Divination In The Ancient Near East Summary

This chapter discusses how people in the ancient Near East lived their day to day lives. Walton begins by fully explaining divination. According to John Walton,
“Divination produced the only divine revelation known in the ancient Near East. Through its mechanisms, the ancients believed not that they could know the deity, but that they could get a glimpse of the designs and will of the deity.”
Walton splits divination into two categories labeled “inspired” and “deductive”. Inspired divination is divine communication using human intermediary e.g., prophecy or dreams, whereas deductive divination is divine communication through events and phenomena --- also provoked situations. For example, lots or extispicy using animal entrails, or passive, such as celestial observation. Nevertheless, its revelation is communicated through events and phenomena that can be observed. Inspired divination consists of official and informal prophecy, and dreams. Deductive divination comes through two types of events. Both are observed in the physical realm, the active such as extispicy or casting of lots, and the unprovoked …show more content…
Within this discussion, Walton focuses on connectedness, control, and speculative more than empirical. In relation to connectedness, there was connectedness between signs and events in addition to between the signs that could be observed in various spheres. In relation to control, it was vital to people that they gain access to those signs at every level likely so that they could try to “exercise some minimal level of control over the events swirling around them.” (Walton, 2006) As to speculative more than empirical, the empirical observations were at least folded into the system as it developed. Later in the chapter, Walton give two categories of omen approaches: active and passive. Then, Walton lists four types of practitioners: Baru, Tupsarru, Muhhu, and