An Implement for Weavers and Sorcerers

Abstract This study examines the Armenian word bēč/bēǰ , denoting the ‘shoulder blade (scapula)’ and, more broadly, ‘shoulder with back/armpit’. Beyond its anatomical sense, the term is significant in both weaving and occult practice. The meaning ‘handle of a weaver’s comb’, attested in the Canon Law and elsewhere, is preserved at the two geographic extremes of the Armenian world: in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) in the far east, and in Hamšen and Trabizond (Trabzon) in the northwest. The word also occurs in the context of scapulimancy (omoplatoscopy), i.e., divination using shoulder blades, attested both in classical sources and in modern dialect areas—eastern (Loṙi, Nor Bayazet) and western (Sasun, Bulanǝx, Xlat‘, etc.). The paper surveys the attestations, morphological profile, semantic developments, etymology, and cultural implications of bēč/bēǰ ‘shoulder blade’.