Deciphering ancient omens: British museum reveals lunar eclipse tablets

For many decades, the British Museum has held tablets that have only recently been deciphered, as reported by Live Science. Scientists managed to translate 4,000-year-old cuneiform tablets that were found over a century ago in what is now Iraq. The tablets describe how some lunar eclipses were considered omens of death, destruction, and plague.

The 4,000-year-old tablets are the oldest known examples of lunar eclipse omen compendiums. According to Andrew George, a retired professor from the University of London and independent researcher Junko Taniguchi, in an article published in the "Journal of Cuneiform Studies." The authors of the tablets used the time of night, shadow movements, as well as the date and length of the eclipses to predict future events.

One of the omens states that if the "eclipse is covered from the center immediately [and] everything becomes clear all at once: the king will die, destruction of Elam." Elam is a region in Mesopotamia, now located in Iran. It was once a feudal state that emerged around 2400 BCE. For many years, Elam was one of the main powers of the ancient Middle East.

Another omen states that if the "eclipse begins in the south and suddenly brightens: the downfall of Subartu and Akkad," also regions of Mesopotamia. Subartu was located in the northern part, and Akkad was once the capital of the Akkadian Empire during the reign of Sargon the Great, a ruler known for conquering Sumerian city-states in the 24th and 23rd centuries BCE. Yet another omen read from the tablets says: "Eclipse during the evening: means plague."

Andrew George told Live Science that some of the omens might have roots in real-life experiences—observations of predictions followed by disaster. However, most were probably determined by a theoretical system linking eclipse characteristics with various predictions.

In Babylonia and other parts of Mesopotamia, it was believed that events in the sky could predict the future. Rulers sought the advice of astrologers who monitored the night sky and compared their observations with omen texts. If the prediction was dire, such as "the king will die," additional rituals, such as divination from animal entrails, would be performed to determine whether the king was in danger.

If the divination results indicated danger, appropriate rituals were believed to nullify the bad omen and counteract the evil forces behind them. Therefore, despite the bad omens, it was believed that the predicted future could be changed.