Dr. Moudhy Al-Rashid

A lunar eclipse takes place in the east, then the king will die, or something along those lines. So the observation is about something going on in the sky.

A lunar eclipse takes place in the east, then the king will die, or something along those lines. So the observation is about something going on in the sky.

A lunar eclipse takes place in the east, then the king will die, or something along those lines. So the observation is about something going on in the sky.

And they had these omens for all sorts of things, like stuff that happened on Earth, a fox being present in a city, somebody having a birthmark, I have a birthmark on my left cheek, what that might mean about a person's life or the success of the observer. But in terms of celestial omens, they were typically concerned with broader political trends.

And they had these omens for all sorts of things, like stuff that happened on Earth, a fox being present in a city, somebody having a birthmark, I have a birthmark on my left cheek, what that might mean about a person's life or the success of the observer. But in terms of celestial omens, they were typically concerned with broader political trends.

And they had these omens for all sorts of things, like stuff that happened on Earth, a fox being present in a city, somebody having a birthmark, I have a birthmark on my left cheek, what that might mean about a person's life or the success of the observer. But in terms of celestial omens, they were typically concerned with broader political trends.

So you have an observation paired with a prediction, and that observation is understood to be a sign from the gods, not a cause. The eclipse is not causing anything to happen. It's the gods saying, listen, we're sending this eclipse to warn you that the king is going to die. So if you want to do anything about that, here's a set of rituals that's available to you to prevent that from happening.

So you have an observation paired with a prediction, and that observation is understood to be a sign from the gods, not a cause. The eclipse is not causing anything to happen. It's the gods saying, listen, we're sending this eclipse to warn you that the king is going to die. So if you want to do anything about that, here's a set of rituals that's available to you to prevent that from happening.

So you have an observation paired with a prediction, and that observation is understood to be a sign from the gods, not a cause. The eclipse is not causing anything to happen. It's the gods saying, listen, we're sending this eclipse to warn you that the king is going to die. So if you want to do anything about that, here's a set of rituals that's available to you to prevent that from happening.

And this whole kind of scholarly culture builds up around these assumptions about what the world means and what messages it's sending. LSG

And this whole kind of scholarly culture builds up around these assumptions about what the world means and what messages it's sending. LSG

And this whole kind of scholarly culture builds up around these assumptions about what the world means and what messages it's sending. LSG

In a way, yes. We have these lists of omens from the earlier periods. So again, when I say earlier period, now we're talking about around 1800, 1900 BCE. Lists of omens, some of which are impossible things. So an eclipse being green, for example. And the reason for that is that the scholars writing these things down were not just interested in what was, in actual facts, in observable things.

In a way, yes. We have these lists of omens from the earlier periods. So again, when I say earlier period, now we're talking about around 1800, 1900 BCE. Lists of omens, some of which are impossible things. So an eclipse being green, for example. And the reason for that is that the scholars writing these things down were not just interested in what was, in actual facts, in observable things.

In a way, yes. We have these lists of omens from the earlier periods. So again, when I say earlier period, now we're talking about around 1800, 1900 BCE. Lists of omens, some of which are impossible things. So an eclipse being green, for example. And the reason for that is that the scholars writing these things down were not just interested in what was, in actual facts, in observable things.

They were interested in every possible eventuality that could happen and and the outcomes associated with those. So they created this whole system of knowledge built on possibility effectively, but they structured these in really systematic ways. So for example, in writing down the omens about a lunar eclipse, let's say color, let's use color as an example,

They were interested in every possible eventuality that could happen and and the outcomes associated with those. So they created this whole system of knowledge built on possibility effectively, but they structured these in really systematic ways. So for example, in writing down the omens about a lunar eclipse, let's say color, let's use color as an example,

They were interested in every possible eventuality that could happen and and the outcomes associated with those. So they created this whole system of knowledge built on possibility effectively, but they structured these in really systematic ways. So for example, in writing down the omens about a lunar eclipse, let's say color, let's use color as an example,

You know, we know that there's only a certain number of colors that an eclipse can look like, and that's mainly red or no color, maybe orange sometimes. But they would apply a couple of other colors to these that were impossible, and they used these kind of ordered ways of expanding upon something they did observe.

You know, we know that there's only a certain number of colors that an eclipse can look like, and that's mainly red or no color, maybe orange sometimes. But they would apply a couple of other colors to these that were impossible, and they used these kind of ordered ways of expanding upon something they did observe.