Researchers have cracked the code on ancient Babylonian tablets, and their predictions are giving some folks some serious chills.
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According to a recent study published in the Journal of Cuneiform Studies, four clay tablets inscribed with cuneiform script forecast the deaths of kings and the collapse of civilizations.
The ancient artifacts, discovered over a century ago in what is now Iraq, are part of the British Museum’s collection. For the first time, they have recently been translated into modern language. The fortune-telling practices of the peoples of southern Mesopotamia were intricately tied to the moon’s movements. In particular lunar eclipses. Of course, these occur when the moon passes into the Earth’s shadow.
According to authors Andrew George and Junko Taniguchi, these artifacts “represent the oldest known compendia of lunar-eclipse omens ever discovered.”
The Babylonians Believed ‘Events in the Sky’ Served as Divine Signs
The Babylonians studied eclipses by examining the timing of the night, the movement of shadows, their duration, and specific dates. This analysis enabled them to make predictions about future events. They believed that “events in the sky” served as divine signs, warning Earth-bound people and rulers about their destinies.
The inscriptions on the tablets foretell significant events. They stated, “a king will die, destruction of Elam.” This refers to a region in Mesopotamia that is now part of Iran. This prophecy is linked to the occurrence of an eclipse, which is described as becoming obscured from its center all at once and then clearing suddenly, according to Live Science.
Another prediction foresees the “downfall of Subartu and Akkad,” two prominent regions of that era, should “an eclipse begin in the south and subsequently clear.” Additional troubling omens suggest that the land will be besieged by a locust swarm, that cattle losses will occur, and that a significant army will be defeated.
Of course, it’s all very “cats and dogs living together” style.
The Babylonian Tablets’ Predictions May Be Based on Historical Events
Meanwhile, it seems that some predictions might be based on coincidental correlations between the timing of eclipses and major events.
“The origins of some of the omens may have lain in actual experience — observation of portent followed by catastrophe,” one of the report’s authors Andrew George told Live Science.
However, most were probably founded on theories rather than concrete evidence. According to George, the tablets likely originated from Sippar, an ancient Babylonian city located southwest of present-day Baghdad. They were utilized by the king’s advisers to forecast future events.
“Those who advised the king kept watch on the night sky and would match their observations with the academic corpus of celestial-omen texts,” the study states.