Tag: Ancient Middle East

Articles

Pigs and Their Prohibition

Because no single discipline or explanation seems adequate to understandthis practice, the search draws data from biology, anthropology, ancient history, mythology, religion, and ecology. Some have dismissed religious explanations as ar- bitrary and tautological, but the information provided in this article shows that religious beliefs are important.

Articles

Astral Divination in the Context of Mesopotamian Divination, Medicine, Religion, Magic, Society, and Scholarship

The fundamental premise lying behind celestial and other forms of divination in Mesopotamia was that the gods would, on occasions, impart information to humans through signs, that could bode both well and ill, providing a positive or negative answer to a query, or more specific (unfalsifiable) information on what will happen in the future.