4,000-year-old Babylonian book edition interpretation and prediction of 'King's death, war defeat, etc
Aug 13, 2024
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The research team recently published in the Journal of Cuneiform Studies that the four clay tablets inscribed with the wedge letter predicted the death of the king and the fall of civilization.
According to foreign media such as the New York Post, the edition was discovered more than 100 years ago in present-day Iraq and is currently owned by a British museum.
Andrew George and Dr. Junko Taniguchi, who led the research team, argued that these editions represent the oldest examples of lunar eclipse precursors ever discovered.
According to the study, Babylonians analyzed the time of night, shadow movement, duration, and date and used them to predict various events.
The analysis estimated that Babylonian believed that lunar eclipses (the moon being obscured by the Earth's shadow) were a divine warning sign about the future of people and rulers on Earth.
The foreshadowing engraved on the edition includes a prediction of the fall of Subartu and Akkad if the center is suddenly obscured and suddenly cleared.
It also included 'There will be a locust swarm attack on the ground', 'Cows will be lost', and 'The Grand Army will be defeated'.
Dr George, emeritus professor at the University of London, "Some of the precursors may have been based on coincidences between the timing of various previously observed eclipses and major events" he estimated.
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