haruspex]]'' and ''haruspicina'' are from an archaic word, ''hīra'' = "entrails, intestines" (cognate with ''hernia'' = "protruding viscera" and ''hira'' = "empty gut"; PIE ''[[:wikt:Appendix:Proto-Indo-European/ǵʰer-|*ǵʰer-]]'') and from the root  ''[[:wikt:specio#Latin|spec-]]'' = "to watch, observe". The Greek ἡπατοσκοπία ''hēpatoskōpia'' is from ''[[:wikt:ἧπαρ|hēpar]]'' = "liver" and ''[[:wikt:σκοπέω|skop-]]'' = "to examine".