The Ancient Mesopotamians saw portents everywhere—in the glow of embers in the hearth, the murmurations of starlings in the skies, the swirls of smoke from incense burners, the fall of Knucklebones in the dust, the formations of the clouds…They read omens in the intestines of sacrificial animals, the contours of spilled flour, the patterns of oil on water…No one was indifferent to the auguries: kings and servants, all yearned for a glimpse of the unseen. Partly because they understood how fragile life is and how close the breath of death. And partly because they retained a naive hope that,
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