How eclipses were regarded as omens in the ancient world
August 9, 2017
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)
(THE CONVERSATION) On Monday, August 21, people living in the continental United States will be able to see a total solar eclipse.
Humans have been alternatively amused, puzzled, bewildered and sometimes even terrified at the sight of this celestial phenomenon. A range of social and cultural reactions accompanies the observation of an eclipse. In ancient Mesopotamia (roughly modern Iraq), eclipses were in fact regarded as omens, as signs of things to come.
Solar and lunar eclip...
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