The "Science" of Divination. Signs of all kinds, solicited or unsolicited, might be sent by the gods. In the case of a solicited omen, a professional diviner (Akkadian: baru) examined a condition that he had deliberately provoked. By doing so, he could ask the gods to answer specific questions or inquire about the advisability of undertaking some action. If the answer was negative, the plan was postponed, and the diviner made another attempt at divination at what he hoped was a more propitious time.

Solicited Omens. Extispicy was an especially important means of soliciting omens. The entrails (the liver, lungs, or colon spiral) of a slaughtered young sacrificial animal (usually a sheep, sometimes a goat) were inspected and interpreted by the diviner. The signs and their associated portents were consistently written down, and eventually they were collected into omen series. Livers modeled in...