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Omen
An omen (also called ''portent'') is a phenomenon that is believed to foretell the future, often signifying the advent of change. It was commonly believed in ancient history, and still believed by some today, that omens bring divine messages from the gods. These omens include natural phenomena, for example an eclipse, abnormal births of animals (especially humans) and behaviour of the sacrificial lamb on its way to the slaughter. Specialists, known as diviners, variously existed to interpret these omens. They would also use an artificial method, for example, a clay model of a sheep liver, to communicate with their gods in times of crisis. They would expect a binary answer, either yes or no, favourable or unfavourable. They did these to predict what would happen in the future and to take action to avoid disaster. Though the word ''omen'' is usually devoid of reference to the change's nature, hence being possibly either "good" or "bad", the term is more often used in a foreb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Omens In The Sun
An omen (also called ''portent'') is a phenomenon that is believed to prediction, foretell the future, often signifying the advent of change. It was commonly believed in ancient history, and still believed by some today, that omens bring divine messages from the gods. These omens include natural phenomena, for example an eclipse, deformity, abnormal births of animals (especially humans) and behaviour of the sacrificial lamb on its way to the slaughter. Specialists, known as diviners, variously existed to interpret these omens. They would also use an artificial method, for example, a clay model of a sheep liver, to communicate with their gods in times of crisis. They would expect a binary answer, either yes or no, favourable or unfavourable. They did these to predict what would happen in the future and to take action to avoid disaster. Though the word ''omen'' is usually devoid of reference to the change's nature, hence being possibly either "good" or "bad", the term is more of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Glossary Of Ancient Roman Religion
The vocabulary of ancient Roman religion was highly specialized. Its study affords important information about the religion, traditions and beliefs of the ancient Romans. This legacy is conspicuous in European cultural history in its influence on later juridical and religious vocabulary in Europe, particularly of the Christian Church. This glossary provides explanations of concepts as they were expressed in Latin pertaining to Religion in ancient Rome, religious practices and beliefs, with links to articles on major topics such as priesthoods, forms of divination, and rituals. For theonyms, or the names and epithets of gods, see List of Roman deities. For public religious holidays, see Roman festivals. For temples see the List of Ancient Roman temples. Individual landmarks of religious Topography of ancient Rome, topography in ancient Rome are not included in this list; see Roman temple. __NOTOC__ Glossary A abominari The verb ''abominari'' ("to avert an omen", from ''ab-'', ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Religion In Ancient Rome
Religion in ancient Rome consisted of varying imperial and provincial religious practices, which were followed both by the Roman people, people of Rome as well as those who were brought under its rule. The Romans thought of themselves as highly religious, and attributed their success as a world power to their collective piety () in maintaining Pax deorum, good relations with the gods. Their Polytheism, polytheistic religion is known for having honoured List of Roman deities, many deities. The presence of Magna Graecia, Greeks on the Italian peninsula from the beginning of the historical period influenced Culture of ancient Rome, Roman culture, introducing some religious practices that became fundamental, such as the of Apollo. The Romans looked for common ground between their major gods and those of the Greeks (), adapting Greek mythology, Greek myths and iconography for Latin literature and Roman art, as the Etruscans had. Etruscan religion was also a major influence, partic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Augurs
An augur was a priest and official in the classical Roman world. His main role was the practice of augury, the interpretation of the will of the gods by studying events he observed within a predetermined sacred space (''templum''). The ''templum'' corresponded to the heavenly space above. The augur's decisions were based on what he personally saw or heard from within the ''templum''; they included thunder, lightning and any accidental signs such as falling objects, but in particular, birdsigns; whether the birds he saw flew in groups or alone, what noises they made as they flew, the direction of flight, what kind of birds they were, how many there were, or how they fed. This practice was known as "''taking the auspices''". As circumstance did not always favour the convenient appearance of wild birds or weather phenomena, domesticated chickens kept for the purpose were sometimes released into the templum, where their behaviour, particularly how they fed, could be studied by the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mesopotamian Divination
Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of the modern Middle East. Just beyond it lies southwestern Iran, where the region transitions into the Persian plateau, marking the shift from the Arab world to Iran. In the broader sense, the historical region of Mesopotamia also includes parts of present-day Iran (southwest), Turkey (southeast), Syria (northeast), and Kuwait. Mesopotamia is the site of the earliest developments of the Neolithic Revolution from around 10,000 BC. It has been identified as having "inspired some of the most important developments in human history, including the invention of the wheel, the planting of the first cereal crops, the development of cursive script, mathematics, astronomy, and agriculture". It is recognised as the cradle of some of the wo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lecanomancy
Lecanomancy (Gr. λεκάνη, "dish, pan" + μαντεία, "divination") is a form of divination using a dish, usually of water, which, like many ancient forms of divination, has multiple forms. The earliest form of lecanomancy appears to have come from Ancient Babylonia, though it is only mentioned in one text. Even there, there were two types of the divination used. Some court magicians would use inductive lecanomancy; whereby the magician or priest would observe patterns of oil within water to predict the future. However, intuitive lecanomancy is thought to have developed out of this, which merely required the magician to interpret ripples on the water through meditation. There are also reports of inductive lecanomancy being used by the Mesopotamians, though they sometimes substituted flour for oil. In the Old Testament The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tana ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prediction
A prediction (Latin ''præ-'', "before," and ''dictum'', "something said") or forecast is a statement about a future event or about future data. Predictions are often, but not always, based upon experience or knowledge of forecasters. There is no universal agreement about the exact difference between "prediction" and " estimation"; different authors and disciplines ascribe different connotations. Future events are necessarily uncertain, so guaranteed accurate information about the future is impossible. Prediction can be useful to assist in making plans about possible developments. Opinion In a non-statistical sense, the term "prediction" is often used to refer to an informed guess or opinion. A prediction of this kind might be informed by a predicting person's abductive reasoning, inductive reasoning, deductive reasoning, and experience; and may be useful—if the predicting person is a knowledgeable person in the field. The Delphi method is a technique for elicitin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Haruspex
In the Ancient Roman religion, religion of ancient Rome, a haruspex was a person trained to practise a form of divination called haruspicy, the inspection of the entrails of Animal sacrifice, sacrificed animals, especially the livers of sacrificed domestic sheep, sheep and poultry. Various ancient cultures of the Near East, such as the Babylonians, also read omens specifically from the liver, a practice also known by the Greek term hepatoscopy (also hepatomancy). The Roman concept is directly derived from Etruscan religion, as one of the three branches of the ''disciplina Etrusca''. Etymology The Latin terms '':wikt:haruspex, haruspex'' and ''haruspicina'' are from an archaic word, ''hīra'' = "entrails, intestines" (cognate with ''hernia'' = "protruding viscera" and ''hira'' = "empty gut"; PIE '':wikt:Appendix:Proto-Indo-European/ǵʰer-, *ǵʰer-'') and from the root '':wikt:specio#Latin, spec-'' = "to watch, observe". The Greek ἡπατοσκοπία ''hēpatoskōpia'' i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Animal Sacrifice
Animal sacrifice is the ritual killing and offering of animals, usually as part of a religious ritual or to appease or maintain favour with a deity. Animal sacrifices were common throughout Europe and the Ancient Near East until the spread of Christianity in Late Antiquity, and continue in some cultures or religions today. Human sacrifice, where it existed, was always much rarer. All or only part of a sacrificial animal may be offered; some cultures, like the Ancient Greeks ate most of the edible parts of the sacrifice in a feast, and burnt the rest as an offering. Others burnt the whole animal offering, called a Holocaust (sacrifice), holocaust. Usually, the best animal or best share of the animal is the one presented for offering. Animal sacrifice should generally be distinguished from the religiously prescribed methods of ritual slaughter of animals for normal consumption as food. During the Neolithic Revolution, early humans began to move from hunter-gatherer cultures toward ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hepatoscopy
In the religion of ancient Rome, a haruspex was a person trained to practise a form of divination called haruspicy, the inspection of the entrails of sacrificed animals, especially the livers of sacrificed sheep and poultry. Various ancient cultures of the Near East, such as the Babylonians, also read omens specifically from the liver, a practice also known by the Greek term hepatoscopy (also hepatomancy). The Roman concept is directly derived from Etruscan religion, as one of the three branches of the ''disciplina Etrusca''. Etymology The Latin terms ''haruspex'' and ''haruspicina'' are from an archaic word, ''hīra'' = "entrails, intestines" (cognate with ''hernia'' = "protruding viscera" and ''hira'' = "empty gut"; PIE '' *ǵʰer-'') and from the root '' spec-'' = "to watch, observe". The Greek ἡπατοσκοπία ''hēpatoskōpia'' is from '' hēpar'' = "liver" and '' skop-'' = "to examine". Ancient Near East The Babylonians were famous for hepatoscopy. This p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Urim And Thummim
In the Hebrew Bible, the Urim ( ''ʾŪrīm'', "lights") and the Thummim ( ''Tummīm'', "perfection" or "truth") are elements of the '' hoshen'', the breastplate worn by the High Priest attached to the ephod, a type of apron or garment. The pair are used frequently in the Old Testament, in Exodus 28:30 through God's instruction to Aaron on how to adorn his breastplate worn in the holy place; in 1 Samuel 14:41 by King Saul to determine who was at fault for breaking the army's fast; and Ezra 2 to determine whether those who claimed to be the descendants of the priests of Israel were truly of that class. The Urim and Thummim are sometimes connected by scholars with cleromancy (with divination by casting lots), although it is equally likely no casting was physically done, and the participants of Lights and Perfection waited for a sign to answer a question or reveal the will of God. Name and meaning ''Urim'' () traditionally has been taken to derive from a root meaning "lights"; the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tel Hazor
Tel Hazor (), translated in LXX as Hasōr (), and in Arabic Tell Waqqas or Tell Qedah el-Gul (), is an archaeological Tell (archaeology), tell at the site of ancient Hazor, located in the Upper Galilee, north of the Sea of Galilee, in the northern Korazim Plateau. From the Middle Bronze Age (around 1750 BCE) to the Iron Age (ninth century BCE), Hazor was the largest fortified city in the region and one of the most important in the Fertile Crescent. It maintained commercial ties with Babylon and Syria, and imported large quantities of tin for the bronze industry. In the Book of Joshua, Hazor is described as "the head of all those kingdoms" () and archaeological excavations that have emphasized the city's importance. The Hazor expedition, headed by Yigael Yadin in the mid-1950s, was the most important dig undertaken by Israel in its early years of statehood. Tel Hazor is the largest archaeological site in northern Israel, featuring an upper tell of 30 acres and a lower city of more ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
