Divination as Science. A Workshop Conducted during the 60th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale, Warsaw, 2014 (original) (raw)

2016

Abstract

There is no doubt that Ancient Near Eastern divination is firmly rooted in religion, since all ominous signs were thought to have been sent by gods, and the invocation of omens was embedded in rituals. Yet, the omen compendia display many aspects of a generally scientific nature. In their attempt to note all possible changes to the affected objects and to arrange their observations systematically for reference purposes, the scholars produced texts that resulted in a rather detailed description of the world, be it with respect to geography (the urban or rural environment on earth, or celestial and meteorological phenomena observed in the sky), biology (the outer appearance of the bodies of humans or animals, or the entrails of sheep), sociology (behaviour of people) or others. Based on different divination methods and omen compendia, the question to be discussed during this workshop was whether the scholars had a scientific approach, presented as religion, or whether the Ancient Near Eastern divination should be considered purely religious, and that the term ‘science’ is inappropriate in this context. An additional area to be explored was the cultural system in which divination and religion as well as other cultural conceptions have developed and used to function together. The workshop attracted a large audience, and lively discussions emerged.

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