Dr. Moudhy Al-Rashid

I mean, the first bit's on lunar omens, and then it talks about solar omens, and then weather omens, and then planetary omens. So it's organized. It's not just like a completely random collection of observations and predictions or fake observations and predictions.

There's also the tablet in there that gives tables, like lunar tables, of the duration of the visibility of the Moon or the number of hours of sunlight and daylight on the equinoxes and solstices, that sort of thing. So it gives these kind of ideal mathematical tables halfway through, which we think were used to allow for anomalies against those mathematical ideals to be considered as omens.

There's also the tablet in there that gives tables, like lunar tables, of the duration of the visibility of the Moon or the number of hours of sunlight and daylight on the equinoxes and solstices, that sort of thing. So it gives these kind of ideal mathematical tables halfway through, which we think were used to allow for anomalies against those mathematical ideals to be considered as omens.

There's also the tablet in there that gives tables, like lunar tables, of the duration of the visibility of the Moon or the number of hours of sunlight and daylight on the equinoxes and solstices, that sort of thing. So it gives these kind of ideal mathematical tables halfway through, which we think were used to allow for anomalies against those mathematical ideals to be considered as omens.

So it's a really packed, it's a really dense textbook of omens. And that, we think, comes from the 1st millennium BCE. There are some forerunners that are earlier, like the lunar omens from the Old Babylonian period from around 2000 BCE, but it achieves this kind of standard form that's not exactly standardized all across the board, but is more or less standard in the 1st millennium BCE.

So it's a really packed, it's a really dense textbook of omens. And that, we think, comes from the 1st millennium BCE. There are some forerunners that are earlier, like the lunar omens from the Old Babylonian period from around 2000 BCE, but it achieves this kind of standard form that's not exactly standardized all across the board, but is more or less standard in the 1st millennium BCE.

So it's a really packed, it's a really dense textbook of omens. And that, we think, comes from the 1st millennium BCE. There are some forerunners that are earlier, like the lunar omens from the Old Babylonian period from around 2000 BCE, but it achieves this kind of standard form that's not exactly standardized all across the board, but is more or less standard in the 1st millennium BCE.

But scribes have other kind of sources at their fingertips as well that are very similar to that textbook and that are in some ways based on parts of it.

But scribes have other kind of sources at their fingertips as well that are very similar to that textbook and that are in some ways based on parts of it.

But scribes have other kind of sources at their fingertips as well that are very similar to that textbook and that are in some ways based on parts of it.

Yeah, definitely. And Babylon also becomes a major kind of player at the very end of cuneiform culture and the kind of height of mathematical astronomy and stuff. So we can hopefully talk about it again a bit later. But yeah, so the Kassites, they're around from about 1500 BCE to 1100 to 1000 BCE. I think the Amarna letters that we were talking about, they come from the Kassite period.

Yeah, definitely. And Babylon also becomes a major kind of player at the very end of cuneiform culture and the kind of height of mathematical astronomy and stuff. So we can hopefully talk about it again a bit later. But yeah, so the Kassites, they're around from about 1500 BCE to 1100 to 1000 BCE. I think the Amarna letters that we were talking about, they come from the Kassite period.

Yeah, definitely. And Babylon also becomes a major kind of player at the very end of cuneiform culture and the kind of height of mathematical astronomy and stuff. So we can hopefully talk about it again a bit later. But yeah, so the Kassites, they're around from about 1500 BCE to 1100 to 1000 BCE. I think the Amarna letters that we were talking about, they come from the Kassite period.

But one of the interesting things that the Kassite scholars did, we think, is that they collected all these threads of knowledge in various disciplines. So primarily astronomy and medicine and a couple of others. And they created these standard textbooks. So there are lots of reasons to attribute this kind of flourishing of scholarship to this period. And literature as well.

But one of the interesting things that the Kassite scholars did, we think, is that they collected all these threads of knowledge in various disciplines. So primarily astronomy and medicine and a couple of others. And they created these standard textbooks. So there are lots of reasons to attribute this kind of flourishing of scholarship to this period. And literature as well.

But one of the interesting things that the Kassite scholars did, we think, is that they collected all these threads of knowledge in various disciplines. So primarily astronomy and medicine and a couple of others. And they created these standard textbooks. So there are lots of reasons to attribute this kind of flourishing of scholarship to this period. And literature as well.

I always forget about literature. Sorry. I feel bad saying that. They just standardize a whole host of different works. And then it's in this form that a lot of these textbooks get copied. Previously, it was thought that Enuma Anu Enlil, the astronomical omen compendium I just referred to, was written in this period.

I always forget about literature. Sorry. I feel bad saying that. They just standardize a whole host of different works. And then it's in this form that a lot of these textbooks get copied. Previously, it was thought that Enuma Anu Enlil, the astronomical omen compendium I just referred to, was written in this period.

I always forget about literature. Sorry. I feel bad saying that. They just standardize a whole host of different works. And then it's in this form that a lot of these textbooks get copied. Previously, it was thought that Enuma Anu Enlil, the astronomical omen compendium I just referred to, was written in this period.

But now I think they've moved the date a little bit further based on other evidence. But the Kassite period is really a kind of anchor for a lot of the production of these texts.