Babylon

Enuma Anu Enlil

A seventy-tablet celestial omen series argues that the sky is a legible text, arguing that every eclipse, planetary position, and weather event carries a decodable message about the king's and the state's fortune.

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Descends from

  • The Venus Tablet of Ammisaduqa · c. 1646-1626 BC (reign of Ammisaduqa, Middle Chronology; the absolute date is disputed by up to two centuries under rival Mesopotamian chronologies)

Fed into

  • MUL.APIN · c. 10th century BC (compiled from older material; the earliest surviving dated copy is from 686 BC, found at Assur)
  • Babylonian Astronomical Diaries · c. 750-61 BC (a continuous observational tradition; the earliest surviving tablets date to 652 BC)

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